Kirk was having a Captain Ahab moment, and the cloud is his white whale.

"Did you write a will?" Lmao 🤣

"There was no deity involved. It was my cross-circuiting to channel B."

11:59 "That was awesome. I loved that." Nurse Chapel doesn't have many opportunities to shine, but when she does, have your shades ready.

"Should they be wearing some protective gear?" That's what the red shirts are for.

Guilt and regret are powerful emotions. Star Trek did a great job of showing just how powerful they can be in many episodes.

13:46 When Spock calls his captain Jim, you know he's really trying and really sincere. Love these moments and the Spock McCoy interactions in this one. Another great reaction.🖖

The most suicidal line in science fiction "vent the radioactive waste into the ventilation system"

In the previous episode, the Commodore was on board and was likely the one driving the whole inquiry into Kirk's ability to command the Enterprise.

One of my favorite episodes. It often gets overlooked but it's great. A redshirt that is finally an actual character. Garovik is a great character. We also get great details on Kirk's back story. The scene with McCoy and Spock questioning Kirks motivations is great. An exceptional episode that's in my top 10.

04:05 "Did you write a will?" 🤣🤣🤣🤣

Lo and behold there was rejoicing across the Federation and the word spread to the Klingon Empire, the Romulan Empire and Beyond. Yes, A Red Shirt survived a tour of duty on the Enterprise......

In the Deadly Years, Commodore Stocker insisted that Spock have the trial. In Obsession, It was just Spock and McCoy so they kept it a little more low key and had an intervention with Kirk.

To answer your question about the " Deadly Years" is that those senior officers who would write Kirk up- were afflicted by the same disease.

This episode was written by Art Wallace, who developed the basic bible of the 1966-71 Gothic soap opera, Dark Shadows. This soap opera, which can be found on Tubi, featured vampires, most notably Barnabas Collins, witches, ghosts, werewolves, a phoenix, a Lovecraftian shapeshifter, etc. Wallace, however, was gone from the series by the time those elements were introduced.

One of the Red Shirt security men in the background is future film composer Basil Poledouris. He wrote the scores to Conan the Barbarian and Starship Troopers.

Spock: "I need your advice." Bones: "Then I need a drink."

This episode is the steal from Moby Dick, even more than Matt Decker determined to destroy the Planet Killer in "The Doomsday Machine".

The number-one rule of the transporter is that you can't do nothin' till you're done sparklin'.

Bunny, this is from questions and comments you made last episode. I had to mull them over a bit. I turned 70 this year. Is getting older scary? No, not for me. Mostly depressing. I NEVER thought I'd still be here (what the good Lord still expects is beyond me). No, it's not easy, I can't physically do things I could do 5 years ago, let alone 20. Getting lucky is remembering what you walked into a room for. The hardest part is seeing people you've been close to for decades fall by the wayside. It gets lonely no longer having someone around with shared experiences. Although you and a few others make that a bit better by experiencing what we did for the first time and sharing it. Girl, don't worry, most of us went through that OMG feeling at about your age. It's tough when you realize life truly is finite, and you begin to fear what's left to come. But it REALLY is all good. Things will happen as they are meant to, have faith in yourself that you'll handle it. (And I had this perfect monolog memorized and forgot half as I was writing. Old age I guess. Ha).

This episode contains the best reuse of Sol Kaplan's epic suspense music from "The Doomsday Machine" and what I consider to be the series' most nail-biting transporter scene.

Fun fact, Shatner references this episode and the Farragut incident in his novel The Ashes of Eden.

Garrovick is a legend in the Red Shirt community. He had multiple scenes with lines and survived three encounters with a deadly enemy. He was even acknowledged by one of the main characters at the end and it wasn't in a eulogy. In Red Shirt world lore this makes him almost Superman.

Another great review Bunny. Under Kirk's tutelage, Ensign Garrovick would make a decent senior officer one day, maybe even a decent starship captain. You're in for a treat with the rest of this season. Can't wait for your next review to drop. Have a great week.

"I had you in mind, Mr. Garrovik." Yeah, the vampire cloud didn't just kill your friend, it murdered your father. I know I'd want a shot at it.

Digging the pirate look! I'm not a big fan of this episode but I will always love the moment when young Garrovick karate chops Kirk from behind. It's so wonderfully subversive, a redshirt for once becoming a central character in his own right. Trek on!

