star trek lazarus

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The Alternative Factor

• Episode aired Mar 30, 1967

Existence itself comes under threat from a man's power-struggle with his alternate self, with the Enterprise's strained dilithium crystals presenting his key to a final solution. Existence itself comes under threat from a man's power-struggle with his alternate self, with the Enterprise's strained dilithium crystals presenting his key to a final solution. Existence itself comes under threat from a man's power-struggle with his alternate self, with the Enterprise's strained dilithium crystals presenting his key to a final solution.

• Gerd Oswald
• Don Ingalls
• Gene Roddenberry
• William Shatner
• Leonard Nimoy
• Robert Brown
• 55 User reviews
• 12 Critic reviews

Top cast 18

• Captain James T. Kirk

• Charlene Masters

• Assistant Engineer
• Transporter Chief

• Lieutenant Hadley
• (uncredited)
• Security Guard

• Anti-Matter Lazarus Being #2

• Enterprise crewmember

• Anti-Matter Lazarus Being #1
• All cast & crew
• Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

Did you know

• Trivia This is the first time that live two-way communication with Starfleet Command is depicted. In previous episodes, communication with Starfleet Command was through delayed radio messages.
• Goofs At the very beginning when Spock is reporting the atmospheric composition of the planet he has scanned he says "Oxygen Hydrogen atmosphere". This would be a very explosive combination. He meant to say "Oxygen Nitrogen atmosphere" (similar to Earth) but just got his line wrong.

Spock : I fail to comprehend your indignation, sir. I have simply made the logical deduction that you are a liar.

• Crazy credits The closing credits are set against a combination background of stills from that episode and previous episodes.
• Alternate versions Special Enhanced version Digitally Remastered with new exterior shots and remade opening theme song
• Connections Featured in Mr. Plinkett's Star Trek 2009 Review (2010)
• Soundtracks Theme From Star Trek Written by and credited to Alexander Courage

User reviews 55

The beard of lazarus....

• Feb 15, 2022
• March 30, 1967 (United States)
• United States
• Official Facebook
• Vasquez Rocks Natural Area Park - 10700 W. Escondido Canyon Rd., Agua Dulce, California, USA
• Desilu Productions
• Norway Corporation
• See more company credits at IMDbPro

Technical specs

• Runtime 50 minutes

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The Alternative Factor (episode)

• 1.2 Act One
• 1.3 Act Two
• 1.4 Act Three
• 1.5 Act Four
• 2 Log entries
• 3 Memorable quotes
• 4.1 Production timeline
• 4.2 Story and script
• 4.3 Cast and characters
• 4.4 Sets and props
• 4.5 Costumes and make-up
• 4.6 Effects
• 4.7 Continuity
• 4.8 Reception
• 4.9 Remastered information
• 4.10 Video and DVD releases
• 4.11 Apocrypha
• 5.1 Starring
• 5.2 Also starring
• 5.3 Guest star
• 5.4 Featuring
• 5.6 Uncredited co-stars
• 5.7 Stunt doubles
• 5.8.1 Unreferenced materials
• 5.9 External links

Summary [ ]

In standard orbit around an iron - silica -type uncharted planet , the USS Enterprise prepares to complete its survey, when the starship is violently rocked twice and everything within sensor range suddenly "blinks", almost as if the universe is on the verge of ceasing to exist. And, in the wake of this, a man appears on the surface of the planet, where moments earlier there was no life.

Act One [ ]

Beaming down, Captain Kirk , Spock , and the landing party encounter a man. " You came! Thank the heavens , it's not too late! ", he exclaims. Dirty and disheveled, he falls from a rock. The landing party returns to the Enterprise with him, where Kirk learns more news – the strange phenomenon drained the dilithium crystals almost completely. Still worse, Starfleet Command issues a Code Factor 1 message – invasion status. The effect experienced by the Enterprise was also experienced everywhere in the galaxy , and far beyond. Starfleet withdraws all nearby ships – Commodore Barstow informs Kirk that the Enterprise is the bait.

