Star date: 3478.2
Summary: Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Scotty, Chekhov and Lt. Arlene Galway beam down to Gamma Hydra 4 to perform routine annual physical exams on the scientific outpost there. However, they are surprised to find one member of the outpost dead of extreme old age, and two others (Dr. Robert Johnson and his wife Elaine) also showing signs of advanced old age, even though they are only 29 and 27 years old, respectively. Stumbling upon the dead body in a darkened room gives Chekhov quite a serious fright. The landing party beams back up and attempts to interrogate Dr. Johnson about their condition, but he and Elaine both die before they can get any answers.
Kirk convenes an emergency meeting of his senior staff, along with Commodore Stocker, who is traveling on the Enterprise to his new post on Starbase 10, and an endocrinologist named Jan Wallace, whose presence on the ship is never explained. It also turns out that Dr. Wallace is an old flame of Kirk's, who has been married and widowed since breaking things off with Kirk more than 6 years earlier. Possible explanations for the aging phenomenon include radiation from a comet which had passed by recently, or a Romulan weapon of some sort, since Gamma Hydra 4 is near the neutral zone between the Federation and the Romulan Empire.
Before long, all of the members of the landing party start to show signs of accelerated aging, except for Chekhov. Almost immediately, Kirk's memory starts to slip, repeating his orders, falling asleep on the bridge, and telling Uhura to send a message using Code 2, a Federation code which is known to have been broken by the Romulans. Kirk's slips do not escape the notice of Commodore Stocker, who orders Spock to convene an extraordinary competency hearing over Spock's objections. Although Kirk refuses to acknowledge his memory lapses, it's pretty obvious that he is no longer capable of command, nor are Spock or Scotty. As senior officer on board, Commodore Stocker assumes command of the Enterprise, despite the fact that he has never commanded a starship before. His first order is to direct the Enterprise directly to Starbase 10 --- right through the neutral zone on the boundary of the Romulan Empire.
By this time, Spock has determined that the rapid aging is actually a form of radiation sickness due to radiation from the passing comet. After reviewing the facts once again, Kirk realizes that Chekhov's reaction of fright on the planet must be the reason why he has not been affected by the radiation sickness; specifically, the adrenaline rush caused by fear protected him from the radiation's effects. McCoy recalls that adrenaline was a common treatment for radiation sickness in the distant past. Spock and Dr. Wallace quickly formulate an antidote serum.
Just in time, too, because the Romulans have noticed Stocker's transgression, and have sent out a number of warbirds to destroy the Enteprise. In the nick of time Kirk, fully recovered from the radiation sickness, returns to the bridge and orders Uhura to send a message to Starfleet, stating that since the Enterprise is broken down with shields failing, he plans to activate the Corbomite device which will destroy the Enteprise and all other ships within a 200,000 kilometer diameter (yes, he says "diameter" and not "radius"). He orders Uhura to send this message using Code 2, knowing that the Romulans will intercept and decipher the message. His ploy works, and the Romulans quickly vacate the area, giving the Enterprise time to fly out of the neutral zone at warp 8 and back to safety.
I'm not sure if Star Trek is just growing on me or what. Objectively speaking, this isn't a very good episode, but I like it anyway. Maybe it's just because we get to see the "holy trinity" of TOS (Kirk, Spock, McCoy) failing under the same frailties which will eventually claim us all. Maybe it's because Kirk actually appears fallible and vulnerable in the episode, where he is usually presented as close to superhuman. Whatever the reason, I like this episode despite it's many flaws.
As for the flaws, they are as follows. First of all, from the beginning, Kirk insists on remaining in orbit around Gamma Hydra 4, while Commodore Stocker wishes to hurry to Starbase 10 (his new post), thinking that the facilities there will be better suited to find a cure for the rapid-aging affliction. All the scientists of the Gamma Hydra 4 outpost are dead shortly after they are found; so staying there won't help any of them. And despite Kirk's repeated assertions that the facilities on the Enterprise are adequate, they only have one lab and two doctors --- and one of those is a visiting doctor thrown in for a love interest subplot. Hard to believe Starbase 10 doesn't have significantly more in the ways of facilities and medical personnel.
