Obsession
- Episode aired Dec 15, 1967
- TV-PG
- 50m
IMDb RATING
7.2/10
3.3K
YOUR RATING
Capt. Kirk obsessively hunts for a mysterious cloud creature he encountered in his youth.Capt. Kirk obsessively hunts for a mysterious cloud creature he encountered in his youth.Capt. Kirk obsessively hunts for a mysterious cloud creature he encountered in his youth.
Bill Blackburn
- Lieutenant Hadley
- (uncredited)
John Blower
- Crewman Swenson
- (uncredited)
Frank da Vinci
- Security Guard
- (uncredited)
Jeannie Malone
- Yeoman
- (uncredited)
Eddie Paskey
- Lieutenant Leslie
- (uncredited)
Basil Poledouris
- Security Officer
- (uncredited)
- Director
- Writers
- All cast & crew
- Production, box office & more at IMDbPro
Storyline
Did you know
- TriviaThe ship which Kirk served on for his first deep space mission is disclosed to be the USS Farragut, and was named after David Glasgow Farragut, a flag officer of the United States Navy during the American Civil War. He was the first rear admiral, vice-admiral, and admiral in the United States Navy and is credited for uttering the phrase, "Damn the torpedoes, full speed ahead!"*, disregarding all danger while charging into enemy waters off the Alabama Coast. -This is an abridged version. He said "Damn the torpedoes. Four bells, Captain Drayton, go ahead. Jouett, full speed."*
- GoofsEnsign Garrovick states that less than one ounce of antimatter is more powerful than 10,000 cobalt bombs but the actual energy yield is only about 1.2 megatons TNT. The implication that a cobalt bomb releases more energy than a "regular" nuclear weapon is incorrect; a cobalt bomb is just an ordinary thermonuclear weapon "salted" with cobalt to produce long-lived Co-60 in its fallout.
- Alternate versionsSpecial Enhanced version Digitally Remastered with new exterior shots and remade opening theme song
- ConnectionsFeatured in Bring Back... Star Trek (2009)
- SoundtracksTheme
Music credited to Alexander Courage, although it strongly resembles the main title music for 'Hollow Triumph (1948)' by Sol Kaplan
Sung by Loulie Jean Norman
Featured review
"Obssessed!?"
Sayeth Captain James T. Kirk to his good friend a chief medical officer Doctor Leonard McCoy.
Or, Trek does Herman Melville. I remember seeing "Moby Dick" on TV quite a few times, and even the mid late 1970s iteration with Richard Harris and Bo Derek with Shamu in the antagonistic role of "Orca". So it is that I never really fully absorbed this episode until a few years back when I bought the first DVD publication of the classic Star Trek series.
It's a story about pining for a second chance, and, as the title states, obsessing about that second chance when it's presented. But the story also makes clear that the decisions we make, we make out of the best judgment we have at the time. As my former coworker told me one time "Could've, would've, should've, who knows?", and that's what the author of this screenplay is telling the audience. The author even goes a step further and seals the deal with a definite answer for both characters and audience by stating what would have happened.
This story hit home for me when I first popped it in my DVD player. I grew up with Trek as a kid, and reflecting on my own past experiences, I can truly appreciate this story and its parable for what it is, and embrace the full value of the message. Sometimes we go through life with an astonishing amount of regrets, berating our past performances for not achieving the goals we strove for. But, as long as we gave our full best effort at the time, it is reasonable to expect any better result? In the US we call it Monday-Morning quarterbacking; i.e. looking at a game of American "Football", and critiquing the mistakes of who made what decisions, and the impacts thereof. We learn from our mistakes, but how much dissection is healthy? Or, to put it in simpler language, do we really need to beat ourselves up for something over which we had no control?
Production Values; the monster is what it is--a cloud. Animated at some times, dry ice sunk in a pale of water at other times. It's not the most abhorrent or scary of creatures to look at, but it does give one pause when we consider its capabilities, and its true nature. In other words, again another fantastic sci-fi story carries forward some slight of hand special effects. We know what we're looking at, but the attributes of the monster as explained in the dialog and scene action and description, are what carry the story forward.
Again, this is the genius of shows like Star Trek. The material future may be the polar opposite of dystopic, but it's the forces inside us meeting the challenges without that create our own spiritual and psychological desolation. This episode, like all good TV, lets us vicariously travel that path as Kirk and crew address a menace to 23rd Century space lanes; a sociopathic (or perhaps just callous and uncaring) sentient that has its own priorities: Survival.
And here again we're given a pretty harsh story on top of that. In a galaxy and universe like Star Trek, where the usual baddies come in the form of Klingons or misunderstood (sometimes super powerful) alien races, will there always be room for a heart to heart negotiated settlement? And what will the ramifications of that be like? This too is worth pondering.
Gripping, mysterious, somewhat belabored in the subplot department, but a good watch all the same.
Enjoy.
Or, Trek does Herman Melville. I remember seeing "Moby Dick" on TV quite a few times, and even the mid late 1970s iteration with Richard Harris and Bo Derek with Shamu in the antagonistic role of "Orca". So it is that I never really fully absorbed this episode until a few years back when I bought the first DVD publication of the classic Star Trek series.
It's a story about pining for a second chance, and, as the title states, obsessing about that second chance when it's presented. But the story also makes clear that the decisions we make, we make out of the best judgment we have at the time. As my former coworker told me one time "Could've, would've, should've, who knows?", and that's what the author of this screenplay is telling the audience. The author even goes a step further and seals the deal with a definite answer for both characters and audience by stating what would have happened.
This story hit home for me when I first popped it in my DVD player. I grew up with Trek as a kid, and reflecting on my own past experiences, I can truly appreciate this story and its parable for what it is, and embrace the full value of the message. Sometimes we go through life with an astonishing amount of regrets, berating our past performances for not achieving the goals we strove for. But, as long as we gave our full best effort at the time, it is reasonable to expect any better result? In the US we call it Monday-Morning quarterbacking; i.e. looking at a game of American "Football", and critiquing the mistakes of who made what decisions, and the impacts thereof. We learn from our mistakes, but how much dissection is healthy? Or, to put it in simpler language, do we really need to beat ourselves up for something over which we had no control?
Production Values; the monster is what it is--a cloud. Animated at some times, dry ice sunk in a pale of water at other times. It's not the most abhorrent or scary of creatures to look at, but it does give one pause when we consider its capabilities, and its true nature. In other words, again another fantastic sci-fi story carries forward some slight of hand special effects. We know what we're looking at, but the attributes of the monster as explained in the dialog and scene action and description, are what carry the story forward.
Again, this is the genius of shows like Star Trek. The material future may be the polar opposite of dystopic, but it's the forces inside us meeting the challenges without that create our own spiritual and psychological desolation. This episode, like all good TV, lets us vicariously travel that path as Kirk and crew address a menace to 23rd Century space lanes; a sociopathic (or perhaps just callous and uncaring) sentient that has its own priorities: Survival.
And here again we're given a pretty harsh story on top of that. In a galaxy and universe like Star Trek, where the usual baddies come in the form of Klingons or misunderstood (sometimes super powerful) alien races, will there always be room for a heart to heart negotiated settlement? And what will the ramifications of that be like? This too is worth pondering.
Gripping, mysterious, somewhat belabored in the subplot department, but a good watch all the same.
Enjoy.
helpful•182
- Blueghost
- Jun 15, 2009
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