Is There in Truth No Beauty? 

Lovely telepath Miranda is aide to Ambassador Kollos, in a box to stop insanity when humans see Medusans. She rejects Larry, a designer of Enterprise, and senses murderous intent nearby.

Director:

Ralph Senensky

Writers:

Gene Roddenberry (created by), Jean Lisette Aroeste

Stars:

William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley

Cast

Episode complete credited cast:
William Shatner	...	Capt. Kirk
Leonard Nimoy	...	Mr. Spock
DeForest Kelley	...	Dr. McCoy
Diana Muldaur	...	Dr. Miranda Jones
David Frankham	...	Larry Marvick
James Doohan	...	Scott
George Takei	...	Sulu
Nichelle Nichols	...	Uhura
Walter Koenig	...	Chekov

Storyline

The Enterprise transports the Medusan Ambassador Kollos; his telepathic interpreter, Dr Miranda Jones; and Engineer Laurence Marvick. Only Vulcans and those trained in Vulcan self-control can handle the horrible sight of a Medusan (and then only with eye protection). Attempting to kill Kollos, Marvick (jealous of Miranda's interest in Kollos) goes insane at the sight of the Mudasan ambassador. Before dying Marvick, one of the designers of the Enterprise, takes the ship outside the galaxy where it is hopelessly lost. Once it is discovered that Miranda is blind (she had fooled them with a complicated neural sensor in her dress) and cannot guide the Enterprise, Spock mind-melds with the navigationally proficient ambassador who quickly gets the Enterprise back in known galactic space. However, while severing the mind-meld, he forgets the visor, sees Kollos, and goes insane. Because of her jealousy of Spock's relationship with Kollos, Miranda hesitates to give help, but with Kirk's urging ...

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Plot Keywords:

fish eye lens camera shot | officer's lounge | vulcan idic | year 2268 | 2260s | 

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Sci-Fi

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Certificate:

TV-PG

Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

18 October 1968 (USA)

Filming Locations:

Paramount Studios - 5555 Melrose Avenue, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Paramount Television, Norway Corporation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

51 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

4:3

Did You Know?

Trivia

The dinner scene marks the first presentation of the Vulcan IDIC (Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations) symbol.

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Goofs

(At approximately 21 minutes) When Mr. Spock opens the panel below the Engineering station on the bridge, the space behind it is empty of any equipment, unlike other such panels in earlier shows.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Captain James T. Kirk: Captain's log, stardate 5630.7. We have been assigned to convey the Medusans' ambassador to the Federation back to their home planet. While the thoughts of the Medusans are the most sublime in the galaxy, their physical appearance is exactly the opposite. They have evolved into a race of beings who are formless, so utterly hideous that the sight of a Medusan brings total madness to any human who sees one.

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Alternate Versions

Special Enhanced version Digitally Remastered with new exterior shots and remade opening theme song

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Connections

Referenced in Star Trek Continues: To Boldly Go: Part I (2017)

User Reviews

Diana Muldaur made this episode great!!!

Diana Muldaur's character had qualities a lot of the Star Trek "space bimbos" lacked - sophistication, beauty, grace, elegance, wit, maturity, depth of character... I could go on and on!!! All the men were captivated by her, I can see why. Next to Uhura and Spock's mother (Jane Wyatt), there were no other female characters on Star Trek with more substance to them.