#69 (3-17): That Which Survives

THE PLOT

The Enterprise investigates a planet with an Earth-like atmosphere, whose very existence appears to be impossible. Kirk, McCoy, Sulu, and Geologist D'Amato (gee, I wonder what's going to happen here...) beam down to the surface. Before they leave, they observe Losira (Lee Meriwether), a mysterious woman, appear from nowhere and kill the ensign operating the transporter.

After they beam down to the planet, there is a severe tremor. When it subsides, the Enterprise has vanished. Now Kirk and his landing party must find a way to survive on a world with no apparent sources of food or water. Meanwhile, the Enterprise - hurled a substantial distance from the planet - must set course back to where they started.

When Losira reappears both on the ship and on the planet, leaving a trail of bodies in her wake, it becomes apparent that both the ship's crew and the landing party will have to fight for their very survival!

I suspect I've made it sound a lot more exciting than it actually is...


CHARACTERS

Capt. Ham: "Something... or someone... killed him," Kirk declares over the body of a dead redshirt (OK, blueshirt). Brilliant deduction, captain. Kirk spends the episode largely just trying to find a way for himself and the rest of the landing party to survive. He does earn some mild tactical points by playing Human Keep Away with Losira later on. Even so, there's nothing new or particularly interesting here for Kirk. At least he doesn't suffer outright character assassination, unlike...

Spock: Written to be as annoying as humanly (or Vulcanly) possible. He prances about the bridge, ramrod poked perpetually up his backside, correcting estimates about how many minutes are left ("14.87 to be precise"). Long before the point at which he berates Scotty for daring to speak figuratively, I found myself actively wanting to reach into the screen and slap him. This script seems to have been written by someone who has no idea who Spock is, and the result may just be his worst characterization in the entire series.

Scotty: After the ship is thrown off course, he is the one who notes that it "feels wrong" - earning him a chastisement from PodSpock. Once the ship has been sabotaged, Scotty volunteers to go into the Access Tube of Death to attempt to override the sabotage. Gets one of the few good lines of the episode when, in response to Spock's ongoing countdown, he grumbles that he doesn't "need a bloomin' cuckoo clock."

Sulu: When he beamed down with the landing party, I had hopes that we might actually get some decent Sulu scenes, for possibly the first time since Mirror, Mirror. This was not to be. Sulu stands around uselessly in the background, delivering such illuminating lines as that a shipmate suffered "a terrible way to die" (Kirk's rejoinder, equally pithy: "There are no good ways").

Hot Alien Space Babe of the Week: Lee Meriwether is Losira, the lethal projection which selectively kills anyone viewed as an invader. Garbed in a ridiculous harem gear, Losira is hard to take seriously as a threat. Still, Meriwether gets a certain amount of mileage out of the projection's regret over killing, and it's an effective moment when we see the recording of the "real" Losira at the episode's end.


ZAP THE REDSHIRT!

Redshirt Count: Three. The transporter operator gets to lead us into the teaser by being fatally touched by Losira. Geologist D'Amato (Arthur Batanides) lasts a full 15 minutes... but as the only non-regular to beam down to the planet, his fate was inevitable, and his prone form leads us into the next commercial fadeout.

Finally, Crewman Watkins sees the mysterious woman, and it's curtains for him. Still, if his name and position title really did amount to "everything about (him)," as he says when the woman identifies him, then I suppose it wasn't much of a loss.


THOUGHTS

After a run of fairly strong, or at least entertaining, episodes, I suppose it was time for another episode in which the third season would live down to its name. That Which Survives is an episode which resorts to having Spock do a running countdown in order to try to milk tension out of a situation that we know the ship is going to survive. The script characterizes even the series' leads in only the broadest of strokes. The treatment of Spock is appalling, but Kirk and McCoy fare better only in that they are written blandly instead of outright badly.

The story lacks any substance. It's difficult to find anything interesting that Losira and her artificial planet are standing in for, or any message being given here. That isn't in itself a bad thing. There's nothing wrong with a nice, creepy episode simply being a nice, creepy episode. But even on that basis, the episode is a failure. It's bland and lacks any atmosphere at all.  Cheap and tedious, this isn't even bad enough to be funny.  The episode is just sort of... there.

It all leads to a limp ending in which Spock and an anonymous security guard blast a disco cube, followed by the regulars pontificating about whether or not "beauty survives." As the end credits rolled, I had no trouble seeing why this was an episode I barely remembered. I suspect that by this time next week, I will have forgotten most of it all over again.


Rating: 2/10.

