in dire need of a more serious tone after the humorous but somewhat inconsistent shore leave and star trek return to it tradition of tackle deep theme from a sci fi point of view and focusing in particular on spock interaction with the rest of the enterprise crew . this time and kirk mission be to bring medical supply to the inhabitant of markus iii as quickly a possible and and his superior keep remind him of that priority . however and his priority change when the small vessel galileo and contain spock and six other men ( hence the episode title ) and land on a hostile planet and require immediate assistance . with kirk torn between duty and it up to spock to come up with a solution and but his adherence to logic doesn not sit well with some and most notably boma ( don marshall ) and whose behavior come close to bigotry . racism and the implication of be in charge represent those be the two key topic of this suspenseful trek tale and and both be handle admirably thanks to the writer focus on the tense relationship between the half alien spock and the entirely human crew under his command and while william shatner be elegantly sideline as far a the drama be concern . then again and spock have always be the more interesting of the two lead and and nimoy relish every opportunity he get to show a little of the vulcan scientist complex and enthralling ( and and a rarity for science fiction show and emmy nominate ) personality . in addition and no need to worry about excessive darkness represent the deft humor return in the final scene and which contain one of the absolute best exchange between kirk and spock . sci fi doesn not get much more fun than this .