This was an episode that had high ambitions, but fell short more than a few times of actually attaining them.  One of the two plots involves a team of three cavers (Tripp and Malcolm, led by Travis, who is apparently really darn good at spelunking.  He must have learned it during all those years aboard a cargo ship…or something) who are sent to rescue a team of Denobulans who have been basically living underground on a foreign planet in order to collect rocks.  Turns out the planet is being taken over by some really nasty people who don’t want these three aliens exploring their caves, so who better to go get them than the crew of the Enterprise?  Yeah, I was wondering that myself.  Meanwhile, back on the ship, Doc is having a culture crisis as one of his patients, who is from a freighter orbiting the planet, is an Antaran, and just as three horns don’t play with longnecks, everyone knows that Denobulans don’t like Antarans, and vice versa.  He kind of wants to treat the patient, but the patient would rather die than be treated by a Denobulan.

Do I sense a lesson in understanding coming?  Yah, you betcha.

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