Up now: Return to Tomorrow (02/09/1968)
Eric, Rob, and I did a podcast for this one:
Eric starts us out this time:
Return to Tomorrow is one of those episodes that's a mixed bag. It is commendable in many ways, but there are detractors too.
Just as a matter of trivia, Dr. Ann Mulhall is played by Diana Muldaur, who also played Miranda Jones in the third season episode, "Is There in Truth No Beauty" and Dr. Katherine Pulaski in the second season of Star Trek: The Next Generation.
In any case, let's begin with the positives. One thing I always enjoy about this episode is getting a glimpse into the fictional prehistory of our galaxy. Sargon's race existed long before humanity and may have been responsible for some of the intelligent humanoid races that subsequently evolved. (This could present some serious continuity problems, given what ST:TNG established about the prehistory of intelligent humanoid species in our galaxy, but I'll save that geekiness for another time.) Leonard Nimoy also does a delightful job playing the evil Henoch--I have to believe that was a great deal of fun. And not to be outdone, DeForest Kelley turns in a subtle but excellent scene when McCoy refuses to betray Kirk and Mulhall saying she will not "peddle flesh!" Probably the most moving scene, though, is when Kirk, in a briefing, delivers a spot-on summary of the mission of the Enterprise, which is by extension a summary of Star Trek.
On the down side, it was less than satisfying to see the crew being used as helpless pawns in the power struggle between Sargon and Henoch. That sort of situation usually is a hallmark of a sub-par episode. And the resolution of the episode seems a bit contrived and muddled. In spite of these detractors, however, I find that Return to Tomorrow holds up surprisingly well.
---
I realize this sounds like a repeat of some earlier reviews, but this is another one of those episodes that I have never loved, but also didn't despise. I'll get back to that factor later as I believe that Eric nailed the fundamental issue with this episode well.
So here we are, watching our brave heroes cruising along in space when some alien intelligence contacts them from a seemingly dead planet in a remote section of the galaxy. The idea of the Enterprise encountering this sort of situation has always been compelling for me; it is good, classic science fiction. The setup here looks good: who were these people? What happened to their civilization? How did they keep the lights going for centuries in those plastic globes? Of course we can't have some big cheese from a long-dead advanced civilization appearing without a healthy dose of condescension: "my son." Shouldn't that bother Kirk just a bit after the treatment he and the crew got from Apollo?
As soon as it's revealed that Sargon and the other aliens want to "borrow" Kirk and company for a while that we get one of the better parts of this episode. The cast actually has a decent discussion about making contact with aliens like that. McCoy is placed as the skeptic here and he has a very good point, but has no chance when Kirk gives his "risk is our business" speech. It's a good one that serves to prime the viewer for some good old fashioned alien mind control. As Eric pointed out already, a real weakness in this episode is the way that the main characters become sidelined while Sargon and Henoch battle it out. I also have to ask: if Sargon is so incredibly smart, why doesn't he think twice before letting Tenoch (Spock) out of his globe, knowing he was an enemy in the old interstellar war? The story resolution feels like a cheat with the aliens seeing the error of their ways (not so smart, eh?) and disappearing into outer space. But at least they have their love to keep them warm...
Another factor here is the way that Shatner acts when Sargon is in his body. Not only do we get the scenery chewing Kirk-like performance, but the acting has this extra slow-moving heft that looks silly even for Shatner. Compounding the issue is the insistence on using an echo effect for the aliens whenever they are in their bodies. Would it have killed the director to rely on the actors to tell us when the characters had changed?. Nimoy fares best under these circumstances as he gets to play an evil, conniving character that is completely different than Spock. Sargon is like an older stuffed shirt version of Kirk. Diana Muldaur is fine, but I have never really warmed to her performances either in the Original Series or her turn as Dr. Pulaski on Next Generation. Maybe it's just me...
The effects on the Blu-Ray version look fine, though there wasn't a lot of new material. Maybe I would have been more impressed if they'd offered an alternate audio track that removed the echo from Shatner's voice!
Next time: "Patterns of Force"
(YES!!!)
