"Star Trek" The Tholian Web (1968)

User Rating:

8.0/10   

Director:

Herb Wallerstein

Writers:

Judy Burns (written by) and
Chet Richards (written by) ...

TV Series:

"Star Trek" (1966)

Original Air Date:

15 November 1968 (Season 3, Episode 9)

Genre:

Adventure | Sci-Fi

Plot:

Kirk and the derelict starship Defiant vanish into a spatial interphase between universes. To rescue him...

Plot Keywords:

Federation | Space | Starship | Computer | Vulcan

Cast

William Shatner	...	Captain James T. Kirk
Leonard Nimoy	...	Mr. Spock
DeForest Kelley	...	Dr. McCoy
James Doohan	...	Scott
George Takei	...	Sulu
Walter Koenig	...	Chekov
Nichelle Nichols	...	Uhura
Majel Barrett	...	Enterprise Computer (voice)
Sean Morgan	...	Lt. O'Neil

Runtime:

60 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Argentina:Atp

Filming Locations:

Paramount Studios - 5555 Melrose Avenue, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Paramount Television

Trivia:

Spock tells Chekov that the U.S.S. Defiant is the first starship on record to fall prey to mutiny. Inaccurate, as he himself committed this offense on "The Menagerie, Part I" as well as nearly a year later from this in "Turnabout Intruder".

Goofs:

Continuity: Scotty has his hair cut short and combed down in this episode. But, in one scene, where Spock calls him right before inter-phase, the scene shows his hair combed back, in the style he wore in the first few episodes of the third season. That shot was re-used from the episode "The Paradise Syndrome."

Quotes:

Mr. Spock: The renowned Tholian punctuality.

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Enterprise: In a Mirror, Darkly: Part 2 (#4.19)" (2005)

Space Madness and the Punctual Tholians

The Enterprise enters a region of space where space itself phases in and out. Another starship, the Defiant, and her crew have already fallen victim to this spatial malady. Kirk beams over to the shifting Defiant with Spock, McCoy and Chekov; we get to see the crew wearing funky spacesuits in this one. In an eerie sequence of scenes, we see that the Defiant's crew appears to have killed each other. This shifting space also affects the brains of humans, causing a degeneration into insanity. These and later scenes recall the bouts of insanity in "Is There in Truth no Beauty?" earlier this same season. Unfortunately, Kirk should have left Chekov on the Enterprise; Scotty is able to beam back only 3 of them at a time and the Defiant fades away before they can get Kirk back - he's gone, all the way gone (there's something about the number 3 on this show). They even hold a funeral service for Kirk later; yes, this is Kirk's final episode...just kidding. Then the Tholians show up. They're territorial and want the Enterprise outta there!

Like about half of the 3rd season episodes, this is saddled with a snail pace in spots, but the alien Tholians almost make up for this. While we were still seeing actors in lame appliances 20 and 25 years later on the later series (TNG, DS9, etc.) to display alien reps, here we see a truly innovative attempt at visualizing an alien race, complete with an unusual audio signature. You won't soon forget the Tholians. Their energy web - well, that's another matter: seems to me this tactic would work only if an enemy vessel sat unmoving for an hour or two, not using its weaponry. How often does that happen? This episode is also unusual in that Kirk shows up only in the pre-credits scenes, the first act and then disappears until the last 5 minutes (not counting his shots as a ghost). Hence, we observe a new group dynamic shifting into place to fill in the gap: Spock & McCoy further their tense relationship, while Scotty moves in to complete a new trinity. There's an interesting scene with the trio in Spock's quarters near the end, just before final maneuvers are to be made and Scotty walks off with obvious plans to get drunk.