Previous Episode: Wink of an Eye
Next Episode: Let That Be Your Last Battlefield

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#39 (2-4): Mirror, Mirror

THE PLOT

The Enterprise is orbitting the Halkan homeworld, where Kirk has been negotiating for rights to mine the planet's dilithium to fuel starships. The negotiations have failed. The Halkans respect the Federation's desire to protect peace, but fear that any advanced civilization might use their dilithium for warlike purposes. Kirk ends the meeting respectfully and he, McCoy, Uhura, and Scotty beam up to the ship...

Cue a transporter malfunction (*drink*). The four find themselves on the Enterprise - but it's a very different ship. Their uniforms resemble those of pirates, Spock has a beard, and the ship's crew are warlike and aggressive. They are still orbitting the Halkan planet, and the negotiations have still failed. But in this alternate reality, Kirk's response is required to be very different. He is under orders to wipe out the Halkan homeworld. When Kirk balks, stalling for time while trying to figure out a way back to his Enterprise, he becomes a target for some of his murderously ambitious underlings.


CHARACTERS

Capt. Kirk: His response to this brutal alternate reality is... in large part, to enjoy it. Kirk seems quite at home punching out subordinate officers to keep them in their places, nor does he in any way mind the idea of having a "Captain's Woman." It's clear that many of the aspects of this universe are ones Kirk would have little trouble adapting to. However, he has no stomach for the brutality of the Empire, as shown by his reaction to the Agony Booth, or his cutting off of the computer's recitation of his counterpart's "career." Ultimately, while he may enjoy being able to put on a little extra swagger (and a little extra weight... Shatner's appreciation of a steady paycheck's ability to buy fine food is starting to show by this episode), Kirk is more at home in "our" universe than in the mirror one.

That Vulcan Voodoo You Do: Mirror-Spock does a forced mind meld on McCoy, thus learning why Kirk and the others have been behaving so differently. Mirror-Spock really isn't that different from Normal-Spock. Spock has been a pragmatist as far back as Where No Man Has Gone Before ("Kill him. While you still can."), this alternative Spock is simply moreso. He has no desire for command, preferring to be Kirk's second. In a more brutal universe, Spock is more open to violence and does not appear at all bothered by the prospect of wiping out the Halkans. But he acknowledges that the Empire cannot last using its current policies, and Kirk's final words to him seem to give him much to think about.

McCoy: Is forced by necessity to assist Scotty in Engineering.  This gives Scotty the series' best reply to McCoy's stock line. When McCoy says that he's "a Doctor, not an engineer," Scotty simply replies, "Now, you're an engineer." His medical ethics will not allow him to leave Mirror-Spock to die, even when doing so would help to make good their escape.

Uhura: After an early moment of doubt and fear, she does quite well in adapting to the mirror universe. She observes Sulu's attraction for her, and uses it to distract him at a critical moment. Then, without breaking character, she slaps him away. Nichelle Nichols clearly enjoys getting some material to play, and it's good to see the series actually acknowledging that Uhura is a sexually desirable woman.  It's particularly refreshing that her sexuality is used to make her powerful, as she consistently has the upper hand in her interactions with Mirror-Sulu.

Villain of the Week: Mr. Sulu! George Takei, too often relegated to saying "Aye, sir. Warp Factor Two," gets to cut loose and revel in sheer, sneering villainy. He is wonderful, obviously having a great time with a meaty role. Whether leering at Uhura, or plotting to remove both Spock and Kirk to advance to the captain's chair, Takei shows real flair and screen presence. The scar on his face even makes him visually memorable, allowing him to dominate almost every scene he's in.

Hot Space Babe of the Week: Barbara Luna is Marlena, the "Captain's Woman." As with everyone in the mirror universe, she is ruthless and conniving. She enjoys her status as the Captain's Woman, and is willing to kill to protect it. It appears that her relationship with Mirror-Kirk was waning. She mentions that Kirk had been more distant, losing interest in her. That may make her more willing to help "our" Kirk, and certainly plays into her willingness to assist Mirror-Spock in deposing the captain. Meanwhile, when Kirk is introduced to the "real" Marlena at the end, he seems more than a little interested in being hands-on with a subordinate.


ZAP THE REDSHIRT!

Redshirt count: Five. But they're all Evil Redshirts.  When Chekov attempts to assassinate Kirk, the captain's rescuer phasers two of Chekov's men, while Marlena vaporizes Sulu's three henchmen. It's good to know that even in the Mirror Universe, it still sucks to be an anonymous security guard/henchman.


