Miri
Episode Overview: Enterprise discovers a planet identical to Earth, with a very important exception: a few centuries earlier, a devasting plague struck. All of the adults were killed, but the children somehow survived – and still survive, hundreds of years later, feral and deeply distrustful of “grups”. And there are monsters: insane, covered with scab-like plaques, they attack on sight. The disease is still active; the plaques appear on the landing party. If McCoy cannot discover a cure in the week they have left, all will die. Even Spock, now a carrier, cannot return to the ship.
Air date: 10/27/1966
Directed by: Adrian Spies
Guest Stars: Deforest Kelley as Dr. Leonard Horatio “Bones” McCoy, Grace Lee Whitney as Yeoman Janice Reand, Jim Goodwin as Lt John Farrell, Kim Darby as Miri, Michael J. Pollard as Jahn, Ed McCready as Boy Creature, John Megna as Little Boy, Keith Taylor as Jahn’s Friend, Kellie Flanagan as Blonde Girl.
Some episodes of Star Trek: The Original Series have stood the test of time remarkably well. Their stories, themes, and messages remain just as relevant today as they were when they first aired in the 1960s. Unfortunately, “Miri” is not one of those episodes. In fact, I’m not entirely convinced it was ever a good one.
The episode begins with the crew of the USS Enterprise investigating a distress signal from a mysterious planet. What makes this discovery especially intriguing is that the planet appears to be an exact duplicate of Earth. It’s a fascinating premise that immediately raises all sorts of questions.
When Captain Kirk and his landing party beam down to investigate, they discover a seemingly abandoned civilization. Before long, they encounter something even stranger: the planet’s surviving inhabitants appear to be children.
This is where things start going downhill.
As Kirk attempts to understand what happened to the planet, he encounters a young girl named Miri. What follows is one of the most uncomfortable and awkward interactions I can remember watching in Star Trek. Kirk’s behavior toward the girl comes across as strangely flirtatious, despite the fact that, at this point in the story, he has every reason to believe she is simply a child.
Maybe the scene was intended to demonstrate Kirk’s charm or his ability to put a frightened child at ease. Whatever the intention, the execution is incredibly uncomfortable. It’s one of those moments that makes you wonder what the writers and directors were thinking.
And unfortunately, the awkwardness doesn’t end there.
As the mystery unfolds, the Enterprise crew discovers that the planet’s population has suffered a terrible fate, and the landing party soon finds itself racing against time to avoid a similar outcome. On paper, this should make for a tense and compelling science fiction story. There’s a mysterious civilization, a deadly threat, and a desperate search for answers.
The ingredients are certainly there for a great episode of Star Trek.
But instead of building suspense, the story repeatedly gets bogged down in strange character interactions, irritating behavior, and scenes that seem to drag on longer than they should. The children, who should be central to the mystery and tragedy of the planet, often become more annoying than sympathetic.
I found myself increasingly frustrated rather than invested in what was happening.
Perhaps the biggest disappointment is that the episode never really recovers from that initial uncomfortable encounter between Kirk and Miri. Once that scene established the tone, I struggled to become fully engaged with the rest of the story. And the numerous awkward moments that followed certainly didn’t help.
Final Thoughts
One of the things I enjoy about revisiting Star Trek: The Original Series is seeing which episodes still resonate decades later. Some offer timeless storytelling, thought-provoking science fiction, and meaningful commentary on humanity. Others remind us just how much television storytelling has changed.
“Miri” falls firmly into that second category.
What begins as an intriguing science fiction mystery quickly becomes an uncomfortable and often irritating viewing experience. The premise had potential, but the execution left me wishing the Enterprise had simply continued on its way.