EPISODE 10

Above:  Astro-Medics

A Screen Capture

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Aired December 1, 1973

0:49:21

The episode is available here.

STARRING

Keir Dullea as Devon

Gay Rowan as Rachel

Robin Ward as Garth

GUEST STARRING

Stephen Young as Dr. Christopher Trask

Budd Knapp as Dr. Martin Trask

Meg Hogarth as Dr. Jean Pelletier

Bill Kemp as the Captain of Medical Module 7

David Mann as the Astrogator of Medical Module 7

Michael Zenon as the Commander of Galactic Ship Seer D221

William Osler as Computer Host and Voice

BEHIND THE CAMERAS

Series created by Cordwainer Bird (Harlan Ellison)

Episode written by Paul Schneider and Martin Lager

Story Consultant = Norman Klenman

Director = George McCowan

Producer = William Davidson

Executive Producers = Douglas Trumbull and Jerry Zeitman

Above:  Medical Module 7

A Screen Capture

BACKGROUND

The Starlost had many problems.  One of these was the abandonment of the premise of the series.  Astro-Medics marked the first time an episode featured characters who have known for a long time that the Earth Ship Ark is on a collision course with a star and have consistently done nothing even to try to resolve that problem.  This, however, was not the first episode to raise the question, “Who trained and credentialed these people?”  The first episode to do that was And Only Man is Vile.

The writing career of Paul Schneider was uneven.  He wrote Balance of Terror (1966) and The Squire of Gothos (1967) for Star Trek (1966-1969), as well as The Terratin Incident (1973) for Star Trek (1973-1975).  Schneider also wrote The Satyr (1981) and The Guardians (1981) for Buck Rogers in the 25th Century (1979-1981).

The aliens in this episode are idiots, objectively.  These humanoid reptiles hail from a planet where the temperature is even.  These aliens, a spacefaring species, need a human doctor to tell them to turn down the thermostat, for medical reasons.  Really?

Above:  The Power of Green:  The Flight Crew of Medical Module 7

A Screen Capture

SUMMARY OF THE EPISODE

Devon, Rachel, and Garth are in a medical/scientific facility, Sector M16.  Garth enters Sonic Chamber IV, intended for the destruction of microorganisms.  Garth becomes trapped briefly.  Then Devon rescues him.  Yet Devon becomes trapped, unconscious, and injured.  Garth gets Devon out of Sonic Chamber IV.  Rachel consults the nearest sphere projector, which notifies Medical Module 7.

Unbeknownst to anyone in the series to date, a few small crafts, Medical Modules, are constantly in orbit of the Earth Ship Ark.  There used to be more of them, and the crews and medics are overworked, but they are there.  Drs. Christopher Trask and Jean Pelletier arrive with an extra to take the trio to Medical Module 7.

Dr. Christopher Trask holds his father, Dr. Martin Trask, in contempt.  Christopher, an emotional bully, regards Martin as a “senile old man.”  Yet Martin is not senile; he is a doormat.  This story is mainly the tale of the father and the son developing a healthy, mutually respectful relationship.

Garth spends most of this episode feeling guilty for causing Devon’s life-threatening injury.  Dr. Christopher Trask spends most of this episode not trying to save Devon’s life–only making Devon comfortable before the supposedly-inevitable death.

Dr. Christopher Trask becomes fixated on the challenge of saving the lives of the crew of Galactic Ship Seer D221.  The crew is in mortal danger, for reasons they cannot understand.  The alien commander contacts Medical Module 7, which leaves the Ark and heads toward the alien vessel.  Garth aborts that trip, causing Medical Module 7 to drift and possibly to lose the opportunity to return to the Ark.  But he does force surgery on Devon.  Dr. Martin Trask begins that surgery.  Meanwhile, Galactic Ship Seer D221 sets a course to rendezvous with Medical Module 7.

The alien commander knows that the Ark is on a collision course with a “Class-G star”–not a “solar star,” at least.  That commander also proposes to help restart the reactors aboard the Ark in exchange for medical aide.  Dr. Christopher Trask tries to understand the cause of the aliens’ problem, to no avail.

The Doctors Trask switch tasks; Christopher completes the surgery and saves Devon’s life while Martin saves the aliens.  Martin tells them, in so many words, to turn down the thermostat.  That works.  The alien commander gives the captain of Medical Module 7 the coordinates of the Ark.  The alien commander also declines to help save the Ark; he has to go, for some reason.

Medical Module 7 returns Devon, Rachel, and Garth to the Ark.  Then Drs. Trask, Trask, and Pelletier have to leave for Biosphere M23, for a medical emergency.  Devon, Rachel, and Garth, like the idiots they are, do not ask to ride shotgun with them.

Above:  Galactic Ship Seer D221

A Screen Capture

UNANSWERED QUESTIONS

Where is the laundry in the tubes and corridors of the Earth Ship Ark?

Where are the bathrooms and showers in tubes and corridors of the Earth Ship Ark?

How does Garth maintain that early 1970s haircut while on the run in the tubes and corridors of the Earth Ship Ark?

Given that Devon, Rachel, and Garth have been to the Bridge, why do they need to find the backup Bridge?

Where have the Astro-Medics been in the previous episodes?  They would have been useful more than once.

Above:  The Alien Commander

A Screen Capture

OTHER COMMENTS

This episode is tedious.

The green uniforms of the flight crew of Medical Module 7 match the green egg crate foam.  The green egg crate foam in The Starlost is notorious, in my mind, at least.

Next Episode:  The Implant People

KENNETH RANDOLPH TAYLOR

SEPTEMBER 10, 2021 COMMON ERA

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All images in this post are screen captures from a series that is freely available at archive.org and YouTube.

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