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Star Trek: The Original Series
S2.E18
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IMDbPro

The Immunity Syndrome

  • Episode aired Jan 19, 1968
  • TV-PG
  • 50m
IMDb RATING
7.5/10
3K
YOUR RATING
Walter Koenig in Star Trek: The Original Series (1966)
ActionAdventureSci-Fi

The Enterprise encounters a gigantic energy draining space organism that threatens the galaxy.The Enterprise encounters a gigantic energy draining space organism that threatens the galaxy.The Enterprise encounters a gigantic energy draining space organism that threatens the galaxy.

  • Director
    • Joseph Pevney
  • Writers
    • Gene Roddenberry
    • Robert Sabaroff
  • Stars
    • William Shatner
    • Leonard Nimoy
    • DeForest Kelley
  • See production, box office & company info
  • IMDb RATING
    7.5/10
    3K
    YOUR RATING
    • Director
      • Joseph Pevney
    • Writers
      • Gene Roddenberry
      • Robert Sabaroff
    • Stars
      • William Shatner
      • Leonard Nimoy
      • DeForest Kelley
    • 26User reviews
    • 14Critic reviews
  • See production, box office & company info
  • See more at IMDbPro
  • Photos16

    Star Trek: The Original Series (1966)
    Star Trek: The Original Series (1966)
    Majel Barrett and DeForest Kelley in The Immunity Syndrome (1968)
    William Shatner, DeForest Kelley, Eddie Paskey, and Jeannie Malone in The Immunity Syndrome (1968)
    William Shatner, DeForest Kelley, and Nichelle Nichols in The Immunity Syndrome (1968)
    Star Trek: The Original Series (1966)
    Star Trek: The Original Series (1966)
    Leonard Nimoy and Nichelle Nichols in Star Trek: The Original Series (1966)
    Star Trek: The Original Series (1966)
    Leonard Nimoy in Star Trek: The Original Series (1966)
    Star Trek: The Original Series (1966)
    Star Trek: The Original Series (1966)

    Top cast

    Edit
    William Shatner
    William Shatner
    • Captain James Tiberius 'Jim' Kirk
    Leonard Nimoy
    Leonard Nimoy
    • Mister Spock
    DeForest Kelley
    DeForest Kelley
    • Dr. McCoy
    James Doohan
    James Doohan
    • Scott
    Nichelle Nichols
    Nichelle Nichols
    • Uhura
    Walter Koenig
    Walter Koenig
    • Chekov
    John Winston
    John Winston
    • Lt. Kyle
    Majel Barrett
    Majel Barrett
    • Christine Chapel
    Bill Blackburn
    • Lieutenant Hadley
    • (uncredited)
    John Blower
    • USS Enterprise Lt. Cmdr.
    • (uncredited)
    Frank da Vinci
    • Lt. Brent
    • (uncredited)
    Bob Johnson
    • Starbase 6 Commander
    • (voice)
    • (uncredited)
    Jeannie Malone
    • Yeoman
    • (uncredited)
    Eddie Paskey
    Eddie Paskey
    • Lieutenant Leslie
    • (uncredited)
    • Director
      • Joseph Pevney
    • Writers
      • Gene Roddenberry
      • Robert Sabaroff
    • All cast & crew
    • Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

    Storyline

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    Did you know

    Edit
    • Trivia
      This is the last time the interior of a shuttlecraft is shown in the series.
    • Goofs
      As Spock is about the enter the shuttlecraft hangar, McCoy presses a button that opens the door. The button's nameplate states "hanger" when it should read "hangar".
    • Quotes

      Dr. McCoy: Spock, how can you be so sure the Intrepid was destroyed?

      Mr. Spock: I sensed it die.

      Dr. McCoy: But I thought you had to be in physical contact with a subject before...

      Mr. Spock: Doctor, even I, a half-Vulcan, could hear the death scream of four hundred Vulcan minds crying out over the distance between us.

      Dr. McCoy: Not even a Vulcan could feel a starship die.

      Mr. Spock: Call it a deep understanding of the way things happen to Vulcans, but I know that not a person, not even the computers on board the Intrepid, knew what was killing them or would have understood it had they known.

      Dr. McCoy: But, 400 Vulcans?

      Mr. Spock: I've noticed that about your people, Doctor. You find it easier to understand the death of one than the death of a million. You speak about the objective hardness of the Vulcan heart, yet how little room there seems to be in yours.

      Dr. McCoy: Suffer the death of thy neighbour, eh, Spock? Now, you wouldn't wish that on us, would you?

      Mr. Spock: It might have rendered your history a bit less bloody.

    • Alternate versions
      Special Enhanced version Digitally Remastered with new exterior shots and remade opening theme song
    • Connections
      Featured in Harlem Theater (1968)
    • Soundtracks
      Theme
      Music credited to Alexander Courage

      Sung by Loulie Jean Norman

    User reviews26

    Review
    Review
    Featured review
    7/10
    The Enterprise vs. a very Huge Cosmic Germ
    It's a cosmic threat to the galaxy which the Enterprise crew faces this time, an unusual invader, to say the least (see the previous season's "Operation Annihilate!" for another far-out invader). This episode gains a point or two for the almost mind-blowing observation, voiced by Kirk & McCoy, that mankind's sole destiny may be in repelling such invaders of our galaxy; our species may, in this theory, act like antibodies of the galaxy-body, fending off invading cosmic viruses. As the story begins, we're too late to save a solar system and one starship, manned by Vulcans, has also fallen victim to the invader, a one-celled organism about 11,000 miles long, surrounded by some black nega-field. Conceivably, were this creature to reproduce, as the crew discovers it is about to, it would eventually fill the entire galaxy. Pretty wild. The pace is a bit slow in this episode, sort of reflecting the lethargy the crew becomes afflicted with - the space creature drains energy, including the life functions of human beings.

    Much of the tension in the story stems from the rather strange competition developing between Spock and McCoy. Both seem a little too eager to be the one to pilot a shuttlecraft into the gelatinous mass of the creature and conduct analysis, even though this little mission is regarded as a one-way trip, a suicide mission. Kirk has to pick one of them for the trip and, though Spock accuses McCoy of having a martyr complex, they both hint to Kirk, 'pick me! pick me to die!' in the same fashion. This episode takes the often-volatile Spock-McCoy relationship to the next level, binding them together in an odd death wish syndrome. Whether they're both attempting to impress Kirk or seeking to discover new scientific concepts, their efforts to outdo each other is taken to ludicrous levels here, as it boils down to which one wants to die more. I also got the uneasy impression that certain men join a service such as Starfleet to escape normal life with the goal of giving up their own in a glorious pursuit of the fantastic, like walking barefoot into a live volcano on the chance they'd learn something no one else knows.
    helpful•21
    3
    • Bogmeister
    • Nov 19, 2006

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    FAQ1

    • Given that the Vulcans has their own Vulcan (impressive) spaceships (as seen on STE), isn't it strange that a FEDERATION USS ship was manned exclusively by Vulcans? Should't that be a Vulcan ship?

    Details

    Edit
    • Release date
      • January 19, 1968 (United States)
    • Country of origin
      • United States
    • Official sites
      • handitv
      • Official Facebook
    • Language
      • English
    • Filming locations
      • Paramount Studios - 5555 Melrose Avenue, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA
    • Production companies
      • Paramount Television
      • Norway Corporation
    • See more company credits at IMDbPro

    Technical specs

    Edit
    • Runtime
      50 minutes
    • Color
      • Color
    • Sound mix
      • Mono
    • Aspect ratio
      • 4:3

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