Miri - Based on Anything?

[maryh]

In the episode Miri we are shown a planet that looks just like Earth and in the same era that Trek was being filmed. Did it have a real life parallel? Were there any experiments going on in the 1960's that attempted to prolong life using viruses? Was the writer warning that man shouldn't be attempting this kind of thing?

 

[Forbin]

I doubt it was based on any real-world events. But it was a typical sci fi "cautionary tale," warning us that science needs to be careful when mucking about with modifying nature.

 

[A beaker full of death]

In the episode Miri we are shown a planet that looks just like Earth and in the same era that Trek was being filmed.

I seem to recall it being more like the 30s. Not sure if that's based on anything in the dialogue.

 

[Captain Robert April]

They were using the Mayberry Main Street backlot, over in Culver City, so we're talking late '50s - early '60s when everything went blooey.

As for the story itself, take a cautionary tale about tampering with genetics, mix in two parts "Lord of the Flies", mix vigorously, serve with a large helping of fine cheese.

 

[scotpens]

In the episode Miri we are shown a planet that looks just like Earth and in the same era that Trek was being filmed.

I seem to recall it being more like the 30s. Not sure if that's based on anything in the dialogue.

KIRK: Identical. Earth, as it was in the early 1900s.

SPOCK: More the, er, mid-1900s, I would say, Captain. Approximately 1960.

Besides “Miri,” the Culver City “Forty Acres” lot was also used for “City on the Edge of Forever.” The streets and building facades were pretty generic, and could have represented any period from the late 19th to the mid-20th century.

 

[A beaker full of death]

^Maybe that's the source of my confusion. Thanks!

(You'd think I, of all people, would have Miri down cold).

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

Looking at the themes of the episode, it seems more likely that the writer was interested in telling a "Lord Of The Flies" kind of tale about the supposed native barbarism of unsocialized children and tailored the sf premise of the story to that, rather than being interested in possible side effects of medical research and extrapolating events from it.

 

[maryh]

I did find this at Memory Alpha:
The life prolongation complex was a series of viral infections that, in a chain reaction, would greatly extend the lifespan of an ordinary cell. The goal of the complex was to extend the life of the cell so that an individual would age approximately one month each hundred years.

Today, genetic engineers routinely use viruses to inject DNA into cells under study. Attempts have also been made to treat genetic disorders in this fashion. The normal mechanisms employed by the virus to remove host DNA and replace it with its own DNA are used to replace flawed DNA with correct DNA. Once the virus has changed the cell, the cell remains changed, even if the virus is later removed by the immune system.

http://memory-alpha.org/wiki/Life_prolongation_complex

Not sure if the premise of life prolongation through viruses has any merit even if the method does have merit for other genetic disorders.

Looking at the themes of the episode, it seems more likely that the writer was interested in telling a "Lord Of The Flies" kind of tale about the supposed native barbarism of unsocialized children and tailored the sf premise of the story to that, rather than being interested in possible side effects of medical research and extrapolating events from it.

I thought of that but the childhood of these kids was presented in a positive light, that it seems closer to a Peter Pan theme that was about to end. It made me wonder whether growing up is 100% "glandular" in nature, as this episode implies, or if experience and boredom would eventually enter in. Playing for 400 years might get boring no matter how old you are.

 

[Forbin]

I dunno. I'm 53 and I still prefer playing to working.

 

[scotpens]

I dunno. I'm 53 and I still prefer playing to working.

Most of us guys do. We don't grow up; our toys just get more expensive!

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

Looking at the themes of the episode, it seems more likely that the writer was interested in telling a "Lord Of The Flies" kind of tale about the supposed native barbarism of unsocialized children and tailored the sf premise of the story to that, rather than being interested in possible side effects of medical research and extrapolating events from it.

I thought of that but the childhood of these kids was presented in a positive light, that it seems closer to a Peter Pan theme that was about to end.

I guess that depends on how you see it. It seemed to me that they were thoughtlessly violent, casually bullying and largely without empathy - the implication of the girl Miri's story itself, I thought, was that the development of feelings of tenderness and morality were part of her maturation process.

This is one of my very favorite Star Trek episodes, BTW - I know that it ranks near the bottom of the first year for a lot of people, and there's certainly a lot to criticize - even wince at - in it. But the story's heart and many of the performances have always appealed to me.

 

[plynch]

Yet the kids seem to have coexisted as a group. So they must get along and make allowances and have empathy. Or they wouldn't be there by episode time, right?

Can't remember -- what makes them all start to freak out on the grups and go bonk bonk and all that? I've avoided that ep for years. The unexplained DUPLICATE earth (as opposed to parallel) bugs me.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

The grandiose absurdity of stuff like that - "another Earth?" - was one of the things that gave Trek a gosh-wow "sense of wonder" quality when I was a kid. That it's a throwaway bit that makes no sense hardly mattered to me then, or now.

