Episode of the Week : The Immunity Syndrome
- Thread starter Botany Bay
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Shut up Spock, we're rescuing you!
Why thank you, Captain McCoy.
Why thank you, Captain McCoy.
It's another of those "Why the hell are we in a hurry to solve this crisis, Jim?" adventures: the pancakes aren't going anywhere fast, aren't doing any further damage by just sitting there, and won't be eradicated any more efficiently by rushing. The heroes could spend two months there trying to solve the problem, and let Spock rot in a cell where he can do no harm to himself.
It's a nice case of that other archetype of TOS adventure, though: the heroes command divine firepower, which ultimately solves the crisis, but they can't bring it to bear until they have come up with a Big Idea. TNG often tried to do the same, but there it was more like Picard idling his divine firepower merely to come up with a Personal Excuse for applying it.
The mysterious hurry tends to detract from the personal tragedy aspect here, giving too little time for Kirk to grieve for his relatives, or for McCoy to worry about Spock. I can't see a TOS-era TV show doing it differently, though.
Timo Saloniemi
It's a nice case of that other archetype of TOS adventure, though: the heroes command divine firepower, which ultimately solves the crisis, but they can't bring it to bear until they have come up with a Big Idea. TNG often tried to do the same, but there it was more like Picard idling his divine firepower merely to come up with a Personal Excuse for applying it.
The mysterious hurry tends to detract from the personal tragedy aspect here, giving too little time for Kirk to grieve for his relatives, or for McCoy to worry about Spock. I can't see a TOS-era TV show doing it differently, though.
Timo Saloniemi
Timo, you're critiquing "Operation-- Annihilate!"
Umm... What the heck was I thinking? 
The original point does apply to the Space Amoeba, though: if the beast is about to give birth, then it follows that it already has, and intervening hurriedly at this point is not advantageous to waiting it out, studying the beast, and then intervening.
But this one is the opposite of "Operation: Annihilate!" in terms of how the hurry affects the worry. There's a lot of personality in this story, a lot of tragedy, even when the deceased relatives are all Spock's...
Gotta stop typing now, before I start commenting on how strained Commander Adama looked when facing Darth Maul here.
Timo Saloniemi
The original point does apply to the Space Amoeba, though: if the beast is about to give birth, then it follows that it already has, and intervening hurriedly at this point is not advantageous to waiting it out, studying the beast, and then intervening.
But this one is the opposite of "Operation: Annihilate!" in terms of how the hurry affects the worry. There's a lot of personality in this story, a lot of tragedy, even when the deceased relatives are all Spock's...
Gotta stop typing now, before I start commenting on how strained Commander Adama looked when facing Darth Maul here.
Timo Saloniemi
Umm... What the heck was I thinking?
The original point does apply to the Space Amoeba, though: if the beast is about to give birth, then it follows that it already has, and intervening hurriedly at this point is not advantageous to waiting it out, studying the beast, and then intervening.
But this one is the opposite of "Operation: Annihilate!" in terms of how the hurry affects the worry. There's a lot of personality in this story, a lot of tragedy, even when the deceased relatives are all Spock's...
But they couldn't wait, if I remember correctly. The Enterprise was facing a situation where their power was being drained.
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Kirk really faces a decision like Pike's at the start of "The Cage" here: press on with a mission that does not need to be performed, or turn back already even at the risk of looking less than heroic. And it might be to Pike's credit and advantage that he chose the coward's way out initially.
But it's a nicely fudged mess here, compared with, say, "Obsession" where Kirk had every opportunity to back down, or "Doomsday Machine" where he and Decker arguably might have this opportunity. The fact that the enemy need not be confronted quite today only becomes clear to Kirk when he's already neck deep in this power-draining mess...
In short, I'm not claiming a plot hole here. I'm just saying our heroes think in patterns that might not quite benefit their goals, which is fine and well, in-universe and dramatically.
Timo Saloniemi
But it's a nicely fudged mess here, compared with, say, "Obsession" where Kirk had every opportunity to back down, or "Doomsday Machine" where he and Decker arguably might have this opportunity. The fact that the enemy need not be confronted quite today only becomes clear to Kirk when he's already neck deep in this power-draining mess...
