In which the Enterprise finds itself in the atmosphere of late 1960s Earth, mistaken for a UFO by US authorities wishing to protect the first manned moon mission.
A fighter jet, manned by a Captain Christopher who clearly believes only wimps secure their chin straps, gets perilously close to the weakened Enterprise. Rather than risk being hit by his missiles, Christopher is beamed aboard, leading to much debate as to what to do with him.
The scientific explanation of how the Enterprise is rushed, which while possibly frustrating is just as well as it allows more time to be spent on the frolics back in the 1960s.
You can see more than a glimmer of Star Trek IV (aka the 1980s whale one) especially as Kirk bumbles his way through interactions with then-contemporary Earth. This episode has a real Sunday afternoon relaxy vibe.
That’s not to say there isn’t an effort to ponder on what is the moral thing to do with someone who now has detailed knowledge of the future. Spock seems to be getting close to arguing forced captivity for life for Christopher or an even more brutal fate until the computer discovers that he has a famous descendant. (When it is established that Christopher’s Saturn-bound son hasn’t been born yet, I’m slightly surprised Spock doesn’t try to find out if he could have been conceived already…)
Speaking of the computer, it is a tad bizarre that a female-dominated society has reprogrammed the computer to be more feminine with the result being its saying “dear” at the end of most sentences. Is that the society having a very subtle (and weak) dig at the sexism shown by the male-dominated crew? I would have loved the teasing engineer to instead have configured the computer to tell Kirk off for his treatment of Angela, Yeoman Rand and also his penchant for women called Helen (Dr Noel and the lady referenced awkwardly in passing at the start of The Menagerie.)
The resolution of all this time travel tomfoolery is slightly curious. They slingshot around the Sun, taking them back in time so they can return the “borrowed” military folk with their minds somehow wiped, slow down enough to eavesdrop on radio communications and then head on to the future. This is the same sort of science that leads to Superman flying across the Earth at light-speed to go back in time in the first Richard Donner movie. And yet I’ve had such fun that I give them a pass. It’s nice to think that Christopher and chum can go back to their normal lives rather than spend the rest of their existence in some form of mental hospital…
Final Thoughts : None of the science makes a lick of sense but this is just a great lighthearted romp with dollops of charm.
Crew deaths so far
Blue-shirt deaths : 5
Yellow-shirt deaths : 8
Red-shirt deaths : 3
Space-suit deaths : 1
Bare-shirted deaths : 1
Unspecified off-screen : 11
Episodes in which no crew-member dies : 10
Remarkable habits of Sulu : 2
Space-games : 2
Vulcan mind-meld : 1
Uhura musical interludes : 3
Caravan Of Awesomeness 