History Recap / StarTrekS1E8Miri

* DepopulationBomb: A genetic engineering project got out of hand and killed off everyone over puberty. The children are still around, because the intended effect of the project was to drastically slow the rate of aging and it worked fine on anyone it didn't kill.

* ImmortalImmaturity: The Onlines still act like children despite being hundreds of years old.

* AdultHater: The Onlies are violently suspicious of all adults who they refer too as "Grups".

!!Tropes for this episode include:

* WeWillNotHavePocketsInTheFuture: Not made explicit, but affects the plot in its own way. When the entire crew leaves to investigate a noise, their communicators are all left on tables, allowing them to be stolen.

* AbsenteeActor: Scotty, Sulu and Uhura don't appear in this episode.

** When Creator/JamesBlish wrote the novelization of the episode, he changed the planet to being a long lost human colony that lost contact with Earth, and not a identical copy. The plot of the story largely remained the same.
** And in the book [[Literature/StarTrekDepartmentOfTemporalInvestigations Forgotten History]], it's explained as being a displaced Earth from an alternate timeline that ended up in the main timeline somehow.
* TheBeforeTimes: Referenced by name, in regards to the times before TheVirus killed all of the adults.
* BigNo: Shouted by Rand when she realizes she has lesions too. Miri also when Kirk points out one on her arm.

* HatePlague: The disease causes its victims to be progressively short tempered, culminating in outright violence.

* LongLived: Due to the effect of a life-prolonging virus the children are three hundred years old.

* NeverLand: The episode contains a fairly dark example: A planet of [[ReallySevenHundredYearsOld long-lived, unaging]] children who sicken and die upon reaching long-delayed adolescence.

* ProfessorGuineaPig: Our heroes are trapped on a planet and slowly dying from a disease that kills all adults. TheMcCoy has mixed up what may very well be the antidote. Only problem is, he's not sure, and the only way to be sure is to check the Enterprise's computers, which can't be done because the local [[CreepyChild Creepy Children]] have stolen the communicators. What to do? Why, wait until Spock leaves and inject yourself, of course!
* ReallySevenHundredYearsOld: Miri appears to be a chestless 12-and-a-half-year-old. Actually, she's at least 300 years old.

* RulesOfOrphanEconomics: The Onlies have been living out of the supplies left by the original colony for three hundred years. Captain Kirk tells them they would not be able to survive much longer this way because the food's running out. Some fans speculate that they could have made it a while longer. Many children are capable of learning to take care of themselves, and space colonists would have emphasized this. Learning how to plant and grow food in gardens would have been a big deal; they would even have had books on it, and older kids would have taught younger ones to do this. Whether they'd have the patience to do so, however...

* TransAtlanticEquivalent: Really cool coincidence: Two days after the airing of this episode, over in Great Britain ''Series/DoctorWho'' would air the fourth episode of "[[Recap/DoctorWhoS4E2TheTenthPlanet The Tenth Planet]]", a serial that featured a twin-planet of earth and one of the main characters dying of a slow-acting disease.
* VoodooShark: We need a disease on a distant planet that largely wiped the inhabitants out, and the disease also affects the human crew, and by the way we can't afford alien makeup for the survivors because there are too many. So let's make said planet an exact duplicate of Earth, complete with human beings! Why is it exactly like Earth? Because LOOK OVER THERE! (The novelization makes this decision seem even dumber by using an obvious alternative reason: it's a lost human colony.)

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: A ''big'' mouse, at that. The ep begins with the Enterprise crew making the astonishing discovery of a planet identical to Earth. They beam down to investigate, and get caught up in a plot about a plague that [[OnlyFatalToAdults kills adults and leaves children alive.]] This presents a mystery and danger that is duly solved. The episode ends without any further mention of the fact that the planet is identical to Earth.
** Eventually explained, decades later, in reference materials. A Federation scientist studying this planet discovered that at some point in the past, the Sol system passed through a NegativeSpaceWedgie that caused the entire solar system to be duplicated at the subatomic level. 1 nearly perfect duplicate (this planet) was created near the center of the anomaly, while 2 less perfect duplicates (the planet featured in "[[Recap/StarTrekS2E23TheOmegaGlory The Omega Glory]]" and the 20th century Roman planet in "[[Recap/StarTrekS2E25BreadAndCircuses Bread and Circuses]]") were created closer to the edges - the duplicates appearing out of subspace in different areas. All ended up diverging from Earth at different points in history, with the nearly-perfect duplicate being identical to Earth until the mid 20th century. It should be noted that Voyager encountered a NegativeSpaceWedgie very similar to this, which resulted in near-perfect duplication of the ship. The presence of the anomalies actually explain "Hodgkin's Law of Parallel Planet Development" proposed in the original series.
%%* WholePlotReference:

