Kirk and Co. are dropping off medical supplies to the distant planet of Dramia. They are surprised by the locals who arrest McCoy for mass murder! He was there 19 years earlier on a mission, and a plague resulted. Kirk does some investigation on the planet, but they have no luck--Spock reports historical info is spotty, and just goes into astronomical info. Suddenly, the Enterprise is off to another planet to do more investigation. The Dramians give the Enterprise chase, and Kirk tricks them by leaving the hangar bay open and getting them to land inside. They impound the smaller ship.
They beam down to the other planet with their "stowaway", where the plague first hit. They find a survivor, who tells them about the event--peolpe changing colors, and finally turning red before dying. He remembers that McCoy saved him at the time. They take him back to the original planet, passing through an aurora on the way, and the survivor as well as Kirk and the rest of the crew change colors and become deathly ill. Spock, of course, is immune and takes over command.
Kirk insists they have to save McCoy, and so Spock contacts the planet and asks them to release Bones--no dice. Spock goes down and breaks out McCoy with the ol' nerve pinch--McCoy protests, but relents when he hears about the plague on the ship. Spock and McCoy work to together to come up with a solution--Kirk notes that the aurora keeps changing color along with them. The aurora caused the plague! McCoy remembers an aurora from 19 years earlier (?!?). Spock notes that the survivor from the first plague must have antibodies that protected him, and which end up saving the crew. The aliens relent, and even honor him for his work. A spat between Spock and McCoy with wacky music plays us out.
Some things to look for:
- The whole episode seems rushed, with lots of plot holes. For example, McCoy is saved from a murder conviction because he solves the second plague--but Spock was the one that figured it out.
- The alien's voices seem rather strange--like they just pulled some guys off the street and gave them a few bucks
- Some of Kirk's voice work sounds like it was done in a closet
- The whole "ship in the shuttlebay" sequence is disjointed---not the best writing
- There's a reference to "General Order 6", which sets a ship on self-destruct if a plague finishes off the entire crew. This is one of the items that doesn't match canon, as it is contradicted in both TOS ("The Omega Glory" and "The Tholian Web") and TNG ("Unnatural Selection").
- No make-up needed for character to change colors--just a different color of paint on the cel
- Even Uhura changes color, with no indication she wasn't a different color to begin with
- All these color changes made them forget McCoy wears blue at the end of the episode
Remember, you can play along by watching the show on Netflix!