Welcome
back to Underrated Trek, where I take a special look at Star Trek
episodes that I love…which may not be the most popular or even liked by
most. Ah, third season Classic Trek. We make fun of it but there were
some good episodes to be found. “The Enterprise Incident” for instance. I
already talked about third season episodes “Turnabout Intruder” and
“And The Children Shall Lead” which are both hard for me to admit I like
since they are each pretty cheesy. This one is different, I proudly
like this episode even if I am in a minority. This is :
Plot Synopsis:
The Enterprise is on its way to Memory Alpha to drop off the new officer assigned there, Mira Romaine. Suddenly the ship intercept an odd phenomenon, lights which invade the ship and paralyze the crew. The one most clearly entranced in Romaine herself.
After the lights withdraw Romaine passes out. She soon begins to experience strange visions. The crew beam down to Memory Alpha, where the storm had just been, to find everyone dead and one dead person muttering like Romaine did when she passed out. When Mira is brought down, she realizes the vision she had before was in fact a premonition of the dead at Memory Alpha!
While Scotty dismisses Romaine’s fears, the storm return and engages the Enterprise. It soon becomes clear that Romaine and the storm share some sort of symbiotic relationship. As the Lights invade the ship, and eventually Mira, it is revealed the Lights are in fact the remains of the long dead planet Zetar. They want to live out their lives through Mira because of her unusual mental capacity. Mira is placed into an anti-grav chamber where the extreme pressure drive out, and kills, the aliens.
Guest Stars:
Jan Shutan is really good in the role. More in a bit.
Things I Hated:
Ok, I get that Scotty loves her but he does get a little to over protective in this episode and it does get annoying. At first it’s sweet but after awhile I wonder why Romaine doesn’t tell him to chill out. Of course this is the 60’s when women had to be “protected”. Heck both Kirk and McCoy refer to her as “the girl”. She was a sciences division specialist for pete’s sake! And when Scotty dismisses her when she is explaining her experiences, saying it’s “space sickness”. Yuck. I get he wants her safe but just dismissing her concerns seems, well, heartless. The “romance” is Ok, At first she seems more amused at him, but seems to cling to hum for support as the episode goes on which is nice. At least you feel like she could possibly love him back unlike Lt.Whatsername in “Whom Mourns for Adonais”. But Scotty’s lamest scene comes when rather then follow his orders and go to his post during a crisis he goes to Sick-Bay to check on “the girl”. Even Kirk wasn’t amused but that one!
The solution to this episode involves putting Romaine in the anti-grav chamber. And while the episode tries up the tension, it does kind of fail. I mean it’s just Spock raising the pressure for five minutes…exciting. Especially when you stop and wonder how come the lights could pass through every other bulkhead in the ship but not the chamber walls?? Maybe once they enter a host they are trapped, I guess. The worst part is that once Romaine is put into the chamber, we see her but she never gets another line of dialogue! She smiles at Scotty who says that they know have all the time in the world (how when he is on the ship and is assigned to Memory Alpha? I never got that either).
I would have liked more closure to Romaine’s character. Why not show her leaving the ship and saying goodbye, rather than the silly tag we did get? It would have been nice to know how she felt after that ordeal! Instead we get told she is fine. If you’re wondering the tag is just McCoy, Spock, and Scotty agreeing she can go back to work-and Kirk amazed they all agree for once. No discussing it with her, asking her opinion, just the four men agreeing she fit for duty, followed by the lame joke by Kirk that even McCoy looks perplexed about. It’s forced and lame and the episode could have done something better.
Things I Liked:
Jan Shutan is really good in the role. She gets some background, it’s her unusual mental capacity which makes her ideal for the Zetarians (?). Shutan does a great job making us feel what Romaine is feeling, at first she is confused and scared about the experience which makes her defensive. The way the “possession” is illustrated is cool too. First that cool eye effect, which I think works just fine! Then she gets premonitions, and when the Enterprise fires their phasers into the lights she crumples to the floor in pain! Finally rather than give in she does what she can to help and fights the Lights as hard as she can. Strong character, no wonder she appeared in other media after this episode. Shutan is one of those Trek guest stars that has kind of been forgotten, but I love her here. She hasn’t worked in many years but is still alive. The episode works because I like this character and want to see what happens to her. To bad we don’t get more of her especially in the third act where she basically becomes invisible.
