SUCH A CRIME! POOR LT SULU WAS STAR TREK’S MOST UNDERUSED CHARACTER

 Just recently I had finished my last review for the original Star Trek series.  Watching and reviewing all the episodes was an extremely fun project and I enjoyed every minute of it. Star Trek and all of its spinoffs tend to be shows with an ensemble cast of numerous characters with unique backstories.  Despite this, episodes generally will focus more heavily on one or two characters.  I decided to track this by tagging each episode according to the character that it most strongly features. 

For example, if an episode was about Captain Kirk, it would tag it a “Kirk-Themed Episode.”  If that same episode featured Mr. Spock as either the second most important character of the main story or the central character of a clear and important ‘B-plot’ then I would also tag it a “Spock Sub-Themed Episode.”  Now if the episode was about Spock with Dr. McCoy playing the second most important or the central character of ‘B-plot’ then the episode is tagged a “Spock Themed Episode” and “McCoy Sub-Themed Episode” respectively.   For the purpose of this post, I’ll just be referring to these as “the Most Important Character” and “the 2^nd Most Important Character.”

Deciding who is “the 2^nd Most Important Character” is sometimes a lot harder then picking out the most important.  Often times two characters can be competing for the role, also trying to decide how much weight to assign a ‘B-plot’ can also be a challenge.  One important rule I have is this distinction can only be given to a member or former member of the crew.  Otherwise, the alien threat of week would often dominate.  (When I get into the series with civilians onboard ship, I may alter this policy slightly.)

There are a grand total of 80 episodes of the original series.  That is counting the original pilot “The Cage” and both parts of “The Menagerie” as separate episodes.  That is a bit of stretch as we are getting three episodes out of one story, but it is what it is.  This gives us one hundred sixty slots for characters to fall into.  Eighty for the Most Important Character and eighty for the 2^nd Most Important Character. 

So, let’s see the characters that made up the core of these episodes.    

Captain James T. Kirk

                It should come as no surprise that the most heavily featured character is the Captain of the Enterprise himself, James T. Kirk.  After the title card “Star Trek” the next one we see is “Staring William Shatner.” The good Captain is the Most Important Character in a grand total of sixty out of the eighty episodes. 75% of the stories told in Star Trek’s original run were all about Captain Kirk.  And if the Captain having three out of every four episodes is not enough, in the remaining twenty Captain Kirk is the 2^nd Most Important Character fourteen times.  Thus, in a total of eighty episodes Captain Kirk is one of the top two characters in seventy-four of them.  Fans clearly got their fair share of Captain Kirk.  

The Episodes Where Captain Kirk is the Most Important Character

"The Corbomite Maneuver"; "Mudd's Women"; "The Enemy Within"; "The Naked Time"; "Charlie X"; "Balance of Terror"; "Dagger of the Mind"; "Miri"; "The Conscience of the King"; "Court Martial";   "Shore Leave"; "The Squire of Gothos"; "Arena"; "The Alternative Factor"; "Tomorrow Is Yesterday"; "The Return of the Archons"; "A Taste of Armageddon"; "Space Seed"; "The Devil in the Dark";      "Errand of Mercy"; "The City on the Edge of Forever"; "Operation: Annihilate!"; "Catspaw"; "Metamorphosis"; "Who Mourns for Adonais?"; "The Doomsday Machine"; "The Changeling";            "The Apple"; "Mirror, Mirror"; "The Deadly Years"; "I, Mudd"; "The Trouble with Tribbles";              "Bread and Circuses"; "A Private Little War"; "The Gamesters of Triskelion"; "Obsession";                   "The Immunity Syndrome"; "A Piece of the Action"; "By Any Other Name"; "Patterns of Force";          "The Ultimate Computer"; "The Omega Glory"; "Assignment: Earth"; "Spectre of the Gun";            "Elaan of Troyius"; "The Paradise Syndrome"; "And the Children Shall Lead"; "Spock's Brain";              "The Empath"; "Day of the Dove"; "Plato's Stepchildren"; "Wink of an Eye"; "That Which Survives";       "Let That Be Your Last Battlefield"; "Whom Gods Destroy"; "The Mark of Gideon";                   "The Cloud Minders"; "Requiem for Methuselah"; "The Savage Curtain"; "Turnabout Intruder"

The Episodes Where Captain Kirk is the 2^nd Most Important Character

"Where No Man Has Gone Before"; "The Man Trap"; "What Are Little Girls Made Of?”;                         "The Galileo Seven"; "This Side of Paradise"; "Amok Time"; "Wolf in the Fold"; "Journey to Babel"; "Return to Tomorrow"; "The Enterprise Incident"; "Is There in Truth No Beauty?";                                  "For theWorld Is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky"; "The Lights of Zetar"; "All Our Yesterdays"

Cmdr. Spock

                The next most featured character is the probably the most visually popular of the whole series if not the franchise.  Leonard Nimoy who played Mr. Spock was also the only other actor who appeared in the opening credits for all three seasons.  Out of the twenty remaining episodes that Captain Kirk did not have to top spot, our dear Mr. Spock takes up ten of them.  He is even more prolific when it comes to being in the number two slot.  There Mr. Spock has thirty-four of the sixty-six spots that were remaining, over half.  It was Edith Keeler who pointed out that Mr. Spock mostly belonged at Captain Kirk’s side.

