Friday, August 26, 2022

TOS - The Empath

Plot: Trapped in an alien laboratory, Kirk, Spock and McCoy meet an empath and are involved in a series of experiments.
Pros: Acting, Ending, Some good drama, Dialogue, minimalist set, Guest star
Cons: Slow moving, not enough story or action. Villians aren't logical

Favorite Quote
McCoy: Men weren't intended to live this far underground. It's just not natural.
Kirk: And space travel is?
Spock: Some men spend the majority of their lives in mines beneath the surface.
McCoy: I'm a doctor, not a coal miner.

De Forrest Kelly's Favorite
This was supposedly De Forsest Kelly's favorite episode, and its easy to see why. The set is a darkened sound stage with the guest stars and "The big three". The focus in on the acting, and Dr. McCoy gets a lot of screen time. And he gets to be the hero and show a wide range emotions, instead of just being cantankerous or trading barbs with Spock.

Almost a Great Episode
The Empath was one rewrite away from being a great Star Trek episode. While the acting, script, and Guest star, are good there's not enough story. The plot moves at a snails pace. Its a great 35 mintues, but the show is 50 minutes long.

Its one Star Trek episode that needed a "B" plot. Or maybe more action. Maybe "our guys" could have escaped from the undergound facility and the aliens had trouble reacapturing them. Of course, that would've cost more $$ and that would've gone against the whole goal of making a low budget episode.

Summary:
Anyway, the episode needed an exciting 10 minutes in the middle. And it didn't get it. However, its not that bad on DVD, since I could FF and focus on the best parts, which are very good indeed. But given the drawn out plot, I can't rate it more than average.

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