Tuesday, May 31, 2011
Thursday, March 17, 2011
TOS Rewind #46: "A Private Little War"
Today, we take on A Private Little War
(02/02/1968)
We did a podcast for this episode where we discuss wigs, St. Patricks Day vocalizations, and even Star Trek:
One of the elements of classic Star Trek that is often recognized is how the show weaved social and political ideas of the 1960s into its narratives. "A Private Little War" puts the Vietnam War front and center. I often appreciate the way Trek does this, but in this episode it comes off as a bit heavy-handed and obvious.
The story begins with Kirk returning to a world he served on years prior on, we assume, some sort of information-gathering mission. It would be interesting to learn whether this was a standard Federation practice: embed Starfleet officers within primitive planetary cultures. Was this some sort of scientific mission? This is the sort of thing that Next Generation handled with much more credibility. The other thought I had was that this could fall under the pre-Prime Directive policies for Kirk's friend Tyree seems to know Kirk is from another word even if he doesn't fully grasp the reality of people from other planets traveling through space. Unfortunately this idea is given very little time before we're plunged into the main Klingon intervention plot. Once we learn how the rival villagers (village people???) are obtaining weapons far too advanced for them to have developed on their own, the story turns on whether or not Kirk will decide to even the odds by arming the hill people, including his old friend. Another wrinkle in the plot is the fact that Tyree is a peaceful man who is very reluctant to fight. What we are not told is the motivation for the Klingons arming the one side. Since they obviously have no qualms about breaking the peace treaty by mucking about in a planet's development, why don't they just simply walk in and take over? In any case, the one representative of the Klingons seems more like a slimy bureaucrat than the much more interesting Kor from "Errand of Mercy." This guy is lame enough that he isn't even referred to by name (he is listed in the credits) in the script. We know instantly that this particular Klingon would have his ass handed to him by Kirk in a fight.
No, the real issues go back to whether or not Kirk arms the other side and whether or not Spock manages to recover from his gunshot wound. Spock being wounded of course keeps him back aboard the Enterprise in the Sickbay. This has the unfortunate result of Spock not being present during the discussions down on the planet where they decide to arm the hill people. Spock would normally be a natural counterpoint to Kirk's, ahem, militaristic tendencies. The naysayer in the debate ends up being McCoy and he just isn't up to the task (I'm a Doctor, not a policy wonk!).
I think one of the more dissatisfying parts of this episode, is the way the story is resolved. Sure, Spock recovers, but the story is wrapped up without much of a nod as to the results of not only the Klingon interference, but Kirk's. Is this another time when Kirk goes against regulations, relying on his instincts? It would have been nice to see at least a small mention of the big picture since they spent time earlier in the episode telling us why it was a big deal that the Klingons were arming the villagers.
As far as the characters go, we don't get a lot of Spock as he is taken out fairly early. However, we do learn some more Vulcan background; the way Vulcans heal themselves with the help of pure mental willpower. Kirk gets his usual share of scenery chewing and McCoy has plenty of choice reaction shots. Come to think of it, McCoy doesn't get much action in this episode. With Noona (Tyree's wife), the local roots/drugs expert taking care of Kirk's poison bite and Dr. M'Benga looking after Spock (supposedly an expert on Vulcans), poor 'ol McCoy just gets to hang around and watch Kirk and Tyree get high on Noona's drug roots. Roots...hahaha. Speaking of Noona, she is quite the stereotypical "native" or "exotic" woman, isn't she? Of course, we can't always blame her for getting tired of the milquetoast Tyree who acts like he'd rather hang out in the cave sniffing Noona's, um, roots. We talked on the podcast about the silly wigs the planet's people wear; another cheap way to make the "aliens" look different.
Growing up, I remember having a somewhat indifferent attitude to this episode. There are no space battles or interesting aliens to recommend the episode. There are some fights, such as one where Kirk wrestles around with a guy in a white furry costume, but they just don't have the punch (sorry) of some other fight-heavy episodes. Plus all the scenes with Noona writhing around in a sexual way wasn't all that impressive to a ten-year old. What is impressive about Noona's writhing is the way it apparently got by the censors of the time. It looks pretty, well erotic. At least it is for 1960s Star Trek. I count it as yet another example of a genre show slipping things under the radar.
