In the opening scene we learn a shocking truth; Dr McCoy has diagnosed a fatal disease in himself and only has a year to live. For the time being he can still do his job though and insists that he be allowed to do so. Shortly afterwards the Enterprise is fired on; it traces the missile back to Yonada, an asteroid which turns out to be a spaceship. This craft has no life signs and will crash into an inhabited planet in little over a year. Kirk, Spock and McCoy beam onto the 'asteroid' and soon discover that it is a generational ship and its crew, which is very much alive, have no idea that they are on a ship. In fact the fact is deliberately hidden from the people aboard and actions that may lead to the truth coming out are punished by the 'Oracle'. The most senior person there is Natira, the High Priestess of the society, and she is clearly attracted to McCoy and he feels the same way. This makes it easy for him to keep her occupied while Kirk and Spock investigate the Oracle. Unfortunately they are caught and forced to return to the Enterprise. McCoy however decides to spend his final year with Natira. Shortly afterwards he learns that there may be a way to save the people of Yonada
but it would mean reading their sacred book; something nobody may do until they reach their destination.
This is a decent enough episode which makes up for its lack of action with a more emotional story. The opening revelation the McCoy has only a year to live certainly comes as a surprise although the fact that a cure is found in the end does not. The way the cure is discovered in the Yonada's archives is defiantly one of the least subtle examples of Deus Ex Machina possible! The reason for McCoy's illness is of course to make us believe that he would fall in love with a woman he just met and abandon his life on the Enterprise to stay with her. The idea that the people of Yonada have no clue that they are on a ship is rather interesting as is the fact that those who built the ship created a belief system which actively prevented people discovering the truth before they reached their destination. It was nice to see McCoy getting the woman for once although there was a lack of real passion between him and Natira. Overall a solid but not an outstanding episode.
This is a decent enough episode which makes up for its lack of action with a more emotional story. The opening revelation the McCoy has only a year to live certainly comes as a surprise although the fact that a cure is found in the end does not. The way the cure is discovered in the Yonada's archives is defiantly one of the least subtle examples of Deus Ex Machina possible! The reason for McCoy's illness is of course to make us believe that he would fall in love with a woman he just met and abandon his life on the Enterprise to stay with her. The idea that the people of Yonada have no clue that they are on a ship is rather interesting as is the fact that those who built the ship created a belief system which actively prevented people discovering the truth before they reached their destination. It was nice to see McCoy getting the woman for once although there was a lack of real passion between him and Natira. Overall a solid but not an outstanding episode.