This episode introduced some characters, but they obviously had not yet figured out exactly who would be doing what. McCoy, for example was still replaced by a random old guy. A different old guy, I must point out, than the last "other doctor."
The premise of this episode is that some people have ESP. When these people pass through purple clouds, they get pushed over and then become super powered, presumably as a "sorry I pushed you over" gift from the cloud.
The episode begins with Kirk knowing that a ship that passed through this cloud in the past was destroyed, but only after the captain got crazy obsessed with ESP. For some reason, he decides to follow suit and go through the cloud, perhaps because he cannot handle the curiosity. We introduce a character which I would expect to be recurring if this were the actual first episode: the psychiatrist. I don't remember her name. Her death would be slightly shocking if this episode aired first, so I give a tip of my hat to the writers.
We find out that ESP is an accepted characteristic of some humans in the future and that she is one of those people. She's not nearly as psychic though, as Kirk's good buddy (whose name I have also forgotten). I will henceforth call them ESP guy and ESP girl.
ESP guy gets pushed over really hard by the cloud, so he gets to chill in sick bay while he gets his super powers and learns to use and enjoy them. ESP girl spends her time fawning over him, because she has not yet gotten her super powers.
Spock suggests marooning ESP guy on a mining planet and when Kirk says no he suggests the alternative of killing him instead. Kirk must feel like this puts everything in perspective, because he comes around on the marooning idea.
This scene brings me to a huge pet peeve. *See below.
Like Charlie, I can only side with ESP guy here:
He never does anything bad until they force him. He just sits in his hospital bed for days getting exited about the cool stuff that he can do. When Kirk comes by, he wants to chat and show off. He is talking with his friend, as a friend. Eventually, he reads the minds of the people in the room with him and discovers that they want him dead or abandoned.This only bugs him a little, considering.
He is maybe a tiny bit cocky, and he might not be as polite as one could hope, but remember, they want him dead. He does not harm anyone until they lock him up on a deserted planet to be abandoned. He then blasts himself out, trying not to kill anyone, but he did JUST get these powers, so cut him some slack.
ESP couple run off onto the planet to make their lives in seclusion, but Kirk won't have it. He grabs a gun and chases them down. The claim has been made that this is the next step in human evolution. There is even a breeding pair that they could just leave here and wait to see what happens next. Kirk sees to it that they are both dead.
Who's the bad guy?
Pet Peeves and Inconsistencies:
- ESP girl gains her powers late because she does not test as high for ESP as ESP guy does. Shouldn't this mean that people who test even lower than her would gain powers even later. Shouldn't they be at least worried and looking into this?
- *Kirk is constantly (throughout the series) accusing Spock of being insensitive and requesting that he pretend to emote like a human. Spock is extremely tolerant of this. I would find it pretty annoying if every time I pointed out that someone had to act fast or face inevitable peril, I was reprimanded for not wasting time and forced to watch them waste time on an activity which I saw as completely needless. Spock says "here do this" and then someone says "Spock can't you sit around and fret with the rest of us before pointing out the best course of action for everyone?"
- Spock admits that an ancestor married a human female. Is this him downplaying the connection, or am I misremembering that by ancestor he means father?
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