Was Lazarus an earthman?

Interesting theory. And it would explain such things as the advanced technology of Landru and his people before he condemned his descendants to millenia of early 19th century Terran (UK and US) societal mores and clothing.

 

The comics which retell "The Return of the Archons" in an Abramsverse format do suggest that the people in that episode are humans, and that Beta III is a colony of Earth. Which makes sense, really.

Spoiler: that comic

Landru, as they interpret it, is an artificial intelligence designed by a human scientist with the same name (Cornelius Landru). Now that one's a stretch, kind of.

 

Actually, the implication is there that the weird town isn't that stagnant. Somehow, our heroes get the misconception that Pilgrim era wear is appropriate for their infiltration mission, when Wild West is the proper choice. There really isn't any plausible reason for them to decide "Let's dress up like Thomas Weston!" unless the people down below indeed were sporting that fashion when the planet was first scanned...

Basically, if fashion can change like that overnight, we're best off speculating that Landru forces constant and arbitrary change on his people, supposedly for their own good. Perhaps every Red Hour festival initiates a new cycle, and our heroes assumed orbit exactly when the old fashion was being abandoned in favor of the new? (The Red Hours do not appear to be frequent events, or else our heroes would not so readily be mistaken for Festival tourists.)

Timo Saloniemi

 

I think you're off by a century or so.

 

Speaking of "The Alternative Factor," I love how the writer of Playboy's ranking of all 700something Trek TV episodes has to say about this one:

 

Except that, yes, it is that the episode is bad.

 

Well yes. It is. But it is also boring. It's not even entertaining in any way. You can have something that is bad, but still be entertaining in some fashion, like TFF.

 

That's why I think "Spock's Brain" gets a bum rap as the "worst episode ever" of TOS. It's silly, sure, but it's very entertaining, it makes great use of the ensemble cast, and it has terrific production values and music. There are certainly worse episodes, episodes that are just tedious or unpleasant to watch -- "The Alternative Factor" and "And the Children Shall Lead" are probably the worst.

 

I've always found "Spock's Brain" kitsch in a charming way — almost like a televised Gold Key Trek comic. I can watch that episode and find it fun, whereas I'm with you on "The Alternative Factor" and "And the Children Shall Lead." Those are just yawners.

 

Yes it was an interesting episode........ Its hard to believe Star Trek was made in the 60s... EVERY EPISODE IS AMAZING!!!!!!