In his quarters , Kirk talks to his "guest" – a man named Lazarus , who is pursuing a "thing," a monster who destroyed his entire civilization. He informs Kirk that he will stop at nothing to destroy it. Beaming back down to the planet, Kirk learns from Spock that there is no other creature here. Spock, accusing Lazarus of lying, states " I fail to comprehend your indignation, sir. I have simply made the logical deduction that you are a liar. " Kirk demands the truth – and the universe turns inside out once again. The same "winking" phenomenon occurs again. And Lazarus – first he has a bandaged forehead, and then he doesn't, and then he does again.

Act Two [ ]

Strange energy visible on the planet on the viewscreen

Meanwhile, Spock has discovered a source of radiation that is not there – a "rip" in the universe, where regular physical laws do not apply. The key to locating this source seems to be the dilithium crystals – a revelation which excites Lazarus, who demands the impossible: that Kirk give him the crystals.

The captain refuses, but Lazarus overpowers Lieutenant Charlene Masters as well as an engineering officer and steals two dilithium crystals, nevertheless.

Act Three [ ]

In the briefing room , Kirk confronts Lazarus, but he denies it, blaming his monster. And the evidence suggests he isn't the thief, for the crystals are not aboard his ship. In Sick Bay, Kirk confronts Lazarus with his lies, which Lazarus explains away by claiming that he is a time traveler ; his spaceship is actually a "dimensional corridor gateway"and The dead world the Enterprise orbits is the distant future of his destroyed homeworld; the place and time he has traveled to in pursuit of the monster. At Dr. McCoy 's urging, the crew departs Sick Bay to allow Lazarus to rest and recover from his fall. [[ Having relocated to the briefing room to consider all of the known evidence, Kirk and Spock conclude that the strange energy must come from a source outside the universe. A source in another, parallel universe. There are two copies of Lazarus, and they are periodically exchanging places through a kind of door – and if they ever exist in the same universe at the same time, everything, everywhere, will be annihilated in a cataclysmic matter / antimatter explosion.

Meanwhile, the alternative Lazarus creates a diversion by starting a fire in main engineering, steals the ship's energy crystals, then beams down. Kirk pursues. As he attempts to enter Lazarus' spaceship, he vanishes, hurled through the corridor into the other universe.

Act Four [ ]

Lazarus-A timeship; Lazarus-B timeship was identical except that the dome on top had been taken off

Once there, Kirk meets the other but sane Lazarus-B, and learns the truth. Lazarus-B's people discovered how to pass through the negative magnetic corridor that both connects and protects the two universes. When this happened, Lazarus-A couldn't bear the knowledge that he had a duplicate, and resolved to destroy his opposite. He is mad and doesn't care if this causes the destruction of two universes. Lazarus-B and Kirk realize he must be stopped: if Kirk can force Lazarus-A into the corridor, Lazarus-B can hold him there, and Kirk can destroy his spaceship – which will also destroy Lazarus-B's spaceship. Access to the corridor will be sealed forever and both universes will be safe, but the men named Lazarus will be at each others' throats for the remainder of eternity. Kirk goes back through the corridor and fights in hand-to-hand combat forcibly throwing Lazarus-A into the "dimensional door." Kirk then has the crystals removed from the timeship and heads back to the Enterprise , ordering Lieutenant Leslie to bring the ship's phasers to target the inter-dimensional ship. The two Lazaruses meet once more and fight as phaser beams vaporize the ship, sealing the two for all of eternity, caught together, between universes. Kirk ruminates on the fact that the two Lazarus are going to be at each other's throats for all time and wonders how it would be. Spock reminds Kirk that the universe[s] are now safe. " For you and me. But, what of Lazarus? What of Lazarus? "

Log entries [ ]

• Captain's log, USS Enterprise (NCC-1701), 2267

Memorable quotes [ ]

" I want facts, not poetry. "

" He's death! Anti-life! He lives to destroy! "

" I told you, it was the thing! All white, black and empty. A terrible emptiness. " " Let's get back to the ship. " " He'll kill us all if we don't kill him first! Kill! Kill! Kill!! Kill!! Kill!!! "

