10 Most Messed Up Deaths In Star Trek: TOS

Here’s one, shockingly, not suffered by a calamitous redshirt.

Indeed, perhaps Kirk was feeling some sympathy for his ever-ending security teams when he chose to give them a break in "The Deadly Years", instead personally beaming down to a research station on Gamma Hydra IV along with his key personnel. Well, plus Chekov.

It’s Chekov who goes on to make the rather horrible discovery of a desiccated, wrinkled corpse that somewhat resembles the grandpa from the original Texas Chainsaw Massacre. Setting aside the macabre nature of a dead body just laying around in a darkened room, we soon learn that the cause of death wasn’t nearly as natural as it seems.

In fact, it’s low-level radiation from a comet that’s causing rapid ageing, which has now affected almost the entire landing party, plus the surviving station crew. The nasty effects of growing old become evident as various victims of the radiation are shown to succumb to weakness and senility in a very short time, before passing. As Kirk puts it: “what a way to die.” And what an appropriate entry for an article like this.