The Episodes Where Mr. Spock is the Most Important Character

"The Galileo Seven"; "The Menagerie, Part I”; "This Side of Paradise"; "Amok Time";              "Journey to Babel"; "The Enterprise Incident"; "Is There in Truth No Beauty?"; "The Tholian Web"; "The Way to Eden"; "All Our Yesterdays"

The Episodes Where Mr. Spock is the 2^nd Most Important Character

"The Enemy Within"; "Balance of Terror"; "The Conscience of the King"; "Court Martial";              "The Menagerie, Part II”; "The Squire of Gothos"; "Arena"; "The Alternative Factor";                         "Tomorrow Is Yesterday"; "The Return of the Archons"; "The Devil in the Dark"; "Errand of Mercy"; “Operation: Annihilate!”;                         "The Doomsday Machine"; "The Changeling"; "I,Mudd"; "The Gamesters of Triskelion"; "The Immunity Syndrome"; "A Piece of the Action";                         "By Any Other Name"; "Patterns of Force";          "The Ultimate Computer"; "The Omega Glory"; "Assignment: Earth"; "The Paradise Syndrome";   "Day of the Dove"; "Wink of an Eye";                "That Which Survives";                "Let That Be Your Last Battlefield";         "The Mark of Gideon"; "The Cloud Minders";         "Requiem for Methuselah"; "The Savage Curtain"; "Turnabout Intruder"

Dr. Leonard H. McCoy AKA Bones

                It is the good country doctor who is next on our list.  Deforest Kelley is the only other actor to appear on the opening credits, joining Shatner and Nimoy in season 2.  The three characters of Kirk, Spock, and McCoy make up Star Trek’s holy trinity so it should be no surprise that he is the next one getting our attention.  Dr. McCoy had a total of four episodes out of the ten that were remaining where he was the most important character.  He has also taken third place for the number of episodes where he is takes the 2^nd spot with a total of thirteen.

The Episodes Where Dr. McCoy is the Most Important Character

                               "The Man Trap"; "Friday's Child"; "Return to Tomorrow";                                       "For the World Is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky"

The Episodes Where Dr. McCoy is the 2^nd Most Important Character

"Mudd's Women"; "The Naked Time"; "Miri"; "Shore Leave"; "The City on the Edge of Forever"; "Metamorphosis"; "The Deadly Years"; "A Private Little War"; "And the Children Shall Lead";        "Spock's Brain"; "The Empath"; "The Tholian Web"; "Plato's Stepchildren"

Captain Christopher Pike

                The predecessor of Captain Kirk, only made three appearances and all about the same story.  However, he is always in the top two even when he couldn’t walk or talk.  He was the main character in two episodes and the number two character for one.

The Episodes Where Captain Pike is the Most Important Character

"The Cage"; "The Menagerie, Part II”

The Episodes Where Captain Pike is the 2^nd Most Important Character

"The Menagerie, Part I”

Lt. Cmdr. Montgomery Scott AKA Scotty

The great engineer Star Trek’s Scotty.  The funny thing is when Scotty is in the forefront it has almost nothing to do with his engineering skills.  The one time he is the star he is the suspect of a murder investigation and in the six times he is in the second slot he is normally on the bridge of the Enterprise trying to maintain order while the Captain is on an away mission with the other stars. In a way Scotty is king of the ‘b-plot.’

The Episode Where Mr. Scott is the Most Important Character

"Wolf in the Fold"

The Episodes Where Mr. Scott is the 2^nd Most Important Character

"A Taste of Armageddon"; "Friday's Child"; "The Apple"; "Bread and Circuses"; "Elaan of Troyius";  “Whom Gods Destroy"  

Lt. Cmdr. Gary Mitchell

                The character only made one appearance in the series and what an appearance it was.  It was so good it convinced the network to carry the show.  However, Mr. Mitchell would not return.

The Episode Where Gary Mitchell is the Most Important Character

"Where No Man Has Gone Before"

Nurse Christine Chapel

                Normally Nurse Chapel would be Dr. McCoy’s helper in sickbay, and what a helper she was as don’t recall seeing many other nurses.  When she wasn’t doing that, she was carrying a torch for Mr. Spock.  However, she did have a single episode that was all her own.

