who played the empath on star trek next generation

The Empath (episode)

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On a doomed planet Kirk, Spock, and McCoy become the subjects of an alien experiment whose mysterious intention involves a beautiful, empathic woman.

• 1.2 Act One
• 1.3 Act Two
• 1.4 Act Three
• 1.5 Act Four
• 2 Log entries
• 3 Memorable quotes
• 4.1 Production timeline
• 4.2 Story and script
• 4.3 Production
• 4.4 Effects
• 4.5 Sets and props
• 4.7 Continuity
• 4.8 Video and DVD releases
• 5.1 Starring
• 5.2 Also starring
• 5.3 Guest star
• 5.4 Co-starring
• 5.5 Uncredited co-stars
• 5.6 Stunt doubles
• 5.7 References
• 5.8 External links

Summary [ ]

The USS Enterprise is ordered to evacuate a research station on the planet Minara II whose sun, Minara , is about to go nova . Captain Kirk , Commander Spock , and Doctor McCoy beam down to the planet. They find the six-month old research station abandoned, with dust covering the floor and desks, indicating that the station has been uninhabited for some time. Informed by Scott of an imminent solar flare with high levels of cosmic rays , Kirk immediately orders Scott to take the Enterprise out of orbit, reasoning that the landing party will be protected by the planet's atmosphere during the 74.1 solar hours it will take for the flare to subside. Upon consulting a visual tape recording , the landing party discovers that the two researchers, Drs. Ozaba and Linke , had mysteriously disappeared three months earlier amid a flurry of seismic activity and deafening noise. Soon after this discovery the landing party similarly vanishes, while hearing the same noise.

Act One [ ]

Lal and Thann with control devices

Kirk, Spock, and McCoy appear 121.32 meters (around 400 feet deep) below the planet's surface. They were transported by a matter-energy scrambler similar to their transporter technology. After wandering through a cavern, they encounter a beautiful humanoid woman with short brown hair, who is wearing a long purple dress, reclining on a dimly lit, cross-shaped couch. McCoy wants to go forward because she looks harmless, but Spock reminds him that the sand-bats of Manark IV look like inanimate rock crystals until they attack.

The woman awakens, but does not respond to any of Kirk's questions. McCoy determines that she does not have any vocal cords , not even vestigial, indicating that she comes from a species of mutes . Kirk observes that she is very much like the naturally mute people of the civilization on Gamma Vertis IV . McCoy names her Gem , saying this will be better than calling her "You".

Two different-looking humanoid aliens suddenly appear to the landing party. Identifying themselves as Vians , Thann and Lal , they make it clear that they know the identities of the landing party. They demand that Kirk not interfere, and when he approaches they stun him with a hand-held control device with a red button on the face. Kirk points out that if the Vians know who they are, they also must know that they come in peace and that their Prime Directive prohibits interference.

The Vians momentarily trap the landing party in a force field while they tend to Gem. McCoy tells Kirk not to fight the force field since it interferes with the body's metabolism. The Vians correct McCoy's hypothesis, saying that the field draws its strength from their bodies' energy and the more they resist the stronger the field becomes. They depart and the field vanishes.

Kirk has suffered a cut on his forehead and when he touches Gem to see if she is all right, she recoils in pain. Gem composes herself and then touches Kirk's wound. With a flash, the wound is transferred to Gem's forehead. A doubting Kirk touches her wound and notes the blood on his finger. Suddenly, the wound on Gem's forehead quickly heals as well. McCoy, observing, is clearly impressed by her ability to heal and surmises that Gem is an empath . Her emotional system is so sensitive that it feels the pain of another and that pain becomes part of her, before she dissipates it.

Spock finds that his tricorder now gives readings of electronically sophisticated devices elsewhere. Heading to the source of the readings, they find a laboratory where the now deceased Drs. Linke and Ozaba are trapped in transparent tubes marked SUBJECT LINKE and SUBJECT OZABA respectively, with their bodies are twisted in agony.

Act Two [ ]

There are also 'subject' tubes designated for McCoy, Kirk, and Spock. One of the Vians appears and says there is need for more testing. He blames Ozaba's and Linke's "imperfections" for their deaths. While Kirk talks, Spock sneaks up behind and gives the Vian a Vulcan nerve pinch . As the landing party walks off toward a passage to the surface Spock has located, the Vian arises. Apparently the nerve pinch was less effective than normal. He joins his companion, and they share a look that indicates they are impressed with the crew.

At the surface, Kirk tries to contact the Enterprise with his communicator , but the ship is out of range. He leads the landing party through a storm back to the abandoned research station, where it appears to them that Scotty, Lemli , and a security officer are waiting for them. Spock and McCoy go ahead with Gem, but Kirk spots the Vians watching them and stops. He moves toward them, but one uses his control unit to make Kirk move in slow motion. He remarks, " Their will to survive is great. They love life greatly to struggle so. The prime ingredient. "

When Spock, McCoy, and Gem reach the research station, the images of Scotty and the security officers suddenly vanish. Gem brings Spock and McCoy back to where Kirk is confronting the Vians. They announce that they only need one specimen, so Kirk sends the others back to the ship. The Vians transport them away, and then recapture Kirk.

The Vians bring Kirk back to the laboratory. Here, where the bodies of Ozaba and Linke are displayed like specimens, the Vians chain a shirtless Kirk by his arms to the ceiling. They tell him they want to witness his courage and will to survive. Kirk asks, " Why? What is it you hope to prove? If my death is to have any meaning, at least tell me what I'm dying for! " Thann says that if Kirk lives, he will have his answer. Using their control units, they torture Kirk, as Gem watches helplessly.

Spock and McCoy have been transported to the chamber where they originally met Gem. When Kirk and Gem are also transported there, Spock and McCoy are trapped in a force field. With McCoy's encouragement, Gem heals Kirk's wrist wounds. When she finishes, she collapses. The process is physically draining and, apparently, has its limits.

The Vians return and indicate that, for their next experimental subject, Kirk must choose either Spock or McCoy. To make the decision all the more difficult, the Vians indicate that there is a 93% chance that Spock will suffer brain damage and permanent insanity, and an 87% chance that McCoy will die.

Act Three [ ]

Spock analyzes the confiscated Vian hand device. McCoy, uncomfortable with the wait, comments that it's not natural for a Human to live underground. Spock points out that some Humans spend the majority of their lives "beneath the surface." McCoy responds, " I'm a doctor, not a coal miner. " Spock tells McCoy that he is recording his notes of the hand device in the tricorder in the event that he is taken by the Vians so that McCoy and Kirk can continue his work and escape. McCoy further protests, adding that he's not a mechanic and doubts he would be able to make it functional; Spock assures him that the two of them together will be able to figure it out.

Plagued with symptoms resembling the bends , Kirk is caught off-guard by McCoy, who renders Kirk unconscious from behind with a hypospray . Now finding himself in command, Spock declares that he will go with the Vians at the appointed time, but McCoy sneaks behind Spock, who has been momentarily distracted by Gem, and renders him unconscious as well, intending to sacrifice himself for his two friends. All of these noble efforts at self-sacrifice are observed by Gem.

Taken to the Vians' laboratory, McCoy undergoes extensive torture. Meanwhile, now awake, Spock has come to understand the Vian hand-held devices. They are control units, not control mechanisms – they are not a mechanical device at all. They are tuned to the pattern of electrical energy of the person who uses it and are activated simply by mental commands. Being most familiar with his own brain pattern , Spock re-tunes the device to his own pattern. Kirk points out that it is strange that the Vians let them keep the device if they would be able to understand it. They must want Spock and Kirk to escape and to leave McCoy behind.

Spock completes the modifications and says he may only be able to effect one transport. He suggests there is enough energy to go back to the Enterprise , but Kirk would prefer to go to McCoy, stating " the best defense is a strong offense – and I intend to start offending right now. " Spock transports Kirk, Gem and himself to the laboratory, where they find McCoy severely injured and on the verge of death. The Vians are nowhere to be found.

Act Four [ ]

" How long? " " It could happen anytime. " " The correct medical phrase, eh, Spock? "

Spock and Kirk release McCoy from his chains. He is in bad shape; with barely a pulse. Spock scans McCoy and finds that he has severe heart damage, congestion in both lungs , and his circulatory system is in danger of collapse. He is bleeding into the chest, his spleen and liver are hemorrhaging and his kidneys have 70% failure. Spock informs Jim that McCoy is dying and the best he can do is make him comfortable. McCoy compliments Spock on his bedside manner.

The empath, "Gem"

Kirk suggests that Gem could heal McCoy, but he is not sure if the attempt will kill her. At least, he hopes, she can improve his condition so that McCoy can be healed on the Enterprise . Suddenly the Vians appear and trap Spock and Kirk in a force field; they demand that the Human and Vulcan not interfere and allow Gem to make her own choice without urging or forcing. It is their wish to see if Gem will attempt to help McCoy on her own at the cost of her own life – the completion of their test.

At this time they explain to Kirk, Spock, and the dying McCoy that they have been part of an experiment. They have the power to save only one species from the impending nova, and so they wished to test whether Gem's species is worthy of being saved. Apparently the Vians want to be certain that she has learned the principles of: the will to survive, the passion to know and the love of life, and self-sacrifice from her contact with the landing party. These qualities, they say, make a civilization worthy to survive.

As they speak, Gem has approached McCoy. The Vians are pleased that compassion has entered her "life-system." She moves her hands on McCoy's face, transferring his injuries to her. McCoy awakes, but Gem collapses, sobbing. She tries to help him more, but moves away in fear.

Inside the force field, Spock points out that Gem is not the only one who can save McCoy: of course, the Vians must have the power to help. The Vians respond that McCoy's life is not important, but what is important is their experiment.

