The Lights of Zetar
- Episode aired Jan 31, 1969
- TV-PG
- 51m
IMDb RATING
6.2/10
2.9K
YOUR RATING
A mysterious, twinkling mass of sapient energy ravages an important archive and Scotty's new girlfriend may be linked to it.A mysterious, twinkling mass of sapient energy ravages an important archive and Scotty's new girlfriend may be linked to it.A mysterious, twinkling mass of sapient energy ravages an important archive and Scotty's new girlfriend may be linked to it.
Barbara Babcock
- Zetar
- (voice)
Bill Blackburn
- Lieutenant Hadley
- (uncredited)
Frank da Vinci
- Crewman
- (uncredited)
Roger Holloway
- Lt. Lemli
- (uncredited)
Jeannie Malone
- Yeoman
- (uncredited)
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaShari Lewis decided to write the romantic angle centering on Scotty as a way to deviate from the formula of Kirk always getting the romantic interests. This is the third show where Scotty actively pursues a specific woman. In season two, he wooed Kara in "Wolf in the Fold", and Carolyn Palamas in "Who Mourns for Adonais?".
- GoofsAt 48:00 (for 10 seconds) Kirk, McCoy and Spock are speaking. Through the doorway behind McCoy, you can see a discarded newspaper lying on the floor that one of the (TV) crew members apparently left on the set. It is still there at 48:58 for another 25 seconds or so.
- Quotes
[last lines]
Capt. Kirk: Well, this is an Enterprise first - Dr. McCoy, Mr. Spock and Engineer Scott find themselves in complete agreement. Can I stand the strain?
[chuckles]
- Alternate versionsSpecial Enhanced version Digitally Remastered with new exterior shots and remade opening theme song
- ConnectionsFeatured in Nostalgia Critic: Star Trek V: The Final Frontier (2012)
Featured review
Interesting but not sterling.
One of the things I really like about this episode is the lighting. There's a certain visual aesthetic that we see in both science fiction and regular film and TV as we transition from film stock that needs a lot of light to something that's a bit more natural and even.
I bring this up not because the episode is one of the less memorable episodes, but because we're seeing the crew of the starship Enterprise mature some and leave the visual doldrums of a kind of bright color late 1950s 1960's kind of visual, to something that's more realistic and business like. The result is that this episode's story and lack of money is punched up a notch.
Season three episodes are infamous for being low budget because the network wanted to pull the plug earlier. But even so the third Season of Star Trek has a kind of tacit appeal in that the episodes are more character driven than plot driven as per the previous seasons.
The basic tale is a bit of a ghost story, but even so Kirk and Spock bring starfleet's capabilities to bear to address the collective malefactor in this episode. And here's where the show comes close to derailing, because the other stories deal with negative elements in society, things we can relate to, and here we're confronted with something that comes close to being supernatural. And the bad guys are never explained, so the script fails in that regard as both a Star Trek and general science fiction story.
Another strike against the show is that the female guest star has a first and last name, but Captain Kirk and even McCoy and Spock occasionally refer to her as "the girl". Oh well.
In short it's not good science fiction, but it could have been better, and even though the actors give it their all the core premise of the episode falls a bit flat. Again, not a bad episode, but nothing to write home about.
If you're a fan of the show, then you've already made up your mind. Otherwise maybe see it once if you haven't, but there are better episodes in the series.
Take that for what it's worth.
I bring this up not because the episode is one of the less memorable episodes, but because we're seeing the crew of the starship Enterprise mature some and leave the visual doldrums of a kind of bright color late 1950s 1960's kind of visual, to something that's more realistic and business like. The result is that this episode's story and lack of money is punched up a notch.
Season three episodes are infamous for being low budget because the network wanted to pull the plug earlier. But even so the third Season of Star Trek has a kind of tacit appeal in that the episodes are more character driven than plot driven as per the previous seasons.
The basic tale is a bit of a ghost story, but even so Kirk and Spock bring starfleet's capabilities to bear to address the collective malefactor in this episode. And here's where the show comes close to derailing, because the other stories deal with negative elements in society, things we can relate to, and here we're confronted with something that comes close to being supernatural. And the bad guys are never explained, so the script fails in that regard as both a Star Trek and general science fiction story.
Another strike against the show is that the female guest star has a first and last name, but Captain Kirk and even McCoy and Spock occasionally refer to her as "the girl". Oh well.
In short it's not good science fiction, but it could have been better, and even though the actors give it their all the core premise of the episode falls a bit flat. Again, not a bad episode, but nothing to write home about.
If you're a fan of the show, then you've already made up your mind. Otherwise maybe see it once if you haven't, but there are better episodes in the series.
Take that for what it's worth.
helpful•66
- Blueghost
- Jul 23, 2017
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