Kind of a stupid episode for my tastes. The gang of kids were really annoying, and the duplicate Earth was never explained or even questioned.
No matter how stupid this episode might be, I could watch yeoman Janice all day. Don't even know why. She doesn't do much really. Perhaps it's her beehive. Perhaps it's the fact that the almost all-male away team effortlessly seems to treat her as an equal peer.
Kirk obviously being as Kirk-sih as possible in this episode: he punches people (why should you use your phaser if you have a solid jab), and he flirts with underage teenagers (and I thought last episode where he tries to make out with an android was strange).
Plus, they want to fight this disease and help those kids but why does nobody care that there's a second Earth? Why is nobody asking how that can be?
It's a very weak episode.
Remember Joey Tribbiani trying to pass for an 19 year old for an audition when he was 29? Friends, hilarious as always! Well... here we have an actual 27 years old actor, playing as a prepubescent child!!! Seriously, what were they thinking? And sadly, it's not even the worst part of the episode.
Now, is it just my imagination or was Kirk flirting with a minor ?
The most interesting part of this epsiode, the second Earth is never explained. It's just a throw-in. And how does a civilization on par with 1960s Earth posess such knowledge as to experiment with immortality on that level ? That would've been important to look into.
The rest of the episode is rather thin. The kids really are annoying and somehow I have my doubts that they even would behave that childish if they are 300 years old. As it stands the plot implies that a human cannot learn by himself if no one is around to teach him. And Kirk said it himself - kids want to be told. They need the guidance of grown ups. In any case those kind of stories have the flaw that you know a death threat to the main cast bears little weight. And Janice being proud that she could make Kirk look at her legs....yes, it's the 60s.
I liked Kim Darby who played really well and of course she was way older than the character she portrayed. I don't think the studio would have gone for an actual teen with Shatner. The Grups makeup was well made. Sure, on HD it looks cheap but on a 60s TV set this must have looked very real.
Intrestingly both red-shirts survived. Must be one of the only times.
3.5. Woof, this one was rough. There was about half an episode’s worth of incident in “Miri” but damn if the show didn’t try to stretch things out to a full hour anyway. This was an episode with tons of filler, tons of repetition, and tons of the worst, most pointless and time-filling exposition that just kept coming and coming.
It’s hard to find positives where. I guess it was interesting to see the enterprise crew on a facsimile of San Francisco set rather than another collection of foam rocks, though the episode never really explores, explains, or seems to care that they found a duplicate Earth. Seems like a convenient handwave to use that set.
In addition, I appreciate how the episode keeps a number of subtle inter-episode threads running. While the “I tried to get you to notice my legs” line is pretty cringe-y, I like that there’s a slowburning, forbidden attraction between Kirk and Rand, even if it requires ignoring some of the very sixties parts of the show (like let’s gloss over how a duplicate of Kirk tried to rape her) to make it work. And I like how Spock and Bones are drawn, with the two jousting about Spock not being human, but depending on one another when it counts.
And the idea of a planet full of people who age and mature at a much slower rate than humans is a quality science fiction premise, even if the episode only barely makes good on it.
But maaaaaan, Kirk perving on a pre-pubsecent girl, and having her do menial labor on top of it, is just all kinds of creepy. The entire group of Lost Boys, replete with their Peter Pan-esque leader are a cheesy misfire. And the ticking clock of the disease that makes everyone short-tempered just leads to some particularly bad action, with Shatner leading the pack as usual.
It wouldn’t be so bad if it weren’t so dull and plodding. Kirk’s speech to the “children” seems to go on forever, and nothing happens, while the casts tells us about how nothing’s happening, for what feels like half the episode. I get that the episode is going for the difficulties of growing up through a sci-fi lens, but it can’t hit the beats of that kind of story with any precision. Rather, we just get this stolid excuse for an episode, replete with skin-crawling interactions between the Captain and a young girl who, however old she may technically be, is by definition not a grown woman yet. It’s not a good look, and it’s a particularly bad episode.
Ah yes... The episode where Kirk hits on a prepubescent girl.
"I never get involved with older women" -- Kirk
A truly execrable hour of television.
literally what was with the duplicate earth
The weakest story so far, primarily in it's stupid premise that children can't learn. 50 years before this episode, many of those children would have been borderline adults and would have already been learning a trade and working. Assuming that the older children would still act like children is complete crap. They would have started acting like adults to take care of the younger ones.
And the mystery of the duplicate Earth, which could have been a fascinating story unto itself, is completely ignored once they beam down.
I like the idea behind this episode but it's extremely uncomfortable watching Kirk being a pedo.
STAR TREK: MIRI
WRITING: 70
ACTING: 60
LOOK: 75
SOUND: 50
FEEL: 70
NOVELTY: 90
ENJOYMENT: 65
RE-WATCHABILITY: 65
INTRIGUE: 60
EXPECTATIONS: 60
Star Trek is turning creative, giving us a story centred around a seemingly perfect duplicate of the Earth. Great sense of adventure and action. Sadly, the interesting concept is let down by a slow pace and hammy child actors. Fine co-operation among the central crew members. It is interesting to see an episode that is so centred around a supporting character.
67% = :white_check_mark:
i didn’t like this episode at all.
also does kirk really justify his “attraction” for miri by saying she’s actually 300 years old? get the f*** outta here
The Good: This episode had a good premise, and I liked the character of Miri. The plot kept me interested until the end.
The Bad: The ending was too pat, and the group of kids was annoying.
Content Concerns:
Sex: A woman tells a guy to look at her legs; a grown man seems to have an attraction to a girl who only looks about eleven years old. 3/5
Nudity: A woman bares her shoulder; shirtless guy during the closing credits. 4/5
Language: Name-calling. 4/5
Violence: A person is seen dying; a group of kids attack a man. 3/5
Drugs: A doctor gives himself a shot, and almost dies as a result.
Frightening/Intense Scenes: The effects of the disease; emotional intensity among the crew members; a rather scary-looking guy. 3/5
Shout by mattBlockedParent2022-05-02T13:28:11Z
kirk and the girl was kinda creepy