The Episode Where Nurse Chapel is the Most Important Character

"What Are Little Girls Made Of?”

Lt.  Mira Romaine

                The last character to have a Star Trek episode about them is a bit of a surprise.  Like Mr. Mitchell it is her only appearance but unlike him it is not very memorable.

The Episode Where Lt. Romaine is the Most Important Character

"The Lights of Zetar"

Lt. Nyota Uhura

                Everyone’s favorite communications officer and many people’s childhood crush.  Lt. Uhura left quite an impression.  In a time where Jim Crow had only recently been made illegal, Lt. Uhura was flying to the stars.  In addition to running her station, she was also shown to have engineering talents, and would take over the helm in emergencies.  The actress Nichelle Nichols famously thought about leaving but was talked out of it by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  She was never the star of an episode but she was in the second slot for two.

The Episodes Where Lt. Uhura is the 2^nd Most Important Character

"Mirror, Mirror"; "The Trouble with Tribbles"

Ensign Pavel Chekov

                Created in the second season to answer Russian critics that the first people in space didn’t have anyone on the Enterprise.  Ensign Chekov provided youth, enthusiasm, humor with his poor understanding of history.  Like Uhura he never had an episode of his own but he was in the second slot for two.

The Episodes Where Ensign Chekov is the 2^nd Most Important Character

"Spectre of the Gun"; "The Way to Eden"

Number One

                The original first officer of the Enterprise was gone so fast we never learned her name. She will get one in a later series coming out this year but for a long time she was just “Number One.”  Yet, because of her Majel Barrett appears on this list twice.

The Episode Where “Number One” is the 2^nd Most Important Character

"The Cage"

Lt. Bailey

                This poor sap got to sit in Gary Michell’s chair right after he died, no wonder he was so nervous.  One and done but the second most important that day.

The Episode Where Lt. Bailey is the 2^nd Most Important Character

"The Corbomite Maneuver"

Yeoman Janice Rand

                A character gone way too soon.  One of the very few franchise characters who was reoccurring and not a commissioned officer and the only one in this series.  After she left, Captain Kirk had revolving door of Yeoman.  Before she left, she was once the 2^nd most important. 

The Episode Where Yeoman Rand is the 2^nd Most Important Character

"Charlie X"

 

Dr. Helen Noel

                Of all the one-off characters Dr. Noel is by far my favorite.  An old flame of Kirk’s who now is on his ship—and he hates it.  I always like to see other doctors and engineers who aren’t the chief of their department.  She is also as sexy as hell.

The Episode Where Dr. Noel is the 2^nd Most Important Character

"Dagger of the Mind"

 

Lt. Marla McGivers

                Lt. McGivers is the ship’s historian who forgets to sew on her lieutenant’s stripes. She became the girlfriend of Khan Noonien Singh.  That status would lead her into trouble.

The Episode Where Lt. McGivers is the 2^nd Most Important Character

"Space Seed”

Lt. DeSalle

                Lt. DeSalle had made a single appearance on the show before moving on to become Scotty’s Assistant Chief Engineer.  As so he is left in Scotty’s usual place on the bridge and gets his own ‘b-plot.’

 The Episode Where Lt. DeSalle is the 2^nd Most Important Character

"Catspaw”

Lt. Carolyn Palamas

                Like McGivers before her she was an historian who became the arm candy of a powerful man.  However, where McGivres fell for superhuman, Palmas, one ups her by dating a god.  Still, she is only the second most important character in this episode.

The Episode Where Lt. Palamas is the 2^nd Most Important Character

"Who Mourns for Adonais?"

Ensign Garrovick

                Of all the one-off characters that got to be the star or co-star of an episode this one is my least favorite.  He is given an important connection to Captain Kirk only then we never see him again.  I really think they should have given this story to either Sulu, Chekov, or Uhura.

The Episode Where Ensign Garrovick is the 2^nd Most Important Character

“Obsession”

POOR SULU!

                Sulu is such a fun character.  He fences and his does botany.  He always has something important to contribute to discussions.  There are several times where he has to take command of the ship in dangerous circumstances, which normally got Scotty all sorts of time in the 2^nd slot.  Yet, Sulu is never the most important or 2^nd most important character and that is a shame.  Interestingly the first book I reviewed for this site had him as the 2^nd most important crew member of that story.

