Just throwing these out there - they may or may not have a connection to the episode “The Man Trap” since there is a scene involving the botany lab where we see Sulu tending to some exotic plants as one of his hobbies (anyone who includes plants and fencing among their hobbies has to be an interesting person). However it was Yeoman Rand who shared this scene with him, not Lt. Uhura. And these plants were not seen in that lab. Although we did occasionally see large potted plants here and there in rooms and corridors.

In any case, these are charming publicity photos of two members of the bridge crew who may not be the main stars, but still served important roles in the stories.

Spock and chess have gone together ever since the second pilot episode “Where No Man Has Gone Before.” The game has always been associated with intelligence and logic, so it would make sense for it to be Spock’s signature game. But not all of his encounters with Kirk on the chess board seemed to go the way he planned, which perturbed him no end. Not that he would admit it of course.

With the exception of the first two, the rest are publicity photos. A few are rarely seen, especially the last one with just Captain Kirk and the chess set.

Stay tuned - the next article on Sunday will be about the role 3D (or tri-dimensional) chess played in Star Trek and how the prop itself was created.

Publicity image from “Amok Time” of Kirk, Spock and T'Pring

Galen

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