Miri (TOS episode)
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"Miri" is a first season episode of , that was first broadcast October 27, 1966, and repeated June 29, 1967. It is episode #12, written by Adrian Spies and directed by Vincent McEveety.
Quick Overview: The Enterprise discovers an exact duplicate of Earth, where the only survivors of a deadly plague are the planet's children.
On stardate 2713.5, the starship USS Enterprise, under the command of Captain James T. Kirk, follows an old planetary distress call leading to a planet that looks exactly like Earth in every detail.
Kirk assembles a landing party consisting of himself, Mr. Spock, Dr. McCoy, Yeoman Janice Rand, and two security personnel, to investigate this remarkable find. Upon their arrival, they find the planet is virtually a duplicate of Earth of the 1960s, but it all seems abandoned. As the team curiously inspects a tricycle, they are attacked by a ragged man who seems infected by a horrible disfiguring mutation, but shows incredible strength. The man suddenly seems to drop dead from the excitement. The security guards then spot another figure running into a building.
The team chases the figure down, discovering that it's a girl, and she appears physically normal. She identifies herself as Miri, and when asked why she ran away from them, she tells them because they are "grups" (a contraction of "grown ups"), and the grups killed and hurt the children before they died. When asked where her family are, Miri tells them that she is an "Onlie", and she and her friends are the "only ones" left; all the adults turned to monsters and died.
Soon the landing party starts to notice painful blue sores are forming on their bodies; Spock however remains immune. Miri informs them that is how it all starts, and they will soon become like the others. The team explores an abandoned hospital and looks for clues to the mysterious condition. They discover the disease seems to infect only those who have reached puberty. They also uncover that the disease was an accidental side-effect in an experiment to prolong life; however, it only worked on children, but when they come of age they soon die. Shockingly, they learn that the children are over 300 years old, having aged only one month's time every century.
McCoy also discovers that once the disease starts, they only have 7 days to live. Even though Spock seems immune to the disease, McCoy believes he is still a carrier and could infect the Enterprise if he returns. Spock decides to stay anyway, and won't leave until he helps McCoy find a cure.
Meanwhile, the rest of the hiding children, who do not trust these new grups, decide to meddle with their plans. Their leader, a boy named Jahn, steals the landing party's communicators, which renders McCoy's search for a cure nearly impossible without assistance from the Enterprise computers. Miri however, doesn't agree with the other children's mischief and stays near Captain Kirk, whom she appears to have a crush on. However, when Yeoman Rand breaks down for fear of her life, and Kirk takes her in his arms to comfort her, Miri gets jealous and runs away to scheme with her friends. The children devise a "foolie" prank and kidnap Rand.
Returning later, Miri is confronted by Kirk, who tells her she and the others will eventually contract the disease just like the grups if they don't help him find a cure. In fact, he grabs Miri's arms and shows her the blue sores that are already forming on her skin.
Miri takes Kirk to the schoolhouse where Rand is held captive. He confronts the children and tries to get it through their heads that none of this is a game. At first the children don't listen and continue to harass him, encouraged by Jahn. They become increasingly menacing until one of them finally beats Kirk nearly senseless with a hammer. Kirk implores them to think of the youngest onlies, who will be left without resources when the older ones are dead. He warns them that the stores of food and supplies left by the colonists are nearly depleted. He also points out that the children have hurt him and now have blood literally on their hands, exactly like the grups they are afraid of. "I'm a grup," he says, "and I want to help."
Kirk rounds up the children and returns to the hospital, but finds that McCoy, unable to accurately test his serum, has injected himself and collapsed to the floor. Soon however, his sores fade away. The serum is found to be safe and completely destroys the disease. After inoculating the landing party and the children, Kirk informs Starfleet to send teachers and advisors to the duplicate Earth, to help the children start their lives over again.
Trivia
- Actress Kim Darby played the role of Miri.
- The name Miri is no doubt short for Miriam. In the Bible, Miriam was the sister of Moses and Aaron, and was stricken with leprosy (Numbers 12.10): "And the cloud departed from off the tabernacle; and, behold, Miriam became leprous, white as snow: and Aaron looked upon Miriam, and, behold, she was leprous."
- William Shatner's daughters also had small parts in this episode, as did Gene Roddenberry's daughter Dawn, and Grace Lee Whitney's twin sons.
- A sequel to this episode was written in the non-canon book The Cry of the Onlies by Judy Klass; (Simon and Schuster).
- The existence of the duplicate Earth has never been explained, and the fact that the planet looked exactly like Earth ultimately had no bearing on the episode's story and conclusion. Presumably, it was cheaper to establish an Earth parallel than to create an entirely new alien culture.
- The outdoor shots were filmed on "the back forty", Desilu Studios' film backlot, which was also used for shooting The Return of the Archons and The City on the Edge of Forever.
- In the United Kingdom, this episode was usually skipped by the BBC throughout much of the 1960s and '70s, even into the 1980s, declaring it to be too graphic and disturbing for its time-slot. In more recent years, it has been included in all re-runs.
Famous quotations
- Yeoman Rand to Captain Kirk: "Back on the ship I used to try to get you to look at my legs ... Captain, look at my legs!"
External links
- #redirect
- [Five-Minute Miri] — Parody version
| Last produced: "Dagger of the Mind" | | Next produced: "The Conscience of the King" |
| Last transmitted: "What Are Little Girls Made Of?" | Next transmitted: "Dagger of the Mind" |
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