{"id":4455,"date":"2014-05-05T06:24:21","date_gmt":"2014-05-05T06:24:21","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/318-The-Lights-of-Zetar"},"modified":"2014-05-05T06:24:21","modified_gmt":"2014-05-05T06:24:21","slug":"318-the-lights-of-zetar","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/relivethemajesty.com\/index.php\/2014\/05\/05\/318-the-lights-of-zetar\/","title":{"rendered":"3.18 — \u201cThe Lights of Zetar\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"\n \n

3.18 — \u201cThe Lights of Zetar\u201d<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Plot:<\/strong> As the crew approaches Memory Alpha, a library planet devoted preserving “the total cultural history and scientific knowledge of all planetary Federation members,” the ship encounters a strange storm of lights. These lights, which move independently and faster than light, \u201cattack\u201d the ship, without causing apparent damage. A visiting scholar, however, Lt. Romaine, the sweetheart of Lt. Cmdr. Scott, absorbs radiation during the barrage and momentarily loses consciousness. Before long the lights, which Spock believes to be sentient, attack Memory Alpha, killing all the inhabitants. Then they wheel to reengage the Enterprise<\/em>. Can this destructive force be stopped?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Thoughts:<\/strong> A new flame for Scotty! And requited this time. Och, how quickly he forgets Lt. Palamas from \u201cWho Mourns for Adonais?\u201d and Kara the belly dancer from \u201cWolf in the Fold.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Our Mr. Scott is passionate, and known to exercise poor judgment in matters related to the fair sex. Truly he is one who loves not wisely, but too well. There were some moments in this script that seem to clearly call for him to be relieved of duty. It’s not made clear whether, at the end of the episode, Scott and Romaine are affianced. Her enthusiasm for the match may have been less than his, as Lt. Romaine, sadly, is never mentioned again in Star Trek canon. Also, the actress was 11 years younger than James Doohan (until his death in 2005). It’s a shame the character had to be named after a lettuce.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Memory Alpha–a public repository of multicultural knowledge, free to all comers. What a beautiful idea to find in an episode that first aired in 1969! It\u2019s appropriate that the Star Trek wiki names itself Memory Alpha. I\u2019m not sure the existence of the library fits with all the show\u2019s continuity–is the information within free to Klingons and Romulans? Also, I would imagine that shields would be necessary, more to protect the outpost from space debris than from enemy spaceships.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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After watching the last two third-season episodes, I was delighted to discover that \u201cThe Lights of Zetar\u201d feels fresh, exciting, and original. Okay, perhaps aspects of the plot do closely resemble \u201cMetamorphosis\u201d and \u201cObsession\u201d and \u201cWolf in the Fold\u201d–but the episode still feels fresh, and the realization of the creature is quite beautiful (at least in the remastered episode).\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The examination of Lt. Romaine\u2019s medical and psychological history with her sitting in the room felt uncomfortable and demeaning. Perhaps they were just being transparent? It was a shipwide emergency, but I thought they could have done more to acknowledge her presence and ask her questions. My wife watched this one with me, and was offended by the men sometimes referring to her as \u201cthe girl\u201d instead of by her military rank. She was “the girl” in the plot structure, but at least in this episode that aired January 31, 1969, she was also an officer, specialist, and expert.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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3.5 out of 5 irresponsible ship engineers.<\/p>\n\n\n

http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/The_Lights_of_Zetar<\/a>