episode #34 - Cold Hands, Warm Heart

Episode #2 of 2nd season
Air Date: 9/26/64 writers: Dan Ulman, Milton Krims Director: Charles Haas

The astronaut (William Shatner) who returns from an orbital flight around Venus has a big city parade thrown for him; he's respected & admired, in charge of the latest space program, and has a beautiful, caring wife (Geraldine Brooks). Yes, everything seems to be going his way; then he has an odd fainting spell. Soon, he is unable to keep warm; no amount of clothing helps. His doctor friend (Malachi Throne) is unable to help. Then, he starts having nightmares, of a weird alien creature. Finally, his wife takes his temperature and finds that he's at 91 degrees, 7 degrees below normal. It becomes apparent that something happened to him on his space trip, an alien encounter during 8 minutes he was out of contact with Earth.
This episode suggested the possible dangers facing us when true space exploration begins. It suggests that once man leaves Earth's environment, it opens the door to exotic viruses and biological attack. A few sf films tackled this, but usually such exploration involves hostility of a more basic nature - lethal monsters and the like. There's also the subplot of convincing those in charge of maintaining the space program financially, a topical subject in view of current events with NASA. This is looked upon by many as Shatner's warm-up for his Capt. Kirk role. I was a little disappointed in the final act; I expected more revelation or excitement, but it ends on a very mundane note. BoG's Score: 6.5 out of 10

Outer Trivia: James B Sikking (Hill Street Blues, Outland) has a small role here;
Star Trek TOS actor alert - Shatner, of course, in charge of 'Project Vulcan' here (the planned colonization of Mars, btw), would begin in his regular role captaining the Enterprise about a year later; Throne appeared in the 2-part episode The Menagerie; and Lawrence Montaigne, in a small role as a 'construction' employee, appeared in Amok Time.