[TOS] Obession

[TOS] Season 2, Episode 13 (Netflix: S2 E13): Obsession

Obsession
Rating: 2

This episode is another revenge story. I love revenge stories, but I think this is a weak example. Kirk wrestles with his obsession for killing a cloud monster because he failed to kill it years ago, resulting in the death of 200 crew members. Kirk comes to realize that even if he shot it, it wouldn’t have done anything. Kirk’s attitude changes, but he basically just keeps hunting the cloud monster to kill it, because it’s still an evil cloud monster after all. If you’re making a story about justice, you have to make the audience want it, and if you’re making a story about fighting inner feelings of obsession, you have to kind of show how that’s the wrong thing to do. This episode wasn’t really either of those things, but instead a strange combination that didn’t really work.


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Notes:

Kirk and Spock check out some tritanium and some smoke sneaks up on them!

Kirk and Spock check out some tritanium and some smoke sneaks up on them

The smoke kills a red shirt

Kirk tells some red shirts to scout out the area because he smelled honey. A red shirt goes down

Kirk hates that honey smelling thing. It may be the same thing that killed the crew of the Farragut!

Kirk hates that honey smelling thing. It may be the same thing that killed half of the crew of the Farragut! Kirk was an ensign on that ship! Revenge?!

They go back to the planet to kill the thing. So more red shirts go down

They go back to the planet to kill it. More red shirts get attacked

Hesitant

Kirk relieves this guy of all duties and confines him to quarters because he hesitated in shooting it. Hesitated? I would never have thought to shoot at a cloud.

By the way, they're also on an important mission to deliver medicine to Theta VII. They always throw in the old vital medicine delivery to try to raise the stakes just a bit more. We don't care about Theta VII! I'm starting to think Enterprise is mainly a medicine delivery ship

By the way, they’re also on an important mission to deliver medicine to Theta VII. They always throw in the old “vital medicine delivery” to try to raise the stakes just a bit more. Sorry, we don’t care about Theta VII. I’m starting to think Enterprise is mainly a medicine delivery ship

Bones and Spock start to think Kirk is acting a little obsessed with this thing

Bones and Spock start to think Kirk’s acting a little obsessed. It turns out Kirk was so hard on the other guy because Kirk hesitated to shoot it on the Farragut

Enterprise chases down the cloud

Enterprise chases down the cloud

Chekov gets really into it when he fire phasers.

Chekov gets really into it when he fire phasers.

The phasers go right through it. Because it's a cloud.

The phasers go right through it. Because it’s a cloud.

The smoke starts coming in through a vent a Spock tries to hold it back with his hands. He may have had a slight misjudgment on the size and shape of his hands

The smoke starts coming in through a vent and Spock tries to hold it back with his hands. Do people in the future forget the way clouds work?

This prop was made

This prop was made

Don't worry, his vulcan blood saves him again

Don’t worry, his Vulcan blood saves him again

Kirk uses himself to lure in the cloud monster. They plan on blowing it up with their anti-matter bowling ball

Kirk uses himself to lure in the cloud monster. They plan on blowing it up with their anti-matter bowling ball

They beam back to the ship in time. See guys, isn't revenge sweet?

They beam back to the ship in time. See guys, isn’t revenge sweet?

 

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