"Star Trek" Return to Tomorrow (1968)

User Rating:

7.8/10   

Director:

Ralph Senensky

Writers:

John Kingsbridge (written by)
Gene Roddenberry (creator)

TV Series:

"Star Trek" (1966)

Original Air Date:

9 February 1968 (Season 2, Episode 20)

Genre:

Adventure | Sci-Fi

Plot:

The last three members of an ancient race far more advanced than humans, who survive only as disembodied thought, wish to borrow the bodies of Kirk, Spock and Dr. Mulhall.

Plot Keywords:

Federation | Space | Starship | Computer | Vulcan

Cast

William Shatner	...	Captain James T. Kirk / Sargon
Leonard Nimoy	...	Mr. Spock / Henoch
DeForest Kelley	...	Dr. McCoy
Diana Muldaur	...	Ann Mulhall / Thalassa
James Doohan	...	Scott / Sargon (voice)
Nichelle Nichols	...	Uhura
George Takei	...	Sulu
Cindy Lou	...	Nurse
Majel Barrett	...	Nurse Chapel

Runtime:

60 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Argentina:Atp

Company:

Paramount Television

Trivia:

In Kirk's speech on risk, the states "Do you wish that the first Apollo mission hadn't reached the moon"? At the time of the original airing, only one year after the launch pad fire that killed the Apollo 1 crew, reaching the moon was far from certain and the risks were enormous.

Goofs:

Revealing mistakes: After Kirk/Sargon faints and Dr. McCoy says he's dead, they pan down back to Kirk/Sargon and if you watch the neck of Kirk/Sargon you can clearly see his neck moving indicating the heart is beating.

Quotes:

Capt. Kirk: They use to say if mankind could fly, he'd have wings, but he did fly. He discovered he had to. Do you wish that the first Apollo mission hadn't reached the moon, or that we hadn't gone on to Mars and then to the nearest star? That's like saying you wish that you still operated with scalpels and sewed your patients up with catgut like your great-great-great-great grandfather used to...

Worth seeing just to see an evil Spock

Okay, this is an average episode that is still pretty interesting,...though I've gotta admit that the plot is pretty hard to believe--even for a sci-fi series. Think about it--some god-like and practically immortal beings are stuck inside orbs well beneath the surface of a planet. They need to borrow some of the bodies of the Enterprise crew in order to then fashion android bodies for themselves. You'd really think that being that powerful, they wouldn't need to go through all this rigmarole! Well, regardless, there are three super-beings still alive after all these many, many millenia and so Kirk, Spock and Diana Muldaur's character allow the three beings to use their bodies temporarily. However, the being inside Spock is selfish and evil and tries to kill off his rival being and he has no intention of giving Spock back his body. It's all very unusual, but not super-compelling. The episode is worth watching but is not among their best.