This is one of the of better thrown together aliens on the show, well the third season anyway. The crappy effect makes sense (and is better in the re-mastered version). And it is not only identified but given a backstory! Compare this to “Day of the Dove” where the vague alien life form is given no name, no identity, no backstory-we just know it likes to screw with people. Here we learn the lights are the essence of what is left of the civilization on Zetar. Somehow they continue to survive and have decided Romaine would be a good fit to live their lives inside. The scene where they speak through her are chilling. Also Memory Alpha was really cool! Just the concept alone, a library planet for the Federation. Why not? But the depiction was well done to. Yeah it was a re-dressed set and all but they did a good job with it. And the scenes there are very dark and even spooky. Especially when that one survivor starts mumbling with the glowing face…eerie. One other cool thing we see an Andorian and Tellarite (in good make-up!!!)
I thought the Bridge scenes were handled very well. By this point the creators had realized that the fans liked it when the other characters chimed in, so rather than it just being Kirk and Spock everyone contributes. This is seen in other third season episodes (Tholian Web comes to mind) and is one of the few things that the 3rd season honestly has over the first. The battle between the Enterprise and the Lights is well done and well paced. And that ,moment when Spock says “Not what is it, who are they” is kind of chilling.
Finally, I was going to comment on ow great the music is, forgetting it wasn’t “new” for the episode. In fact it was written by Alexander Courage for “Where No Man”. But heck it may be re-hashed music but it still works! That first scene on the Bridge where Romaine first encounters the lights is all about that music, it just sells it! In fact I will go so far as to say the moody music fits in much better on “Zetar” than in that earlier episode. And yeah this could be considered a clone of that episode but again, I like this one better.
Final Thoughts-Yeah Ok this isn’t the most socially relevant episode or even fastest paced episode you’re going to find, but it’s a nice character piece with decent action and suspense. And it’s an episode I love watching over and over.
Written by Jeremy Tarcher with his wife Shari Lewis (yes, THAT Shari
Lewis. She loved the show and even wanted to play Lt.Romaine) we get an
average but still decent episode. So, what makes it so good?
Plot Synopsis:
The Enterprise is on its way to Memory Alpha to drop off the new officer assigned there, Mira Romaine. Suddenly the ship intercept an odd phenomenon, lights which invade the ship and paralyze the crew. The one most clearly entranced in Romaine herself.
After the lights withdraw Romaine passes out. She soon begins to experience strange visions. The crew beam down to Memory Alpha, where the storm had just been, to find everyone dead and one dead person muttering like Romaine did when she passed out. When Mira is brought down, she realizes the vision she had before was in fact a premonition of the dead at Memory Alpha!
While Scotty dismisses Romaine’s fears, the storm return and engages the Enterprise. It soon becomes clear that Romaine and the storm share some sort of symbiotic relationship. As the Lights invade the ship, and eventually Mira, it is revealed the Lights are in fact the remains of the long dead planet Zetar. They want to live out their lives through Mira because of her unusual mental capacity. Mira is placed into an anti-grav chamber where the extreme pressure drive out, and kills, the aliens.
Guest Stars:
Jan Shutan is really good in the role. More in a bit.
Things I Hated:
Ok, I get that Scotty loves her but he does get a little to over protective in this episode and it does get annoying. At first it’s sweet but after awhile I wonder why Romaine doesn’t tell him to chill out. Of course this is the 60’s when women had to be “protected”. Heck both Kirk and McCoy refer to her as “the girl”. She was a sciences division specialist for pete’s sake! And when Scotty dismisses her when she is explaining her experiences, saying it’s “space sickness”. Yuck. I get he wants her safe but just dismissing her concerns seems, well, heartless. The “romance” is Ok, At first she seems more amused at him, but seems to cling to hum for support as the episode goes on which is nice. At least you feel like she could possibly love him back unlike Lt.Whatsername in “Whom Mourns for Adonais”. But Scotty’s lamest scene comes when rather then follow his orders and go to his post during a crisis he goes to Sick-Bay to check on “the girl”. Even Kirk wasn’t amused but that one!
