Obsession
- Episode aired Dec 15, 1967
- TV-PG
- 50m
IMDb RATING
7.2/10
3.3K
YOUR RATING
Capt. Kirk obsessively hunts for a mysterious cloud creature he encountered in his youth.Capt. Kirk obsessively hunts for a mysterious cloud creature he encountered in his youth.Capt. Kirk obsessively hunts for a mysterious cloud creature he encountered in his youth.
Bill Blackburn
- Lieutenant Hadley
- (uncredited)
John Blower
- Crewman Swenson
- (uncredited)
Frank da Vinci
- Security Guard
- (uncredited)
Jeannie Malone
- Yeoman
- (uncredited)
Eddie Paskey
- Lieutenant Leslie
- (uncredited)
Basil Poledouris
- Security Officer
- (uncredited)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe ship which Kirk served on for his first deep space mission is disclosed to be the USS Farragut, and was named after David Glasgow Farragut, a flag officer of the United States Navy during the American Civil War. He was the first rear admiral, vice-admiral, and admiral in the United States Navy and is credited for uttering the phrase, "Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!"*, disregarding all danger while charging into enemy waters off the Alabama Coast. -This is an abridged version. He said "Damn the torpedoes. Four bells, Captain Drayton, go ahead. Jouett, full speed."*
- GoofsEnsign Garrovick states that less than one ounce of antimatter is more powerful than 10,000 cobalt bombs but the actual energy yield is only about 1.2 megatons TNT. The implication that a cobalt bomb releases more energy than a "regular" nuclear weapon is incorrect; a cobalt bomb is just an ordinary thermonuclear weapon "salted" with cobalt to produce long-lived Co-60 in its fallout.
- Alternate versionsSpecial Enhanced version Digitally Remastered with new exterior shots and remade opening theme song
- ConnectionsFeatured in Bring Back... Star Trek (2009)
- SoundtracksTheme
Music credited to Alexander Courage, although it strongly resembles the main title music for 'Hollow Triumph (1948)' by Sol Kaplan
Sung by Loulie Jean Norman
Featured review
Star Trek Horror
Obsession offers a very extraordinary antagonist--a "monster" that's an intelligent gas, made of an element that's not supposed to exist "naturally", and that's able to transform itself as a means of camouflage. Although there are some very broad parallels to this idea in other episodes, including Who Mourns for Adonais?, the material is handled very uniquely here.
We are also presented with an intriguing and unusual exploration of Captain Kirk's psychology, and through that, a bit of Starfleet history. Kirk is the source of the title, Obsession. He harbors deeply buried guilt, stemming from an incident on another ship when he was still a junior officer. His guilt suddenly rises to the surface after encountering this episode's antagonist. Because of this, he becomes obsessed with conquering the "monster", and it affects his judgments seriously enough that his command of the Enterprise is threatened.
As good as it was, the original Star Trek didn't often get close to more gut-level, scary horror material. This episode does, largely because the antagonist is unpredictable, shape shifting and nearly invisible much of the time. It functions as more of a generalized token of a threat to one's life force, made more literal in the way that the "monster" attacks its victims and sustains itself. At times, Obsession's structure and content--including emotional content, almost resemble later horror sci-fi like Alien (1979), which could have easily been influenced by it.
This episode is also notable for some extended, unusual cooperation and agreement between Spock and McCoy.
We are also presented with an intriguing and unusual exploration of Captain Kirk's psychology, and through that, a bit of Starfleet history. Kirk is the source of the title, Obsession. He harbors deeply buried guilt, stemming from an incident on another ship when he was still a junior officer. His guilt suddenly rises to the surface after encountering this episode's antagonist. Because of this, he becomes obsessed with conquering the "monster", and it affects his judgments seriously enough that his command of the Enterprise is threatened.
As good as it was, the original Star Trek didn't often get close to more gut-level, scary horror material. This episode does, largely because the antagonist is unpredictable, shape shifting and nearly invisible much of the time. It functions as more of a generalized token of a threat to one's life force, made more literal in the way that the "monster" attacks its victims and sustains itself. At times, Obsession's structure and content--including emotional content, almost resemble later horror sci-fi like Alien (1979), which could have easily been influenced by it.
This episode is also notable for some extended, unusual cooperation and agreement between Spock and McCoy.
helpful•375
- BrandtSponseller
- Aug 1, 2006
Details
- Release date
- Country of origin
- Official sites
- Language
- Filming locations
- Production companies
- See more company credits at IMDbPro
Contribute to this page
Suggest an edit or add missing content