McCoy starts coughing and Gem returns to his side. McCoy asks that Gem not touch him. If she touches him, she will die, and he cannot take life – even to save his own.

Spock realizes that if he and Kirk were to suppress their emotion, they would be able to escape from the force field. Spock escapes first and takes the other control device from the Vians. Kirk demands that the Vians save McCoy but they refuse, demanding that the experiment continue. Offering to give her life, they say, is not sufficient. She must sacrifice her life.

Kirk gives the Vians their control devices and reprimands them. They have forgotten what it means to feel the emotions they want Gem to experience. He scorns their lack of love and compassion, saying that they are nothing but intellect. The Vians heal McCoy and, taking Gem with them, teleport from the laboratory, presumably to save Gem's species. The landing party returns safely to the Enterprise , which has returned to orbit after the solar flare has subsided.

Back on board, Kirk says he is awed by the element of chance that brought them into contact with Gem. Scotty observes that she must have been like the 'pearl of great price' (Matthew 13:45-46 of the Humans' Christian Bible). McCoy is pleased that, in the end, it was the strength of Human emotion that overcame their captivity by the dispassionate, intellectual Vians. Scotty suggests that the Vulcans be made aware of this and Kirk asks Spock to deliver the message. Spock sarcastically promises to give the thought all the due consideration it deserves. Kirk then orders Sulu to take the Enterprise to warp factor two.

Log entries [ ]

• Captain's log, USS Enterprise (NCC-1701), 2268

Memorable quotes [ ]

" Well, I don't know about you, but I'm going to call her Gem. " " Gem, Doctor? " " Well, that's better than 'Hey, you'. "

" Their own imperfections killed them. "

" If my death is to have any meaning, at least tell me what I'm dying for. " " If you live, you will have your answer. "

" Some men spend the majority of their lives in mines beneath the surface. " " I'm a doctor, not a coal miner. "

" Why did you let him do it? " " I was convinced in the same way you were, Captain. By the good doctor's hypo. "

" The best defense is a strong offense, and I intend to start offending right now."

" He's dying, Jim. "

" You've got a good bedside manner, Spock. "

" This Arena of Death that you've devised for your pleasure… will it prevent this catastrophe? "

" What could she learn from us? " " Your will to survive. Your love of life. Your passion to know. They are recorded in her being. "

" Jim, I can't destroy life, even if it's to save my own. I can't. "

" Love and compassion are dead in you! You're nothing but intellect! "

" But from little what you've told me, I would say she was a pearl of great price. "

Background information [ ]

Production timeline [ ].

• Unsolicited script by Joyce Muskat , titled "The Answerer", early- April 1968
• Story outline by Muskat, 26 April 1968
• Revised story outline by Arthur Singer , titled "The Empath", 7 May 1968
• First draft teleplay by Muskat, late- May 1968
• Second draft teleplay, 21 June 1968
• Final draft teleplay by Singer, 22 July 1968
• Revised final draft teleplay by Fred Freiberger , 23 July 1968 , 24 July 1968 , 25 July 1968
• Additional page revisions by Freiberger, 29 July 1968 , 1 August 1968
• Day 1 – 25 July 1968 , Thursday – Desilu Stage 10 : Ext. Planet surface Int. Science outpost
• Day 2 – 26 July 1968 , Friday – Paramount Stage 1 : Int. Gem's area , Operation platform
• Day 3 – 29 July 1968 , Monday – Paramount Stage 1 : Int. Gem's area , Underground corridors
• Day 4 – 30 July 1968 , Tuesday – Paramount Stage 1 : Int. Gem's area
• Day 5 – 31 July 1968 , Wednesday – Paramount Stage 1 : Int. Vians' lab
• Day 6 – 1 August 1968 , Thursday – Paramount Stage 1 : Int. Vians' lab
• Day 7 – 2 August 1968 , Friday – Paramount Stage 1 : Int. Vians' lab ; Desilu Stage 9 : Int. Science outpost , Bridge
• Score recording: 6 September 1968
• Original airdate: 6 December 1968
• First UK airdate (on ITV ): 10 June 1984
• First UK airdate (on BBC2 ): 5 January 1994
• Remastered episode airdate: 26 July 2008

Story and script [ ]

• This episode was written by Joyce Muskat , one of only four fans who were able to sell scripts to the original series, the others being David Gerrold , Judy Burns , and Jean Lisette Aroeste . Co-producer Robert H. Justman read her unsolicited script and recommended it be bought. ( Inside Star Trek: The Real Story , p. 404) It was Muskat's only script sale. [1]
• This was one of the few episodes to quote the Bible , specifically Psalm 95, verse 4: " In His hands are the deep places of the Earth. The heights of the mountains are His also. " At the end of the episode, Scotty also references the Gospel of Matthew 13:45-46: " Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls: who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it. "
• "The Empath" has similarities to a 1963 Outer Limits segment called "Nightmare". In that episode, Humans are brutally interrogated by aliens in a minimalistic set. John Erman also directed "Nightmare" ( The Star Trek Compendium 2nd ed., p. 115). Willard Sage ( Thann ) was one of those behind the interrogations and Robert H. Justman was, at that time, an assistant director on the series. [2]
• In the United Kingdom, the BBC skipped this episode in all runs of the series through to the early 1990s. An official BBC statement by Sheila Cundy of the Programme Correspondence Section reads: " After very careful consideration a top level decision was made not to screen the episodes entitled "Empath" [sic] , " Whom The Gods Destroy " [sic] , "" Plato's Stepchildren "" and "" Miri "" [actually transmitted in 1970, but not re-aired until the '90s] , because they all dealt most unpleasantly with the already unpleasant subjects of madness, torture, sadism and disease " (BBC form letter, undated, Reference 28/SPC). "The Empath" was finally shown for the first time on 5 January 1994 . It had previously been shown on Sky One , a subscription satellite TV channel. ( citation needed • edit )

Production [ ]

• This is the only episode whose first-act credits open on a completely black background.
• The preview of the episode shows Gem's healing of wounds done by jump-cuts, rather than as fades.
• Regarding the sequence of Gem absorbing the boils, Kathryn Hays had to be strapped to a board in order to be kept absolutely still while make-up was applied and stop-motion photography filmed the progression. The few moments that appeared in the scene took eight hours to film. ( Starlog issue #3, p. 28)
• John Meredyth Lucas was originally hired to direct this episode (and " For the World is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky "), but Paramount executive in charge of production Douglas S. Cramer vetoed his involvement, as he went over schedule and budget with " Elaan of Troyius " earlier in the season. Then, Robert Justman came up with the idea of hiring John Erman , because of his involvement with the aforementioned "Nightmare". Erman wasn't entirely satisfied with the working conditions on the show (especially [as he called it] William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy 's ill-behavior towards the guest director), and decided not to return to direct further episodes. ( These Are the Voyages: TOS Season Three , pp. 240-241; 252)
• This was the final episode shot by director of photography Jerry Finnerman , who had shot every episode since " The Corbomite Maneuver " (except " By Any Other Name " and parts of " Who Mourns for Adonais? "). Camera Operator Al Francis took over primary camera duty on the next episode filmed, " The Tholian Web ".
• After Dr. McCoy is tortured by the Vians, the distressed tunic that DeForest Kelley is wearing is the velour tunic used in the first two seasons, not the new double-knit version created for the third. The difference in hue between Spock's tunic and McCoy's can be noticed in certain shots.
• During the syndication run of Star Trek , no syndication cuts were made to this episode.

Effects [ ]

• Sound effects of the Vians' laboratory were previously used in the android Norman's lab in " I, Mudd ".
• The footage of the sun Minara is re-used from " Operation -- Annihilate! ".
• The planet Minara II appears red in some orbital shots, but gold in others.

Sets and props [ ]

• The helical staircase in the station was later reused in " For the World is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky ".
• The couch itself is a gigantic version of the agonizers seen in " Mirror, Mirror " and " Day of the Dove ". It was first seen as the Eymorg's table in " Spock's Brain ".
• The tripodal device in the center of the Vian laboratory also appeared first in the episode "Spock's Brain" as the framework connected to the black box (by "light rays") that housed Spock's brain. It is inverted here from its position in that episode.
• The orange-red flickers that accompany the Vian transporter effect are frames of the same effect created to represent the Medusan ambassador Kollos .
• Nichelle Nichols ( Uhura ) and Walter Koenig ( Pavel Chekov ) do not appear in this episode.
• This was DeForest Kelley 's personal favorite episode. ( The Star Trek Calendar (1986) [ page number? • edit ] )

Continuity [ ]

• Though identified as Thann and Lal in the closing credits, the two Vians are never called by their proper names on-screen.
• In " Turnabout Intruder ", Kirk (in Janice Lester's body) mentions the events of this episode to try to convince Spock of the mind switch.

Video and DVD releases [ ]

• UK VHS release ( CIC-Arena Video ): catalog number VHL 2075, December 1983
• Original US Betamax release: 1988
• UK VHS release (two-episode tapes, CIC Video ): Volume 33 , catalog number VHR 2385, 5 November 1990
• US VHS release: 15 April 1994
• UK re-release (three-episode tapes, CIC Video): Volume 3.3, 6 October 1997
• Original US DVD release (single-disc): Volume 32, 28 August 2001
• As part of the TOS Season 3 DVD collection
• As part of the TOS-R Season 3 DVD collection

Links and references [ ]

Starring [ ].

