Don Ingalls (writing for the series for the first of two times) came up with this so-so attempt at an exploration of existentialism. The story has the Enterprise beaming aboard a strange character named Lazarus (Robert Brown) who claims to be at constant war with some humanoid being with the incredible, frightening power to cause major "rips" in the universe.
Unfortunately, the premise here doesn't yield great results. This is a mostly slow-moving episode that gets overly repetitive, with frequent use of slow-mo negatives and lots of ranting from Brown, who can be rational at times and a nutcase at other times. And who falls off a cliff AT LEAST twice. (That said, Kirk and company are awfully lax in their treatment of the guy. He gets plenty of opportunities to wander around the starship and do all sorts of damage. For one thing, he's VERY interested in the all-important Dylithium crystals that power the ship.)
The concepts explored here are worthy of some interest (Kirk & Spock have an awfully extended conversation when it comes to the possible nature of what they're facing), but in general 'The Alternative Factor' is not altogether satisfactory. Brown, who had a few dozen TV credits to his name but no role to really call his own, does pretty well in his role. He is one memorable thing about an episode that is clearly aiming high but just falls short in an otherwise solid first season.
Best of all is the chilling implication of the resolution. Otherwise, this is not exactly a must-see episode.
Directed by Gerd Oswald ("A Kiss Before Dying").
Six out of 10.
Unfortunately, the premise here doesn't yield great results. This is a mostly slow-moving episode that gets overly repetitive, with frequent use of slow-mo negatives and lots of ranting from Brown, who can be rational at times and a nutcase at other times. And who falls off a cliff AT LEAST twice. (That said, Kirk and company are awfully lax in their treatment of the guy. He gets plenty of opportunities to wander around the starship and do all sorts of damage. For one thing, he's VERY interested in the all-important Dylithium crystals that power the ship.)
The concepts explored here are worthy of some interest (Kirk & Spock have an awfully extended conversation when it comes to the possible nature of what they're facing), but in general 'The Alternative Factor' is not altogether satisfactory. Brown, who had a few dozen TV credits to his name but no role to really call his own, does pretty well in his role. He is one memorable thing about an episode that is clearly aiming high but just falls short in an otherwise solid first season.
Best of all is the chilling implication of the resolution. Otherwise, this is not exactly a must-see episode.
Directed by Gerd Oswald ("A Kiss Before Dying").
Six out of 10.