1.16 — “Too Short a Season”
Plot: The Enterprise escorts an elderly Starfleet admiral who is infected by a wasting disease to a hostage negotiation on Mordan IV. On the way there, they notice that the admiral seems to be getting younger, and stronger, to the bewilderment of Dr. Crusher.
Thoughts: I’d like to return from our hiatus to a great episode–but, alas. “Too Short a Season” is too long. The episode should have lasted about as long as it would have taken for the transporter device to lock on to the hostages and beam them to safety.
Nobody was nominated for Emmys based on the makeup or acting in this episode. The actor playing Admiral Jamieson appears to be imitating a Muppet parody of Emperor Palpatine. Remember how great and subtle the age makeup was in TOS 2.12, “The Deadly Years?” That was in 1967, and they probably spent less money.
I note that this episode would flunk the Bechdel test. It does contain a conversation between three named female characters, but the only subject of their conversation is a man.
Again, I’d love to have good things to say. Episodes like this, however, make me wonder if it would be a virtue to skip ahead. Grade: Fail.
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