ST: TOS; Operation Annihilate Episode #29

And the final episode of Season 1. This is an excellent show as well, proving that ST:TOS wrote its best stuff while under pressure (they were chronically short of scripts during Season 1).

Kirk having a nephew always kind of stretched plausibility to me (no idea why) and the scrambled egg/amoeba things were both silly looking and slightly creepy, but the writing is solid and its well-acted. Thoughts?

How could it have been improved? What would you change?



We have reached the end of season one. It's been a great ride, with very few clinkers.

I will gear up for season two, if anyone else wants to come along for the ride.

CBS seems to have two listings for this one.
This one is the one that works, even though its description is messed up. The other one, while correctly labeled, doesn't seem to load after the ads.

The flying pancakes were a little lame, but this was an excellent episode, overall. The thing that has never sat well with me is how Kirk is able to so quickly get over the death of his big brother, Sam. That loss seems to have about as much impact on him as the loss of any old red shirt -- one would think that a younger brother, who probably grew up idolizing his big brother, would be devastated by such a loss, coupled with the loss of Sam's wife, who he presumably would have also known quite well. Aside from that, the episode plays pretty well for me, with some more good character interaction between our big three. The inner eyelid thing to save Spock's sight at the end seems a little Deus Ex Machina, but I'm prepared to let it slide.

I have to agree--Sam and wife (and nephew) were all one great MarySue. It's too bad the show didn't last longer than it did because we might then have been able to explore some of these relationships a bit more, in flashback episodes or even time travel type stuff.

I have no problem at all with the third eye lid--which should come in handy when Spock and Kollos meet up in season 3. :D It even makes sense, given the desert climate on Vulcan (all that sand and dust).

It does make me wonder how Spock would wink, if Spock would ever do such a human thing....

Oh, I agree that the extra eyelid kinda makes sense as an evolutionary advantage, but the way it's presented in the episode -- everyone is all "What do we do now that our science officer is blind?" and then Spock just strolls onto the bridge and he's like, "Oh yeah, I totally forgot that I have this extra eyelid that saved my vision after all" and Kirk is all "Well, that was sure a lucky break!" -- just seemed very clumsily handled to me, like the writers couldn't figure out a plausible way to fix the plot complication from Act Three, so they just jammed that into the script the day they shot the final scene.

Well, there is that....

I always felt this episode to have some really great ideas, and some excellent moments, but it stumbles in the execution. It's not just the cheap-looking creatures or the silly title, either. There's the clumsy way the ending is handled, the abysmal science (They tried 'radiation'... but not 'light'?), and the confusing addition of Kirk's relatives who don't seem to play much of a role. A modern series might have made this a two-parter, and it would not have suffered for that.

Where it really shines, though, is in the interactions of the three leads. It may be one of the best episodes ever for that. You've got Bones' admitting his respect for Spock (and Spock returning the favor later). Then there's Spock taking the initiative, and also an intimate look at his struggle with his humanity. Best of all is Kirk here. The way he says "Bones!" after learning of the 'mistake' and then later apologizes from the bridge is just masterfully written and acted. It all comes out so naturally, too, that you could tell this was a point when the characters really became the best part of the show.

I was surprised to recognize UCLA in one of the shots (not surprised that they shot there, but that it was familiar enough to notice). Apparently the exterior shots were mostly here

I finally watched this tonight. It was better than I remember and the yeoman exclaiming, "they don't look real" was priceless.