Awesome Reaction!! Guess by now you know that Nurse Chapel was in life Mrs Gene Roddenberry!! Great Job Bunny! Peace 🕊️☮️♾️😎

To the Lieutenant of Penzance -- excellent reaction, with good questions and quips throughout! Live long and prosper, Matey!

I always wished that Stephen Brooks (Ensign Garrovick) had been included in more episodes of Star Trek, he fit in so well and would have been great to see his character grow with the series. Very sad that Stephen Brooks died so young.

The best part of this episode is seeing Kirk in angry conflict with Spock and McCoy. We see how even James T. Kirk can lose control of himself and let personal revenge affect his command decisions. He had no excuse this time! No aging disease, no weirdo spores, no evil twin…..Kirk! Get over yourself and DO YOUR DUTY! We also get to hear the same great music from “The Doomsday Machine”. 👍👍

that bodice and shirt are great combo

Another great reaction , it wasn’t one of my favourite episodes originally, but it’s grown on me over the years.i love bones “ thank pitchforks and pointed ears “ these guy can bust each others chops and are ok with it as long as it comes from a good place, love it.

I love watching Bunny's reaction to 23rd century weapons and technology.

I am overjoyed watching your reaction videos of the Original Series episodes. I’m 55, and ever since I could remember, I watched Star Trek with my Dad. It’s my all time favorite show. I have my memories, and you have a journey. May you find your way as pleasant.

For a moment, I was worried there wouldn't be a Saturday post. Great commentary @Bunnytails!

When Kirk restores Garrovick to full duty and explains to him that his delay in firing would've made no difference. Kirk in essence is forgiving himself also for what he did 11 years ago as a young ensign. Shatner also sounded like he had a cold during filming. Nice work as always Bunny!

Kirk had the same obsessive tendencies in "The Conscience of the King", one of my favorite episodes.

Smell can bring memories and some smells you dream about.

This was a particularly good episode from a character perspective. I haven’t started watching your review yet, but I have a strong feeling that you enjoyed it ❤

It's a great character study for Kirk, and yet another wonderful showcase for the Kirk/Spock/McCoy friendship. I just love how they make Kirk a real person with fears and imperfections, and we love him all the more because he's such a great man, in spite or or perhaps because of, these imperfections and the way he rises above them. Regarding Garrovick, in the "old days" most of the guest characters on shows were kind of "one and done." I agree that it was frustrating at times when a compelling new character was featured and then just disappeared, though. Shows tended to have very stable and smaller casts back then, sadly. Nice reaction!

It's possible that Starfleet has a rotation system for its ensigns, wherein after a period of time they transfer to another starship and serve under another captain, giving them experience dealing with different styles of command. This may be optional or mandatory. It would explain the presence and subsequent absence of many a crew member we see only once. Or perhaps, after six to twelve months, with the recommendation of his commanding officer, the young ensign returned to the academy to go into the officer's training program, so as to follow in the footsteps of his late father.

I've been looking forward to this since last week's reaction. Woo Hoo 😁

Lt. Leslie (played by Eddie Paskey) was one of the red-shirt casualties in this episode. Yet, he was back at his post for the next episode and 17 more episodes after that. They didn't intend to kill him off ... there was a scene where McCoy saves his life, but it wasn't shot because of time considerations. It was assumed that the average viewing audience wouldn't catch that a semiregular background character came and went and came back. That may have been true in 1967, but little did they know how "obsessive" Star Trek fans would quickly become.😊

So often redshirts risk their lives and frequently lose them. Only here do we get to know a redshirt. If we had lost him we would have truly felt the tragedy of the loss of each redshirt.

Fun fact: Nurse Chapel is played by the same lady that does the voice acting for the ship's computer's voice in every series from Star Trek: The Next Generation and on, except for Star Trek Enterprise which takes place before the original Star Trek.

Awesome reaction of my favorite Star Trek The Original Series!!!!!😊😊😊😊😊😊

Garrovik is the son of Captain Garrovik of the Farragut, also seen in the TPB 'Debt of Honor', where we also see Lt. Kirk. Ensign Garrovik is also featured in a Prodigy episode, a great callback to this ep.

It’s amazing that you remember the episodes by name!!! Especially the ravioli’s on operation annihilate

Always a treat when your reactions to STOS pop up!

"Did you write a will?" has taken over as your best comment. it was close, but it replaces "Poor Smitter" when the Horta from Devil in the Dark got the miner Smitter. 3rd place Apollo's hand - "I got ya! Got your nose" Keep 'em coming bunny!