OUT WITH A WHIMPER: STAR TREK ENDS ITS CLASSIC RUN WITH ITS WORST EPISODE

 

Episode Title:  Turnabout Intruder

Air Date: 6/3/1969

Written by Arthur H. Singer and Gene Roddenberry

Directed by Herb Wallerstein

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              Barbara Baldavin as Lieutenant Angela Martine                    Bill Blackburn as Lieutenant Hadley        Roger Holloway as Lieutenant Lemli           David L. Ross as Lieutenant Galoway              Majel Barrett as Nurse Christine Chapel          Walter Koenig as Ensign Pavel Chekov     Tom Anfinsen as unnamed Medical Technician     James Drake as      unnamed Security Guard                 John Boyer as unnamed Security Guard                            Sandra Smith as Janice Lester             Harry Landers as Dr. Coleman         

Ships: USS Enterprise NCC-1701

Planets: Camus II

My Spoiler filled summary and review: Kirk, Spock, and McCoy beam down to the planet Camus II where a science expedition has met with disaster.  Radiation poisoning has killed all but two.  One of the two however is dying and it is the expedition’s leader, Dr. Janice Lester.  Lester is an ex-girl-friend of Captain Kirk’s and the two had a really toxic relationship.  Lester blames Kirk for not sharing more of his success with her and holding her back.  A number of things are said that I will talk more about in the additional thoughts section.  The conversation is in private because McCoy, Spock, and the expedition’s other survivor Dr. Coleman leave in an unsuccessful attempt to see if they can still save any of the others. Throughout the conversation Kirk seems to try and calm his former girlfriend as she meets her end but it doesn’t seem to be working. 

Kirk takes a look at some of the machinery in this place they were researching and when he steps in the wrong spot, Lester pulls out a remote control and activates the machine leaving Kirk frozen in place.  She then stands next to him and we see the machine take each person’s “mind” and place into the others body. The Lester/Kirk now plans to murder Kirk/Lester however, like most villains, “Kirk” needs to gloat a little bit before doing the deed and this allows for the others to return spoiling her plan.

"Kirk" trying to kill "Lester"

They decide to take “Lester” to the Enterprise for better care. While on the ship “Kirk” tells Spock about how it was “his” fault that his relationship with “Lester” went so poorly.  McCoy and Coleman are treating “Lester” and McCoy is quickly convinced that Coleman doesn’t know his butt from his elbow.  However, “Kirk” overrides him and places “Lester” under the exclusive control for Dr. Coleman.  McCoy protests as he is the Chief Medical Officer and his authority on medical matters is absolute.  “Kirk” explains it is a management decision not a medical one.

"Kirk" fires McCoy

This isn’t the only thing that “Kirk” does to arouse suspicions.  On the bridge “Kirk” tries to redirect the ship in a way that doesn’t make sense and snaps at Spock when he points this out.  He then snaps at Uhura’s fill-in when she tries to get his clearance for basic procedure. Which must have been a shock for poor Martine considering this man was once to preform her marriage ceremony. When in Kirk’s quarters McCoy revels that Coleman’s a fraud and the Captain doesn’t back down, instead continues to file “his” nails, McCoy orders that the Captain in for a physical and mental evaluation. 

McCoy begins to feel that something is not right

“Lester” comes to and requests to see McCoy however is horrified to learn that Coleman is in charge of “her” care.  “Lester” realizes Coleman is in on it and they are relying on that no one will believe the ravings of a mad woman.  Later “Lester” asks to see Spock but before that can happen Coleman and “Kirk” stop them from getting together by placing “her” in insolation with strict orders that she see no one but Captain Kirk.  Spock stops by anyway and convinces Lt. Galloway (who must still be in deep morning for the loss of his identical twin brother killed by Captain Tracey last year) allows Spock to see “her.” 

This isn't me!

While Spock is seeing “Lester” McCoy is giving “Kirk” “his” exam.  The body is fine but that wasn’t at issue.  The real challenge was the mental test.  This should have broken “Kirk” but through strength of will and plot armor “he” passes.  Meanwhile Spock is engaging with “Lester.”  “She” is trying to remind Spock of their past adventures such as “The Tholian Web” and “The Empath.”  This doesn’t work as those were recorded events.  (I think Kirk should have gone for “The City on the Edge of Forever,” painful as it maybe, I am sure that adventure was top secret.)  “Lester” than asks for a Vulcan mind-meld. Spock complies and then realizes the truth that “Lester” is the true Kirk. 

