Title: The Immunity Syndrome
Airdate: 1/12/1968
Plot Summary
In The Immunity Syndrome, the Enterprise is in desperate need of rest after a particularly grueling mission when the Intrepid, a ship filled with Vulcans, suddenly dies. Starfleet immediately orders the Enterprise to investigate where they discover a giant space amoeba. This organism gives off a power-sucking and life-sucking field that devours everything in its path, including an entire solar system of people. The crew must fight their own fatigue that’s being exacerbated by the amoeba and figure out a way to destroy it before it can reproduce.
Risk Is Our Business
Kirk is a bit cranky that no one can tell him any information at first. Later on, he has to make the decision – who will go into the amoeba, Bones or Spock? He makes a nice log entry giving commendations to everyone who was on the bridge, along with Scotty and Spock.
Logical
Spock gets them the information they need from the shuttle. He also has a nice moment with Bones where I’d swear he was a little hurt by Bones not wishing him luck.
He’s Dead Jim
Bones did once Spock was out of earshot. I think he felt a little guilty for being so salty at not being able to go on the shuttle and found himself really missing Spock. When it looks like Spock is alive, he’s delighted and will not hear of Spock on any martyr talk, simply telling him to shut up, we’re rescuing him. Much to Kirk’s amusement.
Helm Sluggish Captain
Sulu is largely absent from this episode.
Nuclear Wessels
Chekov does his best to science in Spock’s absence.
Hailing Frequencies Open, Sugar
Uhura is good at getting telemetry from the probe and getting Spock’s weaker and weaker transmissions.
My Wee Bairns
Scotty is completely dumbfounded on why the laws of physics are working in reverse. But he does what he does best, coax whatever power he can from the ship to help them survive. He also makes the anti-matter bomb to kill the creature.
Canon Maker
Bones mentions that Vulcans are touch-telepaths, making that canon.
Kirk mentions the ranks of all the bridge crew, making Scotty and Bones lieutenant commanders and Spock a full commander. Spock has been noted as a Lt. Commander earlier which didn’t make sense so this brings all the ranks into focus.
Canon Breaker
There’s an odd moment in editing where it goes back and forth between Kirk and Scotty trying to fight against the pull of the creature and Bones and Chapel tending a female crewman in gold. Then suddenly she’s in red and a whole different crewman. Watching it again, it appears there were indeed two different people in the sickbay but the editing makes it look like a weird continuity mistake.
It was made canon that Spock was the first Vulcan in Starfleet, however here we have an entire ship of Vulcans that appears to be a Starfleet vessel, though it’s not made specifically clear. It’s called the USS Intrepid which means it is a Federation ship. If it were a Vulcan ship, it would’ve been named something like the Surak or the T’vulcansound. I suppose it could’ve been borrowed for a one-time thing, but it feels like it’s just a Starfleet vessel that happens to be all Vulcans.
Also, Spock has been in Starfleet for probably over 15 years so maybe they came after. It’s just that it’s been generally accepted that Spock’s service is why more Vulcans joined after the 5-year mission.
Man It Feels Bad To Be A Red Shirt
No deaths! But everyone ends up in sickbay at one time or another.
Technobabble
Probes are mentioned for the first time in The Immunity Syndrome, at least the first time I can recall. The idea of launching a probe to relay information would be used quite frequently in the TNG era.
I Know That Guy:
No big guest stars in The Immunity Syndrome, but I do want to note John Winston, who’s mostly known for playing Lt. Kyle and usually in a redshirt. However here he’s in a gold shirt at Sulu’s helm position and referred to as Lt Cowell. Even more confusing is that the credits refer to him as Lt. Kyle. So either he was playing an entirely different part or Shatner has the same problems with pronouncing “Kyle” as he does “sabotage.”
What It Means To Be Human – Review
Space amoebas! The Immunity Syndrome is an episode I think most people like a bit more than I do, partly because of the low energy of the cast in this one. I know that’s part of the storyline but really, no one seems to be quite as emotional as they should be.
The idea of a giant planet-sized amoeba is not a bad one and I can’t really find fault with the plot or the character motivations in general. I feel like I should like this episode more than I do. There’s not a thing really wrong with this episode except I’m just a little bored by it.
Part of it is the pacing. We get the initial compelling incident, the death of the Intrepid, and then they just meander in blackness for a while. No one knows what it is but they can’t even seem to offer a single clue. When we finally get to the giant amoeba, the episode is almost half over.
Then there’s the little conflict between Spock and McCoy that really needed some more meat to it. Maybe another conversation between Spock and McCoy setting up the conflict better.
Then although everyone is getting the life sucked out of them AND have to be within spitting distance of an anti-matter bomb, it’s all good. Even though they run out of power, somehow the shuttle stays with them. Scotty’s explanation of “damned if I know how” is not really satisfying.
I feel like the writers were feeling like the crew one day in this episode and wrote around it. “The crew is getting tired and doesn’t get a vacation and work is sucking the life out of them. How about a space amoeba for a sci-fi explanation?” It just feels all flat.
That’s what irks me about this, the ideas are great. I really WANT to like this episode more than I do. I don’t want to ding it too hard, it’s not garbage by any means. I feel like it’s less than the sum of its parts. Maybe this is one of those subjective ones.
I did like McCoy blurting out “Shut up, Spock! We’re rescuing you!” followed by a head nod to Kirk, to which Kirk responds accordingly. Spock on his part simply thanks “Captain McCoy.”
It has its moments. I just wish they all added up to something a little more.
