Spock's research has uncovered a pattern of mass insanity, spreading from world to world... with the planet Deneva the next world in its path! The Enterprise races to Deneva, which is home to Kirk's brother, Sam. They arrive just in time to see a ship pilot itself straight into the sun. As he dies, the ship's pilot cries out triumphantly that he is "free!"
Kirk, Spock, McCoy, and a pair of expendables beam down to the planet and go straight to his brother's lab, where they find Sam dead, his wife hysterical, and their child unconscious. In sickbay, the wife manages to tell Kirk that "things came," creatures that control their human hosts with pain. Each exclamation causes her untold agony, until finally she dies. Back on the planet, Spock discovers the creatures, but at a cost - he himself becomes a host to one!
As Spock uses all of his mental discipline to battle the creature's hold on him, he makes himself a willing lab rat as Kirk and McCoy work to find out how to stop these creatures. If they can find no alternative, then Kirk will have no choice but to destroy Deneva to stop these parasites from spreading further!
CHARACTERS
Capt. Kirk: The "old friends and family" rule applies here, as we are introduced to Kirk's brother and his sister-in-law, just in time for both of them to die horribly. Kirk's nephew is saved, under the "little kid exception clause" to the rule, but he still gets to suffer horrible pain. Kirk remains focused on his job and his duty. His faith in the skills of Spock and McCoy allows him to let the two help him find an alternative to mass murder. Despite the loss of his family, Kirk bounces back remarkably quickly, being in shape to crack lame jokes with Spock and McCoy at the end.
That Vulcan Voodoo You Do: The Vulcan capacity to develop new abilities at the speed of plot shows itself yet again here. That Spock has the mental discipline to battle down the creature's influence is no surprise. That Spock saves himself from blindness through the sudden, never-before-mentioned (not even in this episode) development of an "inner eyelid," is somewhat more startling. Fair enough, Spock can't be left permanently blind if there is to be a Season Two. But couldn't they at least have mentioned that aspect of Vulcan physiology earlier in the episode? I would think the surgery scene might have provided an opportunity for a mention of it as an aside, at the very least.
Dr. McCoy: His peculiar friendship with Spock is a major part of this episode. He is clearly as affected as Nurse Chapel is (probably moreso) when he is unable to detatch the creature from him surgically, and he feels horribly guilty when Spock appears to be blinded as a result of the "solution" they have found. Of course, he would rather die than admit to actually caring about Spock, so he mostly reacts by becoming even gruffer than usual. DeForest Kelly is splendid as ever, which helps to keep the proceedings engaging.
THOUGHTS
A major difference between 1960's television and modern television is in the view toward season finales. Today, a season finale is an event. The last episode of the season is where networks pull out all their stops, delivering shocks and heavy emotion. The end of TOS Season One did see such an episode. It was titled The City on the Edge of Forever, and aired as it was produced - one week before the season finale.
Season finales were basically considered "just another episode" in the 1960's, and there's no better demonstration of this than City being the penultimate episode of the season, while this rather standard one actually ends the season. Operation - Annihilate! is not a bad episode. The jelly-like creatures look a bit silly, but a certain degree of horror arises from the central situation. The script does a good job of gradually unveiling what has happened to the colony. Kirk is put in a position where he may well have to order the deaths of a world of innocents, a strong dramatic dilemma for him, and the regulars are all on very fine form. I can't imagine this being anyone's favorite episode, but I'd have a hard time believing that this was anyone's least favorite.
Unfortunately, there are weak spots. As I mentioned, the Vulcan "inner eyelid" comes out of nowhere, and feels a tad too convenient. It also feels more than a little ham-handed that Kirk's brother and his family live on Deneva. The deaths of Kirk's family could enhance the drama - except that Kirk never really has much reaction to their deaths! It feels emotionally untrue for Kirk to lose a good portion of his close family, and yet be in the mood to crack jokes about Spock's "Vulcan ears" with McCoy at the very end. Given that, I'd have much rather "Sam" had been replaced by some random acquaintance.
Basically, the tone can't maintain any consistency. For a situation this dire, the episode never feels like anything other than a throwaway. The proceedings are absorbing, but they're never as compelling as they should be. The pace and performances keep this an engaging episode, but it is very far from Trek at its best.
Rating: 6/10.
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I find it interesting that even though Kirk's nephew is on board, he still is in very serious condition on the ship, no mention is made of him after the middle of the episode. At the end when the creatures are destroyed, Kirk doesn't even ask McCoy how is my nephew doing? Poor writing toward the end of the episode, makes Kirk seem callous.
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