The two try to escape but are caught by “Kirk” and security.  Spock goes on trial where “Lester” is forced to testify.  This doesn’t go as “Kirk” would want it.  Instead of seeing an irrational woman, they find “her” story quite fitting with all the other strange adventures they had been through.  I mean this isn’t even the strangest thing they have encountered in the last few weeks.  After all, with the population of an alien planet all escaping to the past, Abe Lincoln, an immortal claiming to be Alexander the Great and Leonardo Di Vinci, this wasn’t much of a tale.  Also given how weird Kirk was acting right in front of them it was actually quite a good explanation.  The only thing holding McCoy and Scotty back was “Kirk” passing McCoy’s exam, they kept asking for some evidence beyond the mind-meld.  McCoy and Scotty decide they will vote not to go to court martial and help Spock take control of the ship.  However, “Kirk” was recording them and has them both arrested.  “Kirk” then claims they will face execution leading to Sulu and Chekov to object saying only trips to Talos IV can mandate that.  Kirk threatens them with arrest too.

Spock knows

When “Kirk” arrives on the bridge “he” finds no one will obey “his” orders.  Then the transfer almost breaks leading the creation of one of Star Trek’s most famous memes.  “Kirk” goes to Coleman who reports that they need to kill “Lester” to make the transfer permanent.  Coleman hesitates but “Kirk” reminds him that they already killed their entire party on Camus II.  So, they go for the final murder.  Their prisoners don’t go quietly and despite being in a woman’s body Captain Kirk is still the greatest fighter in the galaxy.  The battle is short lived and the transfer undone.  Lester is angry to be back in her body and that she can’t be the Captain anymore.  Coleman confesses he loves her, and then asks Kirk and company to allow him to take care of Lester.  The Enterprise crew in a bizarre turn of events agree to allow this.  Apparently stealing Kirk’s body and trying to murder him and is senior officers is crime they are willing to let slide.   Do they even know she and Coleman already murdered their entire party?  I don’t think so and I hope not.  They blame the whole thing on Lester being a self-hating female and agree to let bygones be bygones.  Thus, Star Trek comes to an end on the weakest note possible.

The most famous Captain Kirk meme and it isn't Captain Kirk!

Additional thoughts: This is a terrible episode and it is damn shame that the series had to end like this.  With the death of former President Dwight D. Eisenhower, the airdate was delayed until June.  Imagine having to wait for Star Trek for weeks only to have this episode come on before going off the air for good.  It must have been hard.  I will admit having watched it for the review it was not quite as bad as I remembered.  There actually are some good points about the episode.  I like for example the references to earlier episodes when it is appropriate.  My favorite part of the episode is Lester and Coleman banking on that no one will believe the story from Kirk but having this fail because the crew of the Enterprise is so use to dealing with such strange things that this doesn’t seem too odd for them.

caught

                One of the things that improved upon my viewing it last is the conduct of the Enterprise crew.  One of my traditional beefs with this episode is how Lester is able to set herself up as a petty tyrant just because she is in Kirk’s body.  I thought it went against the traditional of Starfleet and this crew. When “bad” Kirk tried to abandon the away team in “The Enemy Within” the bridge crew immediately turned against him.  Mirror Kirk lasted only a few hours before Spock threw him in the brig.  Kirk got to show Captain Tracey what happens when you give his crew crazy orders while being order to provide weapons at phaser point.  Lastly, Garth of Izar had his entire crew turn against him when he went insane.  I always remember Lester using the ship’s security as her own person Gestapo most disgraceful.  However, while re-watching I noticed how quickly Lester lost control of the bridge and gained the suspicions of Spock and McCoy.  The arrest of Spock turns McCoy and Scotty against her and Lester’s pronouncement of the death penalty costs her Sulu and Chekov as they lead a non-cooperative munity from the bridge.  I think if Lester tried to go through with the executions, then that would have caused security to revolt.  This saved the episode from being a “1” however we need to look at why it is a “2.” 

“Your world of starship captains doesn’t admit women.” That one line is the beginning of the problems that the episode has.  I was a kid when I first saw this episode and I knew it was bull.  Lester was clearly nuts.  There are women officers on the Enterprise, we once saw a woman as the first officer of that very starship.  Why would Starfleet let women rise all the way to first officer but not let them be the captain?  Despite the fact that this claim went in one ear and out the other for me this wasn’t the case for others.  I have heard interviews from women who were fans when this came out who were emotionally crushed because of it.  Some have tried to say that they were talking about relationships not the role of women in Starfleet however considering what goes on in the rest of the episode I can’t buy that.   Lester is just crazy; Kirk doesn’t bother to correct her “no girl captains” comment because he thought she was dying so why continue to deny her delusions?

 However Crazy Lester is another problem.  You have a woman who complains about being discriminated against in account of her gender in a way that is not possible in the Star Trek universe. So, we have a woman who complains about sexism only to be shown that she is just crazy, in 1969, a time period where women were still restricted on being able to get a credit card independently.  It gives the impression that the women who were going around protesting actual real-world discrimination are all just a bunch of crazy chicks.

"Kirk" putting Spock on trial with Lester!

