In "The Lights of Zetar", the Enterprise is on its way to Memory Alpha, a planet strictly used as an open-for-all library of data and knowledge. The crew encounters a strange phenomenon not possible in nature, a sparkling of lights that seems to attack the crew and stop it from doing things such as speak or move their limbs. The lights drift away towards Memory Alpha where it kills all the lifeforms on it. It heads back towards the Enterprise in pursuit. A new crew member with a romantic interest in Scotty, Mira Romaine, seems to be unusually affected by these lights. As it turns out, these lights are the remnants of an extinct lifeform. They want to use Mira as a vessel to live out their lives. She must do her best to resist them and retain her own body.
This episode was extremely muddled. I liked that a character besides Kirk had a romantic subplot but it really never goes anywhere. The effects of the creatures are sub-par, the acting seems stiff, the actors uninterested. Lots of these later Season 3 episodes are not my favorite of the series. They make me yearn for the production value and ingenuity of Season 1 & 2 episodes. The only idea I really enjoyed was the concept of Memory Alpha's existence. Beyond this, there's not much to see here.
This episode was extremely muddled. I liked that a character besides Kirk had a romantic subplot but it really never goes anywhere. The effects of the creatures are sub-par, the acting seems stiff, the actors uninterested. Lots of these later Season 3 episodes are not my favorite of the series. They make me yearn for the production value and ingenuity of Season 1 & 2 episodes. The only idea I really enjoyed was the concept of Memory Alpha's existence. Beyond this, there's not much to see here.