• William Shatner as Capt. Kirk

Also starring [ ]

• Leonard Nimoy as Mr. Spock
• DeForest Kelley as Dr. McCoy

Guest star [ ]

• Kathryn Hays as Gem

Co-starring [ ]

• Alan Bergmann as Lal
• James Doohan as Scott
• George Takei as Sulu
• Davis Roberts as Dr. Ozaba
• Jason Wingreen as Dr. Linke
• Willard Sage as Thann

Uncredited co-stars [ ]

• William Blackburn as Hadley
• Roger Holloway as Roger Lemli
• Dick Geary as Security guard
• Command crewman
• Sciences crewman
• Operations crew woman
• Illusory security guard

Stunt doubles [ ]

• Paul Baxley as stunt double for William Shatner
• Unknown stunt performer as stunt double for DeForest Kelley

References [ ]

abdomen ; analysis ; answer ; arena ; assumption ; atmosphere ; bearing ; bedside manner ; bends ; blood ; body ; " Bones "; brain damage ; brain pattern ; chance ; chest ; chief medical officer ; choice ; circulatory collapse ; circulatory system ; civilization ; coal ; collection ; compassion ; computer ; congestion of the lungs ; contact ; control mechanism ; control unit (aka T-bar control ); cosmic rays ; courage ; cut ; danger ; data ; death ; decompression chamber ; device ; distance ; doctor ; dust ; emotion ; emotional reaction ; empath ; energy ; energy transfer point ; environmental factor ; estimate ; evidence ; evolution ; exit ; experiment ; failure ; fear ; fear of death ; force field ; frequency ; friend ; Gamma Vertis IV ; Gem's planet ; Gem's species ; hand ; hemorrhaging ; head ; heart ; home ; Homo sapiens ; hour ; humanoid ; hypo ; idea ; identification ; information ; inhabitant ; insanity ; instinct ; intellect ; intention ; internal bleeding ; interrogation ; kidney ; kilometer ; knowledge ; laboratory ; landing party ; lifeform (aka life ); light ; liver ; logic ; lungs ; Manark IV ; matter-energy scrambler ; meaning ; mechanic ; mechanical device ; merchant ; metabolism ; meter ; Minara ; Minara II ; Minarian star system ; Minara Station ; mind ; mine ; miner ; mirage ; month ; mute ; name ; nervous system ; nitrogen ; object ; observation ; orbit ; order ; pain ; passage (aka passageway ); passion ; pathology ; peace ; pearl ; " Pearl of Great Price "; percent ; permission ; person ; phaser ; physical reaction ; physiology ; place ; pleasure ; power source ; price ; Prime Directive ; prime ingredient ; prisoner ; probability ; proof ; Psalm 95 ; pulse ; quality ; rate of decrease ; record tape ; research station ; result ; right ; Ritter scale ; rock crystal ; sand-bats ; scientist ; scientific knowledge ; search party ; self-preservation ; self-sacrifice ; sensor ; sickbay ; solar flare ; solar hour ; sound ; space travel ; specific gravity ; specimen ; spleen ; storm ; story ; strain ; strength of will ; subject ; surface ; survival ; symptom ; teacher ; telepath ; terror ; " the best defense is a strong offense "; thing ; thought ; torture chamber ; transporter mechanism ; tricorder ; value ; vestigial ; Vians ; vocal cords ; Vulcan ; Vulcan neck pinch ; week ; will : wound ; wrist

External links [ ]

• "The Empath" at StarTrek.com
• " The Empath " at Memory Beta , the wiki for licensed Star Trek works
• " The Empath " at Wikipedia
• " The Empath " at MissionLogPodcast.com , a Roddenberry Star Trek podcast
• " The Empath " at the Internet Movie Database
• 2 ISS Enterprise (NCC-1701)

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Star Trek – The Empath (Review)

This July and August, we’re celebrating the release of Star Trek Beyond by taking a look back at the third season of the original Star Trek . Check back every Monday, Wednesday and Friday for the latest update.

Like Is There in Truth No Beauty? before it, The Empath is very much  “weird big ideas” version of  Star Trek .

It is a simple story, as Kirk and his away team visit a planet in a star system about to go nova. It deals with fairly universal themes, like compassion and humanity. There are stakes, there are aliens, there is a test of worthiness. In many ways, The Empath is a quintessential Star Trek episode, one of those classic “humanity proves their worth to a powerful alien species” narratives in the style of Arena or Spectre of the Gun . The biggest deviation from that template is the fact that it is not humanity on trial; it is an unknown species represented by an anonymous mute.

The triumvirate triumphant.

However, The Empath works in large part due to this simplicity. There is an elegance to the story, one that distils a lot of core Star Trek ideals down to their very essence. The Empath is very much a “humans are special” story, in the vein of episodes like Lonely Among Us or The Last Outpost . However, it works better than most of these stories because it hits on a very strong core idea. The Empath suggests that what makes humanity special is not necessarily unique or intrinsic or intangible. According to The Empath , what makes humanity special is pretty basic.

As the title implies, humanity’s greatest virtue might be its empathy or its compassion.

Although humanity also offers “Shirtless Shat.”

The Empath works in large part due to its elegance and its simplicity. The set-up is fairly simple, established through the exposition of the opening log entry. The Minara star is entering a “critical period” of its “nova phase.” The Enterprise has been ordered to evacuate a research facility before the star goes nova and consumes everything in the system. When the Enterprise picks up a “gigantic solar flare” , it is forced to withdraw to a safe distance. Kirk and his party are left alone on the surface of the planet.

Inevitably, Kirk discovers that the researchers are not where they are supposed to be. Instead, they have been abducted by an alien species. Kirk and his away team are abducted by the same aliens, and subjected to a battery of brutal tests while an anonymous alien mute watches silently. Kirk finds himself wrestling with impossible questions of sacrifice and compassion as the sinister alien overseers confront him with one difficult choice after another. Lives hang in the balance, as the nature of the test slowly becomes clear.

Researching the research party.

It is a stock Star Trek plot, the kind of story that Gene Roddenberry would use in  Encounter at Farpoint to launch Star Trek: The Next Generation almost two decades later. However, what is striking about The Empath is the sheer unrelenting purity of its plot. This is an episode with a minimum of superfluous or distracting material. The outline of the story is established with ruthless efficiency in the opening minute of the teaser; Kirk explains about the star going nova, and Scott immediately has the ship withdraw to “minimum distance for absolute safety.”

This efficiency is reflected in other aspects of the script. The episode’s primary guest star is Kathryn Hays as Gem, the alien who finds herself caged up with the leading trio. As the climax of the episode reveals, Gem is primarily there to observe the activities of the Enterprise crew. “You were her teachers,” Lal states at the climax. The Empath doubles down on this idea. Reinforcing the suggestion that Gem is there to watch and learn, the episode reveals that the character is mute. As such, her abilities to actively contribute are minimised.

Empath to glory.

Actor Kathryn Hays quite enjoyed the experience of working on Star Trek , finding the role rewarding and the technical aspects of the production quite fascinating :

I’ve often thought that was an interesting role for me to play.  I loved playing that.  It was technically very interesting.  That show was fascinating to work on from a technical point of view.  It was so different from a regular show. 

Indeed, it is telling that Hays should mention the technical aspects of the episode. The Empath takes the simplicity of its premise and carries that all the way through, right down to the production design.

No need to be (Mc)Coy about it.

The bulk of The Empath unfolds upon a very distinctive set, particularly by the standards of Star Trek . The space is mostly blacked out and half-formed. There are occasionally items of furniture to be distinguished from the all-encompassing blackness; there are gigantic tubes, a sofa, a laboratory table, a readout. All of these items seem to have been conjured up from nothing, from the surrounding darkness. When Kirk and McCoy are tortured later in the episode, they are suspended from chains that seem to reach upwards into an infinity void.

The set design on The Empath mirrors that of Spectre of the Gun . There is a sense of abstraction, as if the characters have stepped into a world that is not fully formed. There is an absurdist quality to it, recalling the more visually creative touches of British sixties science-fiction like Doctor Who or The Prisoner . To some extent, British broadcasters embraced those designs because they were cost effective. With The Empath , that style of production design had a similar appeal to the production team. The third season of Star Trek was looking to save money.

Broken Bones.

The set design on The Empath is one of the episode’s most memorable features. When Starlog asked actor DeForest Kelley to single out his favourite episodes of the original run, he immediately jumped to The Empath :

Another one that I like very much, that I enjoy, is The Empath. That was an interesting show because it was done on a huge soundstage all blacked out. It was a very theatrical production, the only lights were pinpoint wipes that were spotting us and we had great fun doing it.

If the premise of The Empath is quintessential Star Trek , then the production design on the episode is much more unique. The Empath is an episode that lingers in the memory.

Running just as fast as he can.

At the same time, the consciously stagey design of The Empath captures a lot what is so distinctive and effective about the production of the original Star Trek show. The underground prison is very obviously a blacked-out sound stage, but the truth is that the production values on Star Trek were never enough to render alien environments in a particularly convincing manner. Even when Kirk and the away team leave the prison to enter the cave system, the cave system looks like a stage. Even when they reach the surface, the surface looks like a studio.

This is particularly apparent in the third season of the show. After all, budget cuts forced the cast and crew to work primarily on soundstages; The Paradise Syndrome and All Our Yesterdays were the only episodes that shot on location. All other planet surfaces had to be represented through set design. It is very difficult for standing sets to look natural. This has always been the case, even in earlier seasons. This is not to complain, this is simply to make an observation. The production design on Star Trek always felt slightly abstract, representational rather than literal.

“Production budget? What production budget?”

