8. What Ever Happened To The Children In Miri? (Star Trek: The Original Series)
Anything with kids is a story that has the capacity for follow-up. Children grow up and change into something completely different. In this episode, the crew of the Enterprise discover a very Earth-like planet populated by children in a post-apocalyptic 20th century ruins. Moreover, the children live for an extended period of time. When they eventually reach their biological latter teens, they start to change into something more deadly. Miri herself is supposed to be about 300 to 400 years old, but to Kirk she is still a shy teen-aged girl who has just grown old enough to fall prey to the legendary Kirk charm. Kirk's crew realizes that the virus that hits the kids when they turn into adults is starting to affect them as well. They develop lesions and sores associated with the virus which frightens the children. Still, they manage to find a cure with Dr. McCoy`s talented medical abilities and they are able to stop the virus from affecting the children allowing them to develop and grow up as their unnaturally extended lives will allow them. But this is a dropped plotline goldmine! Imagine a planet populated with children who can potentially live for a thousand years? They could be the equivalent of deep space explorers who never have to worry about the negative side effects of relativity. As they have no family, they have the added bonus of not leaving anyone behind. On top of all this, can you imagine the possibilities of a kid who has the benefits of virtually eternal youth coupled with years of experience? The idea that another planet developed similarly to Earth could have been explored along with the obvious biological research of life prolongation. These are only a few of the possibilities that could have been put to pen but at the very least, curiousity could have been abated by a return visit to Miri's planet. It could all start with a crack Federation team of social workers and truant officers