The Deadly Years

DVD, Star Trek S2 (The Deadly Years)

While the idea is a good one, the execution isn't quite as good as some of the recent episodes. The age make-up worked better for some than others - Spock's subtle shadow and greying, at one end, McCoy's transformation into 'old country doctor' mode at the other. Scotty was perhaps most effective as he only sat around looking sad and tired. Kirk's didn't work so well, as he looked too young. It made it seem like you only need a few wrinkles and a bit of grey in your hair and you'll no longer remember anything or move faster than a snail. So the simplicity of it made it a bit less effective.

The opening moments were very good, with the shock tactic of Chekov wandering into a dark building to be faced with a withered corpse. But it was a moment near the end that almost made me jump out of my skin: they're talking on the ship, then suddenly it cuts to a shot of the ship with a loud burst of music that is quite unexpected and bizarre!

I will say that it was a good one for the ensemble, with all characters getting lines, Chekov especially has settled in very well, and feels like he's always been on board. It's heartening to have Nurse Chapel in the background, making the life of the ship more real. One character I didn't like was Dr. Janet, a former girlfriend of Kirk, who serves no purpose to the story. At least the usual route of having an authority figure aboard who questions the captain, upsets the crew, and jeopardises the safety and sanity of everyone around, was not taken, with the likeable Commodore Stoker's only crime being to risk war by taking a shortcut through the neutral zone, to get Kirk and co. to the starbase. I can only assume he panicked; as Kirk tells him at the end, a starbase doesn't have anything a starship doesn't. But he did instigate the series' second appearance of the Romulans, and a link back to 'The Corbomite Maneuver' as Kirk uses the same bluff to escape, so he can't be all bad. We also find out Kirk is 34, and Vulcans live a lot longer.

The cure was a little easily arrived at, with instant results, too - So it had these little problems, along with the propensity to repeat things, and have a lot of talky scenes which are saying the same thing. A little like the old people in it.

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