As Mervyn Nicholson argues, there is a very clear aesthetic divide between the original Star Trek series and the live action series that would follow :

There is an obvious difference between Star Trek, the original show, and the successor series and movies. And that is that they look so different. In terms of the look, there is a definite dividing line between the origin and what came after. The first series looks primitive, even quaint — not much more than “a lot of orange paint [and] plastic plants” — by comparison with the successor series, with their sophisticated special effects and updated styling. The computers in the original series appear to be plywood painted grey. The revolution in special effects came after the first series, and affected both the movies and the TV series that succeeded it. But the difference in style is much more than just special effects and, by the 1980s, changes in fashion and production values. The ’60s, the period of Star Trek, were long gone in a cultural sense, as well as in terms of visual fashions and production values. The original series has a definite look, a style. This look is not the mere consequence of what are today obsolete production techniques. By treating the style of the original series as integral to the show — and not as a kind of regrettable defect — we can get a better grasp on the Star Trek phenomenon itself. Typically, people talk about themes and characters, while the visual style is regarded with a patronizing sense of its quaintness. In fact, however, the look of Star Trek is deeply interesting in its own right.

The later series put a much greater emphasis on verisimilitude than the original Star Trek had, with the more abstract production design of episodes like The Thaw standing in stark contrast to the general look and feel.

They’re even vacuum-packed.

In some respects, it is interesting to wonder if the lack of detail on the sets of the original Star Trek simply reflected the reality of television production at the time. After all, television sets were a lot smaller during the middle decades of the twentieth century and broadcast reception was a lot rougher during the sixties. As such, set detail was a lot less important for sixties television shows than it would have been in later decades. Audiences at home were unlikely to be watching on sixty-inch high definition plasma television sets.

After all, a lot of the production design choices on Star Trek were made in the context of contemporary media technology. This is most obvious in the show’s use of colour. When Star Trek was first broadcast, colour television was a novelty. However, the show seemed designed for colour more than black-and-white. There was less emphasis on the sharp visual contrast associated with black-and-white cinematography, while the production design used all manner of bold and distinctive colour to give the series a unique visual flair.

Shadows and symbols.

In Inside Star Trek , Herb Solow argued that Star Trek benefited from its proud use of colour in its production design early in its first season:

However, in December 1966, with Star Trek having been on the air only three months, an NBC executive called with some news. The Nielsen research indicated that Star Trek was the highest-rated color series on television. I distributed the information to the Star Trek staff. We thought it was all very interesting, nothing to write home about, and went back to work. We were wrong; we failed to see the importance of the research.

Perhaps those initial and subsequent Nielsen color series ratings contributed to giving Star Trek a second year of life. Putting aside low national ratings and lack of sponsors, perhaps a reason for renewing Star Trek, other than all the phone calls, letters, and demonstrations at NBC, was its position as the top-rated color series on the ‘full color network.’ NBC’s parent company was RCA. Star Trek sold color television sets and made money for RCA.

Michael Kmet has suggested that this is something of an exaggeration , but it underscores how important colour was to the production design of Star Trek .

Talk about a black out.

This style of production design (heavy on strong colours and light on fine detail) was likely informed by the realities of contemporary television consumption. After all, television shows are designed to cater to the audience at home. This is not to diminish the fantastic work done by people like set designer Matt Jefferies, set decorator John Dwyer and cinematographer Jerry Finnerman. The fact that their work is still subject to so much discussion and debate today is a testament to their skill and technique.

The franchise wouldn’t begin moving away from this style of production until the third season of The Next Generation . The first two years of The Next Generation feature a number of studio sets that look and feel like they might have been lifted from the original Star Trek ; the planets featured in Arsenal of Freedom , Skin of Evil or Loud as a Whisper . From the third season of The Next Generation onwards, dry ice and lighting was typically used to disguise studio-bound sets in episodes like The Enemy or Battle Lines .

Getting away, Scott free.

Still, there is only so much that lighting and dry ice can do. Even on the later shows, the franchise’s fantastic (and famous) standing cave sets cannot perfectly emulate a real cave environment. On a science-fiction show like Star Trek , there is always some element of abstraction required. Given that this is a show with warp speed and transporters, suspension of disbelief comes with the territory. At the same time, even the cave sets in the later series would grow more elaborate and more detailed, more closely approximating real caves.

The set design in The Empath is simply the more abstract minimalist tendencies of the original Star Trek series taken to their logical extreme; sofas without furniture sets, consoles without walls, chains without ceiling hooks. It is haunting and unsettling, feeling incomplete. The set design in The Empath looks wrong on an instinctive level. The Empath wanders into the realm of the uncanny, suggesting that there something fundamentally broken. The set design is an artistic triumph.

It was, by all accounts, a pretty rough season.

It also fits quite comfortably with the apocalyptic themes bubbling through the third season of the show. Star Trek was dead at this point in the run. There was very little that could change that. The series had been lucky to secure a third season; there would not be a fourth. It seems as though the entire production team has accepted this fact, a grim resignation sinking into every fibre of the production. There is a sense of dread that hangs over the whole of the third season.

To be fair, there were earlier points in the run when the universe seemed like a haunted place that was hostile to the very notion of humanoid life. The Man Trap had been the very first episode of Star Trek to broadcast, the story of a predatory salt vampire that was the very last of its kind on a dying world. It would be quite some time before Kirk encountered a rival galactic power, when the Romulans appeared in Balance of Terror . The Klingons would not appear until Errand of Mercy . Otherwise, space seemed strangely empty.

For most of the first season, the universe seemed to be inhabited by dead or dying civilisations that had shuffled off this plane of existence; the all-powerful aliens of Charlie X , the long-vanished “Old Ones” of What Are Little Girls Made Of? , Trelane’s parents in The Squire of Gothos , the Telosians featured in The Menegarie, Part I and The Menagerie, Part II . Although the universe became a bit more vibrant early in the second season, producer John Meredyth Lucas returned to that tone with episodes like The Immunity Syndrome or The Gamesters of Triskelion .

While the third season certainly mirrors that early portrayal of the Star Trek universe, it feels more melancholy. It is no longer that Kirk and his crew are wandering through the light of long-dead stars in search of ghosts, it is that Kirk is in the process of becoming a ghost himself. Death stalks Kirk and the Enterprise in the third season. The tone was set quite effectively in Spectre of the Gun , with Kirk and his away team sentenced to die in a shoot-out as they watch their final minutes tick away.

“I hate to point it out, but…”

Death accompanies Kirk as he warps across the universe, literally and figuratively. Kirk dies metaphorically at the start of The Paradise Syndrome , replaced by Kirok; later in that same episode, Kirok’s wife and unborn child are stoned to death. Spock fakes Kirk’s death in The Enterprise Incident . McCoy diagnoses his own terminal illness in For the World is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky . Federation outposts seemed to be staffed by dead bodies in episodes like And the Children Shall Lead , Whom the Gods Destroy and The Lights of Zetar .

This apocalyptic tone simmers through The Empath , as Kirk and his away team visit a system that will soon be consumed by a star going nova. The Viians are engaged in fatal research, torturing their subjects to death. The Federation researchers are found dead, stuffed in labelled tubes. The Viians warn Kirk that their experiments will exact a deadly toll. “There is an eighty seven percent chance that the doctor will die,” Lal advises Kirk. What of Spock? “The possibility is ninety three percent that he will suffer brain damage, resulting in permanent insanity.”

Let it Viian.

Ultimately, the Viians are conducting an experiment to determine which civilisation will be permitted to survive the supernova. “Of all the planets of Minara, we have the power to transport the inhabitants of only one to safety,” Lal confesses. Even allowing for the relatively upbeat optimistic ending of The Empath in which all four participants survive the latest iteration of the Viians’ deadly experiments, the episode still ends with the deaths of an entire star system. (Save one planet.) Death stalks the Enterprise.

Still, The Empath is an endearingly optimistic episode. Star Trek is a show with an intrinsically optimistic perspective on the human condition. Although the franchise’s utopian idealism would not truly galvanise until the release of Star Trek: The Motion Picture , this was always a show about how humanity managed to survive the twentieth century and find their way out into the stars. In the context of the sixties, with looming threat of mutually assured destruction, that alone provided a counterpoint to post-apocalyptic science-fiction like Planet of the Apes .

“Anybody up to recreate the poster for The Motion Picture ?”

It is debatable how much of this utopian humanism was part of the franchise from the beginning. After all, Gene L. Coon was highly critical of the Federation as an institution in episodes like Arena or Errand of Mercy . It was only in the early years of The Next Generation that the franchise came to embrace the idea that humans were generally just the best at everything. This could occasionally become suffocating and overwhelming, particularly in episodes like Lonely Among Us or The Last Outpost or The Neutral Zone .

The Empath hits on a number of similar ideas, with the Viians abducting Kirk and his away team because they seek to exploit that which makes humanity special. However, The Empath is never as clumsy or awkward as those later episodes. In part, this is because the Viians suggest that humans are not inherently superior, and that they just happen to have developed values that are worthwhile and can thus serve as an example. This is also because the episode chooses to be very specific about what makes humans so special: empathy and compassion.

“I sense a Gem of an idea here.”

In keeping with the rest of the episode, this is a very simple idea. However, it is also very specific. Humanity are of interest to the Viians for a  very precise reason. In fact, it seems to have been a happy coincidence that the Federation seemed to have a research post in the sector. Perhaps if another species had been present, the Viians might have used them instead. Indeed, Spock is just as capable of demonstrating the commitment and self-sacrifice which the Viians laud, with the episode never daring to suggest that Spock’s human half is superior to his Vulcan half.

(To be fair, there is some good-natured ribbing about Spock’s Vulcan heritage at the very end of the episode. “I find it fascinating that with all their scientific knowledge and advances, that it was good old-fashioned human emotion that they valued the most,” McCoy reflects. Scotty suggests, “Perhaps the Vulcans should hear about this.” Spock wrily responds, “I shall certainly give the thought all the consideration it is due.” However, Spock’s half-human heritage is never discussed, and he is just as willing to sacrifice himself to save Kirk and McCoy.)

Communicating his anxiety.

