The Alternative Factor (episode)

Investigating the cause of a massive, galaxy-wide disruption in space, the Enterprise finds a mad scientist who claims that he is being pursued by a hideous being.

Teaser
In standard orbit around an iron-silica-type uncharted planet, the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) prepares to complete its survey, when the starship is rocked twice and everything within sensor range suddenly "blinks", almost as if the universe is on the verge of ceasing to exist. And, in the wake of this, a man appears on the surface of the planet, where moments earlier there was no life.

Act One
Beaming down, Captain Kirk, Spock, and the landing party encounter a man. Dirty, and disheveled, he falls from a rock. The landing party returns to the Enterprise with him, where Kirk learns more news – the strange phenomenon drained the dilithium crystals almost completely. Still worse, Starfleet issues a Code Factor 1 message – invasion status. The effect experienced by the Enterprise was also experienced everywhere in the galaxy, and far beyond. Starfleet withdraws all nearby ships – Kirk and Enterprise are the bait.

Kirk talks to his "guest" – a man named Lazarus, who is pursuing a "thing," a monster who destroyed his entire civilization. Beaming down, Kirk learns from Spock that there is no other creature here. Accusing Lazarus of lying, Kirk demands the truth – and the universe turns inside out. The same "winking" phenomenon occurs again. And Lazarus... first he has a bandaged forehead, and then he doesn't, and then he does again.

Act Two
Meanwhile, Spock has discovered a source of radiation that is not there – a "rip" in the universe, where regular physical laws do not apply. The key to locating this source seems to be the dilithium crystals – a revelation which excites Lazarus, who demands the impossible: that Kirk give him the crystals.

The captain refuses, but Lazarus overpowers two engineering officers and steals two crystals, nevertheless.

Act Three
Kirk confronts him, but he denies it, blaming his monster. And the evidence suggests he isn't the thief, for the crystals are not aboard his ship. Back aboard the Enterprise, Kirk confronts Lazarus with his lies, and learns that Lazarus distorted a fact: he is a time traveler. The dead world Enterprise orbits is the distant future of his destroyed homeworld; the place and time he has traveled to in pursuit of the monster.

Speculating, Kirk and Spock conclude that the strange energy must come from a source outside the universe. A source in another universe. There are two copies of Lazarus, and they are periodically exchanging places through a kind of door – and if they ever exist in the same universe at the same time, everything, everywhere, will be annihilated in a cataclysmic matter/antimatter explosion.

Meanwhile, the alternative Lazarus creates a diversion by starting a fire in main engineering, steals the ship's energy crystals, then beams down. Kirk pursues. As he attempts to enter Lazarus' spaceship, he vanishes, hurled through the corridor into the other universe.

Act Four
Once there, he meets the other but sane Anti-Lazarus, and learns the truth. Anti-Lazarus' people discovered how to pass through the negative magnetic corridor that both connects and protects the two universes. When this happened, Lazarus couldn't bear the knowledge that he had a duplicate, and resolved to destroy his other. He is mad and doesn't care if this causes the death of two universes. Anti-Lazarus and Kirk realize he must be stopped: if Kirk can force Lazarus into the corridor, Anti-Lazarus can hold him there, and Kirk can destroy his spaceship – which will also destroy Anti-Lazarus' spaceship. Access to the corridor will be sealed forever and both universes will be safe, but the men named Lazarus will be at each others' throats for the remainder of eternity. Kirk goes back through the corridor and in a hand-to-hand combat throws Lazarus into the corridor. Back on board, Kirk orders the Enterprise to fire phasers at the time ship, which then disappears in both universes; both Lazarus and Anti-Lazarus are trapped forever in the corridor and both universes are saved.

Log Entries

 * "Captain's log, stardate 3087.6. While investigating an uncharted planet, the Enterprise, and at least this entire quadrant of space, has been subjected to violent, unexplained stress and force. Sensors have reported the presence of a human being on the planet below who might be connected with the phenomenon. With my first officer and a security team, I have set out in search of him."


 * "Captain's log, stardate 3088.3. We continue to orbit the dead planet, which seems to be the source of the phenomenon which has struck the Enterprise, and all sections of the galaxy, once again. As for Lazarus, the story he tells me about the humanoid continues to trouble me."


 * "Captain's log, stardate 3088.7. We are no closer to finding an answer to the strange phenomenon than we were at the beginning. Not only have two of my crewmen been attacked, two of our dilithium crystals are missing, and without them, the Enterprise cannot operate at full power. They must be found."