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: A ''big'' mouse, at that. The ep begins with the Enterprise crew making the astonishing discovery of a planet identical to Earth. They beam down to investigate, and get caught up in a plot about a plague that [[OnlyFatalToAdults kills adults and leaves children alive.]] This presents a mystery and danger that is duly solved. The episode ends without any further mention of the fact that the planet is identical to Earth.\\\

Eventually explained, decades later, in reference materials. A Federation scientist studying this planet discovered that at some point in the past, the Sol system passed through a NegativeSpaceWedgie that caused the entire solar system to be duplicated at the subatomic level. 1 nearly perfect duplicate (this planet) was created near the center of the anomaly, while 2 less perfect duplicates (the planet featured in "[[Recap/StarTrekS2E23TheOmegaGlory The Omega Glory]]" and the 20th century Roman planet in "[[Recap/StarTrekS2E25BreadAndCircuses Bread and Circuses]]") were created closer to the edges - the duplicates appearing out of subspace in different areas. All ended up diverging from Earth at different points in history, with the nearly-perfect duplicate being identical to Earth until the mid 20th century. It should be noted that Voyager encountered a NegativeSpaceWedgie very similar to this, which resulted in near-perfect duplication of the ship. The presence of the anomalies actually explain "Hodgkin's Law of Parallel Planet Development" proposed in the original series.

* WholePlotReference:

* ReallySevenHundredYearsOld: Miri appears to be a chestless 12-and-a-half-year-old. Actually, she's at least 300 years old. Kirk leaves her behind not because he isn't a pedo (not saying he is), but because he doesn't get involved with older women.

* ReallySevenHundredYearsOld: Miri appears to be a chestless 12 and a half year old. Actually, she's at least 300 years old. Kirk leaves her behind not because he isn't a pedo (not saying he is), but because he doesn't get involved with older women.

* CobwebOfDisuse: Spock and Kirk pull the hospital files (as in, Manilla envelopes) out of 300 years of cobwebs. Did the disease spare the spiders?

* TransAtlanticEquivalent: Really cool coincidence: Two days after the airing of this episode, over in Great Britain ''Series/DoctorWho'' would air the fourth episode of "The Tenth Planet", a serial that featured a twin-planet of earth and one of the main characters dying of a slow-acting disease.

Eventually explained, decades later, in reference materials. A Federation scientist studying this planet discovered that at some point in the past, the Sol system passed through a NegativeSpaceWedgie that caused the entire solar system to be duplicated at the subatomic level. 1 nearly perfect duplicate (this planet) was created near the center of the anomaly, while 2 less perfect duplicates (the planet featured in "[[Recap/StarTrekS2E23TheOmegaGlory The Omega Glory]]" and the 20th century Roman planet in "[[Recap/StarTrekS2E25BreadAndCircuses Bread and Circuses]]") were created closer to the edges - the duplicates appearing out of subspace in different areas. All ended up diverging from Earth at different points in history, with the nearly-perfect duplicate being identical to Earth until the mid 20th century. It should be noted that Voyager encountered a NegativeSpaceWedgie very similar to this, which resulted in near-perfect duplication of the ship. The presence of the anomalies actually explain "Hodgkin's Law of Parallel Planet Development" proposed in the original series.

* TransAtlanticEquivalent: Really cool coincidence: Two days after the airing of this episode, over in Great Britain ''Series/DoctorWho'' would air the fourth episode of "The Tenth Planet", a serial that featured a twin-planet of earth and one of the main characters dying of an slowly acting disease.

Eventually explained, decades later, in reference materials. A Federation scientist studying this planet discovered that at some point in the past, the Sol system passed through a NegativeSpaceWedgie that caused the entire solar system to be duplicated at the subatomic level. 1 nearly perfect duplicate (this planet) was created near the center of the anomaly, while 2 less perfect duplicates (the planet featured in "[[Recap/StarTrekS2E23TheOmegaGlory The Omega Glory]]", and the 20th century Roman planet in "[[Recap/StarTrekS2E25BreadAndCircuses Bread and Circuses]]") were created closer to the edges - the duplicates appearing out of subspace in different areas. All ended up diverging from Earth at different points in history, with the nearly-perfect duplicate being identical to Earth until the mid 20th century. It should be noted that Voyager encountered a NegativeSpaceWedgie very similar to this, that resulted in near-perfect duplication of the ship. The presence of the anomalies actually explain "Hodgkin's Law of Parallel Planet Development" proposed in the original series.

* ReallySevenHundredYearsOld: Miri appears to be a chestless 12 and a half year old. Actually, she's at least 300 years old. Kirk leaves her behind not because he isn't a pedo (not saying he is) but, because he doesn't get involved with older women.

* DawsonCasting: Miri is supposed to be 12 (in appearance), and looks it even though she's played by a 19 year old. Jahn is supposed to be the same age, but is played by a 27 year old actor - granted, one who doesn't look 27, but he clearly doesn't look like a preteen either.

