Miri
S1E08
Written by: Adrian Spies
They Almost Lost Me, for Starters
{Bridge]
KIRK: Earth-style distress signal. SOS.
FARRELL: I’ve answered it on all frequencies, sir. They don’t reply.
SPOCK: Not a vessel, a ground source. The third planet in this solar system, according to my instruments.
FARRELL: Directly ahead. Definitely an Earth-style signal.
KIRK: We’re hundreds of light years from Earth, Mister Spock. No colonies or vessels out this far.
SPOCK: Measuring the planet now, Captain. It’s spheroid-shaped, circumference twenty four thousand eight hundred seventy four miles. Mass six times ten to the twenty first power tons. Mean density five point five one seven. Atmosphere oxygen, nitrogen.
RAND: Earth!
KIRK: Not the Earth, another Earth. Another Earth?
Captain’s Log, stardate 2713.5. In the distant reaches of our galaxy, we have made an astonishing discovery. Earth type radio signals coming from a planet which apparently is an exact duplicate of the Earth. It seems impossible, but there it is.
After watching the episode, and eagerly looking for some reason why, I still cannot understand why Spies/Fontana/Gene made the decision to have this planet be an exact duplicate of Earth. It almost completely kills the suspension of disbelief right there. It adds nothing to the plot. The planet could have been “A world very much like 20th Century Earth” and have created the exact same effect. This is a real weak spot in what, after re-viewing, I found to be an episode I had seriously underrated in my perception of The Original Series.
Lost Innocence
The beginning of the episode establishes the theme that will unwind in three strands throughout the episode. The loss of childhood and innocence. This happens in three spheres. Specifically Miri loses her eternal childhood and innocence. The child survivors do so as well by the end. The planet, Another Earth, lost its innocence through the knowledge (science) that allowed it to attempt to change the fundamentals of existence; end aging and death, with apocalyptic consequences. Mankind cannot “play God” (interesting coming from Gene, a dedicated Atheist). The disease itself kills the minute innocence is lost, at puberty. This shot was quite the foreshadowing metaphor.
Good Science
The Science in this episode was quite well done; it was fairly cutting edge that the research to end human aging was the result of a chain of specific mutations brought on by the infection of test subjects by a specific sequence of viruses, making it extremely hard to detect. That is pretty good for 1966. It’d be pretty good today.
Interiors and Exteriors
The sets were effectively used; Desilu’s Forty Acres Backlot and interiors were all used as Mayberry on The Andy Griffith Show. These were successfully dressed to eerily give the effect of a desolate urban area, hundreds of years after an Apocalypse. Fallout Boy ™ would have approved.
Sense of Menace
The sets, combine with some unique shooting of the landing party exploring really established a sense of invisible peril that really permeated the whole episode.
Two Threats
The First threat is the unseen children, who after we meet Miri, we discover are out avoiding the “Grups”. That threat is present, but not the immediate problem.
The second threat is the discovery of the disease, and the one week clock the landing party has to develop an antidote. These two plotlines combine to create tension and keep the story moving.
Kim Darby, Michael J. Pollard
I really think that without these two talented guest stars, the episode doesn’t work. Miri has to be able to express the complicated emotions of a young girl becoming a woman, who betrays the crew, but is still sympathetic and lovable. Pollard has to be a menacing foil who incites violence, but is simple and essentially guileless. A tough act. They both pull it off. Not surprising since Darby played the female lead in True Grit two years later, and Pollard received a Best Supporting Actor nomination for his work in Bonnie and Clyde the following year.
GeekMystery-Resolved!
AHA! This photo proves it! Undershirts! Never noticed this before! Uniform mystery-solved!!!
Kindness and Compassion Misread
A Crux of the plot essentially centered around Miri’s realization of her womanhood and her misreading Kirk’s gentle kindness as the seeds of a romantic love. As well, Miri also confuses Kirk’s compassion for Rand, who is near her breaking point, for a betrayal of sorts. She is confused by her emotions. She betrays the crew to the Lord of the Flies youngsters, inducing them to kidnap Rand (after the kids had already stolen the communicators). Miri wanted to eliminate a rival, but is quickly convinced by Kirk that her survival, and that of all the children, depends on getting the communicators back to finalize an antidote McCoy and Spock have been working on.
This leads to an interesting climax. Kirk is essentially beaten by the children at one point, off screen while one little one watches creepily. It is a frightening shot.
After being beaten, Kirk shows…compassion.
And McCoy, no communicators available, tests the antidote on himself.
All in all this episode surprised me. Shatner was, once again, fantastic and the stellar actor of the regulars, and Grace Lee Whitney really gave a standout performance as well. Memory told me that I wouldn’t like the episode. The Introduction almost lost me. But it was well told, well shot, and well cast. It used good literate science, and the premise was excellent science fiction. The violence, when used was more misguided, and used by immature children. And it wasn’t used to resolve anything. in the end compassion won. Very Star Trek. It wasn’t great, it wasn’t good, but it wasn’t bad, which is what i thought I’d be getting.
Navaronegun’s Running Re-View Rankings ™
1.) The Man Trap
2.) Where No Man Has Gone Before
3.) The Naked Time
4.) Charlie X
5.) Miri
6.) The Enemy Within
7.) What Are Little Girls Made Of?
8.) Mudd’s Women