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Operation — Annihilate! episode #29

 
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Bogmeister
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PostPosted: Mon Jun 10, 2019 10:10 am    Post subject: Operation — Annihilate! episode #29 Reply with quote

____________
________Classic Star Trek: Operation: Annihilate


__________





This was the final episode of the first season — a straight-out action adventure, a crackerjack alien invasion thriller, but not involving the usual humanoid aliens (see Wink of an Eye as one example).

The episode begins strong with some ominous mystery on the nature of the threat, escalating to alien monster attack mode. Though hampered by the standard cheesy TV SFX of the sixties, the story line deserves some props for coming up with an unusual alien invader. Basically, it's a huge brain, but each cell is not physically connected — each cell flies about on its own, causing havoc.

The low budget was also unable to show thousands of these things flying around, but that's what must have happened on this colony of Deneva.

The Enterprise arrives at the colony after losing contact with the inhabitants, which number about a million. Kirk and his officers suspect they know what they will find. There's been a trail of 'space madness' leading to this colony, going back years to other planets.



The other plus to this episode is the unexpected depiction of the futuristic colony. This doesn't involve matte paintings, but an actual futuristic city (filmed at the old TRW Defense and Space Systems Group campus in Redondo Beach, CA).

In addition, this entire incident is quite personal for Kirk. His older brother, Sam, and his family live on Deneva. But the focus of this thriller is on the invader. Call them neural parasites, call them the flying pizzas from hell, call them the rubbery suckers from another galaxy, even call them vomit-like globs of melted plastic!

But whatever you do, don't allow one of them to attach to your back. You'd be facing some painful days. Just ask Spock.





On the downside, this episode has some clumsy moments in the script and direction as the story jumps along (maybe this has to do with this being the last episode of the season and someone rushing it). One example is seen soon after the landing party arrives at the colony and hears a woman's scream. Kirk orders everyone to "fan out!" — but they run while grouped closely together.

Maybe the expression has a different meaning in the future? Wink

This is a minor sample; there are serious lapses in logic and clumsy scripting later in the episode. Spock, McCoy, and everyone in the dozen science labs aboard the starship can't figure out a way to damage these alien suckers after hours of testing, despite being given a great clue by way of the sun.

Then Kirk idly latches on to a way at the last minute — maybe he was the only one being objective? (Highly unlikely, given his personal involvement).

So they rush Spock into another test, with Kirk in full agreement, and blind him seconds before McCoy finds out it wasn't necessary. Kirk gives McCoy a 'if-looks-can-kill' stare and stomps out. Incompetence is really spread around in this episode.

Seems to me, the writers tried to capitalize on the main trio's established relationship to create some extra tension, but it doesn't really ring true. Even Nurse Chapel becomes uncharacteristically testy during an operation, questioning McCoy on his methods. (Well, she did become a doctor herself by the time of Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979).



In a way, the most fitting aspect about this being the last episode of the 1st season is that we're given the only glimpse of Kirk's real family (and its demise), outside the Enterprise. It's not much — Sam Kirk's only appearance is as a corpse and Kirk's sister-in-law dies soon after. Meanwhile, Kirk's nephew remains unconscious the whole time.

It would have been nice to see them reunite at the end instead of the now-silly repartee on the bridge, as if Kirk doesn't even remember his dead relatives by this point. (Contrast this with the superbly grim ending of The City on the Edge of Forever). Nimoy as Spock ends up with the best scenes, exerting tremendous control over himself to combat the pain he suffers.

BoG's Score: 7 out of 10




There was a scene filmed with Kirk's nephew at the end which was deleted.

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BoG
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Pow
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PostPosted: Tue Jun 11, 2019 2:16 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Original title for O:A! was "Operation: Destroy!''

Wah Chang, one of the talented prop designers for ST:TOS created the parasitic aliens. Jimmy (Scotty) Doohan called them ''flying omelets.''

The location filming was enhanced by shooting at the TRW Defense & Space Group Campus, in Redondo Beach, California which stood in as the Denevan city.

Writer Steven Carabatsos had a different ending than the one seen in the episode.

Mr.Spock is in telepathic communication with the alien parasite infesting his body. He is able to learn that these creatures are part of a giant brain and where the world is located where they began.

