"That Which Survives" is a weird one. Honestly, by the time the original Star Trek hit its third season in 1969, the wheels were starting to wobble a bit. Budget cuts were hitting hard. Gene Roddenberry had stepped back. But despite the chaos, this specific episode remains a fascinating time capsule of 1960s sci-fi tropes, largely because of the Star Trek That Which Survives cast and the strange energy they brought to a set that felt increasingly isolated.
You’ve got a ghost woman killing people with a touch. A planet that shouldn't exist. A ship thrown thousands of light-years away. It’s classic Trek, but with a jagged, almost claustrophobic edge.
If you’re looking back at the guest stars who populated this hollowed-out outpost, you aren't just looking at bit players. You’re looking at a cross-section of Hollywood journeymen and rising stars who had to sell a plot that was, frankly, a little thin on the ground. They made it work. They turned a repetitive "monster of the week" concept into something that still gets discussed at conventions over fifty years later.
The Haunting Presence of Losira
Lee Meriwether. That’s the name everyone remembers from this episode. She played Losira, the holographic projection of a long-dead commander.
Meriwether wasn't just some random actress the casting director found in a headshot pile. She was a former Miss America (1955) and had already cemented her place in nerd history by playing Catwoman in the 1966 Batman theatrical film. Coming onto the Star Trek set, she brought a very specific kind of ethereal, tragic grace.
The role of Losira is difficult. She has to be menacing—killing crew members with a literal "death touch"—while appearing deeply apologetic about it. Meriwether nailed that "I am sorry, but I must" vibe. It’s a performance of repetition. She appears, says a name, and kills. Over and over. Most actors would make that feel like a cardboard cutout, but she managed to look like a woman trapped in a loop of her own history.
There’s a legendary bit of trivia here too. If you look closely at her costume—that iconic, multi-colored shimmering outfit—it was actually recycled from a previous episode, "The Gamesters of Triskelion." Season 3 was notorious for "wardrobe raiding" to save money.
The Redshirt Sacrifice: Arthur Batanides and Beyond
We can't talk about the Star Trek That Which Survives cast without mentioning the guys who didn't make it to the closing credits.
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Arthur Batanides played Geologist D'Amato. He’s the guy who gets the unfortunate honor of being Losira's first victim on the planet surface. Batanides was a veteran character actor. You might recognize him as the heavy in about a dozen different Westerns or as Mr. Kirkland in the Police Academy movies later on. In this episode, he represents the "expert" who gets taken out just to prove how high the stakes are.
Then there’s the engineering side.
On the Enterprise, which has been flung halfway across the galaxy by a seismic surge, we see the crew scrambling. This episode gives a rare spotlight to the support staff. We see Leslie Stevens (played by an uncredited extra who was a series regular background player) and others trying to keep the warp core from exploding.
Wait. Let's talk about the "Blue Shirt" for a second.
Most people think only Redshirts die. Not here. D'Amato wore blue. It was a subtle subversion. It told the audience that even the scientists—the "smart guys"—weren't safe from a vengeful hologram.
Why the Chemistry Worked Between the Main Four
Usually, the landing party is Kirk, Spock, and McCoy. This time, it’s a bit different. We get Kirk, McCoy, Sulu, and D'Amato.
George Takei gets a lot more to do here than just sitting at the helm. He’s down on the dirt. He’s being a scientist. Watching Takei and DeForest Kelley bounce off each other is one of the episode's highlights. Kelley, as McCoy, is at his most cantankerous. He’s tired, he’s grumpy, and he’s dealing with a planet that literally tries to shake them off.
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Meanwhile, back on the ship, Spock is in command.
This is where the episode shines. It shows the "Spock vs. Scotty" dynamic. James Doohan brings a desperate, sweaty energy to the engineering room. He’s literally crawling into the Jefferies tubes to stop the ship from accelerating to its doom. The tension between Spock’s cold logic ("We have 14.8 minutes before we blow up") and Scotty’s "I’m giving her all she’s got" passion is the heartbeat of the B-plot.
The Script That Almost Wasn't
The writing credits for this episode are a bit of a mess. It’s officially credited to John Meredyth Lucas, but the story came from D.C. Fontana under the pseudonym "Michael Richards."
Why the fake name?
Fontana was unhappy with how much the script was changed. She wanted a more complex exploration of the Kalandans (the race that created the outpost). Instead, the production turned it into a more standard "haunted house in space" story.
You can feel that tension in the performances. The cast is playing it straight, but the dialogue sometimes feels like it's trying to explain away plot holes in real-time.
- Fact: The planet in the episode is only a few thousand years old.
- The Problem: Geologically, that’s impossible for a planet of that size.
- The Fix: The cast has to sell the idea that the planet is "artificial," which justifies the weird lighting and the sparse sets.
Behind the Scenes: The Directing and Style
Herb Wallerstein directed this one. He was a veteran of I Dream of Jeannie and Bewitched. You can see that sitcom-adjacent background in the way he frames the "jump scares." Losira appearing out of nowhere feels very much like Samantha Stephens twitching her nose, only instead of a clean kitchen, you get a dead geologist.
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The pacing is frantic. Because the Enterprise is moving at Warp 15 (which was supposedly impossible according to the show's own lore), the actors on the bridge have to maintain a level of "high-velocity panic" for the entire 50-minute runtime.
The Legacy of the Kalandans
The Kalandans are one of those "one-off" Trek races that fans wish we saw more of. They weren't evil. They were just dead.
The tragedy of the Star Trek That Which Survives cast is that they are all interacting with a ghost. Losira is a computer program left behind by a civilization that was wiped out by a plague they accidentally created. It’s a cautionary tale about automation.
When Kirk finally smashes the computer at the end, there’s a moment of genuine sadness. Meriwether’s face on the screen, flickering out as she begs for the "real" Losira's people to come home, is genuinely haunting.
Actionable Takeaways for the Modern Trek Fan
If you're going back to watch "That Which Survives" today, don't just look at the 1960s hair and the styrofoam rocks. Look at the technical mastery of the guest stars.
- Watch the eyes: Lee Meriwether does incredible work with her gaze. She never blinks when she’s "in character" as the projection. It’s a small detail that makes her feel inhuman.
- Listen to the soundscape: This episode uses some of the most unsettling stock music in the series. It’s high-pitched and jarring, designed to make you feel as "shook" as the planet.
- Spot the "Redshirt" logic: Observe how D'Amato's death is handled. It's quick, brutal, and serves as the only real catalyst for the mystery.
- Analyze the Scotty/Spock Dynamic: If you're a writer or a fan of character beats, this episode is a masterclass in how to pit two protagonists against a problem with completely different methodologies.
To truly appreciate this episode, you have to acknowledge the constraints. The cast wasn't working with a massive budget or CGI. They had a painted backdrop, some smoke machines, and a very talented woman in a sparkly jumpsuit. They turned those meager ingredients into a story about loneliness, the dangers of unintended technology, and the terrifying reality of being lost in the dark.
Check out the remastered version on Paramount+. The colors on Losira’s costume pop much better in 4K, and you can actually see the "cracks" in the artificial planet's surface that the original broadcast blurred out. It’s a 1969 vision of the future that still feels surprisingly lonely.