That Which Survives

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Star Trek: TOS episode
"That Which Survives"
Image:STThtWhchSurv.jpg
An alien computer casts deadly images
Episode no. 72
Prod. code 069
Remastered no. 61
Airdate January 24, 1969
Writer(s) John Meredyth Lucas
story by
Michael Richards (pseudonym of D.C. Fontana)
Director Herb Wallerstein
Guest star(s) Arthur Batanides
Booker Bradshaw
Lee Meriwether
Naomi Pollack
Kenneth Washington
Frank da Vinci
William Blackburn (actor)
Roger Holloway
Year 2268
Stardate unknown
Episode chronology
Previous "The Mark of Gideon"
Next "The Lights of Zetar"

"That Which Survives" is a third season episode of Star Trek: The Original Series, first broadcast January 24, 1969 and repeated July 29, 1969. It is episode #72, production #69, written by John Meredyth Lucas, based on a story by Michael Richards (pseudonym of D.C. Fontana) and directed by Herb Wallerstein.

There is no stardate given for this episode, but it probably took place between 5423.4, and 5725.3 given the chronology of the previous and next episodes in the series.

Overview: The crew of the Enterprise visit an abandoned outpost guarded by a mysterious computer.

Contents

[edit] Plot

The Enterprise happens upon a planet that appears very young compared to its evolutionary stage of surface lifeforms. Captain Kirk, along with Dr. McCoy, Mr. Sulu and geologist D'Amato, prepare to beam down to the planet to investigate further. In the midst of dematerializing, they see a beautiful woman appear in the transporter room and try to stop the landing. She touches the baffled transporter technician, Ensign Wyatt, killing him instantly.

As soon as Kirk and the others materialize on the planet, they are rocked by a violent tremor. The Enterprise is also jolted as it is thrown 990.7 light years away from the planet by an unknown force. Dr. M'Benga examines Wyatt and learns his death was caused by complete cellular disruption.

The landing party loses communications with the Enterprise and they realize they are stranded. They split up and begin to scout around. As D'Amato surveys a rocky area, he comes face-to-face with the woman who appeared in the transporter room. Strangely, she knows his name. She approaches him slowly and the confused D'Amato stands struck by her beauty. When she touches him, he too falls dead.

Mr. Spock orders the Enterprise back to the mysterious planet. Enroute, Mr. Scott reports a vague feeling that the ship "isn't right" and he orders Engineer Watkins to check equipment in a secluded area. The mysterious woman assassin appears again. She knows Watkins' identity and the Enterprise warp drive systems. She kills Watkins and sabotages the Emergency Overload Bypass.

On the planet, while burying D'Amato, Kirk discovers that the planet surface is highly resistant to phaser fire. Kirk and McCoy sleep and Sulu takes the first watch. The woman appears to Sulu, knowing his name, and Sulu discovers she is invulnerable to phaser fire. He trips on a rock so she only brushes his shoulder briefly with her fingertips. Sulu screams in pain, bringing Kirk and McCoy who find him injured but alive. The woman puts her hand solidly on Kirk's shoulder but nothing happens. They discover that the woman can only kill one specific person during each appearance.

Meanwhile on the Enterprise, the ship's speed begins to increase uncontrollably. Scotty discovers the woman's sabotage and estimates that the Enterprise will explode in 15 minutes. Spock corrects this to 14.87 minutes. Spock and Scotty devise a dangerous plan to manually cut the matter-antimatter fuel flow to the warp engines in a small service crawlway sparking with energy. Scotty begins the risky repairs as the Enterprise passes warp 13.2.

On the planet, the three narrowly avoid death when Kirk's phaser suddenly goes into an unstoppable overload and explodes. The woman appears "for Kirk" but Sulu and McCoy block her path. She touches them without effect. Questioned by Kirk, the woman says she is Losira, the station commander. She is alone, and her only purpose is to defend the planet from intruders. Kirk's conversation unsettles her and she vanishes without killing him.

The landing party discover the entrance to a room that is the source of the strong power emanations. They enter.

Back on the Enterprise, Scotty can't stop the fuel flow. He begs Spock to jettison the pod and sacrifice him to save the rest of the crew. Spock calmly urges him to continue. In one of the series' cliffhanger moments, Scotty manages to stop the flow at the very last second, saving the ship and restoring control.

Inside the station, the landing party finds a cube-shaped computer. It projects three copies of Losira, one each to kill Kirk, Sulu and McCoy. Before they can kill the landing crew, Spock and a security officer beam into the room. At Kirk's command, the security officer quickly shoots the computer and the three assassins disappear.

A viewscreen then displays a pre-recorded message by Losira, a Kalandan who had been the last survivor at the outpost. She had programmed the computer to defend the outpost and it used her likeness for the assassins. The recorded Losira explains, that while creating the planet they created a deadly organism. McCoy surmises that the disease spread throughout the Kalandan race and drove them to extinction long ago. Kirk also surmises that, because Lorisa had been created too completely, that the landing party had been able to survive as long as they had.

[edit] 40th Anniversary remastering

This episode was remastered in 2006 and aired March 15, 2008 as part of the remastered Original Series. It was preceded a week earlier by the remastered "By Any Other Name" and followed a week later by the remastered "Is There in Truth No Beauty?". Aside from remastered video and audio, and the all-CGI animation of the USS Enterprise that is standard among the revisions, specific changes to this episode also include:

  • The planet has been given a more realistic appearance.
  • When the Enterprise is jolted into high warp, a sudden blur has been applied to the ship.

[edit] Notes

 Trivia sections are discouraged under Wikipedia guidelines.
The article could be improved by integrating relevant items and removing inappropriate ones.
  • Actor Booker Bradshaw reprises his role as Dr. M'Benga, first seen standing in for Dr. McCoy in "A Private Little War".
  • This episode was used as the background for the book Star Trek: Gateways, Book 1 of 7, One Small Step by Susan Wright, which elaborates extensively on the story. The mysteries of this episode were used to help tie in the original series with the rest of the Gateways books. Star Trek novels, with the exception of movie versions, are not considered canon.
  • While creation of a planet seems to be beyond believable technology, the Federation soon had such technology - Project Genesis - but it also had numerous problems that rendered it useless.

[edit] External links

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Last produced:
"Wink of an Eye"		 Star Trek: TOS episodes
Season 3		 Next produced:
"Let That Be Your Last Battlefield"
Last transmitted:
"The Mark of Gideon"		 Next transmitted:
"The Lights of Zetar"