episode #11 - The Terratin Incident

Air Date: 11/17/73    written by Paul Schneider

The Enterprise investigates transmissions from a planet covered with a crystalline surface. The ship and crew are hit by a beam from the planet and everyone begins to shrink. On top of that, the dilithium crystals powering the ship have unraveled. At first, the crew is unclear on whether the ship is expanding or they are reducing, but analysis soon reveals that organic matter is compressing. It's not long before the crew are only a couple of inches in height; they also deduce that they will shrink to as small as 1/16th of an inch in size. The key lies in beaming someone (Kirk) to the surface of the planet.
This episode uncovers a few details never touched upon in TOS, such as the composition of the uniforms and the exotic alien animals kept in Medical. The strength to this episode is a sense of mystery and the question of how to find a solution to a, eh, growing dilemma. The weakness to this is the short length of the episode, not allowing for more demonstration of the problems associated with the crew's small size. There is a revelation on the planet itself.  At least one scene recalls This Side of Paradise, when it appears as if the ship has been emptied of personnel. The premise itself could not be duplicated on the old show or even on the later Trek shows, as it was beyond the FX possibilities of TV budgets.  BoG's Score: 7 out of 10