The Enterprise travels to this planet and destroys the surface of the planet along with the big brain.

Once the creatures are destroyed they leave the host bodies on Deneva (and Mr.Spock's body) and are easily killed.

Bogmeister was correct regarding his critiques of this episode.

The Enterprise crew really came of as dense that they could not arrive to the conclusion that the creatures could be destroyed by light.

First, you have the Denevan in his space ship pilot the craft into the sun.

Second, the Enterprise hears the audio from the crazed Denevan saying how this is the only way to become free.

Third, when the crew first encounters the aliens they are hiding in places with little light. Very slow on the uptake guys.

It takes Kirk (accidentally) to figure out that light is the aliens weakness.

Spock, McCoy, and the scientists on board the Federation star ship should have determined that fact rapidly.

Kirk's reaction of anger at Bones after freeing Spock from the alien but causing Spock's blindness in the process really made little sense.

Bones told Kirk & Spock what could happen to Spock's vision if he threw the entire spectrum of light rays at Mr.Spock.
Kirk (and Spock) said to go ahead even though McCoy wanted to protect Spock's eyes via goggles. Spock declined saying that the Denevans would have no such protection.

Dr. McCoy did not deserve Kirk's wrath at all over the matter. Kirk did later try to comfort Bones by saying that it wasn't the doctor's fault. No kidding.

I'm guessing that budget considerations (restrictions) eliminated the original ending by writer Carabatsos of having the Enterprise seek out the parasite creatures' home world (or at least the only known first planet they invaded that Kirk and crew were aware of) and proceeding to torch the central brain and all of its offshoots.

Wish they'd done that as the episode's finale.

The whole idea of Vulcans having inner-eyelids and that fact saving Spock's sight came off as too convenient & easy for me.
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Tue Jun 11, 2019 3:00 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

________________________________

By gum, those unused ideas about Spock learning where the creatures' home brain was located and then having the Enterprise "nuke it from orbit" (the only way to be sure, according to Ripley Wink) would make a great sequel episode!

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johnnybear
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PostPosted: Sat Jun 15, 2019 8:52 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

TNG did something similar in their first season as well! Anyone wanna try?
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Gord Green
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PostPosted: Tue Sep 10, 2019 2:51 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

The parasitic aspect of the alien organism could be spread from planet to planet as the Enterprise carried out it's five year mission eventually bringing it to the Earth .

Imagine how quickly and deadly this could be.

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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Tue Sep 10, 2019 4:21 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Gord Green wrote:
The parasitic aspect of the alien organism could be spread from planet to planet as the Enterprise carried out it's five year mission eventually bringing it to the Earth.

Right! And the organisms were already spreading themselves through space in a line across the galaxy, so each of the planets the Enterprise spread itto would become the source of a new migration through space.

I'll have to watch this episode again to refresh my memory about just how much control the parasites had over the people they inhabited. The man who flew a small spacecraft into the sun at the beginning of the episode was not experiencing the kind of control that would allow the organisms to make the Enterprise crewmen operate the ship in an normal manner.

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Last edited by Bud Brewster on Sun Mar 27, 2022 12:11 pm; edited 2 times in total
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kolchak
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PostPosted: Thu Sep 12, 2019 3:39 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

very similar plot in Outer Limits
'The Invisibles'
Richard Dawson was in it



critters jump on back and control brainz
good ep

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johnnybear
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PostPosted: Sat Sep 14, 2019 8:47 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

The Invisibles were like mutant crabs which roared like a wild Lion!!!!
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Pow
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PostPosted: Wed Sep 08, 2021 12:10 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Nitpicks

After discovering the creatures, Captain Kirk wonders if their situation might be a trap and orders his crew to make a strategic withdrawal. Oddly enough, everyone stands and walks out with their backs to the creatures!

If you think that this might be a trap, don't you think that showing your backs to this unknown alien species could be a very bad move?

After performing the first test with light and discovering that it kills the alien, Kirk demands that they push forward and test the blinding light on a humanoid subject. He says they need to know now!

Why? What's the rush? The Enterprise can ensure that no space ships leave Deneva.