Avest! You look like you are ready to go to a Renaissance Faire! "Did you write a will" about the red-shirt was the best laugh I've had in a good while!

Stephen Brooks (Garrovick) was best known at that point as Efrem Zimbalist Jr's partner on "The FBI"...

I agree about Garrovick. What's interesting is that one of the initial red shirts who dies was a series regular. And I'd initially thought we were introducing his replacement. But alas, it wasn't to be I also appreciated that Nutse Chapel got some business to do besides pining for Spock. It was a great character moment. I think what you're running into is the problem with a weekly serial format. Television these days always has a season arc, but TOS does not. So, Kirk is supposed to be a cross of Horatio Hornblower and Hamlet. Hence, a swashbuckler with a guilty conscience. However, the show writers weren't given any other direction for Kirk, and thus, he was capable of anything. And it seems the writers ran with that as some episodes he seems entirely out of character. If you opt to continue with the movies, you'll find a much more consistent portrayal of the character.

I think you could explain the situation in the last episode where Kirk had to be put to trial by the fact that the Commodore demanded the trial take place. His crew, as much as they saw him deteriorating still didn't want to take his command away at that point. As you pointed out then even without his short term memory he would still have been a better captain, at least with his crew's support, than anyone else.

I've heard of old men yelling at clouds, but I've never seen any make such efforts to track one down and kill it!

Ahoy matey! The most famous female pirate was Anne Bonny. A picture about her is Anne of the Indies from 1951. Arr, savvy?

Not a pirate. A medieval tavern matron or a late 70s Heart fan. In case you didn't know, that nurse is Majel Barrett, to become Majel Barrett Roddenberry, wife, and later to appear in episodes of TNG (also the voice of the ship computer), and Deep Space Nine.

Mitch Keller and rookie Paul Skenes be throwing heat for the Buccos me hearties. Raise the Jolly Roger!

My brother and I .. since our Dad passed in 2020 have been the main caregiver of our mother (89) and the many challenges with that as its been 90% us 3 since then and we gave up pretty much everything else .. but seem pretty happy for the most part the last 3 years of that. Anyway, I go to Moms 4 times a week (7p-2a) and he come to my place (8p to 10p) the nights I am at home for more a "normal evening a meal and conversations" and we have been watching your videos and greatly enjoying them on those nights here.

Love the pirate outfit, I wouldn't be surprised if you end up with a sudden uptick in subs, arrrrr

I love this episode. Kirk's obsession with the creature, the drama with McCoy and Spock doubting him. A personal favorite of mine from this season.

Garrovik was played by Steve Brooks, who first starred on an older tv show, "The FBI". Two of the first guards that are "killed" in this episode, one was Eddie Paskey "Lt. Leslie", and the other looks like Steve Brooks, ironically! But yet we see Leslie in other episodes! And we know Garrovik didn't die!!

Sometimes when you are writing a TV episode, you wrap up the story and still have airtime minutes left to fill. That is when you write extra scenes that just take up time without moving the plot forward. That may be what happened last week.

First, luv Bunny tails the pirate. Best introduction with an Arrgh!! EVER. I liked this episode because it shows just how well Spock, McCoy, and Kirk know each other. The moment Kirk started acting oddly Spock and McCoy called his behavior into question. Once Kirk calmed down and realized that they were not "conspiring" against him, Kirk was much less combative. Bunny tails IS THE BEST!!!!

Yours, as usual, is the best reaction and analysis to this ( one of my favorite episodes)! Yes, I wish Garrovik will return again as well. By the way, I liked your butrice and shirt. That will be fun to wear at a historical fair. Look forward to your next reaction. Have a great week!

I can't believe there are two comments already. I saw it was uploaded 1 minute ago!

Its a solid episode, with particularly great work by Kirk and McCoy and as always I enjoyed your review.

In this episode Kirk encounters the same internal crisis that Commodore Decker did in "The Doomsday Machine". The difference is that he had two friends that were able to intervene and save him from his own rash actions.

A pirate? I was thinking something out of a Renn-Faire… it’s been far too long since I’ve gone to one.

Oh my…a pirate bunny! I would lean toward pirate fox but you already have your channel established. Looks great and enjoying the Star Trek voyage with ya!

Ensign Garrovick makes one more "canon" appearance in Star Trek: Prodigy (All the World's a Stage/2022). Otherwise, he's appeared in various comics and books and mostly with a different first name (no official first name was established in this episode) and even his parents' name vary from source to source.

