THE BEST EPISODE TITLE EVER

 

Episode Title:  For The World is Hollow and I Have Touched The Sky

Air Date: 11/8/1968

Written by Rik Vollaerts

Directed by Tony Leader

Cast: William Shatner as Captain James T. Kirk    Leonard Nimoy as Commander Spock             DeForest Kelley as Dr. Leonard H. McCoy AKA “Bones”              James Doohan  as Lieutenant Commander Montgomery Scott AKA “Scotty”        George Takei  as Lieutenant  Hikaru Sulu              Nichelle Nichols as Lieutenant Nyota Uhura          Frank da Vinci as Lieutenant Brent     Walter Koenig as Ensign Pavel Chekov                 Majel Barrett as Nurse Christine Chapel      Jeannie Malone as Fabrini Servant         Byron Morrow as Admiral Westervliet         Katherine Woodville as Natira     Jon Lormer as Old Man        

Ships: USS Enterprise NCC-1701, Yonada

Planets:  none

My Spoiler filled summary and review: The episode starts right out running when the Enterprise is attacked by some atomic space missiles.  It is not much of crisis as the ship’s phasers take care of it quite nicely.  Kirk orders Chekov to tract where those warheads came from when he is called down to sickbay.  McCoy then gives Kirk the bad news that that upon examining himself he discovered he has xenopolycythenia and the condition is terminal.  Dr. McCoy only has a few months to live.

The Enterprise meets Yonada

They trace the source of the attack to an asteroid however after some observation with the ship’s sensors they discover that what they are seeing isn’t an asteroid but a spaceship that seems to be abandoned.  The real bad news is given its present course it is going to crash into the Federation colony Daran V.  They would rather not destroy it so Kirk decides to beam over with Mr. Spock and, after a request, Dr. McCoy to see if they can stop it. 

Both a bad fighter and a bad dresser!

Well, it turns out the place isn’t abandoned after all the people were just hiding underground.  Also, what is strange is this ship’s insides are made to appear as if they were on a planet.  The away team is able to fight off their attackers, Captain Kirk is one of the greatest fighters in the galaxy and the three do well, but fight ends as Natira calls it off.  Natira explains that she is the high priestess of her world which is named Yonada.  She invites her new guests down to meet the Oracle, which is their leader.  The Oracle is an AI who doesn’t realize how much of a threat it is in if it wishes to go against Captain Kirk.  In order to show their new guests what would happen if they took up against Yonada it zaps them unconscious. 

Kirk and Spock wake up first.  Spock wonders what is taking the good Doctor so long to awaken.  Kirk then confides in Spock about McCoy’s condition.  McCoy wakes up but before they can have any serious discussion a familiar looking old man walks in the room.  He gives the guests some herbs.  At which point Kirk starts to ask the man about the nature of their planet.  The man confesses that he has at times been curious about it.  Once in his youth, he climbed the tallest hill in Yonada an action that is forbidden by the Oracle.  The man started to feel pain then returned to his story.  He tells them that he discovered “the world is hollow and I have touched sky!” With that he drops down dead.  It turns out that those in Yonada have an implant that ensures obedience and if they ignore their warning signs it kills them. 

Natira appears after the death of the old man and explains things to them.  She takes a strong liking to Dr. McCoy and he to her.  Here Captain Kirk sees an opportunity.  He doesn’t know why Natira doesn’t have the hots for himself, as the women on this show naturally do, and instead has them for McCoy, as women on this show normally don’t.   However, Kirk sees the opportunity of a distraction, while McCoy is being entertained by Narita, he and Spock plan to get into the Oracle room and see what they can find. 

Yonadians being more friendly

McCoy and Natira are hitting it off extremely well and McCoy even tells her of his condition to which she responds with her intention love him as long as they have together.  She is so excited that she goes to the Oracle to ask for permission to marry him.  The Oracle says so long as McCoy agrees to all their rules and gets the implant, he is good.  However, by turning on the Oracle it senses the intruders and beings to blast them.  McCoy realizing that his friends are about to be put to death he tells Natira that he wants to stay but the only way he can do that is if he knows his friends are alright.  She agrees and will send them back.  McCoy tells the Captain he is staying.  With McCoy certainly only with months left and the people of Yonada maybe with only months left, Kirk agrees to let him stay as he and Spock return to the ship.