As usual, I watched the BD version of the episode with the enhanced effects. The new effects were quite limited with a few orbital flybys, though they threw in a Klingon ship that I am pretty sure wasn't in the original. The outdoor scenes, of which there are many, look fantastic in HD. The detail was so good that I was able to spot spray paint marks on some of the rocks. I guess this area was (is?) a popular hangout near Los Angeles at the time.
---
And Eric's take:
I really don't have much to say about "A Private Little War." It's an average episode, and as such, my feelings about it are also average. The story, an anti-Vietnam War polemic, is certainly well-intentioned, but it is far too overt to be effective. (At one point, McCoy even refers to the twentieth century wars in Southeast Asia.)
I also object to the obnoxious white wigs they put on the actors playing the inhabitants of the planet (cleverly called Neural). If that's all the makeup effects budget would allow, they should've just let them look like twentieth century humans... as if a wig would distinguish them as aliens.
Still, the dialectic between Kirk and McCoy was fun to watch, although I would've liked to have seen Spock involved in the debate. The violent, warlike history of the Vulcans no doubt would've given him an interesting perspective. And in the end, I don't see how Kirk's solution isn't a blatant violation of the Prime Directive, regardless of whether or not the Klingons had already interfered. But the end of the episode is inconclusive, so there was a twenty-year wait to see the result (albeit indirectly).
The Next Generation episode "Too Short A Season" aired on February 8, 1988 and featured an ailing and aged (but very Kirk-like) Starfleet Admiral sent on one last diplomatic mission to a planet where, forty years ago, he rescued a group of hostages by giving in to their captors' demand for arms, and then arming the opposing side with exactly the same weapons. His rationale was that it would preserve a balance of power. Sound familiar? The problem, as it turns out, was that it plunged the planet into 40 years of bloody civil war. So apparently, in the twenty years between "A Private Little War" and "Too Short A Season," Roddenberry seriously reconsidered his ideas about ways to prevent (or end) violent conflict.
Next time: "Return to Tomorrow"
(02/02/1968)
We did a podcast for this episode where we discuss wigs, St. Patricks Day vocalizations, and even Star Trek:
One of the elements of classic Star Trek that is often recognized is how the show weaved social and political ideas of the 1960s into its narratives. "A Private Little War" puts the Vietnam War front and center. I often appreciate the way Trek does this, but in this episode it comes off as a bit heavy-handed and obvious.
The story begins with Kirk returning to a world he served on years prior on, we assume, some sort of information-gathering mission. It would be interesting to learn whether this was a standard Federation practice: embed Starfleet officers within primitive planetary cultures. Was this some sort of scientific mission? This is the sort of thing that Next Generation handled with much more credibility. The other thought I had was that this could fall under the pre-Prime Directive policies for Kirk's friend Tyree seems to know Kirk is from another word even if he doesn't fully grasp the reality of people from other planets traveling through space. Unfortunately this idea is given very little time before we're plunged into the main Klingon intervention plot. Once we learn how the rival villagers (village people???) are obtaining weapons far too advanced for them to have developed on their own, the story turns on whether or not Kirk will decide to even the odds by arming the hill people, including his old friend. Another wrinkle in the plot is the fact that Tyree is a peaceful man who is very reluctant to fight. What we are not told is the motivation for the Klingons arming the one side. Since they obviously have no qualms about breaking the peace treaty by mucking about in a planet's development, why don't they just simply walk in and take over? In any case, the one representative of the Klingons seems more like a slimy bureaucrat than the much more interesting Kor from "Errand of Mercy." This guy is lame enough that he isn't even referred to by name (he is listed in the credits) in the script. We know instantly that this particular Klingon would have his ass handed to him by Kirk in a fight.
No, the real issues go back to whether or not Kirk arms the other side and whether or not Spock manages to recover from his gunshot wound. Spock being wounded of course keeps him back aboard the Enterprise in the Sickbay. This has the unfortunate result of Spock not being present during the discussions down on the planet where they decide to arm the hill people. Spock would normally be a natural counterpoint to Kirk's, ahem, militaristic tendencies. The naysayer in the debate ends up being McCoy and he just isn't up to the task (I'm a Doctor, not a policy wonk!).
