{"id":2779,"date":"2022-01-29T12:00:27","date_gmt":"2022-01-29T12:00:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tomsalinsky.co.uk\/blog\/?p=2779"},"modified":"2023-03-06T11:08:09","modified_gmt":"2023-03-06T11:08:09","slug":"trekaday-006-the-alternative-factor-the-city-on-the-edge-of-forever-operation-annihilate","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tomsalinsky.co.uk\/blog\/index.php\/2022\/01\/29\/trekaday-006-the-alternative-factor-the-city-on-the-edge-of-forever-operation-annihilate\/","title":{"rendered":"Trekaday 006: The Alternative Factor, The City on the Edge of Forever, Operation \u2013 Annihilate!"},"content":{"rendered":"

TOS S01E27 The Alternative Factor<\/strong> (\"2) Baffling and repetitive, this muddled entry suggests that there was little gas left in the tank (although it was 20th in the production order) as much time is spent running around, achieving little. The first real dud of the season, this is borderline nonsensical with Kirk blithely letting a dangerous lunatic roam around the ship, getting himself trapped in an alternate universe, not trusting McCoy and generally making matters worse wherever he can. It\u2019s hard to know what\u2019s less convincing, the overlaid shots of a nebula to suggest a rip in space and time, or Robert Brown\u2019s disappearing\/reappearing facial hair. Dilithium crystals (not just lithium) are at the heart of the Enterprise.<\/p>\n

TOS S01E28 The City on the Edge of Forever<\/strong> (\"5) We join the ship in the midst of a crisis. Sulu\u2019s own console turns on him, and in the midst of the action, McCoy mistakenly gives himself a shot of a tricky drug and goes berserk. It\u2019s one of the most action-packed teasers of the whole first season \u2013 and has almost nothing to do with what makes the episode itself so well-remembered.<\/p>\n

This is another one I know very well, but I know the shape of the story more than I remember any of the details. There\u2019s some lovely lighting on the planet set \u2013 and Uhura gets to join the landing party, so we have another full set of Top Trumps this episode. When the landing party stumbles across a magical talking do-over door, this seems to be the way to save McCoy. But McCoy flings himself through and undoes the present. Kirk and Spock decide (during a commercial break) to go through and stop him.<\/p>\n

The existential terror of the results of McCoy\u2019s actions and the desperate measures which the crew must take give way to some Voyage Home<\/em>-style shenanigans in Depression-era New York, with some lovely comic timing from Shatner and Nimoy. It\u2019s a testament to the quality of the writing and the comfort of the actors that these tonal shifts don\u2019t jar. And then \u2013 bang! \u2013 there\u2019s Joan Collins just being fabulous all over everything, purring \u201cA lie is a very poor way to say hello.\u201d She\u2019s sensational and her psychological evaluation of Kirk and Spock is captivating.<\/p>\n

After a lot of episodes in which Kirk has let his libido do the talking and the men on board ship have been reduced to imbeciles by the sight of an attractive woman, we get out first honest-to-goodness love story. Kirk and Edith Keeler are a perfect match, but almost as soon as they start getting to know each other, we (and Spock) now how this must end. McCoy saved Edith\u2019s life and to get back everything he knows, Kirk will have to watch her die. It\u2019s gut-wrenching stuff. And if that isn’t good enough for you, McCoy says \u201cI’m a surgeon not a psychiatrist.\u201d<\/p>\n

About the only thing wrong with this episode is the name \u2013 a relic from Harlan Ellison\u2019s first draft, subsequent revisions by Fontana, Coon and Roddenberry rendered it meaningless.<\/p>\n

TOS S01E29 Operation – Annihilate! <\/strong>(\"3.5) The duh-duh-duh revelation at the end of the teaser is that Kirk has a brother (but not for long). I have crystal clear memories of the crew exploring that location and phasering those parasites, presumably from watching this episode on BBC2, but it isn’t one of the greats. Space madness is a bit ho-hum after various earlier episodes going over the same ground and it’s hard to be too invested in Spock falling victim after everything else we’ve seen him go through. Nurse Chapel is back (with a new wig).<\/p>\n

Once again, nothing gets past Scotty, but the rest of the crew seem to be suffering from fatigue (well, it is the end of the season) as they really aren\u2019t thinking things through properly. No attempt is made to give Spock any protective eye-wear, they couldn\u2019t wait five minutes for the test results to come through, Spock himself seems unaware of how his own biology functions, and Kirk\u2019s nephew is placed in mortal danger and then never referred to again.<\/p>\n

That having been said, this is decent stuff with good location work, and the cast are as good as ever. It just doesn’t have the power and energy of the very best of this year’s episodes.<\/p>\n

Season One observations<\/strong><\/p>\n