On another topic when did Kirk and Lester have their relationship?  It seems before his time on the Enterprise as none of this crew know her.  However, from their conversation it appears he was already a starship captain when they met.  Did Kirk have a command before the Enterprise?  I heard that in one of his old back stories he used to have command of a destroyer before moving on to a heavy cruiser.  Kirk’s first command might be a story that I would like to see.

During Spock’s trial, McCoy and Scotty are looking for evidence to back Spock’s story.  Why didn’t they look in the Captain’s personal log?  They are official ship records you can access them if you need to.  If you did there would one heck of a shock.  In Star Trek we have had some strange Captain’s Log entries.  Right before a duel with Trelane was one.  How about when Kirk was still entering log entries in the mirror universe?  This one takes the cake, both Lester and Kirk in each other’s bodies record log entries. Lester details her entire evil plan to steal Kirk’s body and kill him so she can command the Enterprise. Good grief!

"Kirk's" final and failed attempt

As bad as Turnabout Intruder is could it have worked?  It could have used some alterations let’s just fix some of the dialogue:

LESTER: You got to be a great starship captain and you didn’t allow me to become one.

KIRK: Janice, I told you if you want to become a captain you first have attend Starfleet Academy and earn a commission in Starfleet.  Then you have to work your way up the ranks. 

LESTER: Damn it! We’re the same age, if I started the Academy right now do you realize how long it would take for me to make captain?  You know you told me how unusual it was for you to get your first command as fast as you did.  By the time I earned it I would be old.  I shouldn’t have to earn a commission you should have told Starfleet you were going to share yours!  We could have both been the captain together. 

KIRK: Janice, that is not how Starfleet works you can’t share commissions everything needs to be earned on merit.

At this point Lester screams and collapses, an exhausted Kirk steps away and over to the machine and then Lester grabs the control and nabs him.

Do that and also remove every instance of “I hate being a woman, no one lets women do anything” crap and you have a disturbed antagonist who is looking to steal Kirk’s life and so happens to be a woman.  It is no longer about someone whose motive is intense gender dysphoria that could be solved with hormonal treatments and surgery.  

The end of an era.  This would be for a number the last installment of Star Trek as a franchise and it will always be the last installment of its classic series.  It doesn’t feel like a final episode in any way.  You could say that is because it wasn’t supposed to be, however it doesn’t feel like a season final either.  To be fair this series never tried to end its seasons with any sort of super episode as you were supposed to be able to watch any episode in any particular order.  In a way that is also sort of fitting because there is nothing in the opening episode to tell you it’s the opening episode.  That is true if you are watching the one that aired first, pilot #1, or pilot# 2. 

FINAL GRADE 2 of 5 

POST SCRIPT

I made my first post on this blog on July 4, 2019.  For the over two and half years I have whittled away at this little hobby.  I have been a lifelong fan of Star Trek but I was never able to give back to it in any meaningful way.  That is what this blog has been all about it is my small way of giving back to Star Trek.  I didn’t put any time line on it because if I gave myself deadlines, I wouldn’t enjoy it because it would always feel like I was behind as I have to put my real job first.  However, since that time I have had a real fun time watching every episode of the classic Star Trek series and writing these reviews about them. It is the writing part that takes so long. I have never been a ‘binger’ I think a television episode is an art form and I want to be able to appreciate what each writer, directors, and actors of each episode were trying to make.  Still if I just watched an episode a day, I would have finished in three months. Writing a summary and review for every episode is very time consuming and I only have so much time to give.  Every time I hit a milestone such as the first appearance of the Romulans, Klingons, Tribbles, Spock’s planet, Spock’s parents, or when I would finish a season, I felt really good.  Now having reached the end this series I feel great, even though I will miss writing about these characters I am not really done yet.  There is still an animated series and some movies, and then after that it is a large franchise. 

THE MOST INSANE TIME TRAVEL PREMISE EVER

 

Episode Title:  All Our Yesterdays

Air Date: 3/14/1969

Written by Jean Lisette Aroeste

Directed by Marvin J. Chomsky

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”        Mariette Hartley as Zarabeth          Ian Wolfe as Mr. Atoz               Kermit Murdock as The Prosecutor        Ed Bakey as The First Fop              Albert Cavens as Second Fop                  Anna Karen as unnamed Woman   Stan Barrett as The Jailor       Johnny Haymer as The Constable

Ships: USS Enterprise NCC-1701

Planets: Sarpeidon

My Spoiler filled summary and review: The Enterprise arrives at the planet Sarpeidon, whose sun is about to go nova in three hours.  To their surprise the entire planet’s population seems to have disappeared.  Kirk, Spock, and McCoy beam down to investigate and arrive in some type of record storage facility.  There the three men run into the librarian; an older gentleman named Mr. Atoz who seems surprised to see them.  He insists they don’t have much time but is very glad that they are here.  They can look at the tapes and choose a time period, he says, but when Kirk points out that he wants to know what happened recently, Mr. Atoz is a little slow to respond saying there was not much demand.