I think one of the more dissatisfying parts of this episode, is the way the story is resolved. Sure, Spock recovers, but the story is wrapped up without much of a nod as to the results of not only the Klingon interference, but Kirk's. Is this another time when Kirk goes against regulations, relying on his instincts? It would have been nice to see at least a small mention of the big picture since they spent time earlier in the episode telling us why it was a big deal that the Klingons were arming the villagers.
As far as the characters go, we don't get a lot of Spock as he is taken out fairly early. However, we do learn some more Vulcan background; the way Vulcans heal themselves with the help of pure mental willpower. Kirk gets his usual share of scenery chewing and McCoy has plenty of choice reaction shots. Come to think of it, McCoy doesn't get much action in this episode. With Noona (Tyree's wife), the local roots/drugs expert taking care of Kirk's poison bite and Dr. M'Benga looking after Spock (supposedly an expert on Vulcans), poor 'ol McCoy just gets to hang around and watch Kirk and Tyree get high on Noona's drug roots. Roots...hahaha. Speaking of Noona, she is quite the stereotypical "native" or "exotic" woman, isn't she? Of course, we can't always blame her for getting tired of the milquetoast Tyree who acts like he'd rather hang out in the cave sniffing Noona's, um, roots. We talked on the podcast about the silly wigs the planet's people wear; another cheap way to make the "aliens" look different.
Growing up, I remember having a somewhat indifferent attitude to this episode. There are no space battles or interesting aliens to recommend the episode. There are some fights, such as one where Kirk wrestles around with a guy in a white furry costume, but they just don't have the punch (sorry) of some other fight-heavy episodes. Plus all the scenes with Noona writhing around in a sexual way wasn't all that impressive to a ten-year old. What is impressive about Noona's writhing is the way it apparently got by the censors of the time. It looks pretty, well erotic. At least it is for 1960s Star Trek. I count it as yet another example of a genre show slipping things under the radar.
As usual, I watched the BD version of the episode with the enhanced effects. The new effects were quite limited with a few orbital flybys, though they threw in a Klingon ship that I am pretty sure wasn't in the original. The outdoor scenes, of which there are many, look fantastic in HD. The detail was so good that I was able to spot spray paint marks on some of the rocks. I guess this area was (is?) a popular hangout near Los Angeles at the time.
---
And Eric's take:
I really don't have much to say about "A Private Little War." It's an average episode, and as such, my feelings about it are also average. The story, an anti-Vietnam War polemic, is certainly well-intentioned, but it is far too overt to be effective. (At one point, McCoy even refers to the twentieth century wars in Southeast Asia.)
I also object to the obnoxious white wigs they put on the actors playing the inhabitants of the planet (cleverly called Neural). If that's all the makeup effects budget would allow, they should've just let them look like twentieth century humans... as if a wig would distinguish them as aliens.
Still, the dialectic between Kirk and McCoy was fun to watch, although I would've liked to have seen Spock involved in the debate. The violent, warlike history of the Vulcans no doubt would've given him an interesting perspective. And in the end, I don't see how Kirk's solution isn't a blatant violation of the Prime Directive, regardless of whether or not the Klingons had already interfered. But the end of the episode is inconclusive, so there was a twenty-year wait to see the result (albeit indirectly).
The Next Generation episode "Too Short A Season" aired on February 8, 1988 and featured an ailing and aged (but very Kirk-like) Starfleet Admiral sent on one last diplomatic mission to a planet where, forty years ago, he rescued a group of hostages by giving in to their captors' demand for arms, and then arming the opposing side with exactly the same weapons. His rationale was that it would preserve a balance of power. Sound familiar? The problem, as it turns out, was that it plunged the planet into 40 years of bloody civil war. So apparently, in the twenty years between "A Private Little War" and "Too Short A Season," Roddenberry seriously reconsidered his ideas about ways to prevent (or end) violent conflict.
