Episode Title: That Which Survives
Air Date: 1/24/1969
Written by John
Meredyth Lucas and Dorothy C. Fontana
Directed by Herb
Wallerstein
Cast: William
Shatner as Captain James T. Kirk
Leonard Nimoy as Commander Spock DeForest Kelley as Dr. Leonard H.
McCoy AKA “Bones” James
Doohan as Lieutenant Commander
Montgomery Scott AKA “Scotty”
George Takei as Lieutenant Hikaru Sulu Nichelle Nichols as Lieutenant
Nyota Uhura Booker Bradshaw as
Dr. Joseph M'Benga Arthur
Batanides as Lieutenant D'Amato Naomi Newman as Lieutenant Rahda Frank Da Vinci as Lieutenant Brent Bill
Blackburn as Lieutenant Hadley Roger
Holloway as Lieutenant Lemli Brad
Forrest as unnamed Ensign
Kenneth Washington as Crewman Watkins Jeannie Malone as unnamed
Yeoman Lee Meriwether as Losira
Ships: USS
Enterprise NCC-1701
Planets: Kalandans’
artificial planet
My Spoiler filled summary and review: The Enterprise comes across a planet that doesn’t make a lick of sense. It is rather small but its gravity is like Earth and it even has an Earth-like atmosphere. Given the apparent age of the planet that shouldn’t even be possible. Kirk forms a landing party of himself, Dr. McCoy, Lt Sulu, and a science officer D’Amato.
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| When you suddenly regret transporting but you are mid-beam! |
As the party begins to transport down a woman, who may just be a catwoman, suddenly appears before them and asks them not to go. However, she is too late because the transporting process has already begun. In response she grabs the transporter operator and he collapses. As the landing party materializes on the surface the planet a massive earthquake begins knocking all four men over. The quake is so intense it even rocks the Enterprise in orbit. Soon the ship is hurled a thousand light-years in space.
The landing party immediately tries to make sense out of their chaotic situation. Sulu checks his tricorder and comes to conclusion that the Enterprise may have been destroyed. This conclusion draws a very negative reaction from Kirk towards Sulu. Kirk insists that Sulu can’t possibly be right and insists that it is almost unprofessional of him to make such a conclusion. Even through Kirk turns out to be right I think he should still give Sulu and apology. After all it is Sulu’s job to help come up with possible explanations even ones you might not want to hear. However, it is still a great character moment for Kirk showing how much he loves his ship. Kirk correctly surmises that the ship is still together but out of range. So, their immediate response is to go into survival mode. Unfortunately for them there doesn’t appear to be anything on this planet that they can eat or drink.
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| survival maybe a bit of a problem |
When the Enterprise is finally stabilized it takes a while for the crew, except Spock, to accept the reality of what has just happened to them. The find the transporter operator dead, according to Dr. M'Benga, Dr. Sanchez’s performed an autopsy and discovered that every cell in his body had been disrupted. Spock keeping his cool leads the Enterprise back in the direction of the strange planet that just threw them so far away. Scotty promises to try to give the ship a little extra juice.
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| Trying to figure out where they are! |
The bad news continues for the landing party. Every attempt to find any food or water is coming up short. They do notice some strange magnetism and a life form that appears and disappears on the tricorder. D’Amato is looking for anything that could help them when he is confronted by the woman who had appeared to them earlier. She says she needs to touch him. She kills him and when his body is discovered, McCoy finds the same thing his staff found with the dead Ensign: that every cell has been disrupted. Kirk tries to bury the dead Lieutenant but his phaser won’t cut through the planet’s surface. It is at this point that Kirk begins to speculate that the planet might be artificial in nature.
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| Not the away mission he expected. |
Scotty contacts Spock to share with him a concern. He tells the First Officer that the ship “feels wrong.” Now to one such as Mr. Spock this is the stupidest thing you could say to him. When Scotty can’t explain what he means by it, Spock serves him a tongue-lashing to which he makes clear to the Chief Engineer that he should not wasting the ship’s time with such ridiculous notions.
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| What to do? |
Back on the planet the woman returns this time targeting Mr. Sulu. Sulu tires to fight her off using his phaser but that doesn’t do any good. Eventually he retreats and she follows. She manages to graze Sulu on the shoulder causing immense pain. Kirk and McCoy arrive and put themselves in between her and Sulu. She touches Captain Kirk and discovers that she cannot harm him. She claims to be for Sulu but with the two other men blocking access she teleports away. McCoy tends to Sulu’s shoulder and claims that if she had him for any longer, he would be dead.
Despite Spock’s annoyance, Scotty decides to have his feelings checked
out and sends one of his engineers on an errand. His man is tasked with checking some of the
systems in person instead of relying on the computer to tell them something is
wrong. However, the mysterious woman
appears and touches the poor engineer.
One redshirt down and he never left the ship.
