Star Trek: The Omega Glory

This is an odd episode, one I am not real fond of. Kirk, Spock, McCoy and the sacrificial red shirt beam onto an apparently abandoned Exeter and discover the crew has died of a mysterious malady that turned them to the base chemicals (they are just empty uniforms with salt crystals). Now they, too, are infected and must beam down to the planet, where the Exeter's captain is, or die in a couple hours. Just when you think this episode is going to be about a tense race to find a cure, the story goes in another direction and the malady becomes a non issue too easily. The other Captain is bonkers, thinking the inhabits live forever and wants to force McCoy to find the answer to their longevity. He's also said screw the Prime Directive and helped the peaceful Khoms by killings vicious Yangs.

Apparently the society paralleled Earth's exactly and there was a biological war between the Communists and US, and the US lost, but they have been trying to retake their lands ever since, having turned into white Indians. They have a battered flag, and worship the Constitution.

This episode was written by the show's creator, Roddenberry, and was one of three submitted to be the show's second pilot. Thank goodness it wasn't, because there would probably have never been a Star Trek series and franchise. The story is fairly heavy-handed and probably had too much going on for it to work in such a short space. It might have been much better with a half hour or more added to it and the disease subplot filled out and resolved better. That a civilization out in space could have had the exact same constitution and flag is stretching it, and by the time this episode was filmed and aired, the concept had already occurred enough on the show. Spock also was given a telepathic ability that he does not exhibit in most other episodes, except the previous and one other. It's one of those pat things that bugs the crap out of me when shows need to resolve something quickly.

Enhanced effects were minimal, but an added Exeter doubled parked with the Enterprise was cool.