Next time: "Return to Tomorrow"
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
Your Call Cannot Be Completed As Dialed
2015 update: Nostalgia is eternal, so this entry came along for the ride.
This week, my home landline telephone service was shut off and I have now joined the ever-growing group of people doing without the copper.
Making this change brought out a bit of nostalgia as this is the first time I have ever not had traditional phone service in my home. This is the phone I remember most from my childhood in Rapid City:
Hallmarks of those phones were that they always seemed to work and the buttons were lit. Those old phones were built like tanks (and weighed about as much too) and seemed to last forever.
Even without the solid build of the old Bell System phones, the landline phone remains the most reliable way to talk to someone. Even when the electricity fails, the phone still works.
I will always remember all the old clicks and associated noises the phone systems made when you placed a call, especially a long-distance one. There was just enough of a delay and other audible evidence to remind you that you were talking to someone far away.
I have yet to hear a cell phone that matches the ancient technology of the landline phone for voice quality. That's kind of sad, in a way. I recently got an iPhone, which I generally like very much, but despite all the amazing technology contained in this mobile computer, the cheapest old landline phone in my home still makes better calls. Such is the price of progress, I suppose. Skype calls over the Internet can sound better, but sometimes don't. I do have hope that someday, cell phones will be able to measure up to what we're all abandoning.
It may sound funny to hear that, but as much as I might like calling people on a landline phone, I found myself using it less and less. Cell phones as just too damned convenient and the cost issues made the decision easy. Maybe I'll miss the old phones, but I doubt it. Besides, who wants to talk to people anyway?
This week, my home landline telephone service was shut off and I have now joined the ever-growing group of people doing without the copper.
Making this change brought out a bit of nostalgia as this is the first time I have ever not had traditional phone service in my home. This is the phone I remember most from my childhood in Rapid City:
Hallmarks of those phones were that they always seemed to work and the buttons were lit. Those old phones were built like tanks (and weighed about as much too) and seemed to last forever.
Even without the solid build of the old Bell System phones, the landline phone remains the most reliable way to talk to someone. Even when the electricity fails, the phone still works.
I will always remember all the old clicks and associated noises the phone systems made when you placed a call, especially a long-distance one. There was just enough of a delay and other audible evidence to remind you that you were talking to someone far away.
I have yet to hear a cell phone that matches the ancient technology of the landline phone for voice quality. That's kind of sad, in a way. I recently got an iPhone, which I generally like very much, but despite all the amazing technology contained in this mobile computer, the cheapest old landline phone in my home still makes better calls. Such is the price of progress, I suppose. Skype calls over the Internet can sound better, but sometimes don't. I do have hope that someday, cell phones will be able to measure up to what we're all abandoning.
It may sound funny to hear that, but as much as I might like calling people on a landline phone, I found myself using it less and less. Cell phones as just too damned convenient and the cost issues made the decision easy. Maybe I'll miss the old phones, but I doubt it. Besides, who wants to talk to people anyway?
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
TOS Rewind #45: "The Immunity Syndrome"
OK, back in the saddle with a real classic from Season 2: The Immunity Syndrome (1/19/1968)
Eric, Rob, and I did a podcast for this one:
I'm starting things off this time:
This episode falls into the classic formula where the Enterprise finds something out in space and has to deal with it. For me, this kind of story line is one of the core narratives in Star Trek and also one of the most appealing. This exploration narrative has some real science fiction meat to it; the ideas here are quite compelling. One of the aspects of Trek that I have always been attracted to is the idea of the Enterprise being out there in space, just exploring and sometimes they find some very bad things. In this case, the menace is a totally mindless and yet very deadly life form that must be destroyed before it gets too far into populated space. On the surface, this has some similarities to the challenge presented in "The Doomsday Machine," back in Season 1. Hell, there is even a prior failed attempt by another Federation starship. However, the way the crew goes about handling the creature in this episode is different.
