Miri (1966) Star Trek episode -
TheBooBooKitty Rating: {>>--} (Bonk, Bonk) {{ Previous - Next}}
Please note that this review is laden with
spoilers.
Miri was a much maligned episode of Star Trek, where
Captain Kirk and company discover a parallel earth
populated only with children. Star Trek episodes with
children on them are usually unpopular with Trekkies as
a whole, and this one is no exception.
Body count: One. One of the alien children falls
prey to disease during the episode. The children are one
of those hundreds of alien species that are exactly
identical to humans. These races seem to be more common
during the original series days, but they infest all the
series to some extent. The children are members of one of
the more rare clone races, as their planet also happens
to be an exact clone of Earth.
Plot Outline:
The USS Enterprise discovers an old style S.O.S
distress signal coming from a type M planet. They travel
to the planet and discover that it isn't just a type M
planet, it is an exact clone of Earth, something that
happens several times during the original series.
The landing party finds that the society of this
"Earth" fell apart during the 1960s, almost 300 years
earlier. The original inhabitants all fell prey to a
virus, all but the children that is. The children
survived, and in massive numbers. They are all over the
place, and scurry like rats from place to place.
The virus came about as a side effect of a life
prolongation program. The life prolongation itself worked,
the aging process on the planet is slowed down by a factor
of 1200. But everyone on the planet carries the virus. The
virus itself is harmless in children, laying dormant until
adolescence, at which point it causes the carrier to break
out in black blotches, go insane and then die.
There do not seem to be any babies on the planet. It is
a small detail that says a lot. Apparently the children
were not responsible enough to keep them alive and
eventually they all must have died. Speaking of death, the
landing party has also contracted this dread virus, and
has only a few days to cure it before they all die.
Most of the children want nothing to do with the
landing party, as they all hate adults due to the memory of
them all going insane. But "Miri" falls in love with
Captain Kirk, and stays with the landing party. Kirk
really seems to like this, he looks at her and speaks to
her in the exact same manner he does to every random love
interest on the show. But Miri soon becomes jealous of
Yeoman Rand, and helps the children harass and beat the
crew.
Kirk is finally able to convince the children to let
them help, and Doctor McCoy creates and antidote to the
virus. They leave the children behind with a plan that the
Federation will be coming to send adult colonists with the
antidote to the planet. They must have forgotten to do
that though and the planet is never mentioned again.
My Opinion: This certainly isn't one of the best
episodes of Star Trek, but it isn't nearly as bad as most
people make it out to be. There are two main problems with
this episode. The first is that the children are just
terribly annoying, they run around yelling "Bonk, Bonk"
all the time. I blame this on the fact that few of the
children were actually actors. The other main thing that
used to bother me was the way Captain Kirk and Miri
interacted. Kirk seemed to nearly be as in love with Miri
as she was with him. He certainly looked at her that way.
Later I discovered how old the actress that played Miri
actually was, so I was able to forgive William Shatner
for making goo goo eyes at her.
Notes
- This episode uses sets recycled from the Andy
Griffith show. One of those sets will be used again in
"The City on the Edge of Forever".
-
The actress playing the twelve year old "Miri" was
nineteen years old when they filmed this episode. So not
only was she not pre-pubescent, she was actually fully
grown. They hid that fact by keeping her in baggy clothes.
She isn't the only late teen in the group, as there are
several other boys who are nearly as old.
- Most of the children in this episode belonged to
various actors in the series. Captain Kirk picks up his
own daughter near the end of the episode. A few names that
obviously stand out are Dawn
Roddenberry, Darlene Roddenberry, Lizabeth Shatner, and
Melanie Shatner.
Cast and Guest Stars
Directed by: James Goldstone directed this
episode along with several other first season ones.
Writing credits: Robert Bloch was responsible
for this script. He also wrote What are Little Girls made
of?, The Conscience of the King, Catspaw, and Wolf
in the Fold. He is sometimes regarded as one of the
weaker writers on the show.
Sources: Star Trek.com, my head, and watching the
sucker multiple times. A big thanks to weasello
for the format used.