Bad as Alternative Factor is, the ending with Kirk's lament for Lazarus spending forever with a madman doesn't make sense. There's no indication Lazarus is immortal or that the corridor renders folks immortal, so they are going to die at some point. At least one will throttle the other then what? You got to eat at some point, antimatter burgers? Or sit and watch a corpse till you dehydrate into delirium and death? For that matter, is there air there beyond what came with them? I'm guessing the volume in their ships, so they might suffocate in a few minutes anyway. Then heat, is there any once the corridor is closed? They might be freeze dried the moment the dimension was cut off? How do the Lazaruses die? How gruesomely?
I figured the corridor between universes was something of an ethereal plane, and while there they existed without mortal needs like food and sleep.
Why would physiological processes cease to exist but physical effects and abilities (grabbing and wrestling for instance) don't?
I do have some fondness for King Daniel's idea. Undead and ultimately enough physical injuries severe enough that they can no longer function through bad bone breaks and no bone setting. They're like two black knights screaming they're not done and will bite each other to death. Better, like the Walking Dead, they eat each other into silence.
The simplest solution was just for "good" Lazarus to vaporize himself so that nuts Laz could never touch him. Duh.
Yes I always thought that. Maybe good Lazarus thinks he needs to be punished (forever) because some version of himself wiped out his planet.
Is the corridor a natural structure connecting the universes, or is it something created by the dimension machines? If it's created by the machines, I imagine the corridor collapses once they are turned off, thus ends Lazarus and pal. If it is a natural structure, why are they able to interact there physically, but physical processes like need for food, air, heat and such suspended? Sure, it's a poetic ending, but it makes about as much sense as this episode. We've seen the mirror universe, is the other Lazarus from there? Who knows, but the beards could be what went wrong. With Spock one had a beard, the other didn't providing mental balance when crossing the universes. The two Spocks seemed relatively the same compared to everyone else. In the case of Mirror, Mirror, the travellers were all beardless, in this episode they were both bearded.
If you mean the Mirror Universe a la "Mirror, Mirror", then no. The alternate universe in "The Alternative Factor" was antimatter-based. And for those who wonder what eventually happened to both Lazaruses (Lazari?), consult Strange New Worlds 10. Spoiler: SNW 10 The Prophet-ized Benjamin Sisko frees them from the magnetic corridor and deposits both of them onto their respective universes' versions of Bajor. Apparently NEITHER Lazarus was insane after all. Once it was all over they both could lead normal lives. Which I thought was kind of cool.
Right! The OP asks a great question, btw. I admit, I never put that much thought into this episode. I'd say Kirk's "for all eternity" remark at the end is just sloppy writing. Both Lazari are going to die in the Phantom Zone.
In "Generations": If Picard couldn't get Kirk to leave the Nexus any other way, it would rattle his cage to quote that back at him. "You once lamented a man being trapped forever with a raging madman at his throat until time itself came to a stop! 'How would it be?' you asked. You're about to find out, sir, unless you come with me to Veridian III!" Finally! A justification for the existence of that episode!