Return to Tomorrow

I saw many of the original series episodes when they came out in 1968 and 1969 -- but I was only six years old at the time! At that point I only liked the episodes where Kirk got into a lot of fistfights and fired his phaser. And especially the episodes where the Enterprise fired all its phasers at another ship!

Fifty years later . . .

This episode, which I hardly noticed as a little kid, is now a favorite. It's haunting, tragic, deeply romantic, dream like, and sensual. The idea that god like aliens long to be human, to have all the feelings and emotions we take for granted, is deeply inspiring. It's all the more poignant because they speak to us in the voices of people we already love, like Kirk and Spock and the incomparably lovely Ann Mulhall. I loved how the "temptation" of Thelessa was so Biblical, with the suave Henoch in the role of the serpent.

People joke about the plot, but from an acting perspective it must have been so liberating for William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy to take on these "dual" roles as aliens inhabiting the bodies of Kirk and Spock. Shatner gets to play a man who is quite different from James T. Kirk. Sargon is a great leader, a hero, but he's no playboy. He's dignified and caring and his scenes with his lost love are unbelievably touching. And for Nimoy to be able to step out from behind Spocks' shadow and play a truly Satanic villain must have been a real thrill. I think Henoch is one of the best Original Series villains and I think Leonard Nimoy deserves a lot of credit for bringing him to life!

Private joke: when Sargon talks about spending thousands of years searching the universe for passing ships to help, he says something like, "Always waiting, always probing, probing, waiting, probing." I wanted him to go the full Buddy Holly and say he was "crying, waiting, hoping" instead!

This is one of the best episodes in Season 2, full of interesting ideas and a cracking plot. There are excellent performances from Shatner and Nimoy in dual roles and Diana Muldaur makes an impressive debut in the Star Trek universe in a third such role. This is what Star Trek is all about- transporting the viewer into high concept musings under the disguise of mainstream entertainment. Boldly going where no tv series had gone before.

Delightful to see Diana Muldaur in this early role. She was about 28 yo then and very convincing! Easy to see that her coming tv roles would be filled by the superconfident actress who would continue to please us for decades as a lawyer and space traveler. The writing of this episode was exceptionally future minded and discussions of risk and benefit in the philosophical meetings that Kirk held are a tribute to the venturous explorers of the universe that were put on the five-year mission in order to improve humanity and boldly go where others would not.

The episode has some run-of-the mill elements and a rather far- fetched premise as some pointed out, but to me stands out as what Star Trek does best: showing the joys, potentials, difficulties and dangers of space exploration.

Faced with a dilemma to decide if Kirk, Spock and astrobiologist Ann Mulhall should lend their bodies to a superadvanced alien race, a remarkable roundtable discussion takes place. Dr McCoy's objections are warranted and well expressed, but a final centerpiece speech by Kirk explains the risks and rewards of flight, space flight, sciences and alien encounter. He states "Risk is our business" in a well written and delivered plea. One of the best staff briefing scene in all of Star Trek, I would even say.

The rest of the episode deals with the concepts of awareness, android, consciousness, love, loyalty, life and eternity. All relevant philosophical themes and all explored very well in the limited time. A very satisfying episode that grows and culminate exquisitely.

Robot romance? much more in store for the viewers!

This is a great, often overlooked and undervalued episode. It features a true science fiction plot, wherein powerful, noncorporial but benevolent aliens who may be responsible for life on Earth take over the bodies of Kirk, Spock, and Dr. Ann Mulhall so they can exist in our world. Great acting by Shatner and Nimoy, although Diana Muldaur is less than stellar. Plus, it features a speech by Kirk that perfectly sums up the Star Trek mythos.