THOUGHTS

After a slight blip, the series returns to form with this hugely entertaining adventure. Jerome Bixby turns in a teleplay that utilizes the regular characters very strongly, and that zips along at a fast pace. I have trouble imagining anyone being bored while watching Mirror, Mirror, as the episode leaps right into the high concept (parallel dimension) in the precredit sequence, then tightens the dilemma in which Kirk and his friends find themselves from one scene to the next.

I've already noted the welcome spotlight given to some typically underused characters (Sulu and Uhura). The nature of the script also allows Bixby a clever conceit. The villains are also regulars! Chekov gets to be a would-be villain who, much like "our" Chekhov, finds he's out of his depth. Sulu gets to be a genuine, sneering, conniving baddie. Even Spock, generally Kirk's lifeline in seemingly unwinnable situations, is an adversary, who announces that he will kill Kirk if necessary. By giving us characters we know and, presumably, like and presenting them as villains, the scheming within this Mirror-Enterprise is given an added dimension. This also allows the actors to do something a little different from the norm, and to a one they seem to enjoy the opportunity.

I don't have much else to say on this one. It's a fast-paced, fun-to-watch delight, one that makes the sour taste of The Apple very easy to forget.


Rating: 9/10.

Previous Episode: The Apple
Next Episode: The Deadly Years

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#22 (1-21): Return of the Archons.

THE PLOT

The Enterprise comes to the planet Beta III to learn what happened to the Archon, a ship that disappeared roughly a century earlier. When Sulu and another officer beam down to investigate, they soon find themselves being pursued. They contact the ship... but only Sulu is retrieved, in a bizarre, zombie-like state.

Kirk, Spock, and McCoy lead a second Away Team. They immediately notice how strangely everyone is acting, almost as if the entire population was on drugs. They are greeted pleasantly by locals who direct them to an inn, but tell them to hurry because "the Red Hour" is soon to begin. When the Red Hour strikes, the entire young population seems to go collectively insane, with looting, violence, and violently lustful behavior creating a riot in the streets. When the Away Team refuses to participate, and then questions how the innkeeper, Reger (Harry Townes), could interact calmly the next morning with a man who assaulted his daughter during the Red Hour, they are recognized as outsiders and taken prisoner - to be converted, just as Sulu was, to follow the will of their god, Landru.


CHARACTERS

Capt. Kirk: A trend-setting episode, in that this episode marks the first time that Kirk essentially talks a computer into destroying itself. This episode also marks the first time that Kirk decides that the Prime Directive does not apply - apparently, because the culture on Beta III is not a "living, breathing" culture, but rather a static one. It seems a rather fine distinction, and I can't help but wonder if it is it really Kirk's place to judge whether a culture is evolving sufficiently.  But it at least papers over the Prime Directive in order to allow the plot to actually unfold.

Spock: As a scientist, he has a certain clinical appreciation of the well-ordered nature of Landru's society. As an officer, he backs up Kirk throughout the episode. He is decidedly in a supporting position in this episode, but by playing Devil's Advocate, he does help Kirk to reach the correct conclusions.


THOUGHTS

An intriguing episode, but not an entirely successful one. Return of the Archons has a terrific first half. The mystery of what is occurring on Beta III is well laid-out, with nice little clues laid out at several points.  Major clues include the uniform behavior of the inhabitants, who seem to lack much individuality (save for Reger, of course), and the way in which the Lawgiver cannot take the initiative when Kirk behaves in an unexpected manner. The Red Hour is a particularly creepy little sequence, with these pleasant, smiling zombies suddenly turning into violent rioters... and then, just as abruptly, becoming smiling zombies again.

The Red Hour does point to some of the script's problems, though. This sequence is there to speed up the inhabitants realizing that Kirk and his team are outsiders, and to create a "hook" to plug into the trailers and catch viewer interest. However, it is never adequately explained. If Landru's control of the populace is directed at maintaining peace and order, surely intermittent outbreaks of violence are counterproductive? One can speculate as to reasons - the Red Hour provides a release for negative emotions; the Red Hour likely makes sure that the population expands, as it is unlikely that much procreation gets attended to when the populace is in "smiling zombie" mode - but it is never properly addressed. Once Kirk and his team have been identified as outsiders, the Red Hour is never even mentioned again!

This episode really isn't as well-structured as most of the better TOS episodes have been. A lot is set up in the first half. Too much. By the time Kirk and his team are actively battling Landru, there is very little episode left. This results in a wrap-up that feels just a bit rushed, and a resolution that seems just a bit too easy.