" Are you deaf as well as blind?! "

" I fail to comprehend your indignation, sir. I've simply made the logical deduction that you are a liar. "

" Sometimes pain can drive a man harder than pleasure. "

" Jim, madness has no purpose or reason. But it may have a goal. "

" If they meet. " " Annihilation, Jim. Total, complete, absolute annihilation. "

" So you're the terrible thing? The murdering monster? The creature? " " Yes, captain. Or he is. It depends on your point of view, doesn't it? "

" You'll be trapped inside that corridor with him forever. At each other's throats throughout time. " " Is it such a large price to pay for the safety of two universes? "

" Captain, the universe is safe. " " For you and me. But what of Lazarus? What of Lazarus? "

Background information [ ]

Production timeline [ ].

• Story outline by Don Ingalls : 29 August 1966
• Revised story outline: 12 September 1966
• Second revised story outline: 14 September 1966
• First draft teleplay by Ingalls: 14 October 1966
• Second draft teleplay: 7 November 1966
• Final draft teleplay by Gene L. Coon or Steven W. Carabatsos : 11 November 1966
• Revised final draft teleplay by Coon: 14 November 1966
• Additional revisions: 15 November 1966 , 16 November 1966 , 18 November 1966
• Day 1 – 16 November 1966 , Wednesday – Desilu Stage 9 : Int. Bridge
• Day 2 – 17 November 1966 , Thursday – Desilu Stage 9 : Int. Bridge , Sickbay , Transporter room
• Day 3 – 18 November 1966 , Friday – Desilu Stage 9 : Int. Bridge , Corridors
• Day 4 – 21 November 1966 , Monday – Desilu Stage 9 : Int. Dilithium recharging section , Recreation room (redress of Briefing room ), Sickbay
• Day 5 – 22 November 1966 , Tuesday – Vasquez Rocks Natural Area Park : Ext. Planet surface
• Day 6 – 23 November 1966 , Wednesday – Vasquez Rocks Natural Area Park : Ext. Planet surface
• Day 7 – 25 November 1966 , Friday – Desilu Stage 10 : Ext. Planet surface , "Transdimensional limbo"
• Original broadcast date: 30 March 1967 , postponed from 2 February 1967
• First UK airdate (on BBC1 ): 8 December 1971
• First UK airdate (on ITV ): 7 March 1982
• Remastered airdate: 1 December 2007

Story and script [ ]

• The original script called for a romantic entanglement between Charlene Masters and Lazarus that was eventually cut due to Roddenberry considering it too similar to the romance between Khan and McGivers in " Space Seed ". As stated by Roddenberry in a Season One memo: " In both 'Space Seed' and this story, we have a crew woman madly in love with a brawny guest star and flipping our whole gang into a real mess because she is in love… do they have to do [this] in two of our scripts? " [1]
• There is no officer played by Larry Riddle as noted among the cast for this episode in the Star Trek Concordance (1st Titan edition, p. 28). Lieutenant Larry Riddle was Charlene Masters' jealous boyfriend in the first draft of the script. [2]

Cast and characters [ ]

The navigator and Leslie

• James Doohan ( Scott ) and George Takei ( Sulu ) do not appear in this episode. The absence of Scotty has been remarked in several commentaries as being highly unusual, given the extensive exposure in the episode of engineering matters, such as the theft of Dilithium crystals, as well as Lazarus sneaking about engineering and attacking various engineering crew members. (Cushman, Marc, "These are the Voyages", Jacob Brown Press, 2013)
• Curiously, in spite of a higher ranking officer serving as the navigator, this was the second episode that Leslie was seen in the command chair, and the first episode in which Eddie Paskey is credited in the ending credits, albeit misspelled as "Lesley".
• Richard Derr , who plays Commodore Barstow in this episode, later played Admiral Fitzgerald in the episode " The Mark of Gideon ".
• Actor John Drew Barrymore (father of actress Drew Barrymore ) was originally contracted to play Lazarus. Barrymore was scheduled to begin filming on the second day of production, 17 November 1966 , however, the previous afternoon he sent word to the studio that he will refuse to show up to work. Barrymore's replacement, Robert Brown , on the recommendation of his friend, William Shatner , was contacted the same night, literally dragged to the studio and offered the job on the spot, starting the next morning. He recounted the filming to be very tight and tense. ( These Are the Voyages: TOS Season One 1st ed., pp. 415-416)
• The Star Trek production team filed a grievance against Barrymore at the Screen Actors' Guild, which led to him being unable to obtain acting work for six months in 1967. ( Inside Star Trek: The Real Story , pp. 201-202; These Are the Voyages: TOS Season One 1st ed., pp. 415-416, 420)

