The episode "Obsession" opens with an impressively fake looking shimmery rock set. Spock, Kirk, and three never-before-seen red shirts are on the planet surface in order to confirm the presence of this clearly staged rock. In the midst of the examination Kirk reveals seeing it there is incredible. The rock, we discover, is 21.5 times as hard as diamond.
Shortly after Kirk calls up to Scotty on the Enterprise to relay the findings, a mysterious vapor begins to appear out the backside of the rock. From their perspective Kirk and Spock are unable to see the activity. Strangely, the vapor appears to direct itself, and in fact, towards our away team. Spock uses his phaser to break off a rock sample, and immediately the vapor retracts itself into the back side of the rock. Then, even more surprisingly, just as Kirk picks up the specimen and hands it to Kirk, he starts rapsing poetic about the smell of honey ... on... a ... dis... tant ... planet ... so ... many years... ago.
And so, with this episode we are introduced, finally, to one of the classic speaking behaviors of Captain Kirk often made fun of in imitations of his character, and even by the actor William Shatner himself. That is, his tendency to use extended speech with pauses between each or every couple words. The episode "Obsession" lets us experience it for the first time in Star Trek history.
Episode Summary
Somehow Kirk has sensed the presence of the strange cloud that we viewers saw before, even though he had not seen it himself. It turns out Kirk recognizes the presence of the cloud through its smell. The smell he senses, we discover, is a gaseous substance that has only ever been found through controlled laboratory experiments. The sensors, then, begin to also detect the same gaseous substance, but the sensors also find that it disappears just as people record it too. It would seem that this cloud is aware of its surroundings, and can control its very molecular structure.
In the midst of searching the planet on their own and scanning for the cloud, it appears and surrounds the red-shirts. They begin to choke and collapse. One of them manages to radio to Captain Kirk before being consumed entirely. Running to them, Kirk and Spock discover two of the away team members already dead. The one that had made contact with them is still partially alive.
It turns out Kirk has encountered this lethal cloud before. His earlier mention of its smell was actually him recalling a still unrevealed prior encounter with the noxious cloud. Without Spock even having to examine their bodies, Kirk tells him all the red corpusles will be gone. Spock asks, "What is it, Captain?" And Kirk's stuttering... be...tween ... each word... voice... returns. He dramatically, and with elaborate pausing, tells us, "Something that shouldn't exist, but it does."
My god! A sentient vapor that can suck the red blood cells right out of your body, and attack before you even sense its presence. The horror in this episode is truly great!
The Evil, Evil, Truly Evil, Captain-Kirk-Speech-Pause Inducing CloudMcCoy is confounded by the seemingly impossible death of the two men. Doesn't he realize by now (the middle of season 2) that whenever a never before seen red shirted crew member travels in away team to a new planet surface they simply die? Surely by now he's aware of the rules of his own universe! But, no. He is confused. His confusion causes Kirk to inform him that McCoy should examine the materials available in previously occurring similar deaths 11-years ago on the U.S.S. Farogat. (Note: this is the ship Spock had originally assigned Uhura to in the recent Star Trek movie before she demanded to be reposted to the Flagship Enterprise.) McCoy appears shocked, and skeptical of Kirk's information. It would seem that Kirk providing such information makes him suspicious somehow.
To add to the now suspicious behavior of Kirk, he goes on to demand that the unconscious ensign that had been injured on the planet surface be awakened. Kirk questions him immediately after arousal. He wants to hear what happened during the attack on the planet surface. It turns out all Kirk wants to know is if the ensign had smelled honey (the smell Kirk associated with the cloud on the planet surface), and whether or not he sensed an intelligent presence. In the midst of discussion the ensign again falls into sleep, and shortly after dies.
Kirk then goes on to discuss the situation with Spock. Spock's scans of the planet surface show no evidence of any life (intelligent) forms. Through discussion Kirk begins to believe that the thing they are searching for can actually change its substance so that its very molecular structure can change. Though we'd seen evidence of this when the security personnel were attacked, Kirk and Spock were not exposed to the information.
A new security member enters the bridge, and we discover that he is the son of someone Kirk had known before. Further, he is friends with the ensign who has just died in sick bay. Kirk takes advantage of the situation to challenge the security personnel to accompany him to the surface. There the cloud appears and again successfully attacks two of the officers that had gone on the away team. Again, they are men we had not seen before. The new security officer, however, has survived.
