“Kirk meets Lazarus, who claims he’s chasing his parallel self through space and time. If Kirk doesn’t help him, the entire multiverse is at risk.”
So I don’t remember anything about this episode, but I’m wondering if it’s teasing the future Mirror Universe episode, or is completely unrelated.
***
The Enterprise is in orbit around a planet that appears to have no life forms. Suddenly, they are rocked by two explosions. Spock says his sensor readings are impossible, but that it appeared the entire magnetic field of the sector “blinked.” For a split second, everything ceased to exist.
A life form has now appeared on the planet, apparently human. Kirk puts together a security team to land on the planet’s surface, which appears to be the Vasquez Rocks again. Further shots prove that yes, this is indeed exactly the same place where Kirk fought the Gorn.
They find a small ship at the base of the rocks. It’s empty, but a random dude with a terrible beard appears at the top of the rocks and seems very happy to see them, until he passes out and falls off the rocks.
They beam back up and a science officer reports that their dilithium crystals are nearly drained.
They receive a message from Starfleet Command at code factor one. Kirk goes to red alert. Evidently the “blink” happened everywhere at once, but was centered on the planet Enterprise is orbiting. Starfleet believes it is a prelude to invasion, but there are no ships close enough to assist if the Enterprise gets into trouble.
***
Kirk questions the man from the surface, Lazarus, who is chasing “the devil’s own spawn.” Evidently he is the last survivor of his species, and is chasing the person who killed the rest of them.
Kirk brings him back to the planet’s surface to investigate, but there is no indication of any other life on the surface. Spock suggests Lazarus was lying, but then we get another “blink” and Lazarus runs off, evidently chasing the killer.
Many special effects and a weird slow-motion fight in what appears to be negative film later, and Lazarus claims to have seen the killer again. Kirk suggests they beam back up and Lazarus starts chanting “Kill! Kill! Kill!”
***
Lazarus is back in sick bay. Kirk returns to the bridge and Spock reports that he has no explanation for the blinks, but Kirk says it’s possible Lazarus is chasing someone who can cause the them.
McCoy calls Kirk back to suck bay and says he treated a wound on Lazarus’s forehead, but then it disappeared.
Lazarus has gone to the redesigned rec room, where he overhears the science officer from before, Lt. Masters, discussing dilithium crystals. She leaves, and Lazarus follows. Suddenly, in the corridor, Lazarus starts seizing and the blink effect happens without the explosion, and the bandage on his forehead reappears.
Kirk sees the bandage and assumes McCoy was messing with him, but McCoy insists he knows what he saw. Kirk is then called to the bridge - Spock has found something.
On the bridge, Spock has found the source of the radiation, which Spock says shouldn’t be there because there’s nothing there to cause it. He described it as a rip in the universe that he located using the dilithium crystals.
Lazarus perks up when Spock mentions the crystals, because they can use them to find Other Lazarus. Kirk says no, it’s too dangerous. Lazarus says he will, in fact, use the crystals, and Kirk doesn’t take kindly to that, but Lazarus insists he’ll have his vengeance and leaves the bridge.
Once again, the Lazaruses (Lazari?) switch places, and Other Lazarus heads to engineering, where Lt. Masters is working. A redshirt tells her she has a call from the bridge, and when she answers, Other Lazarus takes the redshirt down. Then he sneaks up on her and knocks her out with a hypospray. Kirk overheard her calling for help and we go to commercial.
***
Other Lazarus has managed to take two dilithium crystals. Lazarus insists it wasn’t him, but the monster. Also, his facial hair has changed for some reason.
They beam back to the surface and Lazarus’s facial hair has changed back, but the bandage is still there so it’s a continuity error and not an indication that he’s switched to Other Lazarus. Good job, makeup department!
They start searching for the source of the radiation, and Lazarus wanders off. We get another blink and film negative fight scene. When it’s over, Lazarus starts climbing down the rocks, nearly dropping a rock on Kirk but warning him at the last second, then falls.
***
And we’re back in sick bay. This is way too much like the fanfic I wrote in 6th grade where my self-insert Mary Sue would be seriously injured saving the ship every other page. Lazarus wakes up and Kirk thanks him for saving his life, but wants to question him.
Kirk tells Lazarus there has never been a planet where he says he came from. Lazarus says Kirk wouldn’t believe the truth. Then he admits that his planet is the one they’re orbiting, and he’s a time traveler. He then insists he needs the dilithium, but Other Lazarus stole the missing ones. Then McCoy demands that Kirk and the security redshirt leave sickbay so Lazarus can rest.
Lazarus then nearly turns into Other Lazarus again, but it doesn’t work.
***
Spock explains to Kirk that the instruments on the Enterprise are designed to locate anything in their universe. This means the source of the radiation is not in this universe. They brainstorm about what that could mean and determine that the “rip” Spock is picking up is a hole between parallel universes, and Lazarus behaves like two different men.
Spock speculates that one universe is matter, and the other is antimatter. When matter and antimatter meet, they cancel each other out violently. Lazarus and Other Lazarus are matter and antimatter, so...it sure sounds like they’re going to try to find a way to put them together and blow them up.
Except they can’t, because it will blow everything up everywhere. So maybe they have to split the Lazari?
***
Lazarus shorts out an electrical panel in Engineering, forcing Masters and her assistant out. He sneaks in and steals more dilithium. He then goes to the transporter room, headbutts the transporter operator, and beams down to the planet.
Kirk beams down after him and finds him in his ship, but when he reaches for Lazarus, he disappears. Lazarus emits a dramatic “NOOO!” and we cut to commercial.
***
Kirk now finds himself in slow-notion film negative land, and collapses. When he wakes up, it’s night. He sees Lazarus’s ship, but it’s Other Lazarus. Kirk is now in the parallel universe.
Other Lazarus seems a lot more rational than Lazarus, and says he can’t let Lazarus through or he’ll destroy everything. They can only meet inside the rip between universes.
Other Lazarus explains that the only way to keep both universes safe is if he and Lazarus are trapped inside the rip together. Then he sends Kirk back.
Kirk and Lazarus fight, and Kirk forces him into his ship, where he disappears into the rip. Kirk beams back to the Enterorise and, after a moment’s hesitation, uses the ship’s phasers to destroy Lazarus’s ship.
He philosophizes to Spock, wondering what it must be like to be trapped with a madman at your throat for all eternity. Spock points out that both universes are safe, but Kirk asks “But what of Lazarus?”
***
I really don’t remember seeing this one before. It was another good concept with weird execution. Overall it was pretty interesting, but seemed kind of slow and repetitive, and Lazarus annoyed me. It did, however, feature a female scientist, a Black woman with natural hair, whose assistant was a white man. Having a white man subordinate to a Black woman is pretty impressive for the 60s.
I don’t think this is going to rank as one of my favorite episodes but I liked the concept. The effects were jarring it wonky, though. Still, not bad :)
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