The lab results come back in less than ten minutes. Wouldn't it have been more logical to wait just that long instead of conducting the test on Mr. Spock and blinding him in the process?

Note from me: I remember watching this scene unfold. Kirk does demand that they rush headlong into testing someone under the blinding light, Spock agrees & volunteers. Dr. McCoy is reluctant but is overruled by Kirk.

So when Bones reports to Kirk that Spock is now blind from the test, Kirk is angry at Bones as though it's all his fault. How can Kirk be irate at McCoy when he he ordered him to run the test in the first place.

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PostPosted: Wed Mar 09, 2022 11:35 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

These Are The Voyages: TOS by Marc Cushman.

TATV:TOS } "Operation: Annihilate!" was not an idea of the writer of the episode, Steven Carabatsos, according to him.

Actually, the original idea, or ideas, can be traced to three different sources.

Robert A. Heinlein's 1951 novel, The Puppet Masters. In the novel, people of the United States are being mentally controlled by slug-like creatures that attach themselves to their hosts' backs.

The idea of controlling one's mind through pain was used in the Star Trek episode "Dagger of the Mind," by Shimon Wincelberg. In that episode, Dr. Simon Van Gelder has been subjected to the neural neutralizer chair which causes him severe pain whenever he tries to tell Captain Kirk about his experience.

The idea that these creatures are, in a sense, individual brain cells, all in communication with one another and combining to create a much larger entity, was taken from Jerry Sohl's original script, "The Way of the Spores" which became "This Side of Paradise" from which the concept was dropped.

TATV:TOS } Carbatsos script was far darker than the filmed episode.

The Denevans see death as the only escape from the pain incurred when taken over by the THINGS.

The crew of the Enterprise may be about to witness the mass suicide of an entire planet unless something is done.

TATV:TOS } Carabatsos had Kirk agonize over the burden of his decision--to kill all the men, women, and children on Deneva in order to stop these things from traveling to other worlds. Other than Mr. Spock, he does not have a personal stake in this — his brother, sister-in-law and young nephew are not yet in the story.

And then what would have been the most startling ending of any Star Trek episode — Kirk uses the Enterprise's weapons to destroy all life on Deneva.

Sidebar: Between the fact that this was a TV show in the 1960s, and that Gene Roddenberry always established a positive and optimistic future for humankind,

Carabatsos's original script ending with Kirk wiping out the entire population of the planet was never gonna happen.

TATV:TOS } James Doohan called the parasite creatures "flying omelets."

A deleted scene had Kirk's nephew, Peter, now recovered and seemingly happy, wearing a mini Star Fleet uniform (gold shirt, like uncle Kirk's) and sitting in the captain's chair.

Sidebar: Ever notice how so many of the 1960s drama TV shows would have one of the lead cast members of a weekly series lose a loved one to death (that week's guest star) and the survivor is pretty much recovered from it all the next day!?! No one was ever allowed to be left in pain and depression in the finale. The networks wanted to end an episode on an up note, even if your entire family was wiped out just days before!!!

I guess for Peter Kirk wearing a Star Fleet uniform and placing his tush in the captain's chair pretty much cancels out that both his mother & father have been horribly killed just days earlier.

No sad songs here folks. Networks just won't allow it.

TATV:TOS } Craig Hundley who played Peter Kirk said that Gene Roddenberry wanted him as a regular on the series as Captain Kirk's nephew, Peter.

Because of other commitments, he was unavailable but he was a big fan of Star Trek. Hundley would return, as another character, in "And the Children Shall Lead."

Sidebar: Sounds like a terrible idea to me. What was Gene gonna do, have Kirk adopt his nephew and raise him on the Enterprise? I don't see this working out well at all from a story standpoint. The show already had a supporting cast that did not receive enough screen time, so let's add yet another character?

Another bullet dodged.

This was a fine episode but Craig's next appearance in "And the Children Shall Lead" had him in one of the worst Star Trek episodes ever produced.
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Bud Brewster
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PostPosted: Thu Mar 10, 2022 11:27 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

________________________________

Great backstory concerning the making of this fine TOS episode. Thanks, Mike! Very Happy

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scotpens
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PostPosted: Fri Mar 11, 2022 12:21 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

This shot always bugged me. The crew took the time and effort to schlep a 35mm camera up to the roof of a building to get a nice, dramatic aerial shot -- but they didn't bother trying to disguise or camouflage the very noticeable 20th-century floodlight and electrical conduit?

