WHY WE LIKE IT: Trek does Lovecraft.
WHY WE DON'T: Can we get off the horror kick?
REVIEW: We're still on the horror/comedy cycle - what a weird season to date - but at least we're addressing all the subplots we ignored last episode. The horror, in this case, is clearly of the cosmic type, with Lovecraft as a major inspiration. We've got an archaeological dig into a dark pit of science well above our pay grade, unfathomable monsters from another dimension, and people seemingly going insane. But we also have a plentiful lack of logic that might have worked in a Doctor Who episode, but in Trek? I dunno.
Anyway, the big idea is that Roger Korby is still/once again aboard and using the Enterprise to visit an alien tomb, aliens reputed to have unlocked the secret of immortality (okay, not a tomb, then), prefiguring Korby's obsession with the topic which would lead him down the dark path to "What Are Little Girls Made Of?". The Doctor Who vibe is strong (but just you wait next week for confirmation of the production's fandom) as 1) Doctor Who has intersected with Lovecraft (especially in the extra-canon) to the point that they're the same universe, and 2) the tomb is bigger on the inside and shifts the characters in time. We even get a timey-wimey solution where a bridge appears before it's activated (though if Spock's wound is inverse-caused, it should disappear when he scratches himself, right?). But for any of the horror to happen, the characters have to make terrible decisions. Korby's make sense, and Chapel is biased in his favor, but everyone is making these bad calls. That they sometimes pay off is luck and writer manipulation. The episode might have worked as a Tomb Raider puzzle (I like how they work it out), but that damn fascination with horror takes it into predictable territory. While they could have wiped the transporter buffer of the evil creature, they don't, and they do a last scare with it seeming to take control of the computer, well... Either we never hear of the Vazda again and they're not playing fair, or we do, and I'm already sick of these horror stories.
Now, when they introduced the redundant Nurse Gamble, it was clear to me he'd either perish tragically or somehow turn against the crew. Now he's recording personal logs? Yeah, it's going to happen this week. It's not unlike what they did with M'Benga's daughter (which is referenced in the episode) - a character he cares for is introduced, is seen for a number of episodes, then is whisked away tragically. The Doc deserved better, but so do we. Been there, done that, seeing it clearly from afar. So when he's assigned to the landing party and obviously making rookie mistakes, well, it's only a matter of time. He's blinded (gory), he's possessed, he's saying dark things, he's killed. Well, whatever. It's not that I didn't like him - he was, in fact, written to be "likeable" - but I always knew he was doomed.
Built around a Chapel plot, it's natural that it would also act as an exploration of the new Spock/La'an relationship. It's apparently unlabelled and casual, and since Chapel has moved on, yes, sure, she's happy for them. But I also like her reaction to La'an having something with the Vulcan that she had wanted and hadn't gotten. Psychologically truthful. And on the mission, the two seem to consistently defer to one another, a trust has been built there that does catch Chapel's eye (including La'an using the word "Fascinating"). It's a fairly subtle thing, but it builds a nice contrast between the couples, as Chapel seems more like she's being dragged along by her boyfriend than agreeing with his decisions. And there's a third couple, too: Uhura and Beto, the latter here to document the mission with his drone cameras. Very interestingly, he talks about their A.I. homing in on the "drama", which explains how visual records work in later-set stories like "Court Martial" and that "Encounter at Farpoint" Part I recap. Beto and Uhura are cute together, and their skills happily integral to the away team's survival.
Beto's documentary also gives us a bit of humor in an otherwise dark and nasty story. He asks Pike to repeat mission briefing elements (so not dramatic enough for the camera to stay on him?), while Pelia loves the limelight (she lathers it on thick at the end there, but trust Carol Kane to sell a punchline). Quick mention of Captain Batel's role in this, still having "reactions" from her Gorn DNA, and one of these seems to be turning into a killer at the sight of the possessed Gamble (speaking alien words like she is herself possessed by an entity), not that this connection is ever explained, like, are the Gorn ancient enemies of these creatures? Doesn't really make sense.
SECONDARY WATCHING: In the writers' defense, the Lovecraftian term "Great Old Ones" was bandied about in "What Are Little Girls Made Of?", the original Roger Korby episode.
LESSON: Don't have someone say "Spock's brain" and think the Dark Gods of Television won't punish you (watch for it at index 04:40).
REWATCHABILITY - Medium-Low: I mostly found it unpleasant and predictable.
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