Meeting Mr. Atoz

  

The three begin to explore this library and quickly run into Mr. Atoz again.  After having a similar conversation with him they turn away only to have that 180 degree turn result in a third encounter with the same man.  The third encounter seems to have turned Mr. Atoz into a grouch.  We do learn from this Mr. Atoz that the nicer two are duplicates who are there to assist him with his task.  He appears to have had something to do with the disappearance of population and he keeps pointing the three in directions of the disks.  For the moment they choose to amuse him glancing at some of the disks.  McCoy looks at one with images from an artic region while the Captain begins to look at one from a pre-industrial period.

Spock and McCoy going through the portal

Kirk suddenly hears a woman scream.  He runs through a door, ignoring the panic screaming of Atoz’s saying he is not ready, vanishing into thin air.  To Mr. Atoz’s horror, Spock and McCoy run after him and vanish as well.  Kirk ends up in a pre-industrial setting while Spock and McCoy find themselves stuck in some sort of ice age.  The equipment and weapons are inoperable. For a brief moment they can hear each other’s voices but Kirk gets distracted by the screaming woman.

The greatest fighter in the galaxy vs. a caviler dandy!

The woman is being attacked by a couple of cavalier-looking men.  Kirk rushes to her defense, and as the greatest fighter in the known universe, Kirk makes quick work of them.  Kirk, after he is sure the woman is okay, walks back to find the entrance to the library.  He talks Spock and McCoy some more and this makes the woman believe that he is some sort of witch.  The fact that he saved her life doesn’t enter into her decision at all.  The cavalier-looking men return with more of their number.  They too hear the voices and come to the same conclusion.  Kirk is arrested and charged with witchcraft.

Spock and McCoy desperately seek shelter.  They are not having any luck finding it.  McCoy is about to be finished when they are found by woman who takes them to her shelter.  And what a shelter it is complete with heat from natural hot springs to keep them nice and toasty!  This allows the woman, who we learn is Zarabeth, to walk around in a sexy outfit.  Zarabeth tells Spock she was marooned in this time period by Zor Kahn, a tyrannical ruler of her planet as punishment when members of her family failed to assassinate him.  As Spock nurses McCoy to health, he finds himself strangely drawn to their rescuer and is starting to have other strange thoughts pop up in his mind.

In prison Kirk denies he is a witch but he quickly figures something out about his jailer.  Like him he is from the future, Kirk calls him out on it and the man tries to play stupid.  However, they quickly begin talking about time travel.  Kirk expresses his desire to get back to his own time.  His jailer explains that he can’t go back as once you are prepared your molecules must live in the time you are sent.  Kirk explains that he wasn’t prepared.  To which the man explains that not only can he leave but he must.

For Kirk no good dead goes unpunished!

Back in the ice age, Spock is going through some changes.  Zarabeth has prepared some cooked meat for them but Spock is a vegetarian.  Now there is a survival factor here that does make some sense but it goes beyond that.  Spock likes eating the meat and he also seems to enjoy getting nice and close to Zarabeth.  He starts to lose all sense of where he is when he tells Zarabeth the Vulcan is a planet millions of light-years from Sarpeidon.  Which if true would put Vulcan several galaxies away from its actual location.  This is probably the biggest confirmation that Spock is losing it.   When McCoy points this out to Mr. Spock, Spock almost attacks him.  McCoy can still appeal to his reason.  He reminds Spock what Vulcan was going through in this time period.  Spock realizes that he is reverting to the ways of his ancestors as a consequence of returning to the past.  However, when talking to Zarabeth she informs him that they can’t go back to the present because of the process unaware that McCoy and Spock did not complete it.

Spock and McCoy before Zarabeth rescue!

Not trusting the judge from the future to be honest and fair, Kirk arranges his own escape. He forces his adversary to bring him to the library door so he can return to the present. When he returns to the library Kirk confronts Atoz but the time librarian is determined to prepare Kirk and send him back.  Kirk is having the hardest time convincing the old man that he is not even from this planet.  At one point Atoz knocks Kirk out and tries to push him back in a cart before Kirk wakes up.  This scene is kind of funny.  

I was amused!

