This is a vehicle to expand the humanity of the crew. Scotty, who is always seen as cool and married to the Enterprise, is, like most of the crew, uninvolved. Kirk is always on the make, but the rest, from McCoy on down, don't seem to have any social life. Each, including Spock, has had his or her heartstrings pulled at times, but it is always unrequited. Here Scotty is taken with Mira, who is on her first mission. I don't know where new crew members come from. So many redshirts and other throwaways seem to meet their demises. Anyway, the ship is like a small town and it would seem everyone would know everyone else. All that aside, Mira has Scotty's attention and it seems to be mutual. Enter the alien of the week, a collection of bright lights (quite beautiful, actually) which have the ability to suck the life out of anyone they declare as a host. Mira, unfortunately, absorbs this creature. Her personality changes and she begins to have visions. The Starship crew is faced with the task of getting this thing out of her as well as freeing the Enterprise from its influence. One can see on Spock's face that the Prime Directive dealing with sentient beings is coming into play, since the alien can communicate with them. Ultimately, it depends on Scotty. This is a decent entry.
Review of The Lights of Zetar
