CharlesAshbacher
"A love interest between an adult male and female child is well executed, that is hard to do tastefully"
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A love interest between an adult male and female child is well executed, that is hard to do tastefully
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May 22, 2008
- by CharlesAshbacher
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If there is an overall weakness to the original Star Trek series, it is that the theme is often technology run amok. This not only occurs in the Federation, but on planets outside the Federation as well. In this episode, the Enterprise encounters an Earthlike planet broadcasting a distress beacon. Upon beaming down, Kirk and the landing party find only a small group of children are present and everything in ruins.
+3
After investigation, they discover that the scientists were working on a formula to prolong life and the formula caused children to age very slowly, but when they reached puberty, they aged quickly, went mad and died a horrible death. This led to the rapid extinction of all adults, leaving only the children.
Unfortunately, the disease also infects the humans of the landing party. Spock is immune, although he remains a carrier. Dr. McCoy battles time and manages to create an antidote to the disease, saving the lives of the landing party. As the Enterprise leaves, Kirk and company discuss the changes that will take place on the planet now that the children will have adult overseers.
Miri is the name of one of the children, a girl who is about to enter puberty. She is experiencing the first hints of becoming a woman and that is expressed in her affection for Captain Kirk. He tries to remain aloof, but Miri is their only link to the children, who have stolen their communicators. Miri has become jealous at the kindness and concern Kirk expresses for Yeoman Rand and wants to punish him for "alienation of affection."
This episode has many flaws, the most pointed is the fact that the disease also affects the landing party, yet the half-human Spock is immune. The genetic code of the planet's inhabitants would be quite different from that of the Enterprise crew, certainly more different from Kirk's than Spock's would be. However, the interplay of emotions between Kirk and Miri is very well done. It is hard to tastefully execute a plotline where there is a romantic involvement between an adult and a child and this episode manages to do that.
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In my years learning about Trek, this one episode always came up. The planet that looks like Earth with all the kids who act strange. The disease. The title of the episode pulled from a character. From my Trek Encyclopedias to references made in a South Park episode which takes slang and ideas from this show-I always wondered about it, but never got a chance to see it and learn what the fuss was about. Till now. The Enterprise finds a radio … more
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The Enterprise lands on an Earth like planet only to discover children of advanced age and all the adults gone. Great episode with a tense atmosphere where the only spot is the budget of shooting on location to explain the "Earth Like" planet.
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About the reviewer
Charles Ashbacher (CharlesAshbacher)
Ranked #2
Ranked #2
Charlie Ashbacher is a compulsive reader and writer about many subjects. His prime areas of expertise are in mathematics and computers where he has taught every course in the mathematics and computer … more
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"Miri," one of the most popular episodes of the originalStar Trekseries, featured a couple of soon-to-be-semi-icons from two very different kinds of films from the late 1960s: Michael J. Pollard (who would appear inBonnie and Clyde) and Kim Darby (John Wayne's costar inTrue Grit). The intriguing story concerns a race of children on an Earth-like planet who are in fact 300 years old, kept pristine in the summer of their lives by a disease that also causes madness and death with the onset of adulthood. TheEnterprise's landing party, including Captain Kirk (William Shatner), Mr. Spock (Leonard Nimoy), and Dr. McCoy (DeForest Kelley), are instantly contaminated and forced to remain on the planet until McCoy can find an antidote. In the meantime, Darby's character, Miri, falls for Kirk and becomes jealous of his attentions toward anyone else. Easily one ofStar Trek's strongest shows, "Miri" is a must-see for Trekkers and Trekkies.--Tom Keogh
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