More than that, there is a sense that the humanism in The Empath is earned. In later Star Trek stories focusing on how special and unique humanity are, there is a sense that mankind is speaking from a position of comfort and luxury. It is easy for mankind to be selfless and altruistic in a world where the replicator can provide for just about every need, where poverty does not exist, and where the holodeck can allow individuals to live whatever life they choose. There is no conflict because technology has evolved to a point where it blunts the causes of conflict.

Watching later episodes of Star Trek , it can seem like the franchise embraces technological determinism. It can occasionally seem like mankind does not get along because they learned important lessons from history, mankind gets along because they invented magic technology. In a way, this aspect of the franchise’s utopianism feels quite cynical. After all, if the modern world does not have replicators or transporters, if it is not physically possible to eliminate poverty and starvation by pushing a button, can mankind really transcend its base impulses?

The brutality of the Viians really floored Kirk.

To be fair, it could be argued that there is some intrinsic worth to that sort of utopian thought. It is reassuring to know that all of our modern problems are transient, and that it is physically possible for mankind to get along with one another if all of our basic needs are met. However, it is also very much an easy answer with limited application to the modern world. It suggests that the problems with the world today have nothing to do with mankind, and everything to do with resource scarcity and competition.

This approach to utopian thought and idealism ignores the role that mankind plays in issues like food scarcity and poverty. It suggests that the problems facing mankind are all external, in a way that allows mankind “off the hook.” After all, what introspection and reflection is necessary if all it takes is a replicator to perfect mankind? If technology provides an easy answer, there is no need for personal development or growth to make a better world feasible. This is one of the big criticisms of Roddenberry’s utopian thought.

“Soon the Viians will have what we desperately need. Soon we will have the secret of William Shatner’s hairpiece.”

The humanism in The Empath is not anchored in technology. It is not an “easy” humanism preached to the universe by the crew of what is effectively a floating five-star hotel. Instead, the compassion and empathy in The Empath is well earned. It shines through a crucible of pain and suffering. Kirk’s compassion for Spock and McCoy is not diminished by the knowledge that he will suffer for the sacrifice that he makes, it is enriched by it. Spock’s willingness to sacrifice himself is even more altruistic once he knows the potential price of his sacrifice.

This is not the same as condoning the suffering or pain. The Empath is explicit in condemning of the Viians’ experiments. They may be a technologically advanced species, but their methods are barbaric. “You’ve lost the capacity to feel the emotions you brought Gem here to experience,” Kirk insists. “You don’t understand what it is to live. Love and compassion are dead in you. You’re nothing but intellect.” There is never any indication that the trials are  “fair” or  “justified” or  “righteous” , even if they form something of a crucible for the crew’s humanism.

“Dammit, Jim. I asked them to tear my uniform sexy, just like yours.”

Indeed, the torture inflicted upon the crew in The Empath was so striking that it was the first episode of Star Trek not to be shown on the BBC. The British Broadcasting Corporation pulled the episode from its schedule. When fans wrote to query the show’s absence, the broadcaster responded in June 1976:

After very careful consideration a top level decision was made not to screen the episodes entitled Empath, Whom Gods Destroy, Plato’s Stepchildren and Miri, because they all dealt most unpleasantly with the already unpleasant subjects of madness, torture, sadism and disease. You will appreciate that account must be taken that out of Star Trek’s large and enthusiastic following, many are juveniles, no matter what time of day the series is put into the programme schedules. A further look has been taken following the recent correspondence, but I am afraid it has been impossible to revise the opinion not to show these episodes.

Reportedly, the controversy was sparked when the BBC’s broadcast of Miri in December 1970. The broadcaster reportedly received a high volume of complaints about content . As a result, The Empath , Whom Gods Destroy and Plato’s Stepchildren were not broadcast. They were first broadcast in the United Kingdom on Sky One in 1990.

No Miri illusion.

In some ways, the hard-earned humanism of The Empath foreshadows the approach that Star Trek: Deep Space Nine would take towards the franchise’s utopianism. The second live action spin-off would adopt a more skeptical approach to the technological determinism that defined a lot of the early Next Generation episodes, instead suggesting that mankind’s capacity for empathy and compassion is best judged under pressure or facing threat. Deep Space Nine would suggest that those virtues meant nothing if they could not survive a crucible.

The Empath is very much a piece of “pop Christianity.” To be fair, a lot of popular culture is heavily influenced by Christian belief. In the United States, and the larger western world, Christianity is treated very much as the default belief system. Even those raised outside Protestantism or Catholicism will recognise many of the basic stories, lending those tales a universal and recognisable quality. These core Christian stories are ubiquitous in western culture. As such, pop culture can seem to absorb these elements passively, almost through osmosis.

Research stations of the cross.

Certainly, the original Star Trek embraced a passive Christian aesthetic. In the later spin-offs, the Federation would be defined as an atheistic organisation that had moved away from religious and spiritual beliefs. However, episodes like  Balance of Terror , Who Mourns for Adonais? and Bread and Circuses subtly seemed to suggest that the Federation shared the same religious outlook as sixties America; a monotheistic Christian belief system with chapels and a singular capital-g God.

The religious subtext in The Empath is distinct from those earlier stories. The episode is infused with Christian imagery and iconography, from the story itself through to the production design choices. The very idea of a representative chosen to suffer for the redemption of an entire species recalls the story of Jesus Christ. Like Jesus Christ, Gem takes the sins of the world upon herself. She even dies and is ultimately resurrected, saving her entire planet. The humanism at the heart of the story recalls a very New Testament philosophy of love and compassion.

A thorny issue.

Crucifix imagery abounds. The sofa on which Gem is sleeping evokes a cross. When Kirk and McCoy are tortured by the Viians, they are hung from the ceiling by chains that hold them in a position quite similar to the crucifixion. Gem’s miraculous healing powers recall those demonstrated by Jesus Christ, but it is worth noting the wounds that she takes upon herself. Early in the story, Kirk has a gash across his forehead; it recalls the wounds Christ would have suffered from the crown of thorns. Later, she heals his wrists, where the crucifixion nails would be.

The Empath is very much written in the style of a religious parable, something reinforced towards the climax of the story as Gem lays dying. When the Viians decide to take her away, they do not simply disappear as they did (repeatedly) earlier in the story. Instead, they float upwards, as if taking Gem towards heaven. The framing emphasise this ascent imagery, the camera inviting the audience to stare down at Kirk and the away team as the Viians ascend in their flowing gowns.

It’s all in the wrists.

While The Empath trades in Christian iconography, it never leans too heavily into it. Kirk and Spock never pause to label the story as one rooted exclusively in a western Christian tradition. Instead, the story incorporates the strong humanist values of the New Testament, recognising the ideas of empathy and compassion as intrinsically valuable without needing to tie them to a particular set of religious beliefs. It just so happens that the New Testament is one of the great humanist texts, so it makes sense to draw upon that imagery in crafting The Empath .

The Empath was the first and only episode of Star Trek to be directed by veteran television director John Erman. While Ralph Senensky’s work on Is There in Truth No Beauty? demonstrated the influence that a director could have on television production in the sixties, Erman’s experience on The Empath is perhaps more indicative of what sixties television shows expected from directors. There is a sense that television directors were largely treated as hired hands in the sixties, mostly in charge of getting the episode done on time and on budget.

Just floating some ideas.

Discussing the episode with These Are the Voyages , Erman stressed that he had very little input into the stylised aesthetic of the episode:

My memory was that [the stylised approach] was pretty much dictated by the powers to be. I don’t think I had a whole lot to say about it. The only place that I kind of exerted some influence was with Kathy Hays and a couple of the other actors, but I didn’t have control over what the look was supposed to be.

Erman was largely working within predefined boundaries established by the production team, rather than defining his own vision of what he wanted Star Trek to be.

The production team had to find new and exciting ways to keep William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy from killing one another.

In many ways, Erman seemed to be there to mediate between the various actors and their competing interests. William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy had a strained relationship at this point in the run of the original Star Trek show. Both actors had a legitimate claim to playing the lead character. William Shatner was top billed and played the senior officer, while Leonard Nimoy was very much the breakout fan-favourite character who received mountains of fan mail each and every week.

With all of that in mind, it was inevitable that there would be some tension between the two performers. Both Gene Roddenberry and Fred Freiberger had been forced to carefully navigate the egos of the two leading men, with the show often caught between their demands. William Shatner would notoriously count his lines in a given script and steal lines from his co-stars . Leonard Nimoy had been embroiled in a heated salary battle at the start of the second season, seeking to increase his input and influence over the show .

“Well, at least I don’t have to count her lines.”

The directors of individual episodes could often find themselves caught in the middle of this tug of war between the two actors. In Science Fiction Television Series , co-star Alan Bergmann recalled working on The Empath :

Working with Ms. Hays was a pleasure. Mr. Shatner and Mr. Nimoy seemed to be in conflict. They struggled over better camera positions and made life difficult for the director.

After all, as far as Shatner and Nimoy were concerned, the episodic directors were just blow-ins who were working on the series for a single episode. Erman must have seemed like easy prey to Shatner and Nimoy.

Things are looking up.

Discussing the experience with Marc Cushman for These Are the Voyages , Erman candidly acknowledged a sense of disappointment with how he was treated by the show’s two lead performers:

I just remember that I was really disappointed in Lenny. I had known him from before when we were both young actors. We had studied with Jeff Corey at the same time, and so I was really looking forward yo doing the show. But the role of an episodic director is not a very creative one. I likened it, at one point, to saying that you’re kind of sweeping the sh!t under the carpet. You’re not really able to make creative choices. The only time you’re really creative in episodic television is if you do the pilot, or if you come in right after the pilot. But nobody was like Bill and Lenny. I don’t remember any other actors absolutely saying what those guys said, which was, “Oh no, my character just wouldn’t do that.” That was kind of the ultimate put down [for a director].

