History Recap / StarTrekS2E15TheTroubleWithTribbles

* LostFoodGrievance: Kirk's exasperation with the tribbles reaches new heights when he orders a lunch tray, only for it to come out half-eaten and covered with tribbles.

* ThreatenAllToFindOne: Downplayed. Kirk has ordered that there be no hostilities between his crew and the Klingons at Deep Space Station K-7, as they do not want an incident that would give the Klingons claim to Sherman's Planet. However, a fight broke out in a bar on the station, and Kirk has assembled all of the crew, asking various people, like Chekov, who threw the first punch. When no one answers him, he tells them they're confined to quarters until he gets the answer. But he stops Scotty from leaving. As the commanding officer charged with keeping the peace at the time, Scotty will have no choice but to answer when Kirk asks him which of the crew threw the first punch. Scotty sheepishly reveals that it was him, as the Klingons had called the ''Enterprise'' a "Garbage Scow". Kirk confines Scotty to quarters, which the Engineer is [[{{Unishment}} delighted to hear, as he can catch up on his technical journals.]]

* AsTheGoodBookSays: When Spock compares the Tribbles to lilies, he is referencing Matthew 6:28, which confirms that lilies indeed do not toil nor spin.[[note]]This was a line contributed by Gene L. Coon; writer David Gerrold, in his book covering the production of the episode, admits to some bemusement at Spock being up on his biblical verses.[[/note]]

Kirk, upon receiving his order of a tribble sandwich with a side order of tribble and a glass of tribble, deduces that the tribbles have likely also gotten into the grain storage on the station. Upon arrival, he stands immediately under the door that is theoretically holding back several metric tonnes of blue grain and opens the door. A flood of tribbles buries him armpit deep, royally pissing Baris off and potentially putting Kirk's career in jeopardy -- until Spock discovers that a lot of the tribbles are also dead, indicating that the grain was poisoned. Back in the station commander's office, Koloth confronts Kirk about the bar brawl before demanding that the tribbles be removed, since a tribble's purr sounds like a Creator/ParisHilton karaoke to Klingon ears. As the guards go to leave, Baris's assistant, Arne Darvin, enters the office and has the same reaction to the tribbles that the Klingons have -- and vice versa. [=McCoy=] scans Darvin with his tricorder and comes up with completely nonhuman results -- "Jim, this man's a Klingon!" A quick bit of tribble-assisted interrogation gets him to admit that he poisoned the grain, so Kirk arrests him and tells Koloth to scamper off.

'''Freeman:'''[[labelnote:*]]O'Brien in the DS9 remake[[/labelnote]] I don't know, sir.\\

'''Freeman:''' I don't know, sir.\\

* ExplodingCloset: Kirk stands passively in a deluge of tribbles after opening a storage bin door
* ExplosiveBreeder: The tribbles. They reproduce at will. "And brother [[UnderStatement have they got a lot of will]]."

* MeaningfulName: Writer David Gerrold named Sherman's Planet for his girlfriend at the time, Holly Sherman.

After the opening theme, the ''Enterprise'' arrives at K7 to find that nothing seems to be happening. An extremely irritated Kirk demands to know what the emergency is, and is informed that [[ObstructiveBureaucrat the undersecretary of agriculture]], Nils Baris (Creator/WilliamSchallert), is on the station and is scared of sabotage. Since Baris has the authority to issue the emergency call, Kirk can do little except speak in double and ask questions that should have been part of his mission briefing, like what exactly he is there to protect. (The answer: a breed of hybrid grain called quadrotriticale; if it can grow on Sherman's Planet, the planet goes to the Federation, but if it can't, the planet goes to the Klingons, as it means nothing Earth-like can grow there) He authorizes two guards from the ''Enterprise'' to protect the grain, and begins shore leave for the rest of the crew. Shortly after, a Klingon battlecruiser arrives and its captain, Koloth, beams aboard the station demanding shore leave for his crew. Kirk acquiesces, in part because the Organian Peace Treaty leaves him no legal reason to say no, and in part to piss off Baris.

* AintNoRule: There's a law against breeding a dangerous animal, but the tribbles don't have teeth, so how can they be dangerous?

* GetOut: After the Klingon plot to poison the Federation colonists on Sherman's Planet has been exposed. Kirk decides he has had just about enough of playing nice with the Klingons.

* GetOut: After the Klingon plot to poison the Federation colonists on Sherman's Planet has been exposed. Kirk decided he has had just about enough of playing nice with the Klingons.

* MagicPlasticSurgery: Oddly, both played straight and subverted. Arne Darvin manages to look entirely human despite being a completely different species (granted, it wouldn't take as much in this series as it would elsewhere in the franchise)... but that surgery doesn't do anything to change his ''vitals'', so once there's a reason to scan him with a tricorder, the disguise falls apart.

* RidiculouslyCuteCritter: The tribbles! They're so incredibly adorable even [[TheStoic Spock]] can't resist petting one.

* MagicPlasticSurgery: Oddly, both played straight and subverted. Arne Darvis manages to look entirely human despite being a completely different species (granted, it wouldn't take as much in this series as it would elsewhere in the franchise)... but that surgery doesn't do anything to change his ''vitals'', so once there's a reason to scan him with a tricorder, the disguise falls apart.

* BlatantLies: Everyone says "I don't know, sir" when asked who started the BarBrawl. Kirk knows it's BS, which is why he confines them all to quarters.
--> '''Kirk:''' I wanna know who started it. I'm waiting. Freeman, who started the fight?\\