Wanderlust

2.13 — “Obsession”

2.13 — “Obsession”

Plot: Kirk encounters a deadly gaseous cloud that reminds him of an entity he encountered eleven years ago and half a galaxy away, while serving as Lieutenant aboard the U.S.S. Farragut, and his survivor’s guilt after the entity wiped out half the Farragut’s crew. Kirk’s pursuit of the creature threatens lives aboard the Enterprise, and also the needs of Theta VII, which is expecting the ship to deliver perishable medical supplies. Spock and McCoy wonder: is Kirk’s judgment compromised?

Thoughts: Good little episode that gets better as it goes along. I can’t be the only one that thought, when the camera pulled away in the teaser to reveal three redshirt ensigns standing behind Kirk and Spock, “Oh shit.”

The teaser features the death of Lt. Leslie, played by Eddie Paskey. Paskey was a stand-in who also played a background character (who eventually acquired the name “Mr. Leslie”) in 60 episodes of TOS–more appearances than Sulu, Chekhov, or Nurse Chapel. Leslie rarely got any dialogue, but he did have his moments, such as the time in “The Squire of Gothos” when he assumed control of the bridge. Leslie mysteriously came back to life (Paskey likes to joke that the scene in which he was revived by a magic potion was never filmed) and continued to serve through the early part of third season. Paskey, who says he usually liked to make himself scarce when he knew the script would call for a crew death, reprised the role in 2004 in the fan produced series, Star Trek: Phase II, in which we learn that Leslie has been promoted to Admiral.

I wonder if the cortizine injection McCoy uses to revive Rizzo after Rizzo’s encounter with the creature is supposed to be the same stuff as the cordrazine that drove McCoy mad in “The City on the Edge of Forever?” Or is the name just a coincidence, a futuristic-sounding variation on cortisone?

Again we have an episode emphasizing the importance of command and command decisions, and the second consecutive episode to feature a competency inquiry for Captain Kirk (although the episodes were not produced consecutively, but as the 10th and 17th episodes of the season). My favorite bit was this: Spock: I need your advice. McCoy: Then I need a drink.

Yay! A scene for Nurse Chapel! Why is her uniform even briefer than that of the yeomans?

I found the psychological complexity of the episode and the mystery satisfying, as well as the B story with Ensign Garrovick (who unfortunately is never seen again in the series). The best scene is when Spock rushes into Garrovick’s cabin and plunges into the deadly cloud in an effort to save the ship. Chills–and presentiments of Star Trek II.

4 out of 5 tritanium geodes.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obsession_(Star_Trek:_The_Original_Series)

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10 responses to “2.13 — “Obsession””

  1. Randi Cohen Avatar
    Randi Cohen

    Yes, I really liked this one!  Kirk as Ahab, and everyone playing psychiatrist a little bit.  It was heart-warming to see a redshirt actually have some character, and it might have been nice for Kirk to have a protege hanging around for future episodes… too bad this is Garrovick’s only episode.  

    I was a little disturbed they never checked to be sure the gas cloud was dead… with a thing like that I don’t think you can be too sure.  

    Regarding green blood, I didn’t realize this but apparently hemocyanin (copper-based oxygen transporter) is actually employed in some molluscs and insects.  

    It is kind of surprising given the monster’s capabilities that it contented itself just to kind of hang out between 11 years ago and now.  It would have been interesting to speculate about what its motives or reasons were for attacking humans so sporadically.  

    In PTSD, very often people go to guilt to avoid feeling helpless to prevent tragedy, which is a much harder feeling to experience.  So I thought this element really rang true.  

    One thing, is Spock really trying to stop the creature from coming through the air vent by putting his hands over it?  

    4 out of 5 threats of IV nutrition.  (a feeding tube would be more efficacious and infinitely more uncomfortable).

    Reply
  2. R. Alex Reutter Avatar
    R. Alex Reutter

    Good use of reversing the film to show the smoke disappearing behind the rock.  Kirk has encountered this before — nice twist!

    Apparently security on the Enterprise doesn’t understand what it means to be on alert and shoot on sight.

    Nurse Chapel gets some lines!  Dear lord, look at how they’ve arranged her legs while she’s standing.  As if the mini-dress isn’t bad enough, she has to put one leg forward while standing there in order make her blocking more “interesting”.  It could be worse, I guess: 2, or even Riker sits down

    I don’t really believe Kirk in this episode.  He is constantly concerned for his crew’s safety and hyper-aware of his duty as a Star Fleet officer.  It would be enough to show the effects of PTSD for him to put his crew in danger in this way, but how can he possibly ignore the rendezvous with Yorktown?  We’re talking about a creature that kills 200 people every decade, and that medicine will presumably save a lot more than that.  Drop the other mission, writers!

    Nurse Chapel gets even more lines!  Great scenes with the ensign and McCoy.

