‘Star Trek’ Retro Recap: ‘The Deadly Years’

Written by John Edward Betancourt 

​When we think about old age, we think about living a full and wonderful life. Because in doing so, we can spend those golden years reflecting upon all of our accomplishments and the lives we impacted along the way so that when the time comes to bid farewell to this world, we can embrace the end without an ounce of regret. Which is of course, the perfect scenario for life and well, I think we all know that sometimes; the chaos of the universe doesn’t quite cooperate with our notions of grandeur. For sometimes the universe takes people at a young age, or extenuating circumstances delay some of our life goals, leading us to wonder what could have been. Or, the universe throws us the ultimate curveball and we learn that illness is going to cut our journey in this life short, forcing us to get our affairs in order, quickly.
 
If anything, this is on my mind today, simply because the notion of having to face the end well before the ‘proper’ time has come about, served as the focal point of the next episode of Star Trek, and it honestly made ‘The Deadly Years’, quite the unique story. Because several members of the crew of the Enterprise suddenly found their youth robbed from them, thanks to a strange radiation that accelerated the aging process and well, how the afflicted crew members of the Enterprise dealt with the possibility of an early exit from the universe is what made this episode so different in its own right. Take for example Dr. McCoy, who suddenly found himself in a strange place, since he was unable to find the answers or offer any hope to his fellow shipmates, and it was just incredible to see a helpless McCoy meandering about without any direction for a change since he’s always found a way to solve the medical problem before him.
 
Yet while seeing the crew confused and struggling with their affliction would have been enough to entertain us for an entire hour, the show decided to take this struggle a few steps further by way of Spock and Captain’s Kirk’s response to this illness. For Spock truly worked to find peace with his situation, with mixed results, since Leonard Nimoy’s performance here showed subtle frustration with the situation at hand, something that only grew when he was put in a precarious place with his Captain. Because Kirk was the only one afflicted by this illness that refused to give into its symptoms, and he pushed himself harder than usual and suffered for it since his memory loss and cantankerous attitude put him in a tough spot with the crew. Which prompted Spock and the new Commodore of Starbase 10 to make the medical decision to remove Kirk from duty, a move that put the crew at grave risk.
 
For with Spock in declining health as well, Commodore Stocker assumed command of the Enterprise and his lack of experience at the conn, brought the ship to the brink of disaster. Because Stocker thought he could make it to his new assignment quicker by slicing through a section of the Romulan Neutral Zone and uh… yeah, that is as bad as an idea as it sounds, and it nearly cost everyone on the ship their lives. But a last-minute discovery as to how to beat this strange advanced aging process allowed for Kirk to recover and pull off one creative ‘Hail Mary’, one that saved the ship and well, I have to admit… this really was quite the fascinating tale. Because this one genuinely flirted with darker themes since Kirk and company were outright facing the end and while that makes it sound as though I’m about to praise the hell out of this episode, I’m not quite ready to declare it as one of the show’s best.
 
That’s simply due to the fact that this one held back when all is said and done. For this was a grand opportunity to go to some supremely deep places philosophically, since Kirk and his fellow aging crew members really could have dug deep into the gift that is life, and what it means to enjoy every moment that comes our way. But instead, it barely touched the surface of that topic and I fully understand why. For audiences really weren’t ready to see that level of darkness and depth from a Science Fiction T.V. show in the late 1960s, and while that doesn’t make me dislike the episode, I am curious as to how much better it could have been had it let loose. But don’t get me wrong, this one is really is intriguing and entertaining, and the acting in this one is top notch as we watch Kirk and his shipmates slip into senility and I get the feeling this was cutting edge back in the day, which makes this episode fit the mold for season two and it does get serious props for trying something new, which leaves me to wonder… what other experimental stories await us as the season rolls along? Well, there’s only way to find out. Until next time. 

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