"... and what of Lazarus?"
I had not seen this episode for perhaps thirty years, and probably only saw it one or twice as a child, but it left a strong impression and I was delighted to see it again through the wonders of the internet recently.
Panned in the majority of reviews, I feel it is one of the better episodes of the whole franchise, reflecting Roddenbery's vision of Star Trek as an exploration of the human condition. In this case, living with the knowledge that to preserve the status quo, great sacrifices sometimes have to be made, and the survivors have to live with the knowledge of that.
Kirk and crew are on a routine trip when the whole universe 'winks out' momentarily, as if it had ceased to exist. Simultaneously a raggedly dressed space traveller appears out of nowhere. The two events are clearly connected. Lazarus, as he is called, is actually a being who exists in two universes, yet somehow flits between them. There's a good Lazarus, and a bad, or are it/they really both at the same time? The 'good' Lazarus knows he has to put a stop to this universe-surfing to prevent the annihilation of all space and time, so, yes, there's quite a bit at stake as usual.
Lazuras's tiny spacecraft, the size of a bubble car, was immediately recognisable to me - I wonder in which bunch of neurones in my brain that vision is stored - and it's size is at surreal odds with the events going on all around. I'd love to know whether this was intentional, or just a lazy effort on the prop department's part that week - I like the red star on top of the cockpit, looking suspicious like it's been borrowed off one of those children's rides that one finds parked in shopping malls or outside supermarkets. Likewise the anguished cries of Lazarus as Kirk has to propel him towards eternal doom is another image that is stored 'up there' and was immediately recognisable.
Robert Brown gives a bravura performance as Lazarus, suitably intense as someone/something with both heroic and demonic qualities. He does have a penchant for falling off cliff edges with some regularity, but this is TV-land, where something like that has to come along now and then to bracket the commercial breaks (thankfully in the United Kingdom we've only ever had uninterrupted episodes).
On the basis of the strong impressions it gave me as a 10-year-old, the keen performances, and that I've just re-watched it and been entertained again, a high mark.
I had not seen this episode for perhaps thirty years, and probably only saw it one or twice as a child, but it left a strong impression and I was delighted to see it again through the wonders of the internet recently.
Panned in the majority of reviews, I feel it is one of the better episodes of the whole franchise, reflecting Roddenbery's vision of Star Trek as an exploration of the human condition. In this case, living with the knowledge that to preserve the status quo, great sacrifices sometimes have to be made, and the survivors have to live with the knowledge of that.
Kirk and crew are on a routine trip when the whole universe 'winks out' momentarily, as if it had ceased to exist. Simultaneously a raggedly dressed space traveller appears out of nowhere. The two events are clearly connected. Lazarus, as he is called, is actually a being who exists in two universes, yet somehow flits between them. There's a good Lazarus, and a bad, or are it/they really both at the same time? The 'good' Lazarus knows he has to put a stop to this universe-surfing to prevent the annihilation of all space and time, so, yes, there's quite a bit at stake as usual.
Lazuras's tiny spacecraft, the size of a bubble car, was immediately recognisable to me - I wonder in which bunch of neurones in my brain that vision is stored - and it's size is at surreal odds with the events going on all around. I'd love to know whether this was intentional, or just a lazy effort on the prop department's part that week - I like the red star on top of the cockpit, looking suspicious like it's been borrowed off one of those children's rides that one finds parked in shopping malls or outside supermarkets. Likewise the anguished cries of Lazarus as Kirk has to propel him towards eternal doom is another image that is stored 'up there' and was immediately recognisable.
Robert Brown gives a bravura performance as Lazarus, suitably intense as someone/something with both heroic and demonic qualities. He does have a penchant for falling off cliff edges with some regularity, but this is TV-land, where something like that has to come along now and then to bracket the commercial breaks (thankfully in the United Kingdom we've only ever had uninterrupted episodes).
On the basis of the strong impressions it gave me as a 10-year-old, the keen performances, and that I've just re-watched it and been entertained again, a high mark.