The difference between a "duplicate" and a "parallel" Earth is a word in a script, after all.

 

[scotpens]

Can't remember -- what makes them all start to freak out on the grups and go bonk bonk and all that? I've avoided that ep for years.

It was an unexpected effect of the engineereed virus that was supposed to prolong life. It ended up extending pre-adolescence for hundreds of years, but when the children hit puberty, they went bonkers. (I mean, even more bonkers than NORMAL teenagers.)
Then they quickly burned out and died.

The unexplained DUPLICATE earth (as opposed to parallel) bugs me.

The “exact duplicate of Earth” is preposterous, of course, and has no relevance whatsoever to the story -- in fact, it doesn't get mentioned at all after the pre-credit teaser. It seems that it was just a cheap hook to pique viewers’ interest and to get them to stay tuned (this was still early in the show's first season).

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

Can't remember -- what makes them all start to freak out on the grups and go bonk bonk and all that? I've avoided that ep for years.

It was an unexpected effect of the engineereed virus that was supposed to prolong life. It ended up extending pre-adolescence for hundreds of years, but when the children hit puberty, they went bonkers. (I mean, even more bonkers than NORMAL teenagers. ) They they quickly burned out and died.

The unexplained DUPLICATE earth (as opposed to parallel) bugs me.

The “exact duplicate of Earth” is preposterous, of course, and has no relevance whatsoever to the story -- in fact, it doesn't get mentioned at all after the pre-credit teaser. It seems that it was just a cheap hook to pique viewers’ interest and to get them to stay tuned (this was still early in the show's first season).

Yeah, but the virus didn't have anything to do with the "bonk, bonk!" stuff and kidnapping Rand or mobbing Kirk and beating him bloody, etc. - that was their basic nature. In fact, Kirk makes a point of that in trying to get their attention in the end.

 

[A beaker full of death]

The unexplained DUPLICATE earth (as opposed to parallel) bugs me.

The “exact duplicate of Earth” is preposterous, of course, and has no relevance whatsoever to the story -- in fact, it doesn't get mentioned at all after the pre-credit teaser. It seems that it was just a cheap hook to pique viewers’ interest and to get them to stay tuned (this was still early in the show's first season).

It was a literal riff on the "parallel worlds" concept described by GR in his pitch:

 

[plynch]

If they're exact DUPLICATES of earth-style children, they would tend to be pretty obnoxious.

 

[scotpens]

If they're exact DUPLICATES of earth-style children, they would tend to be pretty obnoxious.

They were.

 

[maryh]

Can't remember -- what makes them all start to freak out on the grups and go bonk bonk and all that? I've avoided that ep for years.

It was an unexpected effect of the engineereed virus that was supposed to prolong life. It ended up extending pre-adolescence for hundreds of years, but when the children hit puberty, they went bonkers. (I mean, even more bonkers than NORMAL teenagers. ) They they quickly burned out and died.

The unexplained DUPLICATE earth (as opposed to parallel) bugs me.

The “exact duplicate of Earth” is preposterous, of course, and has no relevance whatsoever to the story -- in fact, it doesn't get mentioned at all after the pre-credit teaser. It seems that it was just a cheap hook to pique viewers’ interest and to get them to stay tuned (this was still early in the show's first season).

Yeah, but the virus didn't have anything to do with the "bonk, bonk!" stuff and kidnapping Rand or mobbing Kirk and beating him bloody, etc. - that was their basic nature. In fact, Kirk makes a point of that in trying to get their attention in the end.

Actually the children never trusted the Enterprise crew and avoided them. Only Miri did and they imply it was because she was entering puberty and therefore became bored of the kid games and attracted to Kirk. They hated grups because:

In the end stages, about seven days after onset, blemishes covered the entire skin surface, the metabolism ran very rapidly and the sufferer became completely insane. Individuals in this stage attacked anyone they found, and destroyed their surroundings. The metabolic dysfunction left them weakened; in this stage, even a phaser set to stun could be fatal. The resulting "grups" were barely recognizable as human. The Onlies saw all grown-ups become these creatures, consequently, they developed a profound fear of and deep distrust for adults.

When the Enterprise crew first beamed down they were attacked by a girl who had entered puberty and had developed the virus.

Perhaps they had an exact copy of Earth because they were trying to save a few bucks and instead of making a new rubber planet they just used someone's old globe.

Memory Alpha on parallel worlds:

http://memory-alpha.org/wiki/Hodgkin's_Law_of_Parallel_Planetary_Development

 

[plynch]

Grups = disease/madness. I had forgotten, as I wrote. This is an ep I avoid, though not consciously. I think.