One of Our Planets Is Missing
- FIRST SHOWN (US)
- 22 September 1973
- ON
- NBC
- STARDATE
- 5371.3
- DIRECTED BY
- Hal Sutherland
- PRODUCTION NO.
- 22007
WRITTEN BYWritten by Marc Daniels
A vast cloud that devours whole planets is drifting towards a Federation colony of 82 million people, and the Enterprise must find a way to stop it.
Red alert: the full plot, ending included. Haven't watched yet?REVEAL SYNOPSIS
The Enterprise detects an immense cloud entering the galaxy and watches it consume a planet. It is now heading for Mantilles, a Federation colony of more than 82 million people governed by Bob Wesley, a former Starfleet officer. Kirk warns Wesley, but there is only time to evacuate a small part of the population, chiefly the children. Phasers have no effect, so Kirk takes the Enterprise into the cloud itself. Inside, the ship is battered and loses power, and Scotty must recover antimatter from within the cloud to restore the warp drive. Spock concludes that the cloud is a living organism and locates its brain. Rather than destroy it, Kirk has Spock attempt a mind-meld through the ship's systems. Spock shows the creature that the worlds it feeds on are home to living, thinking beings. Understanding at last, the cloud withdraws to where it came from, and Mantilles is spared.
- 01Written by Marc Daniels, one of the original series' most prolific directors. It was his first Star Trek writing credit.
- 02Bob Wesley was previously Commodore Wesley, in charge of the Lexington, in the original series episode “The Ultimate Computer”, where he was played by Barry Russo.
- 03The images of Earth shown to the cloud during the mind-meld were reused from another 1973 Filmation series, Lassie's Rescue Rangers.