Having the Intrepid, first ship to encounter the creature manned entirely by Vulcans is an interesting twist. The way the Intrepid is portrayed in the episode makes it a good addition to Spock's character and the entire Vulcan development on the show. When the crew of the Intrepid dies, Spock feels them die, even from a relatively vast distance away. This sense of connectedness is nicely used in the dialogue when Spock explains this to Kirk and McCoy with a comment about how humans just might have had fewer bloody wars if they had this kind of sensitivity; humans care deeply about individuals, yet can be quite indifferent to mass suffering. George Lucas would later use this idea in the first Star Wars movie when Obi Wan Kenobi (hey, did you know that MS Word recognizes "Obi Wan Kenobi" in its dictionary?!) feels the people of Alderaan cry out before they are blown to smithereens; Vulcan Jedi mind tricks indeed.
The pacing of this episode from when the Enterprise is trapped in the void of the creature is very effective. It is established that the crew is already tired and due for some down time. The fact that the creature saps energy from the ship and the people aboard is nicely integrated into the story and the way the characters act as the story plays out.
Perhaps one of the best things I see in this episode is the way that the Kirk/Spock/McCoy dynamic is used, especially between Spock and McCoy. The way that the two fight about which one of them is more suited to go on the shuttle mission, which is sure to be a one-way trip, is handled very well. Not only are both of them driven by their scientific curiosity, but also in a last way to one-up the other and go out in a blaze of glory. Spock's human side is on full display this time. The most effective scenes are when Spock asks McCoy to wish him luck before he gets aboard the shuttle; McCoy says nothing, but wishes him luck after the doors have closed. Later, when it looks like Spock is doomed, he makes a last jab at McCoy, "Doctor, you should have wished me luck." Wow, that is actually very powerful stuff for those two. Between those lines and the reaction of McCoy and Kirk packs quite the emotional wallop. The character dynamic of these characters really didn't get much better than that.
This episode has always been a favorite of mine, even when I was growing up. There isn't any real space combat, but the dramatic tension, sense of danger, and space exploration ideas really worked for me. The addition of weird creature shots in space combined with the ships being menaced by a humongous space amoeba-like thing did the trick.
I once again watched the BD version with the new effects shots. I was pretty happy with the way they did the new shots although I always felt that the original effects worked remarkably well on this episode so I don't know how much there really was to improve upon. As always, the image quality was top notch.
---
Now let's see what Eric has to say on this one:
When I saw that "The Immunity Syndrome" was coming up, I felt a bit of trepidation. It had been years since I'd seen it, and I had to wonder if the premise of a giant space amoeba would hold up or be unbearably campy. As it turned out, I was pleasantly surprised.
All the usual plaudits apply: good story, acting, direction, and production. But what puts this episode in my top 20 (maybe top 10) is that it has heart. The script manages to be genuinely dramatic (no cliché or self-parody), and the character interactions, particularly those between Kirk, Spock, and McCoy, are poignant and touching without being maudlin. My favorite line is Spock's: "Tell Dr. McCoy he should have wished me luck."
Another aspect of "The Immunity Syndrome" I appreciate is that it introduces some really cool SF concepts in an intelligent, believable way. My initial concern about the "giant space amoeba" element of the story was unfounded. The way McCoy describes the creature is simply to compare it to an amoeba as the closest analog in our science. And the idea that there could be an entity so huge that to it we're nothing more than microscopic particles is a delightfully mind-bending concept.
Thanks to John, I got to see the remastered version of this episode, and unlike some of the other remastered episodes, this one is a worthwhile improvement over the original. The new special effects of the creature and its interaction with the Enterprise are subtle but impressive.
For me, there are no real negatives associated with "The Immunity Syndrome." As fas as I'm concerned, we can chalk up another home run for original Star Trek.
Next time: "Return to Tomorrow"
Eric, Rob, and I did a podcast for this one:
I'm starting things off this time:
This episode falls into the classic formula where the Enterprise finds something out in space and has to deal with it. For me, this kind of story line is one of the core narratives in Star Trek and also one of the most appealing. This exploration narrative has some real science fiction meat to it; the ideas here are quite compelling. One of the aspects of Trek that I have always been attracted to is the idea of the Enterprise being out there in space, just exploring and sometimes they find some very bad things. In this case, the menace is a totally mindless and yet very deadly life form that must be destroyed before it gets too far into populated space. On the surface, this has some similarities to the challenge presented in "The Doomsday Machine," back in Season 1. Hell, there is even a prior failed attempt by another Federation starship. However, the way the crew goes about handling the creature in this episode is different.