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| Despite appearances this is not a good day at work! |
Kirk concludes that woman can only harm the one she is designed for, and since she can’t keep that a secret, they can use that to their advantage. When she reappears, she calls for Kirk so the other two men protect him. She seems frustrated but also something else is the matter. Kirk concludes that it might be guilt and calls her out on it. She retreats by teleporting away.
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| Sulu trying to defend himself |
Scotty discovers his dead man and calls up to the bridge with even worse
news. They have been sabotaged. The emergency overload bypass of the
matter-antimatter integrator has been fused although that shouldn’t be
physically possible. Scotty will try to
repair it manually but they only have fifteen minutes to the ship is
destroyed.
While the Chief Engineer is only inches away from death Spock, remembering Scotty saying the ship “felt wrong,” runs an analyst through the computer comparing the Enterprise to her ideal condition. He finds that the ship had been sent a thousand light-years away via a giant transporter device. This isn’t something the ship is used to doing and was materialized out of sync. With this information it is discovered that Scotty just needs to reverse the polarity in order to save them. He does and the Enterprise is safe.
On the planet the three Starfleet officers find what appears to be the control center of the artificial planet. However, the lady re-appears, they are primed however to act as soon as they find out who she is after. To their surprise two more duplicate ladies show up, each looking for a different man. It looks like they’re in trouble but the artificial women are still hesitating. Kirk realizes he is getting through to them and it is only a matter of time before he talks them all into suicide. It turns out he doesn’t have to because Spock and a security team beam down, and Kirk just has Spock destroy the operating computers with phasers.
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| Now you're in trouble! |
With the treat neutralized they get a visual on the view screen. It turns out the machine created its defender in the image of a woman Losira. It turns out a species named the Kalandans created the planet. However, while they were building it, they also accidentally created a disease that the population of the colony. Oops! Losira had created the defense mechanism so none but their kind would grace this planet that killed all of its makers. Losira is the last survivor and she died before any help got there. The weird part is the computer revealed that eventually her people did come, got infected by the same illness, and went home to spread it to everyone there. Kalandans are now all extinct. Losira and her fellow scientists were the worst thing that ever happened to their people. Nevertheless, Kirk finds her to have been a remarkable woman. I think Kirk needs to raise his standards somewhat.
Additional thoughts: When I was a kid watching this episode, I use
to get the title confused. I use to think it was called “That Witch
Survives.” This sounded the same but of
course has a different meaning. You had
a woman who appeared and disappeared seemingly at will, who had the touch of
death, and could make the Enterprise disappear from one place in the galaxy and
appear in another.
This was also a great episode for the crew. I generally love episodes that focus on the
CREW of the Enterprise acting together as a team to save the day. Don’t get me wrong I love Captain Kirk, he is
one of my most important heroes but he doesn’t need to be shown doing
everything he just needs to be the leader.
In this episode has Spock, McCoy, Scott, Sulu, and Uhura all doing their
part.
Even better while Star Trek shows can often turn into the “senior officers show” it is always nice to see those who work for their departments to have a chance to shine. We have Lt. Rahda filling in for Sulu as he leaves with the landing party. She has some great dialogue with Spock. We see engineers other than Mr. Scott assigned to tasks to help the ship. We here from doctors from sickbay who are not named McCoy. The number two medical officer, Dr. M'Benga gives Spock and update on Dr. Sanchez’s work on the autopsy.
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| It is good to see the crew even the non-stars play an active role. |
Is it just me or does Mr. Spock seem extra “Spockish” in this episode? It is like he decided to turn up his normal Vulcan stoicism to the nth degree today. It was kind of like how we saw him much earlier in his career such as “The Corbomite Maneuver.” The super logical Vulcan who often finds himself super annoyed with these irrational Earth-lings and all their illogic. The way he snaps at Scotty is a good example. He did seem really fond of the back-up helmsman, Lt. Rahda, as she gave him some cold logic back.
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| Putting on the full Spock treatment! |
I like when Sulu was speculating about what type of lifeforms, they may
be facing he brings up the Horta from “The Devil in the Dark.” I love it when they dive into their own
history at times when it makes the most sense.
I realize that the series is mostly episodic but I see no reason why
they shouldn’t often reference their past adventures when it makes sense to do
so.
Scotty once again shows of his fine engineering skills and saves the ship at the extreme risk of his own life. Spock may have come up with the plan but it was Scotty who carried it through. They saved the day by choosing to “reverse the polarity”! What a great move! I wonder if that will come up again.
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| Reverse the polarity! I wonder if this will be a thing? |
Once this lady was revealed to be an artificial intelligence it was over
for her. Kirk was already thinking for
how to convince her to destroy herself.
However, we didn’t have to sit through it because Spock showed up in
time it to use a phaser on it quick.
Thank you, Mr. Spock.
FINAL GRADE 4 of 5