Sets and props [ ]

• Along with " Friday's Child ", this is one of the only two episodes where outdoor planet scenes were filmed both on Desilu Stage 10 and on location (both times at Vasquez Rocks Natural Area Park ). Originally, all planet-side scenes were scheduled to be filmed on location, but due to the turmoil during production, director Gerd Oswald couldn't finish shooting at Vasquez. Matt Jefferies and the art department prepared a spot on Stage 10 which could accommodate the missing "alternate universe" sequence. ( These Are the Voyages: TOS Season One , 1st ed., p. 418)

New "recharging section" of Engineering

• This episode introduces a new set, a small subsection of engineering, described in the final draft of the script, dated 11 November 1966 , as the "Lithium [sic] Crystal Recharging Section", which was described as " A portion of Engineering where there are bins into which dilithium crystals are placed for recharging. " Part of the dilithium energizer panel in the set used the same controls as the neural neutralizer from " Dagger of the Mind ".
• Although Lazarus's spacecraft resembles a flying saucer, James Blish describes it as "cone-shaped" in his novelization of the episode in Star Trek 10 .
• The dome of Lazarus' time ship was later reused to encase the Providers in " The Gamesters of Triskelion ".

Costumes and make-up [ ]

• Periodically throughout the episode, the two versions of Lazarus exchange places. One of them has a wound or bandage on his head which McCoy treated: this is the "insane" Lazarus from our universe; the other is his rational counterpart from the antimatter universe.
• Although Masters is referred to as a lieutenant and works in engineering, she wears a blue uniform of the sciences section, and it has no rank stripes, which normally denotes the rank of Ensign.
• Lazarus' costume was later worn by an extra playing a Babel Conference delegate in " Journey to Babel ".

Effects [ ]

The word "SCRIPT" is misspelled

• The visual of the iron-silica planet from orbit is reused footage previously representing Alfa 177 in " The Enemy Within " and M-113 in " The Man Trap ". This planet effect was reused again as Argus X in " Obsession " and Ardana in " The Cloud Minders ".
• The footage of the two Lazaruses fighting was created by filming two stuntmen fighting in a smoke-filled room with orange and purple walls, then double-exposing its color negative footage over an astronomical photograph of the Trifid Nebula . ( citation needed • edit ) By actual count Lazarus changes between the universes about eight times.
• In the closing credits of the show, the title billing for Script Supervisor is misspelled "SCPIPT SUPERVISOR".
• Unique to the original series are the angle of the Enterprise as it fires its phasers to destroy Lazarus's ship, as well as the use of a single phaser beam and the lack of a sound effect when the beam is viewed from space.

Continuity [ ]

• In the opening scene Spock describes the planet as having an " oxygen-hydrogen atmosphere ". Such an atmosphere is practically impossible since a single spark would ignite it, perhaps even explosively.
• This is the first time that live two-way communication with Starfleet Command is depicted. In previous episodes, communication with Starfleet Command was through delayed radio messages.
• Depending on which version of this episode you watch, the closing stills change. The original syndicated version and the VHS version show the still as the Enterprise leaving the Earth-like planet from " Miri ", however, the Sci-fi Channel and DVD version show the still as just a blue planet, possibly Rigel 12 from " Mudd's Women " or Starbase 11 from " Court Martial ".

