"Star Trek" The Naked Time (1966)

User Rating:

8.0/10   

Director:

Marc Daniels

Writers:

John D.F. Black (written by)
Gene Roddenberry (creator)

TV Series:

"Star Trek" (1966)

Original Air Date:

29 September 1966 (Season 1, Episode 4)

Genre:

Adventure | Sci-Fi

Plot:

The crew is infected with a mysterious disease that removes people's emotional inhibitions to a dangerous degree.

Plot Keywords:

Drunken Singing | Federation | Space | Starship | Computer

Cast

William Shatner	...	Captain James T. Kirk
Leonard Nimoy	...	Mr. Spock
Stewart Moss	...	Tormolen
Majel Barrett	...	Christine
Bruce Hyde	...	Riley
DeForest Kelley	...	Dr. McCoy
Grace Lee Whitney	...	Yeoman Rand
George Takei	...	Sulu
James Doohan	...	Scott
Nichelle Nichols	...	Uhura
William Knight	...	Amorous Crewman
John Bellah	...	Laughing Crewman

Runtime:

50 min | Argentina:60 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Argentina:Atp | Canada:PG (video rating)

Filming Locations:

Desilu Studios - 9336 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA

Company:

Desilu Productions

Trivia:

First appearance in the series of Nurse Christine Chapel, played by Gene Roddenberry's wife Majel Barrett.

Goofs:

Plot holes: It's established that the "intoxication effect" spreads through physical contact--namely, through sweat. Sulu, by the time he makes it to the bridge with his sword, has worked up a healthy amount of perspiration, but though Uhura has extended physical contact with him in the ensuing fight, she never contracts the effect.

Quotes:

Spock: I am in control of my emotions! Control of my emo -
[starts sobbing]

Movie Connections:

Featured in Bring Back... Star Trek (2009) (TV)

Fears, desires and swords

The Naked Time is one of the more entertaining Star Trek episodes, even though there is the usual percentage of danger involved. It's also one of those stories that uses its central plot device (in this case a virus) as a means to explore the essence of the show's characters, which is always welcome, given the series' general lack of long-term psychological development.

The aforementioned virus is brought on board after the exploration of a planet where everyone was killed without a logical explanation. Soon enough, though, it becomes apparent that the cause of death has reached the Enterprise: the disease removes the infected person's inhibitions, unveiling his or her most hidden desires. Because of this, Sulu starts running around shirtless with a sword in his hand, Spock discovers a female crew member is in love with him (it also turns out he isn't as cold and rational as he likes to make us believe, thanks to his human half) and Kirk is torn between his duties as captain and wishes of a more personal nature. Someone must come up with a solution fast, or this kind of behavior could mean the end of the Enterprise.

The Naked Time is essentially a 45-minute extravaganza where we get to see how Kirk and the others would behave if they lost their common sense and reverted to the animal side of their nature. The story is rather thin (it's basically a succession of entertaining skits), but the performances make it worth watching, especially Nimoy's work, which apparently was so well received by fans that the writers decided to play on Spock's dual nature as often as they could. A very wise decision indeed.