"Yes! I can finally take command!"
Ship's log, supplemental. Lieutenant Uhura recording. Due to Chief Engineering Officer Scotty's euphoric state of mind, I am assuming command of the Enterprise. I accept full responsibility for my action. A detailed account will be recorded later.
— Lieutenant Uhura
The Enterprise encounters a planet populated entirely of women who suck out the life out of Kirk, Spock, McCoy, and some other male crew members. Uhura has to assume command in order to rescue them.
This episode provides examples of:
- A Day in the Limelight: Lieutenant Uhura's moment in the sun.
- Deus ex Machina: Kirk, Spock, Bones and a Red Shirt are drained of their life energy, leaving them looking like old men. Luckily, the transporter of all things saves them, by reloading their earlier molecule structures. According to Spock, the odds were 97.3% against this working, handwaving the fact that it has never been used to heal injuries before.
- Karma Houdini: The women on the planet are transported to a new world where they will become normal again.
- Life Drinker: And some good lookin' ones at that.
- Our Sirens Are Different: A sci-fi version, confirmed due to the episode's title alluding to Lorelei (a famous siren). The women on this planet send out a song over subspace radio, once every 27 years, to lure a starship to their planet and drain the life force of the male crew members. It's implied that they've also done this to Klingon and Romulan ships.
- Siren Song: This episode has the Enterprise investigating a region of space where ships have mysteriously disappeared. The women on an Earthlike planet can emit a signal that enthralls men but not women. The landing party discovers too late that the Lorelei women also drain the life force from the men they lure in, causing the men to age rapidly while rejuvenating the women.
- Rapid Aging: Once the men get their life force drained, the male crew members start to look older and wither away. (Again. In fact, the old Star Trek Maps tie-in put the locations of both episodes as adjacent systems, implying it was the same comet-caused radiation.)
- Screw the Rules, I'm Doing What's Right!: Uhura acknowledges that her actions are technically mutinous and plans to justify herself after the fact, but taking command without authorization is her only option given the circumstances. For what it's worth, it's heavily implied that the men agree, and it's clear she'll face no punishment for what she did.
- Send in the Search Team: All-female! Spock specifically requested an all-women landing party after the truth about the sirens comes out, not wanting to run the risk of having any other member of the crew get hypnotized.
- White-Haired Pretty Girl: All of the women on the planet are this.
- Who Wants to Live Forever?: The sirens are tired of having to drain life force, and getting the chance to be mortal is a relief to them.
- You Are in Command Now: A famous example, though it's actually played with. Uhura takes command her damn self once she understands what's going on.
- Uhura is technically committing mutiny by taking command as she pointedly does so without authorization by Scotty (or anyone else) and notes that she is doing so in her log. However it's very clear she will not be punished for her actions (quite the contrary, in fact) by episode's end.
- For his part, Scotty is entirely too enthralled by the sirens' song to care, and cheerfully submits to Uhura's decision.
