TAS: Albatross

            Now this is what I am looking for in a classic Trek episode: aliens randomly accusing members of the crew of genocide, space plague, aurora plague???, and just in the nick of time solutions to all the above problems. Albatross features some rather interesting looking aliens with truly alien hands that split in ways human hands and fingers don't. It also features a disease with the most cartoon friendly of symptoms, peoples skin changes color to show how sick they are.
            The episode begins with Kirk being thanked for medical supplies by the leader of Dramia, but just before they are about to leave the leader has one more thing, a warrant for the arrest of McCoy for killing off an entire planet with a plague he spread 19 years earlier. Kirk doesn't believe it, but the warrant is legal so McCoy surrenders himself. Kirk promises to look for a solution and beams aboard the ship and heads to the planet with the plague. They are pursued by a Dramian vessel which Kirk tricks into trying to sneak aboard and then seizes the ship and arrests head of Dramian security who is the stowaway. 
            They rush to the plague ravaged Dramia II and find it in ruins. They do manage to beam down right next to the one survivor of the plague to remembers McCoy being a good doctor and not at all evil. They take him aboard as a witness and start rushing back, but before they arrive both Dramians and all the human crew start changing colors, they have the disease! Spock isn't affected and breaks McCoy out of jail to help cure the disease. They somehow decide the color changes aren't actually the diseases but are actually caused by aurora but that doesn't help at all. Then Spock tells McCoy about the one survivor and he realizes what he did for him must have been what cures the disease and everybody is better minutes later. Instead of arresting McCoy the Dramians honor him as a hero.

            Review: Other than being a bit simpler than average this story at least has some good character drama and an adventurous plot. Also, who doesn't like to see McCoy wondering if maybe he did accidentally spread a space plague responsible for millions of deaths?

6 out of 10