The Galileo Seven

ST episode
name = The "Galileo" Seven


The "Galileo" prepares for launch
series = TOS
ep_num = 16
prod_num = 014
remas._num = 41
date = January 5 1967
writer = Oliver Crawford
S. Bar-David
story by Oliver Crawford
director = Robert Gist
guest = Don Marshall
John Crawford (actor)
Peter Marko
Phyllis Douglas
Reese Vaughn
Grant Woods
Buck Maffei
David L. Ross
stardate = 2821.5
year = 2267
prev = Shore Leave
next = The Squire of Gothos

"The "Galileo" Seven" is an episode of "". It is a first season episode #16, production #14, written by Oliver Crawford and directed by Robert Gist. It was broadcast by NBC on January 5, 1967.

Overview: Mr. Spock leads a scientific team aboard the "Enterprise" shuttlecraft "Galileo" on an ill-fated mission.

Plot

On stardate 2821.5, the starship USS "Enterprise", under the command of Captain James T. Kirk, is en route to Makus III, delivering much needed medical supplies to be distributed at the New Paris Colony - a plague-ridden world. The ship passes close to a quasarlike system called Murasaki 312, which Kirk's standing orders require him to study. Since the ship needs to run the supplies, Kirk decides to send Mr. Spock, Dr. McCoy, Mr. Scott, and four other specialist crewmembers out in the #7 shuttlecraft, "Galileo", to investigate.

Soon after launch, the shuttle is pulled off course and out of the "Enterprise's" sensor range. Spock makes an emergency landing on the planet Taurus II, a rocky, fog-shrouded world in the middle of the Murasaki phenomenon. Crewmembers Latimer and Gaetano scout the area, eventually encountering Taurus II's inhabitants; giant furry bipeds armed with enormous spears.

Latimer is killed when he is impaled by one of the creatures' giant weapons. The others soon come running to investigate, chasing off the creature with phaser fire. When Spock shows more interest in the archaic weapon than Latimer's death, Lieutenant Boma begins to criticize Mr. Spock's methods of command. The crew retreat to the "Galileo" only to discover that the creatures seem to be preparing for an organized attack. Despite objections from the others, Spock insists that it should only be necessary to frighten the creatures, not kill them.

Meanwhile, Kirk turns the "Enterprise" around and flies back to search for the shuttle, despite concerns from Commissioner Ferris, who strongly reminds Kirk of his obligation to deliver the supplies to Makus III as soon as possible. The shuttlecraft "Columbus" is dispatched to search the planet from orbit. A landing party, sent to search the planet surface, returns to the "Enterprise" with casualties and reports being attacked by the large, furry creatures. Lieutenant Kelowicz, leader of the landing party, explains that the creatures are similar to creatures on Hansen's planet, but are much larger.

Between boulder-throwing attacks by the primitive giants and quarrels amongst themselves, the crew attempt to make repairs on the shuttle. Mr. Scott concludes that he will need to siphon the energy from all the phaser power packs in order to restart the ship's engines. Being told to give up their only way to defend themselves is something the frightened crew do not want to hear, but they reluctantly hand over the powerpacks.

Scott's repair to the engine is successful and Spock barely manages to get the "Galileo" off the ground and back into orbit, however by this time the "Enterprise" has given up the search and is heading back on course to Makus III. The shuttle is too low on power to escape the planet's gravity or even to achieve a stable orbit. With communicators scrambled by the ionization from the phenomenon, the "Galileo" has no way to call the "Enterprise" for help before it falls back into the atmosphere and burns up.

Spock gets an idea and decides to dump and ignite all the remaining fuel from the shuttle's engines. This produces a giant flare that is easily spotted by the "Enterprise" sensors. Once again, Kirk turns the ship around and transports the survivors out just moments before the shuttle is destroyed on re-entry.

40th Anniversary remastering

This episode was remastered in 2006 and aired September 15, 2007 as part of the remastered "Original Series". It was preceded after a several week break by "This Side of Paradise" and followed a week later by the remastered version of "The Conscience of the King". Aside from remastered video and audio, and the all-CGI animation of the USS "Enterprise" that is standard among the revisions, specific changes to this episode also include:

* The Murasaki object has been recreated with a swirling disk and ejecta streamers more reminiscent of a black hole.
* All "Galileo" shuttle take off and flight animations have been redone in CGI.
* The planet Taurus II has been given a rocky surface with cloud layers and now resides in a cloud of green gases instead of appearing as green blob.
* The shuttle plasma streamers have been redone in CGI. The shuttle now appears to burn up in the atmosphere upon re-entry.

Notes

*Yeoman Janice Rand was supposed to be in this episode. After Grace Lee Whitney was let go from the show, Rand's character became Yeoman Mears.
*Actress Phyllis Douglas, who portrayed Yeoman Mears, would later return in the third season episode "The Way to Eden" as one of Doctor Sevrin's followers.
*Writer Oliver Crawford has admitted in interviews that he lifted the basic plot of this episode from the film "Five Came Back".
*Although the title is obviously from another famous "Star Trek" episode, the second season "South Park" episode 'City on the Edge of Forever' (a.k.a. 'Flashbacks') (1998) is very much based upon this episode, with the school children stranded in the school bus, and afraid to go outside in fear of being attacked by a creature that is stalking them.

External links

[http://trekmovie.com/2007/09/16/the-galileo-seven-screenshots/#more-1035 "Galileo Seven" Remaster Side-by-side comparisons at Trekmovie.com]