Reception [ ]

• The Agony Booth website included this episode among "The Worst of Trek ". In their recap, they write that in the episode, " very little actually happens, and what little that does comes about only because Kirk and Company are written to act in such a way that can only be described as severely brain damaged. " The reviewer continues, " I never thought I'd say this, but this episode is making " Spock's Brain " look pretty goddamn good right about now! " He concludes, " this is one of the most poorly constructed fifty minutes I've ever seen. An almost impossibly incoherent script, a damp squib of a finale, and some horrible editing make this one of the true stinkers in the Trek universe. " Also, he mentions that " [John Drew] Barrymore didn't show up for filming. Given the script, I can't say I blame the fellow. The rest of the cast should have done the same thing, to be perfectly frank. " [3]

Remastered information [ ]

"The Alternative Factor" was the forty-ninth episode of the remastered version of The Original Series to air. It premiered in syndication on the weekend of 1 December 2007 and aside from the standard CGI replacement footage of the Enterprise and the planet-of-the-week, this episode also featured several new, modest effects shots of the alternative warp effect, as well as phaser and transporter effects.

Video and DVD releases [ ]

• Original US Betamax release: 1985
• UK VHS release (two-episode tapes, CIC Video ): Volume 11 , catalog number VHR 2295, release date unknown
• US VHS release: 15 April 1994
• UK re-release (three-episode tapes, CIC Video): Volume 1.7, 4 November 1996
• Original US DVD release (single-disc): Volume 10, 21 March 2000
• As part of the TOS Season 1 DVD collection
• As part of the TOS Season 1 HD DVD collection
• As part of the Star Trek: Fan Collective - Alternate Realities collection
• As part of the TOS Season 1 Blu-ray collection

Apocrypha [ ]

• A cat version of "The Alternative Factor" was featured in Jenny Parks ' 2017 book Star Trek Cats .

Links and references [ ]

Starring [ ].

• William Shatner as Capt. Kirk

Also starring [ ]

• Leonard Nimoy as Mr. Spock

Guest star [ ]

• Robert Brown as Lazarus / anti-Lazarus

Featuring [ ]

• DeForest Kelley as Dr. McCoy
• Janet MacLachlan as Charlene Masters
• Nichelle Nichols as Uhura
• Richard Derr as Barstow
• Arch Whiting as Assistant Engineer
• Christian Patrick as Transporter Chief
• Eddie Paskey as Lesley [sic]

Uncredited co-stars [ ]

• William Blackburn as Hadley
• Vince Cadiente as security lieutenant/technician
• Frank da Vinci as Brent
• Carey Foster as sciences crew woman
• Tom Lupo as security guard
• Ron Veto as Harrison
• Command crewman
• Command crew woman
• Crew woman 1
• Crew woman 2
• Helmsman lieutenant
• Lieutenant 1
• Lieutenant 2
• Navigator lieutenant commander
• Sciences lieutenant

Stunt doubles [ ]

• Bill Catching as stunt double #2 for Robert Brown
• Gary Combs as stunt double for William Shatner
• Al Wyatt as stunt double #1 for Robert Brown

References [ ]

