Star Trek Retrospective: Episode 27 the Alternative Factor
So we are headed into the final stretch of of this run and to be honest I have had a blast writing them. In retrospect I am very glad I opted to do them back to front so I can end on a high note with some of the best Season 1 episodes.
That being said there are some S1 episodes that aren’t all golden. The Alternative Factor is not really one of the worst (nor even the worst of S1) but it is no Galileo Seven. I kind of liked the idea of Lazarus and Anti-Lazarus fighting in the corridor for eternity but honestly this story has a lot of dopey plot holes.
First of all if Anti-Lazarus is from the anti matter universe does he really have to encounter the body of Lazarus in order to destroy the universe? Wouldn’t any part of him or the air in his lungs be enough to encounter matter and destroy the universe? He could come though the ship and his next fart could end causality (an ending I think anyone with a sense of humor would find hilarious). The human body more or less changes all it’s molecules every seven years or so. What if anti Lazarus came to our universe and got a job somewhere as a pastry chef eating all of our food? In seven years he and Lazarus could have had full on intercourse without destroying any universes. Also what is it about alternate universes that the people over there automatically have to be evil or insane? 
Why can’t it be the alternate universe where Walter White survived and Jesse died in Breaking Bad or they made twerking punishable by death but are otherwise fine people? Walter White image courtesy of the Breaking Bad t shirt category.
Also when Kirk jumps through the flying saucer to the other universe wouldn’t he automatically destroy that universe because anti Kirk lived there? Or did he have to wrestle anti Kirk? I guess they avoided that issue simply because they had already beaten that dead horse with The Enemy Within.
I’ve often wondered why they named the character Lazarus. In the Bible he is the saint Jesus raised up from the dead after 4 days. Normally Star Trek has some kind of hidden meaning behind such things but I cannot figure out why they thought this name would work for a guy with an evil twin. This name might have worked a lot better for the main character in Requiem for Methuselah.
Anyway, kind of a meh episode but fun nevertheless.
the Infamous Dave Inman
@nerdkungfu
Maybe the Alternative Factor was a lot worse than I remember it being.
Back in November when I did my 10 Worst Star Trek TOS Episode list I included my list of bad ones. One of the episodes that slipped my grasp was the Alternative Factor. One reader commented and called me out on it. At the time I said I had a liking for Lazarus and anti-Lazarus fighting for eternity between universes. However, I have been rewatching the TOS episodes and last night got up to the Alternative Factor and have had to reconsider my position on this one.
Basically this episode is the first to have Season 3 sized plot holes but was barely into Season 1. The science was about as dumb as possible. If anti-Lazarus was made of antimatter wouldn’t he be annihilated as soon as he came into contact with matter from our world? The matter humans are comprised of changes every minute. If anti-Lazarus ate or drank something what happened when he went home? Wouldn’t his stomach contacts destroy the universe? Is it only the exact molecules that destroy each other? How does that make sense?
So Lazarus is a crazed madman who has already expressed a desire for critical components of the Enterprise’s warp drive. Why didn’t Kirk just throw him in the brig, or at least put a guard on him? Instead a complete stranger has free run of the ship, and gets to hang out in the rec room listening to crew members discuss dilithium crystals. Had Lazarus been under observation the crew might have noticed how he kept phasing in and out of reality every time the universe went on it’s freaky binge. Given that knowledge I think Kirk would have not been remiss dropping him into the nearest black hole.
Why, exactly, did anti-Lazarus have to fight Lazarus in the corridor between universes forever? You can’t tell me it’s because of the balance of atoms or something like that. One of them had a bandage that the other did not, so there is no way the atom count was accurate. Why couldn’t Kirk have just executed Lazarus (the crazy one) or rendered him unconscious, tied him up, and tossed him into the little ship? Anti-Lazarus could have just hung out on the other side and blown up his own ship, then went home to market his own line of facial hair products.
Speaking of just knocking Lazarus out, at one point Kirk and Lazarus struggle as Kirk tries to pitch Lazarus into the gateway. That’s all fine and well, but Mr. Spock and two red shirts just stand there fully armed watching. What if Lazarus had been secretly trained in martial arts and tossed Kirk in the door again, or just gotten lucky and gouged out one of Kirks eyes? Spock could have nerve pinched him out, cuffed him, and tossed him into the corridor. Also Kirk takes his sweet ass time nuking the ship from orbit. At any second Lazarus or anti-Lazarus (or both) could have come rolling out of the gate and destroyed the universe.
I don’t know. Is it worse than the Enemy Within, my number 10 worst episode? I guess not. The science is not as horrible, and at least they tried to address some interesting ideas beyond the duality of man. However, Kirk did not get to demonstrate his range of acting ability as he did in the Enemy, so from a cinematographic point of view maybe.
One thing is for sure. This episode would have to murder a bus full of orphans and nuns to be considered worse than Spock’s Brain, so as bad as it or any of the other ones are at least it has that going for it. (Spock’s Brain image courtesy of the Star Trek T-Shirt category)
Today is cheap movie night, so I will try to see Hit and Run tonight. It’s the new pretty boy Bradley Cooper movie, but apparently it was done semi-independently so I am curious to see what comes of it. Look for the review tomorrow. Follow me on Twitter @Nerdkungfu. If you have any thoughts or comments on this post feel free to make them here, and if you have any off topic questions or suggestions feel free to email me at [email protected]. Thanks for reading, and have a great day!
Dave