Erman is quite honest in discussing the role of a director on a show like Star Trek , as something akin to a safe pair of hands. He is also quite frank in his assessment of the two lead actors.

This one’s a real Gem.

Still, beyond the difficulties facing Erman in dealing with Shatner and Nimoy, The Empath is a very effective and very intriguing piece of Star Trek . It is an episode that is striking and memorable, as much for its simplicity as for anything else. It is an episode that cuts to the heart of the franchise’s humanist and idealistic philosophy, without feeling heavy-handed or awkward. It is a piece of pop Christian television that never feels patronising or crass. The Empath is a remarkable accomplishment, all the more powerful for how surreal and odd it seems.

Then again, it is perhaps the perfect third season episode.

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Filed under: The Original Series | Tagged: compassion , humanism , star trek , the empath , utopianism |

4 Responses

‘The Empath’ is a fine and moving piece of work. All concerned should be very proud of what they accomplished.

It really is. Massively underrated.

Strange that in all this write-up you mentioned Kelly but briefly though in many ways this is his episode.

I thought that as well, this was very clearly a McCoy episode, with him making the ultimate sacrifice for Spock and Kirk, and mentioning him so little in the review feels like a great disservice.

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‘Star Trek: The Next Generation’: Ranking the Crew, From Picard to Pulaski

Liz shannon miller.

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Thirty years ago, “Star Trek” proved it wasn’t just a story about Kirk and Spock; it was a story universe rich with possibilities, including a whole new cast of characters.

Ranking the men and women of “ Star Trek: The Next Generation ” is a far more brutal task than initially anticipated because, as the series kept telling us the whole time, this wasn’t a crew. This was a family. That said, let’s be honest. Family might inspire love on an equal playing field, but when it comes to actually spending time with people, favorites do emerge.

This is strictly limited to those who served as actual crew members (sorry, Q and Lwaxana Troi) because one of the best things about “Trek’s” approach to a military structure is how it still allows the show to celebrate individual personalities. Because as much fun as space travel is, a “Trek” series lives or dies by its characters.

17. Dr. Katherine Pulaski

For the record, this is not actor Diana Muldaur’s fault. When Gates McFadden left “Next Generation” at the end of Season 1 (for  a variety of complicated reasons ), the ship needed a new doctor. But while the idea of bringing in a new female character over the age of 40 (Pulaski dated Riker’s dad once!) was conceptually a fresh approach for the genre — hell, for television in general — Dr. Pulaski never gelled with the rest of the crew, and McFadden’s return in Season 3 was a welcome relief.

16. Lieutenant Reginald Barclay

On a ship full of humanity’s best, Barclay was decidedly flawed. In fact, he was set up as essentially a parody of nerd culture (which is pretty rude, considering that “Next Generation” featured a passionate, perhaps even “nerdy” fanbase). More importantly, he caused way more problems than he solved and was never much of a sympathetic character despite his lighter moments.

15. Tasha Yar

A character inspired by Vasquez (Jeanette Goldberg) from James Cameron’s “Aliens,” Yar was the ship’s muscle for much of the first season… until Denise Crosby decided to leave the show. She was essentially replaced by Worf in this regard, which could be seen as an improvement, except that there could always be more badass women in science fiction, especially on “Trek.”

14. Keiko O’Brien

A botanist we first meet as she’s about to marry Miles O’Brien (an in media res sort of move that we have a lot of respect for), Keiko was an interesting example of how the show was able to build a world beyond each week’s missions.

13. Miles O’Brien

Colm Meaney made semi-regular appearances for six seasons of “Next Generation” before becoming a regular on “Star Trek: Deep Space Nine.” While on that show, the character’s full potential was truly revealed. But while on “TNG” O’Brien had some charming moments, there’s a reason why  one of the best webcomics ever made  is based on the ennui that he must have experienced, humbly operating that transporter pad.

12. Ensign Ro Laren

This tough-as-nails Bajoran officer was our initial introduction to the Bajor-Cardassian conflict, which would be a fundamental foundation of “DS9.” Unfortunately, because Michelle Forbes was infamously skittish about signing up for ongoing series during the ’90s, Ro never got the character development enjoyed by other folk. That said, the episode “Rascals,” where she learned how to have fun as a child was… um. Fun.

11. Ensign Alyssa Ogawa

A very minor character, in theory, but the show’s erstwhile nurse made 16 appearances during the show’s run and had her own arc, with a romantic life that eventually led to her becoming a mother. Nurse Ogawa was always a pleasant presence and much appreciated.

10. Wesley Crusher

Wesley was, um,  a polarizing figure for sci-fi fans at the time , given the fact that as a teen genius who was perhaps rightly labeled as a Marty Sue, he could be a bit grating. But Wesley was also a nice, decent kid, and “TNG” showcased him best by letting that side peek out. The episode where he makes out with Ashley Judd will always be a classic.

9. Deanna Troi

Playing an “empath” is an odd requirement for an actor, and Troi had to deal with a lot of odd storylines. But she occasionally got some meat to chew into, especially given the fact that her rank as a Starfleet officer meant that she was technically more integrated into the military aspects of the series than expected. And she wore some fun jumpsuits! Troi was great.

Continue Reading: ‘Star Trek: The Next Generation’: Ranking the Crew, From Picard to Pulaski Next »

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Published Dec 5, 2011

Where Are They Now: TNG's Mr. Homn, Carel Struycken

Carel Struycken is a big man who made a big mark on Star Trek: The Next Generation , though he hardly ever said a word. Struycken, of course, played Mr. Homn , the ever-loyal, uttaberry-loving, nearly silent personal assistant to Lwaxana Troi ( Majel Barrett-Roddenberry ). Homn appeared in five TNG episodes – “ Haven ,” “ Manhunt ” “ Menage a Troii ,” “ Half a Life ” and “ Cost of Living ,” most often communicating in sign language, though he spoke a single line of dialogue in “Haven.” The actor also played The Spectre in the second-season Voyager episode, “ The Thaw .” Beyond his Trek turns, Struycken is best known for his performances as Lurch in the features The Addams Family and Addams Family Values , while other film and television credits include Twin Peaks , Men in Black , Charmed and Cold Case . These days, Struycken continues to act and still makes the occasional sci-fi or Trek convention appearance, but is focusing most of his energy on videography and interactive photography. StarTrek.com caught up with Struycken last week for an interview in which he chatted about all of the above.

The TNG casting people initially wanted you for something other than Mr. Homn, right?

Struycken: Yes. They wanted me for a part, but it was going to be a one-shot part. I’d actually felt a connection to Star Trek , because when I first came to America, one of the very first things I saw on television was the original Star Trek series. It blew me away. It was so strange. Everything, obviously, looked slightly dated, but the storylines were so fantastic and powerful and unique. So, when they called me about TNG , I felt like I somehow belonged in that universe and I wanted more than a one-shot part. I said, “I’d rather hold out for a recurring part, because I think I belong here.” And that was it. They didn’t kick me out. They said, “OK,” and pretty soon afterward they thought up Mr. Homn for me. Really, it wasn’t a business decision. It was a decision from the heart.

What did you appreciate most about Homn as a character?

Struycken: Both Trois had this great ability with non-verbal communication. When I saw it, I realized that I had very few lines. I had one line in my first episode and then no lines after that. That was kind of a disappointment, but I thought, “OK, the way I can justify it for myself is that on this planet we come from, we don’t always open our mouths when we’re talking.” So, in my mind, I was having long conversations with Lwaxana and Deanna ( Marina Sirtis ), but you, as the viewer, were not quite aware of that.

What do you remember most about working with Majel Barrett-Roddenberry?

Struycken: She was absolutely fabulous. She was fantastic. Usually when you’re on a production and you’re in the makeup room, people are pretty reserved in what they say and what they talk about. But not Majel. She had very strong opinions and she made sure that everybody knew about those opinions. That was great. And, at least in the way I experienced Majel off the set as well as on it, a lot of Lwaxana’s character was part of her character, even though that may have just been her staying in character. I’m not sure about that. But she always came across to me as a very outspoken person.

You returned to the Trek sound stages a few years later for “The Thaw.” How did that come about?

Struycken: I’d actually missed out on one or two TNG opportunities because I was doing The Addams Family . It was really frustrating because I could have easily have done both, because the stage where we were shooting The Addams Family was literally across the little alley at Paramount where they were shooting TNG . All it would have taken was for someone from production to cross that little alley to find out when I’d be available. Anyway, I missed out on it. And there may have been another one, too. Then, there was this chance to do Voyager, and I wore a weird black pumpkin on my head. It was just another part, but I was very happy to be back in outer space again, so to speak.

We saw you at a convention not too long ago, and you had a couple of members of your family with you at your table in the autograph room. What’s it like for you, all these years later, to attend these events, and what did it mean to you to share the experience with your family?

Struycken: Well, I enjoy the conventions, but my kids have always been completely unimpressed by all of that. But it is fun to take them along whenever I get the chance. My daughter is now in her first year of her medical residency, so I don’t think I’ll ever get her to a convention again. And then my son is going to be applying for medical school. But it’s fun. When I’m on my own at a convention, after being behind a table for two or three hours, I am ready to leave. When my son is sitting next to me, he’ll say, “No. This is what we’re here for. So, no, no, stay here.” He’s kind of my keeper at those shows.

What are you working on these days?

Struycken: I’m setting up an editing system so that I can get back into working on studio stuff. We bought another house last year (in Los Angeles), so I’m converting the garage into my workspace, and it’ll be a nice, big-enough area where I can do photography and video editing.

What kind of photography do you do?