Shocked by the events the away team returns to the Enterprise. There we discover through Kirk's voice over that 11-years ago the U.S.S. Farogat was decimated by an unidentified creature, which he thinks is identical to the cloud they are now investigating. He believes too that Spock and McCoy are doubtful of the suggestion, and also of Kirk's decision to remain behind on the planet. On the ship Spock and McCoy question the new security officer. In the midst of the questioning, Kirk becomes quite upset and it is discovered that the new security officer had hesitated in the midst of confrontation with the cloud. Kirk is clearly upset and so relieves the man of all duties, and also confines him to quarters. Then he demands that the ship will remain in orbit further. The crew begins to wonder about Kirk's strange behaviors. He is clearly obsessed, just as the episode name suggests.
Spock turns to McCoy to discuss his findings from the tapes for the USS Farogat. It turns out the entire crew, including the captain, were killed on a mission that included only one surviving member -- an ensign on his first deep space mission. The captain, we discover, was the father of the security team member now confined to his quarters, and the surviving ensign is our own James T. Kirk. After the discussion, McCoy turns to Kirk, who is clearly troubled over his experiences from 11-years ago. We discover that Kirk believes the cloud is evil and must be destroyed, and that he could have actually killed it had he not delayed in his first encounter with it 11-years ago. In other words, Kirk takes himself to be responsible for the death of the Farogat crew, and the survival of the creature now 11-years later.
We see here, then, Kirk in a kind of human weakness not yet shown through the series. His behavior is actually threatening his command post. Spock and Kirk are beginning to suspect he is unfit to lead the ship. In being questioned Kirk calms himself, and again attempts to convince Spock and McCoy of the situation -- the situation, in Kirk's mind, is that if this is the same creature as what killed the Farogat crew 11 years ago, then it poses a grave threat to the entire galaxy. Spock and McCoy doubt the presence of the cloud, but believe that Kirk is still reasonable. Then immediately after the discussion, Chekov announces that a gaseous cloud has left the planet, and in fact that it matches the descriptions Kirk has given for the 11-year old cloud. However, the vapor is now on the loose, traveling at high speeds across the galaxy.
ALERT! ALERT! A LETHAL, EVIL, AND SENTIENT GASEOUS CLOUD IS ON THE LOOSE!!
The Enterprise chases after the gaseous cloud with Kirk intent on trying to kill it. In the midst of pursuit, the cloud stops. The Enterprise faces it and begins to fire phasers. The phasers, however, prove ineffective. We discover, actually, that none of the weapons easily used by the Enterprise will kill the cloud. In the midst of attack, the vapor successfully enters the ship, and crewmen begin to die.
As a result of battle, however, Spock becomes convinced that the cloud truly is sentient. Spock goes, then, to the security officers room to inform him of the situation, and to work to convince him that there was nothing further he could have done on the planet to stop the cloud that attacked the other crew members. In the midst of the conversation, however, the cloud enters through the room ventilation, and, quickly, Spock shoves the security officer out of the room, thereby saving his life. It appears that our beloved Spock will die, but we discover that Spock's blood is based on copper, and it has been the iron in human blood that the creature has gone after. Further, the copper of Spock's blood would also explain why McCoy is always calling Spock "green blooded."
In the midst of the extended encounter, Kirk comes to realize that their traditional weapons are simply ineffective against the creature. He then makes sure to convince the security officer of the same thing in order to relieve him of any guilt he may feel over the other crew members being killed by the cloud. In so doing he reveals that he also knows now that his own action couldn't have saved the Farogat 11-years ago. Now, he also somehow understands that he must return to the planet on which the Farogat had been attacked originally. There they will attempt to destroy the creature by luring it with human hemoglobin, and then attacking it with anti-matter. It is an outrageously dangerous plan, however. The security officer that lost his father to the attack on the Farogat, and Kirk volunteer themselves to detonate the attack. But, in the midst of setting up the trap for the cloud, they find themselves under extreme circumstances as the vapor approaches them for their iron-laden blood, instead of the hemoglobin. They manage to beam out just as the anti-matter detonates around the creature.
We know now that the creature has been killed, but what of our brave men? Unfortunately, the transporter has difficulty operating within the anti-matter explosion shockwaves and it quickly begins to look like Kirk and the brave security officer may not make it back to the ship. McCoy takes the occasion to complain about human molecules being spread all over the universe, and then, finally the men arrive through the transportation device.
Ah, relief. The evil, sentient, gaseous cloud monster has been destroyed. Kirk has recovered from the guilt he's carried for 11 whole years, and as a result, he is now also able to befriend the son of his former mentor--the Captain that died while leading the Farogat.
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