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PostPosted: Sun Jul 24, 2022 7:44 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

Well the production might not have had the permission of the TRW Defense and Space Group to remove the floodlight. Or there wasn't time, or both.

From the back the floodlight does look kind of futuristic.

Could they have shot this cool scene from some other locale or angle and avoided showing the floodlight at all? Who knows? Could the production staff obtained one of those futuristic looking styrofoam packing things and covered up the floodlight with it?
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PostPosted: Sun Jul 24, 2022 11:20 am    Post subject: Reply with quote

NBC's press release, issued March 22, 1967:

The USS Enterprise attempts to stem an epidemic of mass insanity that has already destroyed several planet colonies...in 'Operation: Annihilate' on the NBC Television Network's Star Trek....Arriving on the planet Deneva, which appears to be in the path of the spreading malady, Captain Kirk (William Shatner) and Mr. Spock (Leonard Nimoy) find Kirk's sister-in-law, Aurelan, and his nephew, Peter, in a near-crazed condition, and learns that his brother, a biologist, has already died. When Mr. Spock contracts the disease [sic], Kirk appears to have no alternative but to annihilate the entire colony to prevent infection of the galaxy.

Thoughts: This fine first season finale episode was always one I enjoyed. The parasitical creatures were a nasty and frightening looking sucker to me. And the fact that they could fly through the air stalking and seeking victims enhanced the fear factor of them.

Now that we're dealing with the tragedy for the last few years of the world wide Covi-19 (and its multiple variations) pandemic, along with Monkeypox, this episode is now even more terrifying to take in.

This parasite concept would crop up again in Star Trek: TNG's episode "Conspiracy" from May 7, 1988.

As already noted, The Outer Limits (1963~1965) dealt with this kind of premise before either Star Trek: TOS, or ST: TNG did.

The episode was from the show's first season and titled "The Invisibles" February 3, 1964.

This well done episode which was one of TOL writer and co-producer Joseph Stefano's favorite shows that he had written.

The Outer Limits: The Official Companion Book.
TOL episode had alien parasites able to take over the bodies of high-ranking people in the US government and industry, with the intent of eventually conquering the world.

"A hard-hitting tale of America's power structure in the throes of corruption, 'The Invisibles' focuses on subjugation via both deception and force, pain thresholds, and the ugly ends to which human beings can be maneuvered. It renders the military-industrial complex as literally diseased, infected by a cancer- cell-like extraterrestrial, but presses home the point that such a plague would not thrive without the vanity and greed of "men in places so high, no one knows how high they are."

Thoughts: TOL really takes this idea further than either of the Trek shows did. In TOL, (then) present day Earth, we have these monstrous aliens infecting humans to do their bidding. Yet for all their alien power, it seems that the infected humans must have their own lust for power, and that the aliens require a willing donner mind, as well as body, in order to achieve their duplicitous agenda for humankind.

The Trek shows reduced this down to the honorable and decent members of the Federation of Planets & Starfleet as being entirely unwillingly taken over by the nasty alien parasites. The FOP/SF folks now ruthlessly possessed were forced to perform functions by the parasites that they didn't want to do. It was all of the parasites doing; the humans and alien members of the FOP/SF were totally innocent and tragic figures.

TOL puts before us that humans are indeed corruptible and will cooperate with even an alien lifeform that wants to totally occupy the Earth and run the entire show....as long as that possessed human has great power to operate things on behalf of the invading aliens. TOL says to the aliens: We can be bought for a price even if it harms our fellow humans.

Star Trek says: The aliens are the wicked entity here, the members of the FOP/SF are innocent victims who would never betray their fellow members by choice.

Sadly, we know that TOL episode is the more realistic one commenting about humankind than the Trek shows are. We can see it throughout humankind's barbaric history with every nation. We are witnessing it now with the January 6th hearings regarding the insurrection.

What a shame, eh?
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