abrasion ; accusation ; all hands ; " all right "; alternative ; alternative warp ; analysis ; annihilation ; answer ; antimatter ; antimatter universe (aka minus universe ; negative universe ) assistant ; " at a loss for words "; " a thing "; atmosphere ; bait ; bandage ; battle stations ; being ; black ; blindness ; body temperature ; " Bones "; bruise ; bull ; captivity ; cartographic section ; censure ; civilization ; Code Factor 1 ; coffee ; commodore ; computer bank ; computer report ; constitution ; container ; contact ; country doctor ; course ; creature ; danger ; deaf ; death ; devil ; dilithium (aka dilithium crystal ); dimension ; dinosaur ; dizziness ; door ; double-talk ; drill ; Earth ; effect ; electrical impulses ; emptiness ; enemy ; energizer / energizing circuits ; energy ; eternity ; evidence ; existence ; experimentation chamber ; explosives ; face ; fact ; Fahrenheit ; fire ; footprint ; forehead ; formula ; freedom ; general alert ; " get to the point "; gravimetric field ; gravity ; guest ; head ; heart ; heaven ; Hell ; hole ; hour ; Human ( Human being ); humor ; hydrogen ; idea ; inch ; indignation ; information ; invasion ; iron ; joke ; justice ; key ; Lazarus' planet ; Lazarus' planet system ; Lazarus' spaceship ; liar ; lie ; life object ; life survey ; living being ; living creature ; location ; logic ; " lost his mind "; madman ; madness ; magnetic communication satellite ; magnetic effect ; magnetic field ; main screen ; mass ; matter ; matter universe (aka positive universe ) medic ; mental state ; Milky Way Galaxy ; mind ; minute ; miracle worker ; mission ; monster (aka beast ); movement ; muscleman ; negative magnetic corridor ; " not hold water "; object ; " of course "; orbit ; ounce ; " out of the question "; oxygen ; pain ; parallel universe ; paranoia ; parsec ; patient ; phaser bank ; phenomenon ; photographic section ; physical law ; physical makeup ; physical warp ; pleasure ; poetry ; powder keg ; power ; priority one ; prison ; pulsation phenomenon ; quadrant ; question ; radiation ; range ; rationality ; recuperative powers ; red 2 message ; report ; riddle ; rip in the universe ; rock ; safety valve ; screening ; search ; search party ; second ; section ; security red ; security team (aka security detail ); self-preservation ; sense of humor ; sensor ; ship's physician ; silica ; space ; spaceship ; speculation ; " stand by "; Starbase 200 ; Starfleet Command ; " strong as a bull "; surface ; terrain ; thing ; threat ; throat ; time chamber ; time ship ; time traveler ; trick ; truth ; understatement ; unit ; universe ; vengeance ; visual section 988-TG ; water ; weapon ; white ; word ; wound ; year ; zero gravity

Unreferenced materials [ ]

biological lab ; chemoscientist ; Riddle, Larry ; rose

External links [ ]

• " The Alternative Factor " at Memory Beta , the wiki for licensed Star Trek works
• " The Alternative Factor " at Wikipedia
• [4] "The Alternative Factor" at IMDB.com
• " The Alternative Factor " at MissionLogPodcast.com
• " The Alternative Factor " at the Internet Movie Database
• 1 Terri Garr

Star Trek: Who Was Lazarus?

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Lazarus (Robert Brown) was a troubled Star Trek character whose desperate need to save the galaxy unwittingly turned him into an enemy that only his alternative counterpart could defeat. Yet, none of this was apparent when the Enterprise crew first encountered Lazarus in Star Trek: The Original Series . He initially just seemed like a disturbed man with a weird little beard. However, he also stood out by being uniquely named after a major figure in the Christian Bible.

The crew had no idea that he was locked in a battle of epic proportions — with himself. They were completing a scientific survey of an uncharted planet in season 1, episode 27, “The Alternative Factor” when something very powerful rocked the ship two times. It left Captain Kirk (William Shatner) in an uncharacteristic state of panic as he demanded answers from his First Officer. Spock (Leonard Nimoy) explained that each time it was like the galaxy itself was on the verge of “winking out.” Even more odd? The previously uninhabited planet they’d been studying suddenly had a human on its surface.

RELATED: Underrated Star Trek: The Original Series Episodes

Starfleet Versus the Unknown

Captain Kirk did what all good Starfleet officers in Star Trek do, and took an away team down for further investigation. First, they found a ship. Then they found its owner yelling from a hilltop about how it wasn’t “too late” and they still had time “to stop him,” before passing out. While it was unclear who he was or what he was talking about, the captain quickly realized that the Enterprise was still in the danger zone.

The ship was getting dangerously close to not having enough Dilithium to power its engines. In fact, Captain Kirk learned through a video conference with Commodore Barstow (Richard Derr) that all of Starfleet had been rocked by the same bizarre phenomenon. The commodore left the Enterprise in charge of figuring out what was happening and how to stop it. It was time to sit down for a face-to-face with the strange man himself.