    Spock nobly throws himself in the way of danger once again, and … is trying to seal the vent with his hands?!   !!??!?!?!?!   I don’t get the Trek II shivers from this, especially when the problem with the vent stems from the ensign throwing a bowl in a fit of pique.  They might as well have played the ominous horns when the bowl hit the vent.

    So, this bomb will tear the atmosphere off the planet, but they need to have the creature right on top of it to be effective.  And now, Kirk and the ensign are going to fight for the right to die — oops, wait, no they’re not.  Just a simple misunderstanding, but watch out for the set, guys!  You nearly knocked a foam boulder over (it just wobbles).

    Despite the warts, yet another solid episode.

    Reply
  3. Bill Testerman Avatar
    Bill Testerman

    I think this is a good one too, good story and well written. It’s interesting to see Kirk’s competency questioned again by Spock and McCoy, since they’re normally right behind him. Since he was similarly questioned in “The Deadly Years” last episode, he’s really being picked on lately, isn’t he? Also, as Kevin points out this one is interesting for the discussion of command decisions, although as R. Alex points out Kirk was taking a big risk by not delivering that medicine on time to the U.S.S. Yorktown. Lucky for him this cloud was the same that attacked the Farragut.

    They could have used “Obsession” for Halloween since the gas cloud is a vampire feeding on people’s blood. I read a quote from script writer Art Wallace that he was deliberately trying to write a “Moby Dick” story here. He also co-wrote the episode “Assignment: Earth” that appears later this season.

    I’m not sure how the drug used on Rizzo here was spelled in the script, but my Star Trek Concordance says they use cordrazine both here and in “City on the Edge….” I recall in that episode they said that a small amount was helpful, but not the full hypo of it that McCoy got.

    That scene with Spock trying to block the gas coming through the vent with his hands, when it’s going around his hands and threatens to kill him, is bizarre!! Could he not find a pillow or something? Similarly, when Scotty says the gas cloud got into the Enterprise through an impulse engine vent, how could the vent be open to space without the ship losing all its air?

    Too bad Stephen Brooks was not ever seen again as Garrovick, since he seemed a promising actor here. I’m glad that Mr. Leslie didn’t stay dead, anyway.

    Despite the few nitpicks, I’ll also give this one 4 out of 5.

    Reply
  4. Kevin Black Avatar
    Kevin Black

    What got me about Spock’s efforts to stop the gas creature was not the effectiveness of his chosen method, but the completely selfless way he rushed forward to do it, to do anything, to try, without any hesitation or thought for himself. Leonard Nimoy’s performance is incredible. So specific, so… I getting the shivers again.

    I don’t know how the drug was spelled in the script either; I took my spelling from Chrissie’s Transcripts. Do you know about these? Astounding:

    http://www.chakoteya.net/Startrek/episodes.htm

    Reply
  5. R. Alex Reutter Avatar
    R. Alex Reutter

    Thing is, it’s Spock we’re talking about.  Act selflessly without hesitation?  Yes, as long as he’s worked through the logic of his actions.  The problem is that there’s no logic to his method of trying to stop the creature.  Logic dictates that stopping it with his hands (unless his hands completely covered the vent) would be ineffectual, so he needs something like a pillow, or the tray Nurse Chapel used to carry the food to Garrovick.  We just need a moment for him to scan the room, then seize the tray, then go to the vent.

    Reply
  6. Kevin Black Avatar
    Kevin Black

    Yes, ideally… but Vulcans are not as level-headed as they pretend to be, are they? Maybe the adrenaline triggered a little Pon-Farr energy.

    Reply
  7. Randi Cohen Avatar
    Randi Cohen

    Hahaha, nice attempt at a save of this poorly plotted moment, Kevin!  I am going to use this excuse next time I 

    get in trouble with my husband… “Sorry I forgot to wash the dishes tonight, honey… it must have been Pon-Farr energy.”

    Reply
  8. Kevin Black Avatar
    Kevin Black

    I think this should be marketed as a fragrance… wait, it is.

    http://www.amazon.com/Star-Trek-Perfume-Pon-Farr/dp/B002HMLY0Y
    “Because having is not so pleasing as wanting.”

    Reply
  9. Randi Cohen Avatar
    Randi Cohen

    Hahahaha… that is the best!

    Reply
  10. Bill Testerman Avatar
    Bill Testerman

    Then, too, once Spock saw that his hands over the vent was not stopping the cloud vampire from getting through, he should have gotten his butt out of there. No point in sacrificing himself for nothing.

    Thanks for the transcript link, Kevin, but for some reason it won’t go tonight. I guess in the case of that site and my book Star Trek Concordance, the people listened to the show and wrote what they thought was said. So we’d need the original script to know if they used cordrazine again in “Obsession” or something that sounds similar.

    Reply

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