Series: Star Trek (The Original Series)
Episode: 2.12 The Deadly Years (12-8-67)
Rating: 3/5
Redshirt Status: 1/15/38
Notable Guest Stars:
Charles Drake – Commodore Stocker. He appeared in Harvey (1950) and To Hell and Back (1955)
Sarah Marshall- Dr. Janet Wallace. Known for various tv roles.
Beverly Washborn – Lt. Arlene Galway. She appeared in the 1952 film The Greatest Show on Earth.
Review:
The Enterprise, while on a routine mission to do health screenings on a science expedition find that the whole expedition has died of old age or is currently dying of old age. They start to investigate how it happened, and why Chekov seems immune.
I looked up adrenaline treatment for radiation and apparently it is testing stages to help with radiation treatments for cancer. Which is interesting because sometimes Star Trek science is not really in play with real science, at least not during this series.
I’m getting a feeling that season two brought many of the items that people think of when they think of TOS. Spock and McCoy bicker more, most of the deaths this season are literally redshirts, and Kirk keeps having repeats of the same love affair. Its slightly varied but basically a good looking very intelligent woman comes into the situation, Kirk asks how long its been and of course the woman has it down to the days. Apparently, most of his relationships (bar Carol Marcus) end amicably but with the women still wanting him back later.
Episodes where they prematurely age the characters is always interesting, because you get to see what people assumed, they would look like at those ages. And with Star Trek, we got to see the actors as they actually were at those ages. However, the make-up artists on TNG did similar looks for McCoy in the episode Encounter at Farpoint which is probably the most believable.
Interesting Notes:
- Directed by Joseph Pevney
- Written by David P. Harmon
Pros:
- Starfleet procedures
- Make-up choices were interesting
Cons:
- Apparently aging means anger.
- The therapy worked very fast. I feel like there should have been some lingering grey temples at least.
Sokorra Lewis 