Lazarus Versus Anti-Lazarus

“The Alternative Factor” isn’t exactly one of the saddest episodes of Star Trek , but the implications of its ending were kind of depressing. Lazarus turned out to be a scientist fighting an alternative version of himself he met while using an alternative warp to explore an alternative universe. The Original Series never explored this concept further. Even in the episode itself, the reasoning behind the strange phenomenon was little more than sci-fi mumbo jumbo. It did, however, shed light on why Lazarus seemed to shift wildly between emotions while talking to everyone from Captain Kirk to Dr. McCoy (DeForest Kelley).

He was constantly shifting between his level-headed self and the hothead anti-Lazarus unknowingly sharing his body. They were locked in a battle of cosmic proportions, and it was literally tearing the galaxy apart. Fortunately, Lazarus eventually understood that stopping anti-Lazarus meant trapping them both in the alternative timeline . They would be forever stuck in conflict, or as Captain Kirk puts it:

“[...] at each other’s throats throughout time.”

Lazarus replies:

“Is it such a large price to pay [for] the safety of two universes?”

Not The Mirror Universe

It would be easy to assume that the ‘Lazarus vs Anti-Lazarus’ situation was a precursor to the mirror verse. After all, it had a character discover a different version of themselves while exploring a world both the same as their own, but drastically different at the same time. Yet, apparently, the alternate universe and the mirror verse are two totally different concepts. The biggest difference seems to be that the mirror verse can exist without disrupting the original timeline.

Meanwhile, merely knowing about the alternate universe drove Lazarus to paranoid delusions that anti-Lazarus would bring about the destruction of his entire world. It left him stubbornly making increasingly dumb choices and taking unnecessarily drastic actions, like attacking Lt. Charlene Masters (Janet MacLachlan) while trying to steal dilithium crystals. The Original Series later introduced the mirror verse in season 2, episode 4, “Mirror, Mirror.” It was full of drama and backstabbing, but at no point did the act of entering it drive anyone toward hysteria. It just left them a little traumatized and a lot more grateful for their original universe.

An Unpopular Episode

Star Trek has a long history of boldly going where no other show has gone before. From series to series, the franchise takes chances on off-the-cuff episodes that either stick the landing or fumble the plot entirely. “The Alternative Factor” will probably never appear on any mainstream list discussing the best episodes of The Original Series . In fact, it’s more likely to pop up when the focus is on the worst episodes the series had to offer. Many fans felt that the episode didn't make sense, lacked substance, and was just boring.

It’s not the first to receive harsh criticism, but it’s one of the few that has never enjoyed a renaissance of changed hearts (like, for example, season 2, episode 7, “Cat’s Paw”). That being said, many individual Star Trek fans enjoy it on their own. They know that being a Trekkie sometimes means taking the drab with the exciting and the convoluted with the complex. Like Lazarus, they've learned to embrace the duality of their favorite franchise, even if it means locking themselves in endless combat with the parts of it they didn’t enjoy as much as others.

Lazarus was too consumed in destroying the alternate version of himself — until he wasn’t. Then he realized that only he could stop anti-Lazarus by sacrificing himself for a higher cause. It’s ironic that “The Alternative Factor” is strongly disliked by so many Star Trek fans, because the ending is a lofty representation of the series itself. Instead of a concrete enemy and an easily solvable problem, it delved into the existential. It brought up complex questions about identity and how it takes moral strength to put the needs of the many over the needs of the one (or the few).

One might even argue that Star Trek should bring the character back , at least for an update on his containment with anti-Lazarus. Lazarus was a troubled man fighting to prevent galaxy-wide disaster – or so he thought. Even the worst version of himself was trying to achieve something good, although his methods left much to desire. Lazarus was many things in his brief Star Trek appearance. Most of all, though, he was just a guy having a really terrible day.

MORE: Star Trek: This Episode Of The Original Series Had A Traumatic Twist

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