Return of the Archons is still an intriguing and enjoyable episode. The early parts are best, gradually raising the stakes until the Enterprise itself is in imminent danger. However, the second half fails to fully deliver on the early promise, and the resolution lacks tension. It's well worth watching, but in the end too uneven to give as high a score as I might like.


Rating: 6/10.

Previous Episode: Tomorrow Is Yesterday
Next Episode: A Taste of Armageddon

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#17 (1-15): Shore Leave.

Kirk and Spock examine a knight on a planet
where fantasy is becoming dangerously real...

Original Air Date: Dec. 29, 1966. Written by: Theodore Sturgeon. Directed by: Robert Sparr.


THE PLOT

When the Enterprise discovers a world that is lush, peaceful, and completely uninhabited, Kirk decides this is an ideal opportunity to give his weary crew some shore leave. Before the first shore leave team can beam down, however, he receives a report of a strange apparition: a giant white rabbit, followed by a little girl. Kirk dismisses it as one of Dr. McCoy's jokes... until McCoy insists that he's serious, and he's further able to produce a giant rabbit footprint. At this point, Kirk puts all leave on hold until further investigation.

Apparitions continue to appear. Kirk sees one pleasant one in the form of his old flame, Ruth (Shirley Bonne) - followed by the unpleasant one of his old Starfleet Academy bully, Finnegan (Bruce Mars). Sulu finds himself menaced by both a Samurai warrior and a tiger. Meanwhile, a couple of other crew members come under attack by World War II-era fighter planes on strafing runs.

As these encounters grow ever more dangerous, Kirk worries that this superficially peaceful planet may just lead to the deaths of them all!


CHARACTERS

Capt. Kirk: A pleasantly relaxed performance by William Shatner. For more than half the episode, he reacts mainly with bemusement to the bizarre occurrences. He is intoxicated by the vision of Ruth, and he even seems to enjoy the irritation of Finnegan, happy at the thought of getting a bit of revenge on his one-time tormenter. But when events turn dangerous - even deadly - he shifts to the tightly focused captain of most Season One episodes.

Spock: This is a fairly Spock-lite episode. Still, we get a very good character scene in which he tricks Kirk into accepting shore leave. Later, Spock beams down to the planet to investigate directly, and it isn't long before he gains some important insights.

McCoy: He enjoys a dalliance with the much younger Yeoman Barrows (Emily Banks), and much of his time is spent flirting and enjoying her company. Even near the end, when he finds himself in a confrontation with an armed knight, he seems to be playing the part of the protector - and there's very much a sense of playacting to the way he approaches the encounter, with him not realizing that the situation is serious.

Hot Space Babe of the Week: She seems to be a bit of a romantic, with fantasies about knights in armor and Don Juan (both of which come back to haunt her in ways she wouldn't have anticipated). Her crush on McCoy actually makes a refreshing break from all the young women we've seen swooning over Kirk or Spock. The age difference is real, and for a rare change is even noted by the show itself, but it isn't so great that I couldn't imagine her being interested in the gentlemanly, compassionate, and wryly humorous middle-aged doctor.


THOUGHTS

"Refreshing" is probably the best description of this episode. I'll admit up-front that this is a personal favorite, probably my single most rewatched episode of the series. It's a jaunty, vaguely surreal romp that asks viewers to suspend logic and just enjoy the ride. No wonder Spock had to be sidelined this time out!

It's a particularly good-looking episode, production values benefiting from lots of location shooting. Studio sets, even well-designed ones, date, while country exteriors don't. Yes, the World War II planes are obviously stock footage, but the editing of the footage with the actors is well-done.  I initially believed the tiger to be stock footage, as well... but per Memory Alpha, the animal was actually on-set, with William Shatner evidently needing to be shown the tiger at feeding time to discourage him from "wrestling" it on camera. [My thanks to The Whovian Zorker on the now-defunct Outpost Gallifrey for pointing that out.]

The script, by noted science fiction author Theodore Sturgeon, is a good one. It's well-structured, with new questions teasing the viewer at every turn. Everything appears ordinary, until an off-hand comment by McCoy creates the first illusion, leading us into the teaser. The pace at which new apparitions appear is slow at first, gradually increasing alongside the threat level to the regulars. When the situation spirals completely out-of-control, answers are finally provided... ones that fit with everything we've seen up to that point. It's a tidy little masterpiece of television scripting and an episode that rewards multiple viewings.

Besides, it's kind of nice to see the regulars all having a good time.


Rating: 9/10.

Previous Episode: The Menagerie
Next Episode: The Squire of Gothos

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#7 (1-4): The Naked Time

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

Previous Episode: The Man Trap
Next Episode: Charlie X

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