The Oracle!

Kirk receives orders from Admiral Westervliet that the Enterprise is being reassigned and that another Starfleet starship will take over.  On Yonada, McCoy learns of a book that contains all of the society’s secrets.  Realizing there is now a way to save his new world, as soon as his new wife leaves him alone, he contacts the ship.  Kirk and Spock quickly return but McCoy is punished by his implant and it nearly kills him for giving the information to Spock.  Spock saves him by simply removing the implant.  

Natira

Natira walks in on them and Kirk confronts her with the truth.  She rejects it but an idea is taking root in her brain.  She goes to the Oracle and confronts it with what she knows.  The Oracle is angry that she is questioning it and begins to kill her. Spock and Kirk show up however and save her the same way they did McCoy. 

McCoy finding his love

Oracle tries to kill them by baking them alive but using the book McCoy told them about they are able to take control of the ship and shut the Oracle down.  As an added bonus they discover the cure to Dr. McCoy’s condition that is stored in Yonada’s databanks.  With McCoy recovered and the truth of Yonada reveled to their people, Natria realizing her place is helping her people live their lives in truth and Dr. McCoy’s place is with the Enterprise.  With that she lets her husband go and he goes to return to his ship.  On board Kirk let’s him know that it will be possible for the Enterprise to return later this year, to see how they are doing.  This would allow McCoy to be with Natria again.

Additional thoughts: This episode hit a little too close to home for me.  In this episode a dying Dr. McCoy meets a woman who loves him for all his flaws and even though he had enjoyed his time on the Enterprise there is still a certain type of loneliness that he experiences that she ends.  The two understand each other and he is happy.  McCoy even gets inspired to search for a cure to his condition.  When he is finally cured and the planetary crisis is averted, Natria has an epiphany and shows him the door.  Well, that was a lot like my summer.  I meet someone and she was like me a bit socially awkward but willing to meet people.  We had a lot in common, large families, and desire to form our own.  A number of similar interests and differences to grow on.  We talked everyday online for over a month and went on a few dates and officially became an item.  Then one day in the middle of an IM chat she suddenly says that since no one had ever been romantically interested in her, she was just so amazed meet someone who was that she didn’t think about if she were truly that into me or not.  She decided that she wasn’t and broke it off all the while explaining I had done nothing wrong.  I was so depressed I didn’t leave my house for two days.  During that time, I watched this episode to review it, at the time I was just glad I had already reviewed A City on the Edge of Forever, but I wasn’t prepared for the emotional impact.  When it rains, it pours. 

True love!

So why did Kirk have to send to Starfleet for a new CMO?  Isn’t there any doctors on McCoy’s staff who could take over?  What about Dr. Joseph M'Benga?  He is plenty capable. When did we last see him? I just feel this should be an in-house promotion for the stake of the ship.  Someone should find Dr. M’Benga.

Learning about each other!

Well after all the episodes where they are the “only ship in the quadrant” it turns out Starfleet has some ships to put on this problem and no longer needs the Enterprise.  Where were they when the Enterprise was half broke down fighting an asteroid for months.  The one time they get relief from Starfleet is the one time they don’t want it.

Like almost every critic who has ever reviewed this episode I find myself wondering why it was exactly the founder of Yonada thought it necessary to trick their descendants into thinking they were on a planet when it was actually a starship.  What was the purpose?  Wouldn’t it be better to let them know where they were going so, they could better prepare?  I mean I understand why you make your ship look like a planet, after all you want those who would have to spend their entire lives there to be comfortable.   I also don’t understand people smart enough to build a ship like this would design such ugly hats for their people.

Poor guy he just wanted the truth!

What luck it was that Spock was able to just pick the cure right out of their databanks. One would think when righting the direction of a starship probing for unknown cures might have been the farthest from one’s mind.  Mr. Spock however is a multitasker. 

FINAL GRADE 4 of 5