Synopsis:
In advance of a star's imminent transition to a supernova, the Enterprise is sent to evacuate a science station established to study the phenomenon. Not being able to locate the station personnel, Kirk, Spock and McCoy are themselves taken as captives by a highly-powerful species (HPS), the Vians, apparently to serve as rats in some grand experiment. While prisoners of this experiment, the three meet Gem, a member of an empathic race, which, while unable to speak or communicate, can heal with a touch.
The party's attempts to escape are thwarted by the HPS, but during the course of these events, each of the three demonstrates a willingness to sacrifice himself for the good of the others. When Kirk is badly hurt by the Vian's experiments, Gem demonstrates her ability to heal him, though at considerable risk to herself, by taking on his wounds and his pain.
Eventually, McCoy is wounded so badly that he is in danger of dying, when the captors reveal that the purpose of their "experiment" is not to learn anything about humans, but to test the value of the empathic race to be saved from the coming supernova of the nearby star. As Gem attempts to heal McCoy, Kirk scolds the captors for having lost their own compassion in an effort to demand it in others. Chastened, the Vians let everybody go.
Analysis:
The episode is plagued with long segments without any dialogue or action of any kind as we focus in on the suffering or the emotions of a particular actor (Kirk suffering, Gem being sympathetic, Spock being solitious). This takes a potentially interesting problem and makes it boring and uneventful. This, coupled with the reluctance of the captors to explain what they are doing, means that fully half the show grinds on with no development, the apparent gains made by McCoy and Spock rendered meaningless, and nothing happening or changing.
Spock's tricorder works, then fails to. Exits appear and then are undetectable. Scotty and Sulu do nothing aboard the Enterprise. McCoy can do nothing to heal the wounded except administer a painkiller. The Vian antagonists are almost motionless and non-responsive, offering nothing to ponder, or reason with, or struggle against and ignore nearly every overture from Kirk. And although Gem is attractive as an actress, having the camera stare at her motionless for minutes at a time becomes tedious, particularly since she has no lines of dialogue throughout the episode. The bottom line is that the audience is starved for interaction of any kind.
As is common with all the original series, this episode suffers from the common tropes of the Highly Powerful Race who is able to exert complete control over the Enterprise away team. Although Spock is eventually able to counteract that control with the emotional equivalent of the Chinese finger trap, it makes little difference to the outcome of the story.
In the end several good ideas are offered, such as the conundrum of being able to only save a single planet's inhabitants from the impending destruction of the system, and the difficulty in choosing which one to save. But no real discussion is offered, since it seems like the Vians have already made up their minds about who to save and are just toying with Gem, like perfectionist maiden Aunts.
Similarly, the crew's altruism is manifest in several different ways, for example in their instinctive willingness to bring Gem with them in their escape from the Vians. If only the resolution of these conflicts weren't dismissed summarily at the end, without any serious consideration or intelligent solution.
What redeems the episode is the cleverness with which McCoy gets the better of both Kirk and Spock, and the obvious compassion that Spock shows to the dying McCoy.
Unresolved issues: What about the other planets that are doomed to be consumed by the supernova? Millions of people are about to be exterminated in the flash of a dying sun. Can the Enterprise do nothing for them? How does Kirk's compassion interact with the prime directive?
Does the prime directive prohibit interaction even with advanced societies such as the Vians? Could the Federation have saved the Vians?
To what extent are the Vians violating the prime directive? Are the Vians' efforts to save Gem's species noble or a mistake? It is likely that a Federation consistent with its own prime directive would see their efforts as a misguided effort at best, and possibly even an evil to be opposed. The underlying problem created by the dying star is one that is barely even touched upon but it presents a perfect opportunity to talk about real-world applications of the prime directive and how it is informed by compassion.
So the moral lessons of the show are that humans are good because they are altruistic, and you shouldn't lose sight of your compassion even when trying to accomplish a greater good.
Rating: 1.5 out of 5.
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