Bem (Star Trek: The Animated Series)
"Bem" is the second episode of the second season of the American animated science fiction television series "", the 18th episode overall. It first aired in the NBC Saturday morning lineup on 14 September 1974, and was written by David Gerrold, who wrote the earlier episode "More Tribbles, More Troubles" and worked on several "" episodes. This episode marks the first time that Captain James T. Kirk's full name is given, revealing that the middle initial stood for Tiberius, after the Roman emperor. In this episode, the "Enterprise" crew must cope with a diplomatically sensitive  issue involving a guest officer who meddles in a crucial mission. Plot. On stardate 7403.6, the Federation starship "Enterprise" crew is conducting a series of exploratory missions with honorary Commander Ari bn Bem, a representative from the newly contacted planet Pandro, who is working for his government as an independent observer of the Federation. Bem accompanies a landing party on a mission to a newly discovered planet. Instead of observing, however, he begins to interfere with the mission. Before long, Captain Kirk and his people are captured by primitive natives. They soon learn that these primitives are under the guardianship  of a powerful noncorporeal entity who is upset that the "Enterprise" crew has come to her planet and interfered with her "children". Production. The writer of the episode, David Gerrold won both Hugo and Nebula awards for science fiction, and also wrote the episode "More Tribbles, More Troubles" for this series. "Bem" began as a script for "" third season, it was condensed for "The Animated Series" first season, and was finally produced during the show's second season. Reception. In 2017, "Tor.com" rated this episode 8 out of 10, noting that the "Enterprise" takes on the passenger Bem and goes  to the planet Delta Theta III.