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Star Trek

The Alternative Factor

Season 1, Episode 27, Aired 3/30/67

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Episode Summary

Kirk and Spock encounter a mysterious alien named Lazarus who claims to be hunting a ruthless maniacal creature.

6.8

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Cast & Crew

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Leonard Nimoy

Mr. Spock
William Shatner

Captain James Tiberius Kirk
Nichelle Nichols

Lt. Nyota Uhura

Fan Episode Reviews (7)

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The crew of the Enterprise meets a confused man in a confusing episode.

6.5

"Fair"

By Celedorian, Nov 21, 2010 Report Abuse

This episode has an interesting premise, but the screenplay (by Don Ingalls) and the execution (by director Gerd Oswald) hurt the promising story. The episode attempts to be mysterious but comes across as fragmented and confusing. It probably didn't help that John Drew Barrymore (the father of Drew Barrymore,) originally cast as Lazarus, never showed up for the shoot. It also doesn't help that the part doesn't have any backstory or character development in the episode. The guy basically wonders around and falls off cliffs.) That said, I do like the overall story and the ending. It's a fair episode.moreless

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This episode was stretching to fill its allotted time and was a real stretch to keep it going as long as it did.

4.1

"Poor"

By altotick, Nov 21, 2010 Report Abuse

Sadly, even though I had never seen this episode I immediately knew the predictable "twist" of the episode about a third of the way through. Then of course they allow the man they find on the planet to have free reign and wander everywhere on the ship, even though they really know nothing about him and he seems a bit nutty.

The effects aren't great or horrible and are essentially just film negatives superimposed with other pieces of film. It may have been neat in the 60s, but I suspect even then it wasn't exciting enough spend so much episode time on it when they could have been doing something more interesting like filling plot holes or developing characters.

This is one of the weakest episodes in the first season.moreless

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2 3
Falling off mountains 101 (Instructor: Lazarus A/B)

8.7

"Great"

By hrtonslv, Nov 21, 2010 Report Abuse

I haven't the slightest idea why I like this episode so much. The confusion between the Lazurus' are irritating and poorly explained. And I never understood why they just couldn't kill "Lazurus A" before he went into the time corridor and have poor "Lazurus B" trapped with that madman at his throat until time itself stopped. Kirk does not press "Lazurus A" nearly enough to get the facts he needed about the crystals, yet I still love watching this one over and over again. I agree, it is one of the poorest and hardest plot lines to follow, but those scenes in the time corridor fascinated me for some strange reason.moreless

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3 1
always found Lazarus' goatee distracting

4.0

"Poor"

By millerem99, Nov 21, 2010 Report Abuse

Why couldn't they give Lazarus a new 'do and a couple sedatives? I really think that that is all the poor guy needed. Did anyone in this episode ever ask him how he got his name, or mention the irony involved with his Biblical predecessor, who came back from the dead? I can't remember and will probably not bother to find out for myself. This is an episode so drawn-out that when it is re-broadcast, I usually am willing to flip over to HGTV instead.

No one in the crew ever asked how he was able to style that goatee, either. It's perfect.moreless

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The Enterprise crew, investigating strange energy pulses, encounter a mysterious man named Lazarus who, unbeknown to them, is locked in a duel with his twin from a parallel universe. A potentially very intriguing tale is let down by clunky handling...moreless

7.5

"Good"

By Jay-Spacedust, Nov 11, 2008 Report Abuse

I have to say, bucking the trend with most reviews of this episode, I didn't dislike this story. Then again, I'm not surprised that so many don't like it, as it is far from perfect.

The story, on paper, is very intriguing, and I want to like it. I wouldn't agree with some reviews that it is the weakest of the first season (I've already covered those in separate reviews), but it is certainly let down by some clunky story telling.
It isn't fleshed out and doesn't have the depth that it needs and deserves; and some dodgy special effects don't help matters any.

While I find the scenes of Lazarus (good and bad versions) down on the planet surface to be reasonable, most of the in-between scenes on the Enterprise serve only to take the story from point A to point B, and are one of the things that let the episode down.

Like other reviewers, I did wonder how Lazarus was allowed to freely wander the ship if the Enterprise allows every life form it encounters to do this, no wonder they encounter so much trouble!

Likewise, I thought it was overly easy for Lazarus to sabotage the engineering circuitry, simply by opening a convenient panel (right in the middle of a corridor!) and swapping a couple of components around.

Lazarus himself is played so-so by Robert Brown. Not an outstanding performance, but not a terrible one either. But was it me or did his goatee change between just about every scene (even allowing for the good / bad swaps)?

It's hard to sum this one up. I WANT to like it, and it has some good ingredients. But it also has lack of depth and explanation needed, as well as some plot holes; and the whole thing just doesn't seem as polished as most episodes of the season.

I give it the reasonable score that I have due to the intriguing, good elements. What a shame some of the story let it down.moreless

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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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Trivia
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- Lt. Charlene Masters does not wear her Lt. stripe. Edit
- In a shot of the viewscreen near the end of the episode you can see the planet but there's no stars in the background. Edit
- When Kirk escorts Lazarus to the bridge, there's a shot of McCoy as they leave and two Red Alert panels - one is flashing while the other one is burnt out. Edit
Notes
ADD NOTES
- Originally John Drew Barrymore was supposed to play Lazarus but he quit abruptly so Robert Brown was chosen to replace him. Edit
- The astronomical background shown when Lazarus is jumping between the parallel universes is the Trifid Nebula (also known as M20 and NGC 6514). From Earth, it is found in the region of the constellation Sagittarius. Edit
Quotes
ADD QUOTES
- Spock: I fail to comprehend your indignation, sir. I have simply made the logical deduction that you are a liar. Edit
- Kirk: What was that? Spock: What my instruments read is totally unbelievable, Captain. Twice, for a split second each time, everything within range of our instruments seemed on the verge of winking out. Kirk: I want facts, not poetry. Edit
- Spock: Jim, madness has no purpose. Or reason. But it may have a goal. Edit
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