Having the Intrepid, first ship to encounter the creature manned entirely by Vulcans is an interesting twist. The way the Intrepid is portrayed in the episode makes it a good addition to Spock's character and the entire Vulcan development on the show. When the crew of the Intrepid dies, Spock feels them die, even from a relatively vast distance away. This sense of connectedness is nicely used in the dialogue when Spock explains this to Kirk and McCoy with a comment about how humans just might have had fewer bloody wars if they had this kind of sensitivity; humans care deeply about individuals, yet can be quite indifferent to mass suffering. George Lucas would later use this idea in the first Star Wars movie when Obi Wan Kenobi (hey, did you know that MS Word recognizes "Obi Wan Kenobi" in its dictionary?!) feels the people of Alderaan cry out before they are blown to smithereens; Vulcan Jedi mind tricks indeed.
The pacing of this episode from when the Enterprise is trapped in the void of the creature is very effective. It is established that the crew is already tired and due for some down time. The fact that the creature saps energy from the ship and the people aboard is nicely integrated into the story and the way the characters act as the story plays out.
Perhaps one of the best things I see in this episode is the way that the Kirk/Spock/McCoy dynamic is used, especially between Spock and McCoy. The way that the two fight about which one of them is more suited to go on the shuttle mission, which is sure to be a one-way trip, is handled very well. Not only are both of them driven by their scientific curiosity, but also in a last way to one-up the other and go out in a blaze of glory. Spock's human side is on full display this time. The most effective scenes are when Spock asks McCoy to wish him luck before he gets aboard the shuttle; McCoy says nothing, but wishes him luck after the doors have closed. Later, when it looks like Spock is doomed, he makes a last jab at McCoy, "Doctor, you should have wished me luck." Wow, that is actually very powerful stuff for those two. Between those lines and the reaction of McCoy and Kirk packs quite the emotional wallop. The character dynamic of these characters really didn't get much better than that.
This episode has always been a favorite of mine, even when I was growing up. There isn't any real space combat, but the dramatic tension, sense of danger, and space exploration ideas really worked for me. The addition of weird creature shots in space combined with the ships being menaced by a humongous space amoeba-like thing did the trick.
I once again watched the BD version with the new effects shots. I was pretty happy with the way they did the new shots although I always felt that the original effects worked remarkably well on this episode so I don't know how much there really was to improve upon. As always, the image quality was top notch.
---
Now let's see what Eric has to say on this one:
When I saw that "The Immunity Syndrome" was coming up, I felt a bit of trepidation. It had been years since I'd seen it, and I had to wonder if the premise of a giant space amoeba would hold up or be unbearably campy. As it turned out, I was pleasantly surprised.
All the usual plaudits apply: good story, acting, direction, and production. But what puts this episode in my top 20 (maybe top 10) is that it has heart. The script manages to be genuinely dramatic (no cliché or self-parody), and the character interactions, particularly those between Kirk, Spock, and McCoy, are poignant and touching without being maudlin. My favorite line is Spock's: "Tell Dr. McCoy he should have wished me luck."
Another aspect of "The Immunity Syndrome" I appreciate is that it introduces some really cool SF concepts in an intelligent, believable way. My initial concern about the "giant space amoeba" element of the story was unfounded. The way McCoy describes the creature is simply to compare it to an amoeba as the closest analog in our science. And the idea that there could be an entity so huge that to it we're nothing more than microscopic particles is a delightfully mind-bending concept.
Thanks to John, I got to see the remastered version of this episode, and unlike some of the other remastered episodes, this one is a worthwhile improvement over the original. The new special effects of the creature and its interaction with the Enterprise are subtle but impressive.
For me, there are no real negatives associated with "The Immunity Syndrome." As fas as I'm concerned, we can chalk up another home run for original Star Trek.
Next time: "Return to Tomorrow"
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