Obsession 

Capt. Kirk obsessively hunts for a mysterious cloud creature he encountered in his youth.

Director:

Ralph Senensky

Writers:

Gene Roddenberry (created by), Art Wallace

Stars:

William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley

Cast

Episode complete credited cast:
William Shatner	...	Capt. Kirk
Leonard Nimoy	...	Mr. Spock
DeForest Kelley	...	Dr. McCoy
Stephen Brooks	...	Ensign Garrovick
James Doohan	...	Scott
Nichelle Nichols	...	Uhura
Jerry Ayres	...	Rizzo
Majel Barrett	...	Nurse Chapel
Walter Koenig	...	Chekov

Storyline

Captain Kirk is haunted by a creature from his past when conducting a mining survey on a planet. He first encountered it as a lieutenant aboard the U.S.S. Farragut and blames himself for freezing in a moment of crisis, causing the death of many crewmen. The creature is a cloud-like, gaseous being that lives on the red blood cells found in humans. Obsessed by his desire for revenge and to erase the memory of 11 years ago, he pursues the creature relentlessly, putting in jeopardy an assignment to collect essential medical supplies.

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Plot Keywords:

strange behavior | cloud | year 2268 | 2260s | 23rd century | 

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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:

15 December 1967 (USA)

Filming Locations:

Desilu Studios - 9336 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Desilu Productions, Norway Corporation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

50 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

4:3

Did You Know?

Trivia

Second episode in a row in which captain Kirk's capacity of commanding is questioned.

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Goofs

In the first scene, Spock phasers off a sample of rock, which has been clearly pre-cut to fall off on command.

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Quotes

Spock: Do you know what it is, Captain?
Capt. Kirk: [referring to the lethal gaseous entity] Something that can't possibly exist... but it does.
[looks on to dead crewmen sprawled on the ground]

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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

Featured in Bring Back... Star Trek (2009)

User Reviews

I Haven't the Foggiest

Kirk is carting around baggage from eleven years ago, when he failed to act as a cloud that smelled sweet, like honey, appeared and several were killed. The crew is extracting some incredible ore when Kirk recognizes that smell. Three red shirts are sent to investigate. Two are killed by the cloud and one is badly injured. The Enterprise is supposed to dock with the Yorktown to bring important medical supplies. All Kirk can think of is the power of that cloud which has reintroduced his biggest failure. The cloud sucks the red corpuscles out of the bodies of its victims. A young ensign, son of an old friend of Kirk's is enlisted, and fails, just as Kirk did, to kill the foggy entity. The thing travels through space and the issue becomes what can be done to stop it. Simple phaser fire doesn't work. Kirk now becomes psychologist and pursuer as he allies himself with the young man. It works pretty well.