Second, the Dr. Wallace/love interest subplot is poorly done and has no purpose. It is never explained why Dr. Wallace is aboard the Enterprise. She is clearly not a Starfleet officer, because she never appears in uniform, but rather in a couple of different evening gowns. But then why is she present at Kirk's competency hearing, especially when she should be researching a possible cure for a disease which has given Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Scotty and Lt. Galway days to live? And the subplot is never resolved at the end of the show, so why stick it in the script in the first place?
Third, it takes WAY too long to relieve Kirk of command. I understand that the script needs a competency hearing in it to pad the show out to 50 minutes. But as Kirk correctly points out, there's no time for such a thing. In "real life", Spock would likely suggest to Kirk that he should relinquish command, without waiting for the Commodore to order it, and if Kirk resisted, then McCoy would simply certify that Kirk is unfit for command. At a minimum, the writers should have put these devices into the script and had Kirk refuse to step down, thereby forcing them into a hearing. But to have the hearing, with four of the five affected crew members attending, while they all should be researching a cure for the sickness, is ridiculous.
Particularly ridiculous are the repeated closeups of Dr. Wallace looking upset about Kirk's failling mental faculties --- because SHE'S NOT EVEN IN STARFLEET, and so should be IN A LAB SOMEWHERE helping Kirk by TRYING TO FIND A CURE!!!
And finally, while I understand that Commodore Stocker has never commanded a starship before, it's hard to believe that he would make his it his first order to violate the neutral zone with the Romulans. At a minimum, it seems that a competent Commodore would recognize his own limitations and rely on a more experienced crew member (like, say, Sulu, who up until recently had been third in command) for advice. And even if he's clueless enough to make such a moronic order, it's REALLY hard to believe he would be so clueless as to believe the Romulans would just let them pass through the neutral zone if he can explain the situation to them.
Also, once Stocker realizes he's made a mistake, and the Romulan warbirds are gathering for the kill, the cries out: "What am I going to do? I've got to do something!" How about (1) run, or (2) fight back?
So it seems like this episode is really lame. But for some reason, I like it anyway.
Other observations about this episode . . .
I guess we see now why Sulu is no longer third in command. The writers must have been hoping we'd forget he had been third in command earlier, and so we would expect Stocker to be the only possible choice to command the ship with Kirk, Spock and Scotty all suffering radiation sickness. But it doesn't take much in the way of memory to recall that at a minimum, Sulu, DeSalle, and even Chekhov have commanded the ship in the past.
And Uhura? Still not fourth in command, obviously.
Lt. Galway is the only crew member who dies of the sickness, and she was wearing a blue uniform, not a red one.
It's good to see that Spock is actually affected by the illness this time, rather than being immune thanks to his Vulcan physiology.
Kirk's chronological age at this point is 34 --- if Kirk is recalling it correctly.
Another thing McCoy is not: a magician.
It was great to see the Corbomite maneuver make an encore appearance.
Kirk's message to Starfleet --- which he intentionally lets the Romulans eavesdrop on --- is great fun to watch, though. Shatner as Kirk usually seems quite pleased with himself anyway, and it's amusing to see him play it up now that he has his mojo back. I wish I could find a YouTube video of it to post here.
The writers give Kirk a good final line: "All in all, an experience we'll remember in our old age. Which won't be for some while, I hope."
The Moral of the Story: Age is not necessary for wisdom.
BONUS: If you've watched this episode recently, you may have wondered, as I have, how the artificially aged actors in 1967 look compared to the genuinely aged actors years later. As coincidence has it, there's someone else in the world who had roughly the same idea as I did (to blog TOS one episode a day), who did the research to answer that question.
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