‘Star Trek’ Retro Recap: ‘The Immunity Syndrome’

Written by John Edward Betancourt 

There is a wonderful security that mankind enjoys by being the apex predator on planet Earth, simply because, we have no natural predators. There are no giant monsters or horrible creatures that hunt human beings on this world and that really does allow for us to sleep well at night when all is said and done. If anything, our only real enemy is ourselves and our health since the body does find ways to fail us, but even then, mankind continues its dominance. But what if there was something out that was large enough and powerful enough to put us out of commission? What it would look like? And how would it hunt us? And it just so happens, that those particular questions served as the focal points for the next episode of Star Trek.

For ‘The Immunity Syndrome’ saw the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise square off against a surprise predator in the galaxy, but not before providing the audience with a grand mystery. Because prior to the grand reveal, we came to learn that a Vulcan crewed Starfleet vessel known as the U.S.S. Intrepid, disappeared within a particular star system, and said system also went dark in regard to communication with Starfleet. Which meant it was up to a tired Enterprise crew to investigate, and what they found was quite shocking when all is said and done. For there was a giant blank spot in space, one that began to drain the energy of the ship once they entered it and well, things only got worse from there.

Because this strange void was dangerous for the crew, as since it was draining their very life force moment by moment and what made this part of the story so intriguing in its own right, was watching the crew deal with the fact that they were potentially facing the end. For that added a strange and unsettling sense of urgency to this particular tale, since the crew was in fact, defiant in regard to this possibility and that truly brought out the best in everyone as they worked to defeat the nightmare waiting for them. And it was also just incredible to see crew members fighting over who would get the opportunity to play the hero and save the ship by sacrificing their own life for the sake of their shipmates.

Which brings us to the nightmare in question and the answers to the question I posed earlier. For it turns out that the Enterprise was squaring off against an intergalactic amoeba, one that consumed every ounce of energy near it in order to grow and the most terrifying part of all when it comes to this being, is that this giant bugger was preparing to split and reproduce. Which meant Kirk, who was exhausted and at the end of his rope, had to figure out quick how to finally beat this thing before it and its offspring consumed more of the galaxy and well, he came up with quite the plan. For if this creature was all about eating up energy, perhaps a taste of antimatter might be the sour apple to ruin its day and in daring fashion, he took the ship into the creature’s ‘body’ to drop off a probe filled with antimatter and wouldn’t you know it? The plan worked and the Galaxy, and Spock for that matter, who went into the creature first via shuttle, were all saved.

If anything, this episode played a wonderful game of ‘what if?’ by posing the possibility that something larger and more primal could be our undoing and it also gets serious props for sticking the landing in an episode that reverted back to storytelling experiments for this series. Because dealing with death in any capacity is always tough for a show, but to have an entire crew face it, bravely, on an upbeat science fiction series is quite amazing. Plus, the acting was top notch in this tale, and everyone sold the danger and really, this was just a fun episode. One that definitely had me on the edge of my seat and if this is the kind of experimental storytelling this saga wants to indulge in, I’m all for it, because this one was just top notch. Until next time.

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