I have a similar sense of humour, i love it when you say things some people might think are inappropriate

I think you may be the most perceptive and fulsome reviewing of Star Trek that I have ever seen. Thank you for putting that all out there. Yes, it is validating to have someone also embrace and enjoy the episodes I've enjoyed for 50 some-odd years but more than that, it's just great to hear your insights make the episodes come alive again. Keep doing what you are doing... please!

agree with Petersonchan9250 “did you write a will” 🤣 That’s what makes you such a great reactor. You are breathing new life into a show from 1960’s thanks Ms Bunny! Enjoy everyone of these. I do wish we could get Star Trek 3 after season 2?

The likely difference in the procedural aspects of "The Deadly Years" and "Obsession" is that the episodes were written to accommodate their respective stories. Not much attention was paid to continuity at the time. They had enough on their plates getting episodes written, shot and produced on time. In retrospect, you could say that with a commodore on board, Spock felt more of an obligation to do things by the book with the hearing. Even Spock was known to bend the rules a bit, which would be consistent with his and McCoy's handling of Kirk in "Obsession."

This has the best beam-up sequence of any episode!!!

It's an interesting detail about Spock's blood in which its oxygen carrying component (hemocyanin) is based on copper rather than iron. While this occurs in nature, it's not as efficient at carrying oxygen as hemoglobin. So it's hard to see how Spock could tolerate a thin atmosphere on his home planet (see "Amok Time") or have superior strength (see "This Side of Paradise"). Unless the human elements of his blood (see "Journey to Babel") include hemoglobin, but then he would not be so immune to the gas creature. Loving the new costume, as I'm sure Trelane would. Armor of that type would have been handy in "Friday's Child" and perhaps some upcoming episodes.

You would think by the 23rd century they would have some high-tech way to keep perishable medicine viable longer reducing the time constraint. I would like to think the TOS Enterprise possibly had some sort of refrigeration storage ( assuming the medicine can be kept refrigerated.) Ensign Garrovick was portrayed by Stephen Brooks who also appeared on the 1965 TV show The FBI as special agent Jim Rhodes. Sadly, Brooks passed away from a heart attack in 1999 at age 57

Sept. 19 is International Talk Like a Pirate Day in case you were wondering.

The dinner with soup and coffee looked good! I always get hungry when they show food in the episodes. Starburst candy for dessert! Applied psychology! Heehee :)

Ahoy there, matey! International Talk Like a Pirate Day is celebrated annually on September 19th, providing landlubbers around the world with a chance to channel their inner buccaneer and speak in the colorful lingo of the high seas! So mark your calendar and prepare to unleash your best "Arrrrrr!" on that day!

"Did you write a will?" 😂😂 Don't do that to me on a Sunday morning breakfast!

Great reaction! I always liked this one when I was a youngster. Now it doesn't have the weight of some of the other episodes. I guess we're supposed to laud Kirk for his intuition, but he was risking the lives of a lot of people who needed the medicine. That was a sure thing--the creature wasn't. In the end he is vindicated, but he's risking his career on a hunch. And was that hunch based on guilt? Kirk is self-aware enough to ask himself that question, but can he really evaluate it rationally? One interesting thing is that Kirk did not negatively affect his career by claiming he delayed firing on the creature. That sort of admission might be a black mark which could prevent him from ever becoming a captain, especially given the number of casualties (remember Finney from "Court Martial" who went to the bottom of the promotion list for a mistake reported by Kirk). Maybe no one corroborated his account (captain Garrovick was dead and maybe several other senior officers), but there may have been recordings which showed his hesitation. Perhaps hesitation in the face of the unknown was considered a normal human response, whereas Finney's lapse was carelessness which cannot be overlooked. Note that 1 ounce of antimatter would be equivalent to ~600 kilotons of TNT (total conversion with matter), which is a big explosion but not enough to "rip away half the planet's atmosphere." The Chicxulub impact was equivalent to 72 teratons of TNT and we still have an atmosphere.

11:30 Don't back talk to Nurse Chapel!

Funny video angles when Kirk is talking to the bridge. Where's the camera on the bridge? On Kirk's chair? 😀

So glad you are on this evening. Try doing a pirate..movie.

For me, the two greatest triggers to memory are smells and music. They instantly and viscerally transport you to a place and time.

The reason they did not try and remove the Captain themselves in The Deadly Years was because they were ALSO impaired.