The solution to this episode involves putting Romaine in the anti-grav chamber. And while the episode tries up the tension, it does kind of fail. I mean it’s just Spock raising the pressure for five minutes…exciting. Especially when you stop and wonder how come the lights could pass through every other bulkhead in the ship but not the chamber walls?? Maybe once they enter a host they are trapped, I guess. The worst part is that once Romaine is put into the chamber, we see her but she never gets another line of dialogue! She smiles at Scotty who says that they know have all the time in the world (how when he is on the ship and is assigned to Memory Alpha? I never got that either).
I would have liked more closure to Romaine’s character. Why not show her leaving the ship and saying goodbye, rather than the silly tag we did get? It would have been nice to know how she felt after that ordeal! Instead we get told she is fine. If you’re wondering the tag is just McCoy, Spock, and Scotty agreeing she can go back to work-and Kirk amazed they all agree for once. No discussing it with her, asking her opinion, just the four men agreeing she fit for duty, followed by the lame joke by Kirk that even McCoy looks perplexed about. It’s forced and lame and the episode could have done something better.
Things I Liked:
Jan Shutan is really good in the role. She gets some background, it’s her unusual mental capacity which makes her ideal for the Zetarians (?). Shutan does a great job making us feel what Romaine is feeling, at first she is confused and scared about the experience which makes her defensive. The way the “possession” is illustrated is cool too. First that cool eye effect, which I think works just fine! Then she gets premonitions, and when the Enterprise fires their phasers into the lights she crumples to the floor in pain! Finally rather than give in she does what she can to help and fights the Lights as hard as she can. Strong character, no wonder she appeared in other media after this episode. Shutan is one of those Trek guest stars that has kind of been forgotten, but I love her here. She hasn’t worked in many years but is still alive. The episode works because I like this character and want to see what happens to her. To bad we don’t get more of her especially in the third act where she basically becomes invisible.
This is one of the of better thrown together aliens on the show, well the third season anyway. The crappy effect makes sense (and is better in the re-mastered version). And it is not only identified but given a backstory! Compare this to “Day of the Dove” where the vague alien life form is given no name, no identity, no backstory-we just know it likes to screw with people. Here we learn the lights are the essence of what is left of the civilization on Zetar. Somehow they continue to survive and have decided Romaine would be a good fit to live their lives inside. The scene where they speak through her are chilling. Also Memory Alpha was really cool! Just the concept alone, a library planet for the Federation. Why not? But the depiction was well done to. Yeah it was a re-dressed set and all but they did a good job with it. And the scenes there are very dark and even spooky. Especially when that one survivor starts mumbling with the glowing face…eerie. One other cool thing we see an Andorian and Tellarite (in good make-up!!!)
I thought the Bridge scenes were handled very well. By this point the creators had realized that the fans liked it when the other characters chimed in, so rather than it just being Kirk and Spock everyone contributes. This is seen in other third season episodes (Tholian Web comes to mind) and is one of the few things that the 3rd season honestly has over the first. The battle between the Enterprise and the Lights is well done and well paced. And that ,moment when Spock says “Not what is it, who are they” is kind of chilling.
Finally, I was going to comment on ow great the music is, forgetting it wasn’t “new” for the episode. In fact it was written by Alexander Courage for “Where No Man”. But heck it may be re-hashed music but it still works! That first scene on the Bridge where Romaine first encounters the lights is all about that music, it just sells it! In fact I will go so far as to say the moody music fits in much better on “Zetar” than in that earlier episode. And yeah this could be considered a clone of that episode but again, I like this one better.
Fast Forward Moment:
That conference room scene does drag. This comes in the third act
when it becomes time to figure out what they heck is going on. They put
the pieces together to figure out Romaine is possessed, for lack of a
better word, but it drags a bit especially since the audience has
already figured this out a half hour ago! I always felt the answer
should have been obvious after the phaser’s affected her, but it still
takes forever for them to get it. It takes comparing brain scans to
finally clinch it. And why do they research things about her that
Romaine could describe, she’s right there!
Final Thoughts-Yeah Ok this isn’t the most socially relevant episode or even fastest paced episode you’re going to find, but it’s a nice character piece with decent action and suspense. And it’s an episode I love watching over and over.
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