This episode sees the crew of the Enterprise investigating a mysterious planet; it is only the size of the Moon and is a mere five thousand years old but it appears to sustain life, have an atmosphere and be the mass of the Earth. Just as Kirk, McCoy, Sulu and an expendable geologist beam down to the surface a beautiful woman appears in the transporter room saying they must not got to the planet; she then kills the transporter operator with a single touch! Soon after the away team arrive the planet suffers a major earthquake; when it is over there is no sign of the Enterprise. As they search for anything that might be edible the same beautiful woman appears and approaches the geologist, she says she has come for him before touching and killing him. It isn't that long before she is coming for the others although it becomes apparent that she can only harm the specific person she has come for. Back on the Enterprise the crew discover that the entire ship has been moved to a point almost a thousand light years away and the same woman kills an engineer as he examines the engines after Scotty states that something doesn't feel right. Further investigations reveal sabotage that could destroy the ship as it hurtles back to the planet.
This might not be a great episode but it isn't terrible either. It was nice to see that geologist Lt. D'Amato was given a bit of character rather than being the typical doomed character whose sole purpose is to die in a mysterious way. The fact that the danger came from a beautiful woman was a bit of a cliché; it seems that almost every episode must feature a beautiful guest star dressed in a fairly revealing costume. The way she only came for a specific crewmember each time was intriguing though leaving the viewer wondering if there is one woman, several identical women or she is something else. Spock seems strangely out of character here; he has always been logical but now, as he takes command of the ship, he seems merely obtuse and sarcastic as he is overly precise and criticises any wording that is inexact or even employs metaphor. The story is tense though; I especially liked the scene where Scotty struggles to fix the ship knowing that the slightest mistake could destroy the ship; James Doohan was really good in this scene. Overall a fairly mixed episode with some great moments but also some that are almost laughable and not in an intended way.
This might not be a great episode but it isn't terrible either. It was nice to see that geologist Lt. D'Amato was given a bit of character rather than being the typical doomed character whose sole purpose is to die in a mysterious way. The fact that the danger came from a beautiful woman was a bit of a cliché; it seems that almost every episode must feature a beautiful guest star dressed in a fairly revealing costume. The way she only came for a specific crewmember each time was intriguing though leaving the viewer wondering if there is one woman, several identical women or she is something else. Spock seems strangely out of character here; he has always been logical but now, as he takes command of the ship, he seems merely obtuse and sarcastic as he is overly precise and criticises any wording that is inexact or even employs metaphor. The story is tense though; I especially liked the scene where Scotty struggles to fix the ship knowing that the slightest mistake could destroy the ship; James Doohan was really good in this scene. Overall a fairly mixed episode with some great moments but also some that are almost laughable and not in an intended way.