In short, I'm not claiming a plot hole here. I'm just saying our heroes think in patterns that might not quite benefit their goals, which is fine and well, in-universe and dramatically.
Timo Saloniemi
Umm... What the heck was I thinking?
The original point does apply to the Space Amoeba, though: if the beast is about to give birth, then it follows that it already has, and intervening hurriedly at this point is not advantageous to waiting it out, studying the beast, and then intervening.
But this one is the opposite of "Operation: Annihilate!" in terms of how the hurry affects the worry. There's a lot of personality in this story, a lot of tragedy, even when the deceased relatives are all Spock's...
But they couldn't wait, if I remember correctly. The Enterprise was facing a situation where their power was being drained.
Plus, there was indication that the organism was about to divide.
Plus, it already wiped out one Starship and a whole solar system, I don't think you want that running loose, (something the TNG people never learned.)
But that's a minus, not a plus. If the organism can divide, then it's already way too late to worry about killing one, or a dozen. These things must already be everywhere! Studying them for weaknesses is the priority there.
Kirk ultimately kills in self-defense. But just as he himself says, "Our orders do not say stay alive"...
But unlike "DDM", this episode offers no hint that the amoeba would soon be reaching other star systems. To the contrary, Kirk supposedly finds it right where the Intrepid left it, at the Gamma VII system (that is, en route there - but matching velocities with the thing never involves flying alongside it, but rather pushing against it at warp 1 until 100,000 km and then continuing at impulse for ages!).
As for the TNG treatment of the Crystalline Entity, "Datalore" left us thinking that standard shields or underground shelters completely defeat the beast. It was a nasty surprise that "Silicon Avatar" showed most targets to be soft, that is, lacking that level of shielding...
Was the Entity a species, capable of multiplying? If so, destroying that one specimen might have cost millions of lives. If it was but an individual, then the deaths ended there, though. But our heroes couldn't tell, which is reason aplenty to err on the side of caution!
Timo Saloniemi
KIRK: Are you trying to be funny, Mister Spock?
SPOCK: It would never occur to me, Captain.
CHEKOV: Keptin! The stars are gone!
A 6.5, rounded up to 7. Good episode, novel concept... Seems a bit slow at times. And what's with Kyle becoming "Cowl" to Shatner?
SPOCK: It would never occur to me, Captain.
CHEKOV: Keptin! The stars are gone!
A 6.5, rounded up to 7. Good episode, novel concept... Seems a bit slow at times. And what's with Kyle becoming "Cowl" to Shatner?
I have no idea why but my favorite line from this episode is
KIRK: With the eddies and currents in that protoplasm, the probe could drift thousands of kilometres. We must be exactly on target, because we won't have a second chance. Bones, time for another stimulant.
I have remembered it since I saw this for the first time in the early 70s.
I like the episode. A solid 8+.
KIRK: With the eddies and currents in that protoplasm, the probe could drift thousands of kilometres. We must be exactly on target, because we won't have a second chance. Bones, time for another stimulant.
I have remembered it since I saw this for the first time in the early 70s.
I like the episode. A solid 8+.
Thematically similar to "The Doomsday Machine," this episode covers old ground. The development of the Kirk/Spock/McCoy trinity, though, is unparalleled and it lays the foundation for arguments to be seen in the movies.
This passage illustrates the triumvirate at its best: rational, vitriolic, and compassionate:
From pathos ("Good luck, Spock."), to tragedy ("Tell Dr. McCoy he should have wished me luck.), to comedy ("Captain McCoy"), its just a smorgasbord of character highlights.
And let's not forget Van Der Veer's outstanding opticals.
8
PS: At the very end, during this exchange:
Doohan and Kelley are practically giggling and Shatner is way over the top. I wonder if this was take 37 owing to Kelley's difficult with technobabble. I'd appreciate it if someone could take a look.
This passage illustrates the triumvirate at its best: rational, vitriolic, and compassionate:
KIRK: Do you know what the odds are in coming back? I can't order a man to do that.
MCCOY: Who said anything about an order, Jim? You've got a volunteer. I've done the preliminary work.
KIRK: It's a suicide mission.
SPOCK: The thing evidently has reflexes. The unmanned probe we sent in must have stung it when it entered. The lurch we felt was the turbulence of its reaction.
MCCOY: All right, so I'd know enough to go slow when we penetrated its vulnerable spots.
