Review Text
While delivering medical supplies to the alien world of Dramia, McCoy is arrested and ordered to stand trial for causing a deadly plague 19 years ago during a previous visit. It turns out the plague occurred right after an inoculation program McCoy initiated for a Saurian virus on Dramia II, and now the Dramens accuse him of willfully causing the plague. Obviously, he didn't willfully cause the plague, but could the inoculations have had some sort of hugely unintended consequence? (In the era of increased vaccine skepticism, this storyline takes on a new subtext.)
"Albatross" is a tried-and-true medical mystery episode, and feels very much like TAS occupying the classic Trek zone. There's nothing here that's groundbreaking or even really compelling, but it has an understated competence to it that's commendable. The justice on this planet is swift, so Kirk must act quickly to open his own independent investigation into the plague to clear McCoy's name. This leads Kirk to "recruit" a Dramen named Demos to help in the investigation.
They go to Dramia II, site of the plague's decimation, and they even find survivors here, who roam the wasteland like zombies. Kirk follows a Dramen back to an ice cave where they meet a man named Kol-Tai, who was off the planet when the plague struck and returned to a ravaged world. (They decided to stay, for some reason, even though there were nearly no survivors and society had collapsed.) McCoy saved Kol-Tai's life when he treated him for the Saurian virus 19 years ago, and he was not adversely affected by the treatment, so he agrees to testify on McCoy's behalf.
The plot takes a turn in the last act as the Enterprise returns to Dramia I with Kol-Tai, only to learn the plague has been unleashed upon the ship. The entire crew begins turning blue and falling ill. Spock, who as a Vulcan is immune to the disease, breaks McCoy out of jail so Bones can find a cure. This is illegal, of course, but necessary to stop widespread death. In a plot turn that one might call "extremely coincidental" the same aurora that passed the planet 19 years ago is nearby again, and is the cause of the outbreak on the Enterprise. This time, Bones is here and can stop it.
"Albatross" also makes room for some character interplay, with Spock needling Bones, adding a little personality to the procedure. I don't have much else to say, except that this is the sort of outing the word "fine" was invented for.
Previous episode: The Practical Joker
Next episode: How Sharper Than a Serpent's Tooth
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5 comments on this post
Elizabeth Palladino
Pretty much a standard, decent Star Trek episode. I guess I have a problem with an aurora causing a plague. How is that even possible? It sheds virus or bacteria? Give me a break. This is a science fantasy episode I guess, not science fiction. But watchable and entertaining.
Rahul
An interesting episode that felt like it had some originality to it. It's fairly plot heavy with nothing too profound but the mechanics work well and a good story is told. There is the question about how deceitful are the Dramians with sending Demos after the Enterprise, but that proves to be harmless.
Obviously we know McCoy could not be so negligent and the story of how he saved Kol-Tai could have been played up more. It comes across as just an arbitrary cure. There's a hint of Kol-Tai's dedication to his world and prefering to live in suffering, but this is just something in passing.
It's an episode where the various pieces of the puzzle fit well together and we get a nice Trekkian ending with the charges against McCoy dropped and Spock/McCoy trade a few barbs.
2.5*
Trek fan
I agree with Jammer’s 2 1/2 stars review. I liked the character building for Bones, but boy this is a slow and boring episode.
Black Oat
I think this may have been a good episode that was hurt by a script revision.
The idea that the plague is caused by an aurora is pretty dumb. This is only a theory on my part, but I think the script writer may have intended the aurora to be a red herring. Look at this bit of dialogue near the end:
Bones: "Spock, feed in the data without mentioning the color change symptoms."
Spock: "That's it doctor. The color change symptoms were misleading the computer."
Bones: "Because they were caused by an aurora!"
I think the original intention was that the plague was actually the Saurian Virus. The pigment altering radiation from the aurora was just a coincidence and people assumed that the color changes were a symptom of the plague. How else would Saurian Virus antibodies cure the plague?
But that's not what the episode ends up being about, so an otherwise strong episode gets ruined.
Positives:
- A good showing for the Big Three.
- I liked the design of the aliens. I like that they took the time to match their funky handheld devices to their equally funky hands.
Negatives:
- Aurora virus
- Poor acting for the voice of the alien who sneaks aboard the Enterprise.
Proud Capitalist Pig
If there were such a thing as a procedural Star Trek episode, “Albatross” would be it. The Big Triumvirate beams down to a planet. Niceties are made. Then, “Oh by the way, one of you is about to be arrested.” Crisis! Kirk must negotiate the hell out of the situation (with phasers if necessary) and solve the mystery at the same time—because just proving innocence isn’t enough on a cartoon show. With moments to spare, everyone is freed, everything is resolved with some sci-fi explanations or trickery, and they warp along on their merry way.
As Jammer and others have mentioned, this is just fine. Nothing stands out as being wrong with it, and nothing pushes it over the top either. It’s a straightforward Star Trek episode that happens to be a cartoon show, because other than the funny-looking aliens, there’s nothing much to be “animated” here.
You can see the writers were kind of proud of themselves at coming up with such a convoluted explanation for an alien plague that serves as the “plot twist,” but at least the investigation was interesting.
DeForest Kelley gets to steal the show this time. It was a nice McCoy showcase; he got to save the day *and* clear his name. His devastation at the deaths of so many aliens came through, which was a nice touch. McCoy worries about others before worrying about himself.
I did enjoy the Spock/McCoy interplay as always (and it wasn’t overdone this time). Things were quite dire this time, but the show still managed to wink at the audience and have fun. The color-changing was pretty goofily handled, but it made me chuckle. You do what you can with the budget you have.
Speak Freely:
McCoy -- “Why didn’t you tell me?”
Spock -- “You wouldn’t give me a chance.”
My Grade: B-
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