Home > Star Trek - The Original Series, Episode 29: Operation-Annihilate! [VHS]

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Staring: William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley, Nichelle Nichols, James Doohan
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Product Details
Binding: VHS Tape
EAN: 9786300213333
Format: Closed-captioned, Color, HiFi Sound, NTSC
ISBN: 6300213331
Label: CBS Paramount International Television
Manufacturer: CBS Paramount International Television
Number Of Items: 1
Publisher: CBS Paramount International Television
Release Date: 1994-04-15
Running Time: 46
Studio: CBS Paramount International Television
Theatrical Release Date: 1966-09-08

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Editorial Review
Amazon.com
"Operation: Annihilate" is undoubtedly the only science fiction drama in history in which the requisite Scary Monster resembles a three-dollar item from a novelty store--specifically, a rubber puddle of fake vomit. Moreover, the shooting locale for much of the story, which is set in a research community on the Federation planet Deneva, brings to mind the plush, friendly, L.A. exotica of Frank Capra's Shangri-La in Lost Horizon rather than an extraterrestrial outpost. Having said all that, however, this episode is deservedly a minor classic that becomes most interesting in its final act. Rushing the Enterprise to Deneva is Captain Kirk (William Shatner), whose brother Sam and his family are among the victims of an unknown invader that feeds on human nervous systems, driving people wild with pain and ultimately killing them. Once arriving, Kirk's problems are compounded when Mr. Spock (Leonard Nimoy) is attacked by one of the nasty "flying pancake" killers (blobby critters of the aforementioned fake-vomit variety). The script (by Steven W. Carabatsos) feels as if it did not survive the series' editorial committee process intact. There's a certain amount of obvious padding in the action, while next to nothing is made, dramatically speaking, of Kirk's discovery of his brother's fate. The best bits are reserved for a story twist in which Dr. McCoy (DeForest Kelley) develops a cure for Spock's ailment that is almost as bad as the affliction. --Tom Keogh

Customer Reviews

What do you do with a plague planet?, 2008-06-06

When I was in high school, one of the pranks my friends and I played on others was the plastic hunk of fake vomit. It was good for a few laughs and did not get us in too much trouble. The parasitical beings in this episode appear to have been created in the same way.
The Enterprise has been charting a sequence of outbreaks of mass insanity and they are traveling to the planet Deneva, where Kirk's brother Sam and his family live. As they arrive, a Denevan pilots his ship into a star and at the last moment before death, the Denevan announces that he is free of the creature.
When the Enterprise landing party reaches the surface, they find that the inhabitants are all indoors, some with barricades. Kirk finds his brother Sam dead and his family terrified. When they investigate further, Spock is attacked and injected by one of the parasitical beings. It inflicts pain on the host in order to control them and after a battle; Spock is able to control the pain. He volunteers to beam down and retrieve one of the creatures for study. Although the creature is very resistant to phaser fire, Spock is able to capture one and return to the Enterprise.
At first all tests prove ineffective against the creature, until suddenly it perishes when exposed to intense light. Spock volunteers as a test subject and after being bombarded with the light, pronounces that he is free of the parasite. Unfortunately, he is also blind. Later, McCoy discovers that Spock need not have been blinded, the wavelengths of light that the creature is subject to does not damage the visual organs.
The Enterprise constructs a series of orbiting platforms that bombard the planet with radiation that kills the creatures. Later, it is revealed that Vulcans have an inner eyelid that snaps shut when exposed to intense light. Eventually that eyelid reopens and Spock is no longer blind.
With the exception of the glimpse into Kirk's family, there is little to praise about this episode. However, the one other significant point is that once Kirk was aware of the nature of the plague, he would have had to contain it on the planet. That would have meant preventing any person from leaving the planet, which most certainly meant destroying any ship that attempted to leave. That is one point of serious analysis, namely how space traveling societies would deal with plague planets.

One of the best, 2007-02-09
Those who rate this as a subpar Trek episode may I say -Poppycock ! So the alien life looks like a flying pancake, who knows what alien life looks like :-) It's my second favorite episode from the Original Series. So go get a bottle of Aunt Jemima and hush !

Captain, it doesn't even look real., 2009-05-15
This episode has always been a favorite of mine. It is one of the weirdest episodes, but it will keep you entertained. Even though the alien parasites look like egg omelets with blood on them, they are still kind of scary.

The ending to this episode was funny. If Star Trek had been canceled after this episode, it would have been a cool way to go out.

Can Kirk and the crew make this a successful operation?, 2000-06-01
"Operation-Annihilate!" is a solid episode for the original Star Trek series. Captain Kirk and the crew beam down to the planet Deneva and find out that Kirk's brother, Sam, has been killed and that his nephew has been injured by some alien force. They soon find a bunch of little creatures that are one-celled organisms. One of them get Spock and he is immediately taken to Sick Bay onboard the Enterprise. Being a Vulcan, Spock learns to control himself and says he must get one of the creatures onboard to study it. Kirk, Spock, and McCoy later decide that they are only cells of some larger alien. They must find a different way of destroying the creatures on the planet without having to kill every person that has been infected by them.

I recommend getting "Operation-Annihilate!" so you can find out how the U.S.S. Enterprise crew will destroy the creatures and cure Spock of the disease. My only complaint is that you never get to see the alien that these cells come from. But other than that it's a good episode. It features some of the best acting by Spock.

It's a Pain in the Back, 2007-08-27
Of all the episodes in the original series, this is the one in which the Enterprise acts most aggressively against an alien species that is arguably intelligent. But it's justified by how hostile and sadistic these particular aliens are. This is the one with the flying jellyfish who stick to your back and then cause you incredible pain if you don't do what they want. Though individually not intelligent, they collectively operate as neurons of a single "brain." They make the Borg and the Klingons look sweet-natured by comparison.

What lifts this episode above a 3-star rating is the dramatic tension and large number of moral dilemmas, impressive even by Star Trek standards. 1) Should Spock be allowed to resume his post, even though the "things" are trying to control him? 2) Should Spock be used as a guinea pig, even though the test may cause permanent blindness? 3) Above all, is it better to kill a few million people (an act of commission) or let billions of others die (an act of omission)?

Y'see, the only way to kill the evil jellyfish is to kill everyone on the planet below. If this isn't done, then the flying jellyfish will someday spread to other, more populous planets, where they will torture and enslave billions of people. Spock says killing the population is the only logical thing to do. (The needs of the many vs. the needs of the comparatively few.) Bones says, No, no, Jim, it's not the human thing to do. Kirk shows both his strong will and his humanity by saying, "Gentlemen, both alternatives are unacceptable. Find me another solution." In this way, Kirk is much like Pres. Kennedy in the Cuban Missile Crisis, unwilling to accept either defeat or nuclear war. JFK also demanded a third option. Kirk has much in common with JFK.

And yet this episode -- a scary "kill the evil aliens before they get us" story -- is not everyone's cup of tea, which is why I can't quite give it 5 stars.

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