Memorable Quotes
"I want facts, not poetry."
 * - Kirk, after Spock describes the cosmic disturbances as "winking out"

"He's death! Anti-life! He lives to destroy!"
 * - Lazarus, on his anti-matter counterpart

"Are you deaf as well as blind?!"
 * - Lazarus, to Kirk and company

"I fail to comprehend your indignation, sir. I've simply made the logical deduction that you are a liar."
 * - Spock, to Lazarus

"Sometimes pain can drive a man harder than pleasure."
 * - Kirk to McCoy, on an injured Lazarus

"Jim, madness has no purpose or reason. But it may have a goal."
 * - Spock

"If they meet."

"Annihilation, Jim. Total, complete, absolute annihilation."
 * - Kirk and Spock, on the two Lazarus counterparts existing in the same universe

"So you're the terrible thing? The murdering monster? The creature?"

"Yes, captain. Or he is. It depends on your point of view, doesn't it?"
 * - Kirk and the anti-matter Lazarus

"You'll be trapped inside that corridor with him forever. At each other's throats throughout time."

"Is it such a large price to pay for the safety of two universes?"
 * - Kirk and the anti-matter Lazarus, on sealing the magnetic corridor

"Captain, the universe is safe."

"For you and me. But what of Lazarus? What of Lazarus?"
 * - Spock and Kirk

Production Timeline

 * Treatment by Don Ingalls:
 * Treatment:
 * Treatment:
 * First draft teleplay:
 * First draft script:
 * Final draft script:
 * Filmed: –
 * Original broadcast date:, postponed from
 * First UK airdate:

Story

 * The original script called for a romantic entanglement between Charlene Masters and Lazarus that was eventually cut for a number of reasons. Chief among them was that an African-American actress was cast as Masters and southern broadcast companies were reluctant to show a "black-white" romantic interlude on network television. (A similar problem would come up again in but the southern stations eventually gave in.) The removal of this subplot created a "void" in the script, which was filled with additional planetside action. Unfortunately, the action consisted largely of Lazarus repeatedly wandering about the desert planet, falling off cliffs and encountering his nemesis "the thing".

Cast and Characters

 * James Doohan (Scotty) and George Takei (Sulu) do not appear in this episode. For unknown reasons they were substituted in the roles of engineer and helmsman by Charlene Masters and Mr. Leslie, respectively.
 * This was the second episode that Leslie would been seen in the command chair, and the first episode in which Eddie Paskey is credited in the ending credits, albeit as "Lesley".
 * Richard Derr, who plays Commodore Barstow in this episode, later played Admiral Fitzgerald in the episode.
 * Actor John Drew Barrymore (father of actress ) was originally contracted to play Lazarus, but didn't show up to work when filming began on . The grievance filed against him on this account by the Star Trek production team led to him being unable to obtain acting work for six months in 1967. Robert Brown was a last-minute replacement. (Inside Star Trek: The Real Story)
 * After Barrymore failed to show up on the set, director Gerd Oswald decided to shoot scenes which didn't involve his character. On the second day, it was decided to either shut down production and scrap the episode overall or find a replacement. Robert Brown was literally dragged in to the set, right after he agreed to play the role. He recounted the filming to be very tight and tense.
 * There is no officer played by Larry Riddle as noted in the Star Trek Concordance. Lieutenant Larry Riddle was Charlene Masters' jealous boyfriend in the first draft of the script.

Sets and Props

 * Part of the dilithium energizer panel uses the same controls as the neural neutralizer from.
 * The dome of Lazarus' time ship is later reused to encase the Providers in.
 * For reasons unknown, the standing engineering set is not used in this episode. When Lazarus attempts to sabotage engineering, he does so to an entirely new (albeit smaller) set.
 * Along with, this is one of the only two episodes where outdoor planet scenes were filmed both on Desilu Stage 10 and on location (both times at Vasquez Rocks).
 * Although Lazarus's spacecraft resembles a flying saucer, James Blish describes it as "cone-shaped" in his novelization of the episode in Star Trek 10.

Costumes and Make-up

 * Periodically throughout the episode, the two versions of Lazarus exchange places. One of them has a wound or bandage on his head which McCoy treated: this is the 'insane' Lazarus from our universe; the other is his rational counterpart from the antimatter universe.
 * Lieutenant Masters wears no braid on the sleeves of her uniform, but she is addressed as a lieutenant. A similar wardrobe error happened in  when Lieutenant Marla McGivers also is "braidless."
 * Although Masters works in Engineering, she wears the blue uniform of the Science/Medical branch.
 * The thickness of Lazarus' facial hair changes drastically from scene to scene, and sometimes from shot to shot.
 * Lazarus' costume was later worn by an extra playing a Babel Conference delegate, in.

