Original air date: February 9, 1968
SYNOPSIS
The Enterprise is guided to a distant, long-dead world where survivors of an extremely ancient race – existing only as disembodied energy – desiring the bodies of Kirk, Spock and astro-biologist Ann Mulhall so that they may live again.
CANON CONTEXT
This episode was the first appearance of Diana Muldaur in the Star Trek franchise. She appeared again as Dr. Miranda Jones in the third season episode, “Is There in Truth No Beauty?” and as Dr. Katherine Pulaski in the second season of Star Trek: The Next Generation. It seems the Star Trek franchise was running low on female actresses to play a doctor?
RECAP
Consider this to be one of the shortest reviews I hope to do for this series. Mostly because it’s a storyline I’ve seen and written about too many times already. Let’s go over it quickly, shall we?
Orb like thing that is a being so god-like it can squash humanity like a bug chooses three members of the Enterprise to inhabit their bodies. Purpose? So they can use these bodies in order to build robots that look human but will live forever. See, they hate living their life in orbs for all eternity. In this form they don’t have hands and legs to build with and to ask a human to build what they need just would take too long. They are far superior and therefore could do the work in less than half the time.
Kirk is squarely on their side and wants to donate his body to this cause. It could mean so much to humanity if they do. Why? Well, I can’t quite explain that right now as it makes little sense but trust him, it does. As usual, Bones is against it and thinks the whole thing is ridiculous. I think he’s jealous that he wasn’t one of the three these orbs chose to inhabit.
The being that inhabits Spock has other plans in mind, especially as his body is far superior in strength and thinking than that of Kirk and Dr. Jones. She is this episode’s “femme fatale” except she’s not a damsel in distress like the others.
Spock plans on killing Jones and Kirk and taking control of the ship all while remaining in the body he’s in.
But, like any warm blooded human he would love some companionship or at least an ally. Who better than the woman. If he could only get rid of her husband. Let us take a brief pause to see what the male robot they are building will look like.
The perfect male specimen? Yikes. I feel bad for the actor who had to lay there during this scene lathered in that vaseline?
Suffice it to say, the orb who inhabits Kirk’s body dies, taking Kirk with him. The woman decides not to help Spock, but instead to use her power to revive Kirk. I had no doubt of this. And you shouldn’t either.
In the end, the leader of the tri-orb (as I like to think of them) didn’t really die, just like Kirk didn’t. He is pleased that his wife didn’t succumb to the evil ways of their friend who was busy trying to take over the Enterprise (and by extension the world). All of the gods return to their orbs where they voluntarily destroy their orb vessels and “disappear into space”? No idea, really. Let’s just say they are gone and all is right in the world.
DID THEY REALLY SAY THAT?
Capt. Kirk: They used to say if man could fly, he’d have wings, but he did fly. He discovered he had to. Do you wish that the first Apollo mission hadn’t reached the moon, or that we hadn’t gone on to Mars and then to the nearest star? That’s like saying you wish that you still operated with scalpels and sewed your patients up with catgut like your great-great-great-great grandfather used to. I’m in command. I could order this, but I’m not because Doctor McCoy is right in pointing out the enormous danger potential in any contact with life and intelligence as fantastically advanced as this, but I must point out that the possibilities – the potential for knowledge and advancement – is equally great. Risk! Risk is our business. That’s what this starship is all about. That’s why we’re aboard her. You may dissent without prejudice. Do I hear a negative vote?
