The Lights of Zetar

[garoo1980]

I came across this one the other day after reading Sherry Lewis (I can't explain why I was reading up on her, just go with it).

It shocked me to say I have never seen this episode. I've seen every TOS episode, and I thought I'd seen them all quite a few times. I don't own season 3 on dvd but I watched TOS for years on tv when I was a kid. Was this not on? Excluded? Does it have some horrible R rated scene in it so it never hit syndication?

Anyone else have an experience like this? Totally weirded me out

 

[T'Girl]

I've noticed for some time that you never see the TNG episode "Masks" being shown. It's as if there is a deliberate collective effort on the part of the various persons selecting which Star Trek series and episode for that day/time slot not to play it.

I've only seen it once, and have spoken to Trek fans who don't own the DVD's and have no knowledge of the episode.

 

[erastus25]

I had never seen Sarek for like 5 years. Which, unlike missing Masks or Lights of Zetar, was actually an unfortunate thing.

 

[Nerys Myk]

I remember seeing "Lights of Zetar" regularly as part of the reruns as a kid. It's a Scotty in love episode, hard to forget.

 

[gottacook]

This was definitely one of the episodes I saw first-run, Fridays at 10 p.m., age 12; the first episode I ever saw was "Spock's Brain." At least with that one they were trying to have some fun, although there was some unintentional humor as well. This one (despite Shari Lewis as a co-writer) wasn't fun at all. And David Gerrold's complaint in The World of Star Trek several years later was dead accurate: What kind of woman would Scotty fall in love with? Certainly not a librarian!

Also - someone please answer this if they know - how did Kirk know that increased atmospheric pressure would be a successful approach to the problem of getting those Zetar brains out of Mira's head? A wild guess?

In the days when I would watch syndication-cut reruns (from approximately 1971 to the weekly Remastered ones of a few years ago) there were never any episodes that were excluded from syndication packages, as far as I'm aware.

 

[BillJ]

I remember seeing "Lights of Zetar" regularly as part of the reruns as a kid. It's a Scotty in love episode, hard to forget.

Yep. When Scotty's in love, you remember it. Such cringeworthy affairs.

 

[Knight Templar]

The thing that weirded me out was the choked, gurgling, weird sound that Mira Romaine and the Memory Alpha technician both made when trying to speak after being explosed to the Zetarians.

But the weirdest was the discolorations and ghostly "glowing" of their faces those two times. I never heard an explanations about how this was happening.

Plus, the look of complete terror on the face of the Memory Alpha technician when she died.

I do like that this is one of the few times during an emergency that we actually see Enterprise crewman running.

Just after the Zetarians penetrate the ship near the end we see in the corridor crewman actually hauling ass.

 

[plynch]

I saw this one a lot. Scotty could certainly fall in love with a librarian, by the way. What would occupation have to do with it? If she's as dedicated to her thing as he is to his bairns, that would be a common trait that might make them click. Plus she seemed nice, and was pretty. Why not?

 

[Nerys Myk]

Scotty tends to act like an idiot when smitten.

 

[Gojira]

I used to see this all of the time in reruns as a kid. I had a crush on Mira Romaine back then and still do to this day. She is a hottie!

One of my favorite episodes!

 

[Timewalker]

This character appears in one of the TOS novels, and makes a much better impression there. I never did like this episode.

 

[The Grim Ghost]

All I can say is that the possession scenes in it really freaked me out as a kid.

Oddly stuff like the Salt Vampire never disturbed me at all.

 

[Therin of Andor]

It shocked me to say I have never seen this episode...
Anyone else have an experience like this? Totally weirded me out

Coincidentally, me.

I had seen only about six or so eps of TOS in 1975 (celebrating the arrival of colour TV in Australia), and random TAS. ST:TMP sent me off in search of what I'd missed, and I spent the early 80s catching up. "The Lights of Zetar" was my elusive, last, live-action episode:
http://therinofandor.blogspot.com.au/2008/03/finally-i-see-lights-over-on-trekbbs.html

 

[T'Girl]

Scotty tends to act like an idiot when smitten.

At least he didn't stab Romaine to death in a nearby alley.

 

[Forbin]

Meeeera wunnna hurrt mi!

 

[sbk1234]

Mira was a bitch, but she had nice legs.

 

[Gojira]

Mira was a bitch, but she had nice legs.

She was a moody gal wasn't she?

 

[plynch]

Mira was a bitch, but she had nice legs.

She was a moody gal wasn't she?

Being possessed by aliens will do that to a person.

 

[Captain Rob]

I've always thought that Mira was Scottish or Irish. Judging from her name. But without an accent.

 

[UnknownSample]

Scotty likes to spend his vacations reading. Why not a librarian? She can get him to read Milton. I'm not sure criticisms of episodes really ought to concentrate on whether this or that couple makes sense, though. I put the SF ideas first.

I remember feeling as if there wasn't a very solid SF reason for all that was happening. Was it more of a ghost story that just happened to take place in space and in the future? Anyway, any explanation there was, and I don't remember what it was, seemed anti-climactic and empty.