Effects

 * The visual of the iron-silica planet from orbit is reused footage previously representing Alfa 177 in and M-113 in . This planet effect was reused again as Argus X in  and Ardana in.
 * The shot of the Enterprise destroying Lazarus's ship is unique on three counts. First, it is the only time the Enterprise is seen from behind as it fires phasers. Second, it is the only time that the ship fires a single beam (as opposed to the usual two). Finally, it is the only time that the phasers make no noise – at least when the beam is seen in space.
 * The footage of the two Lazaruses fighting was created by filming two stuntmen fighting in a smoke-filled room with orange and purple walls, then double-exposing its color negative footage over an astronomical photograph of the Trifid Nebula.
 * A still image in the closing credits of shows the corridor between universes set unaltered by the effects and double exposure. Titled at a 45 degree angle, Shatner stands ankle deep in smoke in a near pose of the crucifixion, falling back into a purple corridor, where an orange line draws the horizon to a vanishing point.

Continuity

 * This is the first time that live two-way communication with Starfleet Command is depicted. In previous episodes, communication with Starfleet Command was through delayed radio messages.
 * Unlike in the earlier, dilithium crystals are portrayed here as translucent amber slabs, which conveniently fit in the energy panels of Lazarus's ship.
 * Depending on which version of this episode you watch, the closing stills change. The original syndicated version and the VHS version show the still as the Enterprise leaving the Earth-like planet from, however, the Sci-fi Channel and DVD version show the still as just a blue planet, possibly Rigel 12 from or Starbase 11 from.
 * Lazarus never introduces himself by name to Kirk, yet he calls him by name during the first planet search.

Reception

 * The Agony Booth website included this episode among "The Worst of Trek". In their recap, they write that in the episode, "Very little actually happens, and what little that does comes about only because Kirk and Company are written to act in such a way that can only be described as severely brain damaged." The reviewer continues, "I never thought I'd say this, but this episode is making look pretty goddamn good right about now!" He concludes, "this is one of the most poorly constructed fifty minutes I've ever seen. An almost impossibly incoherent script, a damp squib of a finale, and some horrible editing make this one of the true stinkers in the Trek universe." Also, he mentions that "[John Drew] Barrymore didn't show up for filming. Given the script, I can't say I blame the fellow. The rest of the cast should have done the same thing, to be perfectly frank."

Remastered Information
"The Alternative Factor" was the forty-ninth episode of the remastered version of The Original Series to air. It premiered in syndication on the weekend of and aside from the standard CGI replacement footage of the Enterprise and the planet-of-the-week, this episode also featured several new, modest effects shots of the alternative warp effect, as well as phaser and transporter effects.


 * ''The next remastered episode to air was.

Video and DVD Releases

 * Original US Betamax release:.
 * UK VHS release (two-episode tapes, CIC Video): Volume 11, catalogue number VHR 2295, release date unknown.
 * US VHS release:.
 * UK re-release (three-episode tapes, CIC Video): Volume 1.7,.
 * Original US DVD release (single-disc): Volume 10,.
 * As part of the TOS Season 1 DVD collection.
 * As part of the TOS Season 1 HD DVD collection.
 * As part of the Star Trek: Fan Collective - Alternate Realities collection.
 * As part of the TOS Season 1 Blu-ray collection.

Starring

 * William Shatner as Capt. Kirk

Also Starring

 * Leonard Nimoy as Mr. Spock

Guest Star

 * Robert Brown as Lazarus

Featuring

 * DeForest Kelley as Dr. McCoy
 * Janet MacLachlan as Charlene Masters

With

 * Nichelle Nichols as Uhura
 * Richard Derr as Barstow
 * Arch Whiting as the assistant engineer
 * Christian Patrick as a transporter chief
 * Eddie Paskey as Lesley [sic]

Uncredited Co-Stars

 * William Blackburn as Hadley
 * Robert Brown as anti-Lazarus
 * Vince Calenti as a security guard
 * Frank da Vinci as Brent
 * Tom Lupo as a security guard
 * Ron Veto as Harrison

Stunt Doubles

 * Bill Catching as Brown's stunt double #2
 * Gary Combs as Shatner's stunt double
 * Al Wyatt as Brown's stunt double #1

External link


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