Customer Reviews

Star Trek - The Original Series, Episode 40: The Deadly Years [VHS]

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On the way to Starbase 10, the U.S.S. Enterprise stops to deliver supplies to the colonists of Gamma Hydra IV. A landing party, consisting of Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Lt. Galway and Chekov beam to the planet's surface. They find that accelerated aging has taken place, killing most of the colonists. Chekov is terrified when he discovers the first body. The only survivors, an elderly couple who claim to be in their twenties, die shortly after meeting the U.S.S. Enterprise crew. When the landing party returns to the U.S.S. Enterprise, the aging acceleration begins to affect the entire crew... except Chekov, who remains unaffected. While Kirk wants to remain in orbit around Gamma Hydra IV until a cure can be affected, one of his passengers, Commodore Stocker, wants to proceed to Starbase 10 where he feels the best medical aid can be found. Each person on the U.S.S. Enterprise begins to show the effects of old age and soon Kirk is unable to command, as are Scotty and Spock. Command falls to Commodore Stocker, who, while an efficient desk officer, has no deep space training. Thinking he will save time, Stocker plots a course through the Romulan/Federation neutral zone on his way to Starbase 10. The Romulans are waiting and begin an attack. Stocker, panicked and inexperienced, has no idea what to do. As the U.S.S. Enterprise is surrounded, McCoy comes up with an antidote to the aging sickness... adrenaline. Chekov, he explains, wasn't affected because his fear at finding the bodies on Gamma Hydra IV had already kicked his natural adrenaline into high gear. McCoy restores Kirk to normal in time to save the U.S.S. Enterprise by reusing the bluff he'd tried in "The Corbomite Maneuver" and telling the Romulans that the U.S.S. Enterprise would destroy anything within a 200.000 kilometer radius. McCoy distributes the antidote and restores everyone to the normal state.

"The Deadly Years" is definitely one of the best episodes of the original Star Trek. Kirk and the crew find some old people on a planet that say they are only 25 and 28. However, they look like they're in their 90's. Soon afterwards, the crew beams back onboard the Enterprise and discovers that everybody, with the exception of Chekov, that beamed down to the planet is turning old quickly. Dr. McCoy or somebody must find a cure for the disease before they die of old age in only a matter of a few days.

"The Deadly Years" features some of the best makeup of any TV show or movie from the 60's, and also some of the best acting. Captain Kirk and Dr. McCoy put on the two best performances, they will make you think they really are old and frail. "The Deadly Years" is a classic episode of the series and Kirk does some of his best commanding at the end of the episode. This is one episode you won't forget.

While this episode has one of the most dramatic scenes of Kirk as commander, the fundamental story line is based on absurdity. The Enterprise crew arrives at Gamma Hydra IV to locate a scientific expedition. When they arrive, Chekov suddenly encounters the body of an elderly man who is deceased. He runs from the building in terror and the landing party soon makes contact with the remaining members of the scientific team. All are suffering from a disease of very rapid aging.
Once the landing party beams back up to the Enterprise, the remaining members of the scientific expedition soon die. With the exception of Chekov, the members of the Enterprise landing party, including Kirk, Spock, McCoy and Scotty, also start aging rapidly. One female member soon dies and Kirk starts showing signs of intellectual decline.
Commodore Stocker, a desk-flying passenger, notes the decline and finally convenes a hearing that removes Kirk as captain. As the ranking officer, Stocker takes command and foolishly orders the Enterprise to enter the Romulan neutral zone. McCoy finally realizes that the reason Checkov is unaffected is due to the adrenaline that was pumped into his system when he was terrified at the sight of the body.
After the Enterprise enters the neutral zone, the Romulans quickly surround it and begin firing at it. McCoy synthesizes an adrenaline antidote and Kirk is the first one to take the cure. As the Enterprise is about to be destroyed, a rejuvenated Kirk enters the bridge and carries out another Corbomite maneuver that rescues the Enterprise.
While the drama of Kirk's entrance and command decision are high points of the entire series, the manner of getting to that point is weak. The rapid aging would have taxed their bodies greatly and the accelerated metabolism needed to reverse the aging would most certainly have killed Kirk. However, if you can overlook this obvious major flaw in the plot, the drama at the end makes it a pretty good episode.

In this one the crew faces rapid aging like Spock did in Star Trek III. Only in this one it only lasts one episode. I wonder if the the actors compare the way they look in this and the way they look today. They are in as old as they were supposed to be in this episode. It's a good overall. It's a silly concept but has a good gimmick to keep you watching. I don't see how the process was reversed to keep the crew to their current ages, however it works for Star Trek.