It's interesting. We've gotten little bits and pieces about Kirk's past from this show, and he's had a pretty traumatic life, it turns out. He lived on that colony governed by Kodos the Executioner("Conscience of the King"), who basically Thanos'd the planet. And now we learn about his time on the Farragut, in which he also witnessed loads of horror and death. Also, he found his brother Sam dead in "Operation: Annihilate!". Kirk's had a rough life. :P

The Captain Ahab episode. DeForest Kelley was really good in this one. I like that new shot of the planet with its atmosphere ripped away at the end. Another one of my favorite Star Trek episodes. Great reaction and analysis Bunnytails!!

In The Deadly Years Spock and McCoy had the same disease as Kirk. They were unfit for duty. Spock even admitted he was unfit which is why the Commodore took command of the ship. Two people that are unfit for duty cannot determine that the captain is unfit for duty.

Who Mourns for the Red Shirts? One Trek historian asked his viewers. Unless one of them miraculously pulled through they lost 5 redshirts making this the greatest casualty count in one episode! (Maybe a sixth if one of two it attacked entering the ship was wearing red) Great observations Bunny, you can see the dilemma Kirk is going through and the way guilt can drive even the most compatant commander to recklessness in an attempt to redeem their previous error. By seeing a crack in Kirks appearingly flawless armor mearly shows us that he is capable of human error when younger, brash and on a first deep space assignment. Like the new pirate attire, it looks like you're partially slipping into the Mirror Mirror universe.

Great to see you. Mrs. Bunny! If you watch Star Trek The next Generation , Deep Space nine, Enterprise or Voyager You can still go where no bunny has gone before ! I hope you can squeeze in the movies soon!

Majel Barrett (with upswept hair) is given a little bit of extra business as Christine Chapel to do in this episode.

I have a nagging memory that Shatner was very ill with a high fever while they were shooting this episode, and you can hear in his voice it sounds like he has a bad cold/flu.

Garrovick's cousin can be seen on Starship Exeter on KZfaq as well. "The Tressaurian Intersection" is pretty good.

Love your energy. Please post more videos!

Great reaction as usual. An underrated episode generally. BTW there's a Geena Davis film Cuthroat Island given your pirate look, Bunny. Think you should check it out 😊

Wow. You look Pretty In Pink and look Bad-Ass in your pirate belt. So... the Big Question for this episode: where was Buffy to slay this Vampire Cloud????? They wanted to show the level of Kirk's PTSD and obsession over this creature, and its attack on the USS Farragut 11 years earlier. It was indeed a fascinating form of life and was a spacefaring creature that was capable of traveling at warp speed. Yes, very good question you asked about why didn't they just deliver the medicine to Theta 7 and THEN get back to dealing with the creature. They wanted to showcase Kirk's obsession and PTSD over the creature, how it might have clouded his judgment. However, since we saw that this creature was able to travel at warp speed to other planets, we know that it would not be confined to just one planet. Also, when Spock realized that the creature was about to reproduce into thousands via fission, he concluded that getting the drugs to Theta 7 had to wait, that this was a higher priority. And very good point about the contrast between this and The Deadly Years when it came to declaring Kirk unfit for command. Regarding the creature entering the ship thru the vents, Scotty was doing a cleaning of the ventilation system earlier but hadn't finished and hadn't closed all of the vents yet, unintentionally providing the creature a way inside the ship. You may have noticed the reference to cobalt bombs (or C-Bombs) in this episode when Garrovick said "just think. This is as powerful as 10,000 cobalt bombs." A cobalt bomb is a theoretical type of nuclear weapon salted with cobalt to release a lot more radiation than standard nuclear weapons would. A physicist discussed this on the radio back in 1950 as his way of warning us that this would be a doomsday weapon that would kill everyone on earth, that it should never, ever be developed or built for real. We've seen C-bomb weapons in various sci-fi TV show sand movies over the years. In Beneath The Planet of The Apes (1970), the 2 astronauts from the past learn that the mutated telepathic humans had possession of a C-Bomb called Alpha and Omega, a doomsday weapon leftover from the peak of human civilization. For the 2nd time this season, Kirk used a doomsday weapon to destroy a dangerous threat to the galaxy. Thank God Spock's blood was based on copper and not hemoglobin! Actually in real life, some animals blood do use copper rather than iron to transport oxygen, like octopi. Instead of using the protein hemoglobin, it uses hemocyanin, and their blood is bluish rather than green. Lobsters are like this too. Yes, Kirk would make a good mentor for Garrovick. This was the word you were looking for.

My fave series of Star Trek.