Eventually explained, decades later, in reference materials. A Federation scientist studying this planet discovered that at some point in the past, the Sol system passed through a NegativeSpaceWedgie that caused the entire solar system to be duplicated at the subatomic level. 1 nearly perfect duplicate (this planet) was created near the center of the anomaly, while 2 less perfect duplicates (the planet featured in "Recap/StarTrekS2E23TheOmegaGlory", and the 20th century Roman planet in "Recap/StarTrekS2E25BreadAndCircuses") were created closer to the edges - the duplicates appearing out of subspace in different areas. All ended up diverging from Earth at different points in history, with the nearly-perfect duplicate being identical to Earth until the mid 20th century. It should be noted that Voyager encountered a NegativeSpaceWedgie very similar to this, that resulted in near-perfect duplication of the ship. The presence of the anomalies actually explain "Hodgkin's Law of Parallel Planet Development" proposed in the original series.

* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: A ''big'' mouse, at that. The ep begins with the Enterprise crew making the astonishing discovery of a planet identical to Earth. They beam down to investigate, and get caught up in a plot about a plague that [[OnlyFatalToAdults kills adults and leaves children alive.]] This presents a mystery and danger that is duly solved. The episode ends without any further mention of the fact that the planet is identical to Earth.
** Eventually explained, decades later, in reference materials. A Federation scientist studying this planet discovered that at some point in the past, the Sol system passed through a NegativeSpaceWedgie that caused the entire solar system to be duplicated at the subatomic level. 1 nearly perfect duplicate (this planet) was created near the center of the anomaly, while 2 less perfect duplicates (the planet featured in "Recap/StarTrekS2E23TheOmegaGlory", and the 20th century Roman planet in "Recap/StarTrekS2E25BreadAndCircuses") were created closer to the edges - the duplicates appearing out of subspace in different areas. All ended up diverging from Earth at different points in history, with the nearly-perfect duplicate being identical to Earth until the mid 20th century. It should be noted that Voyager encountered a NegativeSpaceWedgie very similar to this, that resulted in near-perfect duplication of the ship. The presence of the anomalies actually explain "Hodgkin's Law of Parallel Planet Development" proposed in the original series.

** Eventually explained, decades later, in reference materials. A Federation scientist studying this planet discovered that at some point in the past, the Sol system passed through a NegativeSpaceWedgie that caused the entire solar system to be duplicated at the subatomic level. 1 nearly perfect duplicate (this planet) was created near the center of the anomaly, while 2 less perfect duplicates (the planet featured in The Omega Glory, and the 20th century Roman planet) were created closer to the edges - the duplicates appearing out of subspace in different areas. All ended up diverging from Earth at different points in history, with the nearly-perfect duplicate being identical to Earth until the mid 20th century. It should be noted that Voyager encountered a NegativeSpaceWedgie very similar to this, that resulted in near-perfect duplication of the ship. The presence of the anomalies actually explain "Hodkin's Law of Parallel Planet Development" proposed in the original series.

* NeverLand: A fairly dark example: A planet of long-lived, unaging children who sicken and die upon reaching long-delayed adolescence.

** Eventually explained, decades later, in reference materials. A Federation scientist studying this planet discovered that at some point in the past, the entire Sol system passed through a NegativeSpaceWedgie that caused the entire solar system to be duplicated at the subatomic level. 1 nearly perfect duplicate (this planet) was created near the center of the anomaly, while 2 less perfect duplicates (the planet featured in The Omega Glory, and the 20th century Roman planet) were created closer to the edges - the duplicates appearing out of subspace in different areas. All ended up diverging from Earth at different points in history, with the nearly-perfect duplicate being identical to Earth until the mid 20th century. It should be noted that Voyager encountered a NegativeSpaceWedgie very similar to this, that resulted in near-perfect duplication of the ship. The presence of the anomalies actually explain "Hodkin's Law of Parallel Planet Development" proposed in the original series.

** Eventually explained, decades later, in reference materials. A Federation scientist discovered that at some point in the past, the entire Sol system passed through a NegativeSpaceWedgie that caused the entire solar system to be duplicated at the subatomic level. 1 nearly perfect duplicate (this planet) was created near the center of the anomaly, while 2 less perfect duplicates (the planet featured in The Omega Glory, and the 20th century Roman planet) were created closer to the edges - the duplicates appearing out of subspace in different areas. All ended up diverging from Earth at different points in history, with the nearly-perfect duplicate being identical to Earth until the mid 20th century. It should be noted that Voyager encountered a NegativeSpaceWedgie very similar to this, that resulted in near-perfect duplication of the ship. The presence of the anomalies actually explain "Hodkin's Law of Parallel Planet Development" proposed in the original series.