SPOCK: You have a martyr complex, Doctor. I submit that it disqualifies you.
MCCOY: Do you think I intend to pass up the greatest living laboratory since--
SPOCK: The Vulcans saw it first and died.
MCCOY: Just because the Vulcans failed
SPOCK: I am more capable.
KIRK: Gentlemen, I am not taking volunteers.
MCCOY: You don't think you're going?
KIRK: I'm better qualified as a command pilot than you are.
SPOCK: Which makes you indispensable, Captain. Further, you are not a science specialist.
MCCOY: Jim, that organism contains chemical processes we've never seen before and may never see again. We could learn more in one day--
SPOCK: We don't have one day, Doctor. We have precisely one hour and thirty five minutes of power left.
MCCOY: Jim--
SPOCK: Captain, I--
KIRK: Gentlemen, I'll decide.
MCCOY: Who said anything about an order, Jim? You've got a volunteer. I've done the preliminary work.
KIRK: It's a suicide mission.
SPOCK: The thing evidently has reflexes. The unmanned probe we sent in must have stung it when it entered. The lurch we felt was the turbulence of its reaction.
MCCOY: All right, so I'd know enough to go slow when we penetrated its vulnerable spots.
SPOCK: You have a martyr complex, Doctor. I submit that it disqualifies you.
MCCOY: Do you think I intend to pass up the greatest living laboratory since--
SPOCK: The Vulcans saw it first and died.
MCCOY: Just because the Vulcans failed
SPOCK: I am more capable.
KIRK: Gentlemen, I am not taking volunteers.
MCCOY: You don't think you're going?
KIRK: I'm better qualified as a command pilot than you are.
SPOCK: Which makes you indispensable, Captain. Further, you are not a science specialist.
MCCOY: Jim, that organism contains chemical processes we've never seen before and may never see again. We could learn more in one day--
SPOCK: We don't have one day, Doctor. We have precisely one hour and thirty five minutes of power left.
MCCOY: Jim--
SPOCK: Captain, I--
KIRK: Gentlemen, I'll decide.
From pathos ("Good luck, Spock."), to tragedy ("Tell Dr. McCoy he should have wished me luck.), to comedy ("Captain McCoy"), its just a smorgasbord of character highlights.
And let's not forget Van Der Veer's outstanding opticals.
8
PS: At the very end, during this exchange:
MCCOY: Don't be so smart, Spock. You botched the acetylcholine test.
KIRK: Later, later, later. Bring the shuttlecraft aboard, Mister Scott.
KIRK: Later, later, later. Bring the shuttlecraft aboard, Mister Scott.
Doohan and Kelley are practically giggling and Shatner is way over the top. I wonder if this was take 37 owing to Kelley's difficult with technobabble. I'd appreciate it if someone could take a look.
Awesome episode. Best burn ever: "Tell Dr. McCoy, he should have wished me luck."
Mr. Cowel?
The last time we see Shatner in the green wrap, in production order, I believe. It looks a little unflattering in some scenes, so it was well past its shelf date.
All around, a really good episode. Great "Doomsday Machine" vibe at the end with the countdown and the music, etc. This was one of those "I wish Doomsday Machine was on tonight," episodes that made me feel better that it wasn't. It's a good stand in. It's also the first episode I ever had a shooting script for.
7
Mr. Cowel?
The last time we see Shatner in the green wrap, in production order, I believe. It looks a little unflattering in some scenes, so it was well past its shelf date.
All around, a really good episode. Great "Doomsday Machine" vibe at the end with the countdown and the music, etc. This was one of those "I wish Doomsday Machine was on tonight," episodes that made me feel better that it wasn't. It's a good stand in. It's also the first episode I ever had a shooting script for.
7
GNDN18, I agree with you; this episode was a brilliant character piece. I have watched this one and "Doomsday Machine" many times for that very reason.
"The Immunity Syndrome" makes very good use of tracked music! The "should have wished me luck" cue from "Friday's Child" is great, as are all the Doomsday tracks.
But my favorite scene is Kirk's personal log ("Both are right, both are capable...") which uses "The Big Go" from "The Naked Time."
I'd say the music is the strongest element in this episode, which is not an insult.
I gave it 9. One of my favorite "serious" episodes.
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