Struycken: Actually, I do almost exclusively spherical panoramas, and those are available at www.sphericalpanoramas.com . You should check that out. The work is really interesting. And now that I have this garage, I should be able to set up little portraits and things like that. I’ll be experimenting a bit.

Are you still acting?

Struycken: Oh, you bet. Acting is a passive thing, to a degree, because you have to wait for somebody who wants you. There’s nothing much you can do about it. So I’m just waiting for that phone call. Once I finish setting up my video editing system, the very first thing I’m going to do is make a nice show reel. So, there you go. That’s one of the few things you can do to make yourself a bit more visible.

To learn more about Struycken’s photography, click HERE to visit his official site.

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Why Is Deanna Troi Important in Star Trek: The Next Generation?

• Deanna Troi's role as counselor on the USS Enterprise is often overlooked but she played a vital role in maintaining the crew's mental health.
• Troi's empathy coupled with her psychology background allowed her to anticipate dangerous situations and provide valuable insights to the commanding officers.
• Troi's scientific and clinical training was also crucial in analyzing sentient behavior, especially when her empathy was rendered ineffective.

For seven seasons of Star Trek: The Next Generation -- and its four subsequent films -- Counselor Deanna Troi played a pivotal role aboard the USS Enterprise, but her importance to the NCC1701-D's continuing mission is often overlooked. Early in the The Next Generation pilot episode, "Encounter at Farpoint," Troi and Riker's romantic history was established. Between that and the focus on their relationship in the Star Trek: The Next Generation sequel films and Star Trek: Picard , it's easy to forget that she was always more than the first officer's romantic interest.

When Star Trek returned to TV screens in 1987 with The Next Generation , the sequel series introduced a new position aboard Federation starships, along with its new cast of characters. Tasked with maintaining the crew's mental health, the ship's counselor served as an analyst to the crew and advisor to the captain on psychological matters. In the case of Deanna Troi, however, the role was expanded due to her training and unique talents.

Deanna Troi Cared for the Enterprise Crew's Mental Health on Star Trek: TNG

Why deanna troi wore a starfleet uniform in tng's final seasons.

Deep space travel is extremely hazardous, even aboard Star Trek: The Next Generation 's powerful and luxurious Galaxy Class Enterprise. Between hostile alien races, hazardous spacial anomalies and millions of lightyears separating the crew from their various home worlds, mental health is paramount on a Starfleet vessel, especially aboard the Flagship of the Federation. With her advanced training in psychology, Counselor Deanna Troi had the necessary qualifications to care for the crew of the Enterprise-D , which would turn out to be instrumental in helping the crew to function.

A perfect example of Troi's value to the Enterprise was her long-term treatment of Lt. Reginald Barclay, a member of the Engineering staff whose social anxieties often led him to retreat to the ship's holodeck in order to escape from reality in Season 3, Episode 21, "Hollow Pursuits." Troi would go on to treat him for other concerns, including his fear of using the transporter in Season 6, Episode 2, "Realm of Fear." Although he was uncomfortable with people who could read his thoughts and emotions, even Lt. Worf came to rely on Counselor Troi when his son Alexander came to live on the Enterprise in Season 5, Episode 10, "New Ground," and on through the remainder of the series.

In addition to her day-to-day duties overseeing the psychological well-being of the crew, Troi was also the person the crew turned to when more in-depth care was required. While Counselor Troi's primary duty was to maintain the overall mental health of Enterprise personnel, that didn't just mean treating phobias and general stress. The perils the crew faced could at times lead to serious trauma, and Deanna was the most qualified person aboard the ship to treat them. The senior officers in particular survived situations that led to considerable emotional and psychological distress that couldn't be left untreated without long-term damage to their well-being.

After Captain Picard was captured and tortured by Cardassians during a covert mission in Season 6, Episodes 10 and 11, "Chain of Command," he found her counseling invaluable in his recovery, as he did two years earlier, following his assimilation by the Borg in both parts of "The Best of Both Worlds." Helping Lt. Cmdr. Geordi LaForge recover from brainwashing at the hands of the Romulans who wanted him as an assassin in Season 4, Episode 24, "The Mind's Eye," required extraordinary patience and attentiveness. The mental reprogramming they'd put him through included memory suppression and neurological torture. Fortunately, her family heritage gives her an advantage in her duties as a ship's counselor.

Troi’s Betazoid Abilities Made Her Indispensable on The Next Generation

Star trek: strange new worlds can clear up confusion about one alien species.

As a trained psychologist, Troi was wholly qualified to provide mental health care and give expert advice to Captain Picard when dealing with tense situations, but she also had an inherent ability that proved invaluable. As the daughter of a human Starfleet officer and a Betazoid ambassador, Troi was an empath. Able to read the feelings of most living creatures -- even from a distance -- Counselor Troi was a valued advisor to Capt. Picard and Cmdr. Riker, both on the bridge and on away missions. Being able to sense the emotions of other species the Enterprise encountered on its voyages -- combined with her psychology background -- enabled Troi to anticipate dangerous situations and provide the ship's commanding officers with insights a more typical ship's counselor might not have.

For example, no Betazoid can read Starfleet's only android officer, Lt. Cmdr. Data , as was made clear when the powerful telepath Tam Elbrund came aboard in Season 3, Episode 20, "Tin Man" and didn't even sense his presence. From the start of the Enterprise-D's first mission in "Encounter at Farpoint," Troi was able to sense the presence of Q before he revealed himself. She also sensed the emotions of the alien entity the Bandi forced to serve as a base on their planet and its mate, which tried to rescue it. In many of the missions that followed, Troi also used her empathy to advise the captain about the general mindset of the crew. In Star Trek: The Next Generation , Season 1, Episode 6, "Where No One Has Gone Before," Troi sensed the overall confusion of the Enterprise's population as their thoughts were made real at the edge of the universe. On Deanna's advice, Capt. Picard gave the crew something to focus on to prevent further chaos until they found a way home.

Troi's empathic senses were also instrumental in helping Picard and his first officer, Cmdr. William Riker outwit opponents or work with difficult people. She was especially instrumental in helping Cmdr. Riker work with a Zakdorn quartermaster in Season 5, Episode 7, "Unification, Part I" to gain access to a surplus depot as they investigated a destroyed Vulcan starship. Unfortunately, Riker and Picard didn't always trust Counselor Troi's empathic insights, and in Season 2, Episode 17, "Samaritan Snare," it nearly cost them their chief engineer when he went aboard a Pakled ship and was nearly kidnapped by the two-man crew. With such a remarkable ability at her disposal, it might seem like Counselor Troi would have been indispensable without a psychological background. Then again, sometimes her training was more reliable than her innate abilities.

Troi Would’ve Been Irreplaceable on TNG Even Without Her Empathic Abilities

Star trek predicted christmas' enduring future.

Since she's half-human, Troi's mind has never been quite as powerful as other Betazoids'. For that reason alone, she could never rely entirely on her extrasensory perception to understand the thoughts and feelings of other lifeforms. Thanks to her education -- both on her homeworld of Betazed and Starfleet Academy -- Troi has long possessed the scientific and clinical tools to analyze sentient behavior. This was especially useful on those rare occasions when her empathic sense was rendered ineffective. Though it can be awfully unsettling to a Betazoid, there are several species in Star Trek who are unreadable with telepathic and empathic senses.

In her first encounter with the Ferengi in The Next Generation , Season 1, Episode 5, "The Last Outpost," Troi was unable to sense their emotions, and speculated that they might possess the ability to shield their minds from telepathy. Her greatest test came when the Enterprise encountered two-dimensional aliens that were unintentionally pulling the ship towards a cosmic string in Season 4, Episode 10, "The Loss." Her proximity to the new lifeform blocked her empathic senses, forcing her to cope with the loss of an inherent ability the way anyone else would've needed to deal with losing their sight or hearing. Though she struggled at first, Troi eventually fulfilled her duty and helped free the Enterprise from the aliens' wake and regained her empathic abilities.

While Troi and Riker are Star Trek 's power couple , the half-Betazoid ship's counselor was always more than a romantic interest for the Enterprise's first officer. Counselor Troi has always been a unique, intelligent and invaluable part of the Star Trek universe. She even returned for Picard , Season 3 to prove that -- even after retirement -- there's never been anyone quite like Deanna Troi, and there never will be.

Star Trek: The Next Generation

Set almost 100 years after Captain Kirk's 5-year mission, a new generation of Starfleet officers sets off in the U.S.S. Enterprise-D on its own mission to go where no one has gone before.

Release Date 1987-09-26

Cast Majel Barrett, Michael Dorn, LeVar Burton, Brent Spiner, Jonathan Frakes, Patrick Stewart, Marina Sirtis, Gates McFadden

Main Genre Sci-Fi

Genres Drama, Sci-Fi, Action, Adventure

Rating TV-PG

Star Trek : "Wink Of An Eye"/"The Empath"

I take notes when I watch Trek episodes for recapping. I do that for every show I watch. I don't spend all that much time directly referring to those notes when I do the actual write-up, but I like having the information there if I need it. There's probably something to be said for the way jotting down plot details, character names, and dialog helps to give me a clearer sense of what each episode is about, making it easier to remember details and create a structure for the review. Whatever the exact reason, I've found that whenever I've tried to put together an essay on a movie or show without notes, I get nervous.

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I mention this as a way of apologizing for the sketchiness of my comments on "Wink Of An Eye," because, despite the fact that I know I had my laptop open and I typed repeatedly throughout the episode, my notes for it have mysteriously vanished. Maybe I deleted them when I opened the file to take notes on "The Empath." Maybe I put them in a different file. Maybe I was hallucinating, because it's been that kind of a week, and I gotta be honest with you, I'm not completely convinced that I'm writing this right now. This could all be some kind of stress dream, and in a moment or two, the letters on the keys will change into some language that cuts my fingers and my monitor will slam down on my hands and eat them. (The only benefit to this being a nightmare is that at least I could be sleeping right now.)

