Headscratchers / Star Trek S1 E29 "Operation: Annihilate!"

• Why didn’t Bones give Spock a blindfold for the light treatment? It was worth at least trying it that way first, and they knew for a fact that much light would blind him, the later Ass Pull notwithstanding.
  • Bones wanted to fit Spock with a pair of protective goggles, which Spock refused on the grounds that the inhabitants would not have access to such measures. Kirk sided with Spock, giving Bones no choice but to proceed without the benefit of eye protection. The logic was flawed—since this was a preliminary experiment they could have at least ensured that their First Officer not be blinded, and had they done so Chapel's subsequent discovery that it was light outside the visible spectrum which killed the parasites—but it made for great drama.
• Why does Kirk initially consider the options are either a cure or the Enterprise killing everyone on the planet? They know the infection spread from another ship. The unconsidered option is an enforced quarantine of the entire planet.
  • If the parasites found themselves confined to the planetary surface, they would have no use for the inhabitants and would likely destroy them. Although it's never discussed, it would seem that a Mercy Kill by starship phaser would be far more compassionate than having a million people die in agony...and then the parasites could well have hidden themselves and gone dormant, waiting for a recovery team or scavengers who wouldn't stick at violating Federation quarantine. (Yes, I thought all this out. I have no life.)
  • Aurelan also mentions that the parasites are planning to spread out using ships from the planet. While a quarantine would result in the first wave of ships being blown out of the sky, they may be able to construct or modify new ships that could escape a Starfleet blockade. Based on their actions, it's safe to say the parasites have a distributed intelligence of a high quality, and since they're an extragalactic species, it follows the tech that got them to the Milky Way must have been quite advanced.
• How is it possible that Spock apparently went blind from the light, then he got better because he has an extra eyelid? It's not going to undo him having already gone blind. That babble about "forgetting we have them" doesn't really explain much; if he'd shut his third eyelids, why was he blind for a while there anyway? The only Fan Wank I can cook up is that his own nictating membranes got fed up with his stupid ideas and decided to lock themselves shut for a while to teach him a lesson. When Spock thought he was blind, it was really just that his third eyelids were refusing to open until they were pretty sure no one was gonna throw him into a tanning booth again.