This is another episode that I have a soft spot for even though it may not really be that great. A big reason is the guest actress, or character. For some reason I really like her and she elevates the show to watchable.
Plot:At planetoid Memory Alpha, an Enterprise crew member's body is taken over by mysterious energy lifeforms.
Guest Stars:Jan Shutan as Lt. Mira Romaine
Nitpick:This is the second Scotty is in love episode, and as I have said elsewhere this romance is much better than "Who Mourns for Adonais?". At least here Mira seems interested in Scotty, relying on him for support as the episode unfolds. I can't help but wonder what kind of relationship he thinks they'll have when she is supposed to stay at Memory Alpha once they drop her off. Scotty also turns into a teenager when he is drooling at her pretty much ignoring his job.
Summary:
Teaser-The Enterprise is transporting Mira Romaine to Memory Alpha, a planetoid that is the central library of the Federation. In Engineering Scotty seems to be falling for Romaine, giving her compliments. On the Bridge, Romaine is standing there when the ship approaches an odd phenomenon. It is traveling at warp so it can't be a storm. The storm, or whatever, gets close to the ship and the lights penetrates the shields causing everyone to be paralyzed. For Romaine, she stares at the storm until the storm seems to be inside of her.
Act 1-The lights pull away and Kirk is finally able to tell Sulu to get the ship out of the area. Romaine then passes out. McCoy is called up and when he tries to revive her she speaks in some kind of garbled talk. McCoy gives her a hypo which seems to snap her out of it. Kirk orders her to Sick-Bay while asking Spock what that phenomenon was. Spock says it was not a storm, and when Uhura says Memory Alpha was hailing but she couldn't get her hands to move Chekov says his eyes were affected. Sulu and Kirk had speech affected, meaning for all of them there voluntary nerve functions were under some sort of attack. In Sick-Bay Romaine is being impatient as McCoy examines her and asks her questions. McCoy wants to know only she passed out, our of a ship of 430. Scotty appears and tries to console her, suggesting the problem may be her getting used to space. Romaine worries this will affect her career but Scotty says that's not so. On the Bridge Suly has plotted the path of the storm right to Memory Alpha. The planetoid has no shields and is in for a direct attack. The planetoid is struck and the Enterprise establishes orbit as the storm clears. As Kirk plans to beam down, he calls Scotty but can't raise him. Finally, Scotty answers from Sick-Bay and Kirk wonders if McCoy is in Engineering. He tells them both to go to the transporter room. As they leave, Romaine gets a vision of dead people at Memory Alpha. Kirk, Spock, McCoy and Scott beam down and Spock reports the damage may be irretrievable. Scott walks into another room and sees some dead people.
Act 2-They find one woman alive, barely, and says the same garbled words Romain made when she passed out. Kirk has Romaine beamed down right away as the other woman turns colors and then dies. McCoy says she died of brain hemorrhaging. Romaine beams down and when Kirk explains the woman who died, she runs into the other room and sees the same thing her vision shows. Suddenly, she gets an impression that the storm is coming back and they have to get out of there immediately. They doubt her until Sulu reports that the storm is indeed coming back. Kirk has them all beam up, but Mira is held in transit for some reason. Scotty manages to pull her in and the ship gets out of the area. As the Enterprise pulls away Romaine tries to explain to Scotty her visions but he assumes it's just space sickness. The Enterprise tries to evade the storm. Spock is able to get some sensor readings, and when Kirk asks what is it Spock says that the right question is what are they. There are ten distinct life units within all powerfully alive. Kirk tries to reason with it by communicating but the attempt is futile. The storm positions itself directly in the ships path (this is easily one of the most boring commercial cliffhangers ever).
Act 3-The storm has accelerated its approach, as it does Romaine begins to feel faint and has another vision. The Enterprise fires phasers across its bow, to no effect. When the phasers are fired into the heart of the phenomenon, Romaine screams in pain and falls to the floor. Scotty calls the Bridge and tells them if they fire phasers again they'll kill Romaine. They aren't able to attack it, so Kirk has the officers meet in the Briefing Room. There, Romaine apologizes to McCoy for being difficult earlier. Kirk says they are trying to understand what is happening. McCoy reports that two hyperencephalograms show that Romaine's brainwave patterns have been altered. When Spock realizes the image of her brainwave pattern is the same as the impulse tracking from the lifeforms, they realize there is a merging of minds between the aliens and Romaine. Suddenly the aliens approach, about to invade the ship. Scotty reports Romaine has bene trying to tell him she's been seeing future images, which he wrote off a space and didn't report. Romaine begins to understand she has been seeing through another mind. Kirk comes up with an idea to eliminate the aliens and they rush to the med lab as the lifeforms penetrate the ship.
Act 4-In he lab the lights appear and absorb Romaine. She slides down to the ground mumbling again. Romaine is trying to resist but it is a losing battle. Kirk asks who they are, and using Romaine's voice they are from Zetar. A planet where all humanoid life was destroyed. They are the desires and the will of the last hundred from Zetar. The force of there life could not be wiped out and have searched for a millennium for one through whom they can see and speak and hear and live out their lives. They only want the girl, but Kirk says they can't have her. She has own life to live. Scotty manages to get her into the chamber, and survives when they attack him. Once in the chamber despite the risk to Romaine the pressure is raised..and the aliens eventually are destroyed. Yeah that's about it and it takes forever. We get a final laugh as Kirk is amazed Spock, McCoy and Scotty finally agree on something.
Final Thoughts:You can read my underrated article for more on my feelings on this one. I know many will disagree but I still love Mira Romaine she is a good character even if she really doesn't have much to do. For me this episode has two problems. One, since we know right from the start what has happened waiting for our main characters to figure it out does get boring. Th first half is really good but it gets dull. And the second, that climax is awful there just isn't any suspense at all! One major positive is hearing that awesome music from "Where No Man" again and used even more effectively here in my opinion.
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