The Alternative Factor

"The Alternative Factor" is a first season episode of the original science fiction television series Star Trek. It is episode #27, production #20, and was broadcast on March 30, 1967. The episode was written by Don Ingalls, and directed by Gerd Oswald.

In this episode, the crew of the USS Enterprise encounters a "reality jumping" madman. This is the first Star Trek episode to deal with a parallel universe.

Plot

The Enterprise, completing a mapping assignment, is rocked by an energy pulse. Science Officer Spock informs Kirk that the gravity pull of the planet fluctuated to zero and says that the surrounding space seemed to momentarily "wink" out of existence.

Sensors locate a human presence on the planet that wasn't there before. Spock and Kirk beam down to the planet and find a one-man spacecraft. A disheveled, bearded man appears and accidentally slips off a cliff. The man survives the fall but is injured, and Kirk has him beamed to the Enterprise for examination.

Back on the ship, Lt. Masters informs Captain Kirk that the mysterious disturbance has drained the dilithium crystals in the warp drive. A message from Starfleet reports that every quadrant has been subjected to the same winking effect and electronic disruption as the Enterprise. Starfleet fears that the disruption may be a prelude to an invasion and has ordered all ships — except the Enterprise — to leave the area. Kirk is ordered to find the cause of the disturbance, alone.

Doctor McCoy notifies Kirk that the fallen man is awake and Kirk questions him. Kirk learns that the man, who calls himself Lazarus, is chasing down the "monster" who destroyed his civilization. He describes his nemesis as a murdering beast, existing only to destroy.

Periodically, Lazarus fades in and out of existence, encountering his adversary in a kind of dimensional corridor. Each time he does so, another energy wink occurs that ripples through the universe.

Kirk takes Lazarus to the bridge when Spock reports an amazing discovery on the planet: a "rip" in space and time has formed near where Lazarus was found. Lazarus insists that his enemy, trying to destroy the universe, is causing the phenomenon. He demands that Kirk give him some dilithium crystals so he may fix his ship and continue to fight his enemy. Kirk refuses, so Lazarus steals some dilithium from the ship's engines. Once Lazarus is caught, Kirk takes him to the briefing room for interrogation. Lazarus denies doing it, saying his enemy must have stolen it.

Kirk beams back to the planet with Lazarus and a security team to seek this "hidden" enemy. Lazarus has another dimensional episode and is returned to sickbay, where Kirk demands the truth. Lazarus explains that he is a time traveler, and the planet below was once his homeworld. He claims his counterpart destroyed his civilization in the past, for which Lazarus chased him for centuries.

Spock concludes that Lazarus's enemy is an "anti-Lazarus", possibly from a parallel dimension; if Lazarus and his anti-self contact each other within either physical universe, they would destroy each other and annihilate both universes.

Lazarus, prepared to continue his mission, slips away from sickbay and creates a diversion in engineering to acquire dilithium. With the stolen crystals, he beams down to the planet to repair his ship. Kirk follows, but Lazarus activates his time machine just as Kirk tries to stop him. Stepping into the portal, Kirk is accidentally teleported to the other anti-dimension where he encounters the anti-Lazarus.

This Lazarus seems sane and admits to stealing the dilithium the first time. He informs Kirk that his people believed two universes existed, tried to prove it but failed, thus causing their own destruction. Lazarus confirms Mr. Spock's hypothesis that breaking the barriers between the matter and anti-matter universes may trigger doomsday.

He explains that only one Lazarus can exist in a universe at a time and his opposite went mad to the point of seeking the double's destruction, even if that meant the end of the world. If not stopped, their constant encounters will destroy both universes. The anti-Lazarus tells Kirk that the "dimensional corridor" — Lazarus's ship — connecting them must be severed. Kirk must send the mad Lazarus back into the corridor and close off the portal for good.

Kirk returns to his universe and confronts the insane Lazarus, pushing him into his dimensional portal. Kirk heads back to the Enterprise, ordering the phasers to target the dimension ship. The two Lazaruses meet once more and fight as phaser beams vaporize the ship. Both Lazaruses are now trapped between universes, apparently doomed to fight each other for eternity.

Production

John Drew Barrymore was originally cast as Lazarus, but on the morning filming began he was nowhere to be found. The part had to be quickly recast with Robert Brown. The producers filed a grievance with the Screen Actors Guild, which suspended Barrymore's membership for six months as a result, preventing him from working as an actor during that time.^[1]

The special effects for the extra-dimensional "winking" episodes were achieved by superimposing a moving photograph of the Trifid Nebula over the action.

Reception

Zack Handlen of The A.V. Club, 42 years after its initial debut, gave the episode a 'C-' rating, describing the plot as "baffling" and "unrewarding" and poorly paced.^[2]

References

External links

Wikiquote has quotations related to: "The Alternative Factor"

• "The Alternative Factor" at StarTrek.com
• "The Alternative Factor" at the Internet Movie Database
• "The Alternative Factor" at TV.com
• "The Alternative Factor" at Memory Alpha (a Star Trek wiki)
• "The Alternative Factor" Review of the remastered version at TrekMovie.com