Star Trek: 10 Starfleet Crews That Totally LOST IT
Radiation, viruses and one very questionable game...no one loses it quite like Starfleet.
Being a Starfleet officer is a strange and unusual profession. One day, you might be defending the innocent, making first contact or sciencing the heck out of something. The next? You might be roaming the ship in a daze, struggling to remember your own name or even trying to bite a fellow crewmate.
Starfleet requires the best and brightest minds in the galaxy. Only those with fortitude and strong moral fibre need apply. But surely even the most steadfast cadet would have to think twice about what they were signing up for if they knew how often crews went completely off the rails.
Star Trek writers thrive on telling tales about humanity and identity. Stories about crewmembers losing the plot, forgetting who they are and even becoming other people must be like catnip to them. And for viewers, it's a chance to see their favourite characters behaving badly as Starfleet discipline gives way to total pandemonium.
Intoxication, infection, radiation, even games...every plot device imaginable has been employed to leave Starfleet crews at the mercy of chaos. And because all is fair in love and torturing characters, some particular crews became professional mayhem wranglers.
If Starfleet developed the Kobayashi Maru scenario to test cadets in the face of a no-win situation, they needed one for when they would inevitably lose their minds.
10. The Original Series: The Naked Time
The Naked Time is the mind-melting escapade that started it all.
It's the kind of story that asks you to sit back and go with the flow. Even the opening expects you not to shout at the screen as an away team member pulls off a glove and scratches his nose while investigating the bizarre deaths of a frozen science team, infecting himself in the process. But this episode isn't really about the 'how'; it's about what happens to responsible people when their inhibitions are stripped away.
That question is answered when the infection inevitably spreads throughout the ship. Patient Zero is almost immediately swallowed up by his doubts and anxieties. And from there, we're treated to Sulu's shirtless swashbuckling adventures as he fences invisible enemies with a contagious grin (still one of the most iconic moments of The Original Series).
Riley indulges in his command fantasies, seizing control of engineering and declaring himself captain of the Enterprise. Unsurprisingly, Kirk, who had been doing his best impression of an irritated dad trying to stay calm, finally has enough of this nonsense. But the real problem here is that without access to engineering, the Enterprise is in danger of being destroyed.
Meanwhile, Nurse Chapel decides it's the perfect time to declare her love to Spock, who responds by saying he's sorry. Not the kind of reply a woman hopes for. But Spock is more emotionally compromised than first thought. The moment he lets out that little tearful sniffle in the corridor, you know the crew is screwed. Honestly, his emotional breakdown makes for uncomfortable viewing. It's like we're watching something we shouldn't be privy to. Don't feel too guilty though; Kirk's compassionate response is to slap him.
Of course, a cure is discovered in the nick of time, but just as you think the story is wrapping up, the ship randomly travels back in time. Somehow. For some reason. Still, it's as good a way as any to end such a bonkers episode. If the message here is that civilisation is just one infection away from total anarchy (no comment), it's fair to say that idea gets a little lost in the sauce.