Anyway. "Wink of an Eye," what I remember. Of the two episodes this week, "Eye" is easily the best—not great, but at least it feels like a Trek episode, as opposed to "The Empath," which plays like one of those awful hour-long Twilight Zone s. Responding to a distress call from a planet with no recorded life forms… again… Kirk and co find a beautiful, culturally advanced city that's entirely empty of inhabitants. (The beauty aspect is apparently important, as Scotty mentions it in the supplemental Captain's Log.)(Which is odd. Why is Scotty recording a log? I was under the impression that Kirk was in charge of the Captain's Log, and that other crew members recorded entries only when Kirk wasn't available to do so. Admittedly, Kirk is on the planet when the episode begins, but he hasn't been there that long, and surely the log entry can wait till gets back. Maybe it's that officers each have their own journals, which would make sense, or there's a specific time the Log needs to be recorded each day. But I like to imagine, given James Doohan's well-known animosity towards Shatner, that Scotty is just taking the next step torwards attaining complete control of the ship. After all, it's Kirk's fault that the poor Enterprise keeps going on all these mechanically damaging adventures.)

It seems like most every episode we've seen in season 3 has had our heroes visiting planets with no discernible life forms, only to be immediately accosted by those life forms upon beaming down. At least "Eye" gives the computer an excuse for its error. The citizens of Scalos (the planet) (thanks, Wikipedia!) are really, really, really fast. So fast that it's impossible to see them in "normal" speed, so fast that when they talk it sounds like a buzzing insect—so fast that they can dodge phaser fire. The accident that Barry Allen-ed everyone also made them sterile, and now a once thriving civilization is down to its last nine members. The distress call that attracted the Enterprise is a lure to give the Scalosians a chance at some fresh meat. That's why a red-shirt named Compton disappears on Scalos, and that's why Deela, a Scalosian, drugs Kirk's coffee and winds him up to her level. She likes him. She really, really likes him.

As threats go, the Scalosians aren't bad, although their willingness to give the hero of the show a drug that will make it possible for him to defeat them is a little suspect. They manage to beam aboard the Enterprise somehow, which doesn't make a lot of sense, science-wise. If their speed makes them invisible to the computer as life-forms, how would the transporter even work? Especially since they get brought on without anyone on the ship realizing it. Their sabotage of the Enterprise 's control systems makes clever use of their undetectability (Spock's reversal of that sabotage makes for a cute episode button), and there's something, well, creepy is a stretch, but certainly unsettling about a threat whose presence can only be recognized in the aftermath. (For a better use of this idea, check out the great later series episode of Dr. Who, "Blink.") In fact, the ep might've been stronger if it had spent more time focusing on the mystery, and the danger that mystery represented, instead of dropping Kirk down the rabbit hole and spoiling the question so early on.

Once Kirk crosses over, though, the situation progresses as expected. Deela is hot for him, the leader of the Scalosians, who is also into Deela, is less fond. The actor who plays the latter, Jason Evers, was also the lead of the wacky, "My wife's a head I've got in the basement, who can I kill so I can have some sex again?" b-flick, The Brain That Wouldn't Die. ( Brain was used in a great MST3K episode, as well as source material for feminist graduate students searching for thesis topics.) Evers' performance in "Eye" can best be described as "perfunctory," and apart from Deela, none of the other Scalosians make any impression at all. We have our main danger, a machine that's screwing with the life support system, and we have our obstacles, and then it's just a matter of Kirk and eventually Spock teaming up to fix things. (We even have McCoy coming up with a magical cure for the super speed.)

But like I said, it wasn't horrible. The hook is clever, if undercooked, and I did get a kick out of Spock following in Kirk's footsteps without hesitating, and Kirk, in turn, reacting to his arrival as if it was an entirely expected turn of events. I'd label this as "functional." The triangle between Deela, Kirk, and Evers is a familiar one, and given such a rich main concept, it's a shame that there wasn't more an attempt made to take advantage of the possibilities. There are hints: Compton, the red-shirt, dies of "cellular damage," which apparently the newly turned are vulnerable to, but once this is raised, it's quickly dropped. It's not like Kirk is going to die, after all, though it's surprising the Scalosians don't get some kind of comeuppance for all the kidnapping and manslaughter they're responsible for. (They explain that when their numbers began to drop, they created the distress signal to attract new blood, but the super-speed transition tends to kill weaker, non-Kirk humanoids.)

In a stronger season, "Eye" would've been a low spot, a perfunctory by-the-numbers programmer which, while not embarrassing, wouldn't have made much of an impression. Here, it reminds us that, for a while anyway, competency was the least we could hope to expect from the series. "The Empath" is a sad reminder of Trek's slow sink into mediocrity, an ep with a lazy, random script, a set that would've made more sense on Lost In Space, and a leading lady that tests the patience of even the most loyal of the show's fans. It's not as outright embarrassing as some of the stories we've seen in the past, and it definitely has some weirdly effective moments, but it's indicative of the general trend towards sloppy, ill-formed plotting that ruined one of the series' greatest strengths. At least in the first two seasons, when stupid things were happening, they nearly always happened fast.

Another solar system, another star about to go nova, and the Enterprise on a rescue mission to contact some guys in a science observatory. These guys turn up dead, which is probably for the best, because the security camera footage of them that Kirk, Spock, and McCoy see reveals a cranky dude and a religious dude, neither of whom we'll miss. In the footage, after a two line dialog that instantly defines their stereotype, both characters vanish (there's a weird, quilted screen effect when they disappear, too, which I guess indicates a rift in time or space, but mostly makes me think somebody rammed the camera lens into the kitchen table at my grandma's). Our heroes express consternation over the disappearance, then Spock blinks out, followed by McCoy, and finally, after the expected ration of hammy-acting, Kirk.

They wake up in a big dark room that, according to Spock, is "121.32 meters below the planet's surface." Really, though, it's just a lot space and shadows and the occasional prop. "Spectre of the Gun" could get away with this minimalism because it had just enough trappings to suggest a place. The empty bits made that suggestion more sinister and eerie. Here, there's no sense of anything. Kirk, Spock, and McCoy walk around, then they find a mute woman on a platform, then they run into tall bald men with special remote controls, and then there's a lab. Why would you conduct so much science in a place where you can't see anything?

Of course, this is less "science" than a morality play—the aliens, called Vians, are running an experiment to see if the Empath has developed the proper emotional, physical, and ethical requirements to justify the survival of her race. So, again with the TZ vibe. As godlike beings, the Vians are strictly second-tier. They start off sadistic and terrifying, but we're supposed to be sympathetic towards them by the end, somehow, despite the fact that they murdered the Grumpy and Godly. Or maybe not sympathetic, but at least not actively evil. Kirk manages to psyche them out with a "You're no better than us!" speech, which somehow makes it acceptable that they killed the other men and tortured McCoy. I think.

I really didn't care for this. The story is cheesy, 3am profound junk. We've been down the road of the aliens who test other aliens for worthiness, we've had some laughs with it (Space lizard!), we don't really need to be reminded how noble everybody is. Plus, the constant return to the archetype isn't good for world-building. The universe can't be this full up of these guys, can it? Take the monolith in 2001. It's a striking, powerful image—a stark reminder of how little we know about everything, how barely we've cracked the possibilities that life and the cosmos have to offer, how rich with potential we, as a species, still are. Now, imagine that every planet we went to had a monolith. Sometimes more than one, many of them in different colors, or different shapes, and some of them told knock knock jokes. How quickly would the magic die? And how fast before you start assuming that the whole galaxy is a poorly planned MMORPG that you forgot you were playing?

What really kills "The Empath," though, is the title character. McCoy calls her Gem, which is as ridiculous as it sounds. (Truly ridiculous? Truly, truly, truly ridiculous?)(Yes.) The actress, Kathryn Hays, is, um, awful. Just—awful. She doesn't say anything, and her facial expression never really changes, but she performs these utterly bizarre and inorganic gestures to communicate that I guess are supposed to indicate her deep emotional connection to the world, but really just scream "Bad senior dance thesis." This would be lousy enough, but the script goes out of its way to praise her beauty, her worth, her quality of character. It's interminable. The episode needs Gem (snicker) to be fascinating, and when she's just a mediocre actress that (I'm guessing) Rodenberry wanted to, ahem, feel up (ha!), the already weak writing falls apart completely.

There are a couple of decent bits. The sight of Grumpy and Godly in their jars is funny/disturbing, and the torture of Kirk and McCoy is presented in such an odd fashion as to make it distinctive. This might just be the warmest we've ever seen Spock and McCoy behave towards one another; McCoy, near death, tells Spock he has "a good bedside manner" in a non-sarcastic way, and Spock even calls McCoy a "friend." Plus, the basic, baffling absurdity of the story is enough to hold your interest at least for a little while. But overall, "Empath" is a wash.

Grades: "Wink Of An Eye": B- "The Empath": C-

Stray Observations:

• I've got nada for quotes this week.
• Okay, one: "Their own imperfections killed them." See, now I'm imagining Saw 6: In Space , and I'm not sure how I feel about that.
• Next week, I will keep better track of "Elaan of Toryius" and "Whom Gods Destroy."
• Oh, and for those of you who have been asking for Star Trek: The Next Generation coverage (and even for those of you who haven't been asking, I guess), it's official: once I've finished up the third season of original Trek , I'll be digging into Next Gen , S1. I'm very excited about this, despite having already watched all of Next Gen , S1.

Star Trek (TV Series)

The empath (1968), full cast & crew.

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