However while inside the phenomenon, the shuttlecraft encounters rough turbulence, knocking it off-course. The electrical interference generated by the phenomenon makes sensors unreliable and communication impossible for the shuttlecraft, as well as for the Enterprise. The Galileo is forced to make an emergency landing on Taurus II, a lone planet at the heart of Murasaki 312. While Scotty attempts repairs Gaetano and Latimer are sent out to scout the area. The crash survivors are attacked by giant, spear-wielding, “cave man”-like humanoids. Both Latimer & Gaetano are killed in separate attacks and Spock comes under fire for his “cold & distant” approach with just logic while the humans are unable to overcome their grief over the deaths of their fellow crewmen. Mears is one of the 5 survivors who makes it back to orbit in the much damaged ship and they are rescued by Enterprise when they are beamed aboard just in time before the Galileo is destroyed.
Mears was played by the late Phyllis Douglas (24 July 1936 – 12 May 2010; age 73). She also appeared as one of the hippes in the episode “The Way to Eden“. Douglas (daughter of famous assistant director Ridgeway Callow) made her feature acting debut at the age of two in the epic classic Gone With the Wind (1939, photographed by Ernest Haller). She later appeared (again, without credit) in the film Raintree County, which also featured DeForest Kelley. In 1959’s Girls Town she played the character Eleanor alongside Elinor Donahue. She also appeared in two episodes of Batman (both with Lawrence Montaigne). Douglas retired from acting and sold recreational vehicle lots in Palm Springs, California. She passed away on May 12, 2010.
