"I'm not a magician, I'm just an old country doctor."
--McCoy
"If I live long enough, I'm going to run out of samples."
--Chekov
PLOT
Kirk is relieved of command when he and other officers contract a disease
from a passing comet that induces senility and death by old age within
days. The planet Gamma Hydra 4 passed through the tail of a comet. Chekov
doesn't age like the rest; they try to explain this because he was scared
and got his adrenaline flowing. Some diplomat who's never come close to
commanding a starship (Commodore Stocker) is put in charge instead of
Chekov, and decides to take a shortcut through the Romulan Neutral Zone
like a dork. Kirk bluffs about corbomite to Star Fleet Command in a code
he knows the Romulans have cracked, saying that it will make this area of
space uninhabitable for two solar years. The Romulans back off and Kirk
gets out of there.
FACTS
Starbase 10 has better medical facilities than the Enterprise.
McCoy refers to Spock's age as "the high side of 100".
Kirk had a fling with Dr. Janice Wallice.
Kirk was 34, but now is 65-72.
They use a needle on Chekov (I thought needles had been replaced by
hypos).
Stardate 3478.2-3579.4 ???
OPINIONS
Can be hard to follow the plot on the first viewing, but not all that bad
an episode once it sinks in.
