Is There in Truth No Beauty?

...so said the great poet Keats in his "Ode on a Grecian Urn". And so it is---truth and beauty, two inseparable concepts, whatever we humans choose to make of them. And one wonders what Kollos---the ambassador in the box---really looked like. Probably the best person to ask would be Spock, who successfully joined with said ambassador in the Vulcan mind-fusion. And we could ask Captain Kirk, the real hero in this story, who when he saw that Spock was in danger went after Miranda Jones with both barrels, chewed her out mercilessly and forced her to see just what her insane jealousy was doing to her. (And she had trained on Vulcan!) So she had to let go of that most destructive emotion so that she could achieve her desired objective---to be one with the ambassador. And she probably felt a great sense of relief.

The Medusan Ambassador lives in a case, you'll go round the bend if you look at his face, hideous, revolting, shocking and pug ugly, he's no oil painting and quite possibly all nubbly (but we'll never know as to find out would be diabolical).

Unsatisfactory risk analysis leads to unforeseen consequences and the loss of Mr. Spock's sanity.

I could have sworn Miranda's charactor was played by Joan Bennett. Sure resembles Joan almost identical although a little younger looking.

Diana Muldaur's character had qualities a lot of the Star Trek "space bimbos" lacked - sophistication, beauty, grace, elegance, wit, maturity, depth of character... I could go on and on!!! All the men were captivated by her, I can see why. Next to Uhura and Spock's mother (Jane Wyatt), there were no other female characters on Star Trek with more substance to them.

A creature so strange and alien that humans cannot survive just seeing it! That is a strong and true science-fiction premise. Also with obvious classic overtones. The story is very compelling. Also one of the more genuinely frightening (the Medusa of Greek mythology). The Thing in the box! What it really is, is left up to our imagination. Yet when Spock is inhabited by the alien's consciousness, he proves to be kind and gentle. Experiencing existence inside the fragile, isolated shell of a human body the Alien/ Spock gives one of the most eloquent speeches of the series "... to be so -alone!"