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| Sulu is infected with an alien disease! |
Original Air Date: Sept. 29, 1966. Written by: John D. F. Black. Directed by: Marc Daniels.
THE PLOT
The Enterprise is observing the impending disintegration of a planet. When they arrive and beam down to a lab tasked with directly monitoring the planet, they discover that all the inhabitants are dead - and bizarrely dead. One man died in the shower with his clothes on. A woman was strangled. Another man is slouched at his console, where he apparently just sat and waited for the end. While there, one crewman's moment of carelessness exposes him to a contagion... which he brings back to the Enterprise!
As the contagion spreads, more and more members of the ship's crew begin behaving as if drunk on on drugs. Sulu, who is fond of fencing and enjoys classic adventure literature, imagines himself as the hero of an Alexander Dumas novel and runs around the ship's halls with a rapier, chasing other crew members. Nurse Chapel becomes hopelessly besotted with Spock. Spock, in turn, ends up weeping about how his culture won't allow him to express his feelings.
The worst disruption comes from Lt. Kevin Riley (Bruce Hyde). He takes over Engineering, leaving the ship unable to react as quickly as it needs to in order to escape orbit. If Kirk cannot retake control, then when the planet disintegrates, the Enterprise will be destroyed!
CHARACTERS
Capt. Kirk: Maintains a level head throughout the crisis, even as most of his crew falls apart around him. He presses Scott to retake Engineering and McCoy to work on finding a cure for the contagion. When he is exposed to the virus, it's revealed that Spock isn't the only member of the command crew at war with himself. His "Animal Side's" aggression toward Janice didn't emerge from nowhere. Kirk is strongly attracted to her, and he feels frustrated that, as captain, he's "not allowed to notice" her. At the same time, his love for his ship allows him to regain control of himself sufficiently to carry on until McCoy can administer a cure.
Mr. Spock: This is a significant episode in Spock's development. It is here that we see what Leonard Nimoy's performance had already indicated: that beneath Spock's logical surface lurks a sea of raging emotions. Spock's long practice at keeping these under control is directly demonstrated. When infected, he flees to an empty conference room to clear away distractions, then forces himself back to full function - something that, at a lower level, he likely does every morning when he gets out of bed.
Sulu: A good episode for his character, as we learn about some of his interests and see the usually reserved officer being downright flamboyant. George Takei is obviously having great fun getting to do a bit more than just say, "Warp Two, aye, sir." He throws himself into Sulu's "under-the-influence" scenes with glee, and his scenes are a high point of the episode. I also found Uhura's acidic response to Sulu declaring, "I will protect you, fair maiden" ("Sorry, neither"), absolutely hilarious.
THOUGHTS
The first Trek episode to really delve into comedy, and it works well. Part of this is that (unlike its TNG sequel/remake) the story isn't just an excuse for broad comedy. The contagion may result in many of the regulars behaving in a way best described as "goofy," but it also shows us much about their characters. We learn more about Sulu in this episode than in all of the prior episodes put together; much the same applies to Spock, and even to Kirk. Each exposed character reveals some new facet.
Also, the stakes are constantly rising. At the outset, we are told that there is no real danger, that Scotty is on top of the Enterprise's tricky orbit. After the contagion is brought to the Enterprise vital crew members (Sulu, Riley), who will be needed to pull the ship out, are affected. Then Riley takes over Engineering, and Scotty has to try to cut his way in to retake control. The script, by series story editor John Black, expertly juggles the comedy and suspense in such a way that not only does neither element suffer, each actually feeds the other. It may not be the best episode yet (though it's a close call between this and The Corbomite Maneuver)... but I think I'd rate this as the best script so far.
The remastered edition has some stunning new effects, particularly at the very beginning. The lead-in to the arrival at the lab is far more visual, and is done in such a way as to merge well with the original footage. When done this carefully, the tweaks done to the remastered versions are purely assets to the episodes (as opposed to the more jarring case that I referenced in my review of Mudd's Women).
Rating: 8/10
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