McCoy calls Zarabeth out for wanting to keep them here.  She confesses that there might be away and takes them there out of guilt.  When they arrive Kirk and Atoz have located the correct disc and Kirk can communicate with them.  They can only return if both do so at the same time.  This means that in order to ensure that McCoy survives Spock can’t choose to stay with Zarabeth.  They say their goodbyes and the two Starfleet officers return to the present.  Atoz flees to the past and the landing party beams back to the Enterprise.  McCoy tires to comfort Spock but Spock doesn’t want to hear it.  Zarabeth he points out has now been dead and buried for thousands of years.  If he wanted to be even more depressing about it, he could point out that the ground she is buried in is about to be destroyed in a fiery supernova.  The Enterprise warps out as Sarpeidon is destroyed.   

Additional thoughts: Not counting that quick trip in “The Naked Time,” the first-time travel episode was “Tomorrow is Yesterday.”  In it the Enterprise accidently picks up Captain Christopher of the U.S. Air Force, at the time it is believed they may have to take him with them to prevent any disruption to the time line.  However, Spock later figures out that the Captain’s descendent Col. Christopher will lead the first trip to Saturn, mandating Captain Christopher’s immediate return.  In “The City on the Edge of Forever” a drugged Dr. McCoy gets trapped in the past.  When he recovers, he saves a random woman, Edith Keeler, from a car accident.  This helpful act caused the Nazis to win World War II and wipes the Federation straight out of existence.  Kirk and Spock were able to fix everything because they had been standing so close to the Guardian of Forever the moment McCoy went in.

Spock about to meet his own "Edith Keeler"

Yet in this episode we encounter Mr. Atoz who has sent his entire planet’s population back to the past.  Your mind will quickly go numb at all the possible butterfly effects flying around.  How the Atavachron time travel device survives all these time alterations I have no clue.  It was amazing not to mention lucky for them to dodge all these potential temporal paradoxes to continue to sending their massive population to the past.  Now the Atavachron did require its subjects to go through a preparation where their cells and brainwaves were to match their intended time period.   This is interesting because we have seen our characters go back in time and have never required such a thing.  It could be that this method is what is used to ensure that the participants conform to their time period and prevents them from interfering with historic events.  The prosecutor that Kirk encounters seems quite scared to talk about his time in the future.  There aren’t listening devices time period so who is yelling to that he believes in witches?  Perhaps if he doesn’t adapt fully, he might drop down dead?  It’s worth thinking about.

Falling in love

So, we have a star about to go nova and a fully populated and developed planet in orbit about to be destroyed.  Starfleet is monitoring this and notices that the planet’s population has seemingly disappeared so they send the Enterprise to investigate.   So, what would have happened if Kirk had found them all hiding in underground structures praying to whatever deity they believed in to come save them?  Would Kirk have been like “Oh, Okay we just wanted to know where you were.  Good-bye enjoy the last three hours of your life.” The Enterprise doesn’t have the resources to evacuate an entire planet.  Maybe Starfleet has a fleet waiting for the Enterprise to report?  But they are cutting it a little close, aren’t they?  There is only three hours here how are we going to evacuate an entire planet. Starfleet shown to either immoral or just stupid.

Kirk and his jailer from the present!

Golly doesn’t Sarpeidon looks just like Earth?  Their people are indistinguishable from humans, and their 17th century England are filled with knights and accused ‘witches!’ If this were an earlier season of Star Trek, they might have called it another Earth instead of giving an actual name.  It is almost they wrote the episode based on what they could find in the prop and costume departments at the studio. 

Spock and Zarabeth looking at their third wheel!

There is so much potential for unseen stories from this planet.  From the tyrant Zor Kahn, who was so evil that even Mr. Spock, who was not from this planet has heard of him; to all modern inhabitants living in their past. 

Going home without her!

The worst part of the episode for myself is the fate of poor Zarabeth.  It bothers me even more than the deaths of Edith Keeler and Miramanee.  Mainly because their deaths were sudden where Zarabeth was condemned to a life of loneliness.  However, an even bigger reason I am so bothered is they don’t attempt to fight for her.  You can say there was no time but there is plenty of time in time travel.   Even if they cannot bring her through the Atavachron they can still try to save her.  McCoy could have taken a sample of her hair and Spock could have grabbed the time disc in the library right before they beamed up.  McCoy could devise a way to undo to her cells what the Atavachron’s process did to them.  Spock can use the disk to locate the exact time period she is in.  They can then use the Enterprise to warp around a star in a nearby system and get to her time period.  (Don’t tell me that is too dangerous they did it “Assignment: Earth” just to answer some local historians’ questions about the late 1960s.) Once there they can fly back to Sarpeidon pick up Zarabeth and McCoy can treat her.  With that done they warp back to and around the nearby star returning to present time.  Since there is only one episode left, we don’t have to worry about how this new addition will impact the series. 

FINAL GRADE 4 of 5