Last night I watched a, "serious science fiction," episode so today I get an adventure episode. The setup is that there is an officious government official in charge of getting medicine to stop a plague to a planet and Kirk doesn't want to do what he says. Kirk stops along the way to investigate a quasar and sends the shuttle Galileo. Of course there is some sort of interference or ion storm and shuttle crashes on a large planet in an ion storm that blocks sensors. The hunt is on to find the seven marooned crew before the bureaucrat can take over and force them to leave.
Meanwhile down on the planet Spock is in charge along with McCoy, Scotty, and 4 other crew. Scotty starts working on repairs, but it looks like they only have enough fuel for five people to fly into orbit. Two of the crew on are guard until one is hit with a giant spear and killed. Rather than interrupt repairs and have a funeral Spock opts to stay focused on saving their lives which angers pretty much everybody. All hope is lost when then somehow vent the fuel, but Spock figures a way to use their phasers for power, but will take time. Another crewman is killed by the giant savage aliens and all the survivors retreat into the shuttle.
Back on the Enterprise they are working to get sensors and transporters working and Kirk is being constantly pestered by the Galactic High Commissioner. He sends down search parties and shuttles to search, but there is little hope. One of the search parties loses a crewman to the savage aliens. Time is up and the Enterprise turns to leave, but Kirk orders Sulu to proceed at impulse power only and direct all sensors aft to keep looking.
Back on the surface they drive the aliens away by electrifying the hull, but when they go to take off an alien is holding on a Spock has to sacrifice the boosters they need to survive reentry of they aren't rescued to get it off. Once in space, but not in orbit Spock sacrifices more fuel by venting and lighting it shortening their time in space before reentry, but leaving a glowing plasma trail behind them, which Sulu notices. The Enterprise rushes back and beams the crew to safety just as the shuttle burns up. There is just enough time at the end to hassle Spock about being illogical by lighting the fuel which was the thing that saved them so that seemed kinda dumb.
Reviewilybob: Unlike the Corbomite Maneuver which was all about showing how Kirk always trusts his gut and is always right, this episode is a more nuanced look at Spock trusting his logic. He is right in the end, but his disbelief at the hostility of the aliens kills two crewman, but they didn't have enough fuel anyway, so more logic? Not the most memorable episode, but a fun tale of adventure with some good character time with Spock.
7 out of 10
No comments:
Post a Comment