A near miss with a black hole sends the Enterprise hurtling back in time to the 20th century, where they are sighted by the U. S. Air Force as a UFO. When Air Force pilot John Christopher (Roger Perry) prepares to engage the Enterprise, Kirk orders a tractor beam to disable the plane - then has to beam Christopher aboard when the beam destroys the man's plane.
The Enterprise crew now finds itself faced with three problems. One: How do they erase the record of Christopher's sighting of the ship? Two: What do they do with Christopher, who cannot be taken back to the future with them, but who also cannot be returned with knowledge of what he's seen? Finally, Three: Even if they solve the first two problems, and keep history on track, how do they get themselves back home?
CHARACTERS
Capt. Kirk: Identifies with Christopher, and feels sympathy for his situation, but accepts Spock's initial conclusion that Christopher cannot be returned. Puts responsibility for keeping history on-course above all other concerns, including his ship's safety, showing more respect for non-interference than he's generally credited with.
Spock: This is yet another episode showcasing Spock's ability to make cold calculations. Spock's initial research into Christopher leads him to conclude that the man made no important contributions, and that the course of least interference would be to simply "pluck him out of time" rather than return him with knowledge of the future. Anticipates Christopher's actions in the base, thwarting an escape attempt. Calculated what would become a commonly-used "slingshot effect" to travel back to their own time, making this another episode where Spock effectively saves the day.
Guest Star of the Week: Roger Perry's Captain Christopher is essentially Kirk from the 1960's (am I cruel to be amused that Kirk's 1960's counterpart makes no significant historical contribution?), behaving much as Kirk himself would do in this situation. He is interested in the future, and perfectly cordial with his captors. However, he takes every opportunity to escape, and considers it his duty to report everything he has seen to his superiors... even if that means making himself look insane.
THOUGHTS
An interesting facet of first-season Trek is that we consistently see duty being prioritized above the personal. This is the exact opposite of most modern series. Kirk's duty to keep history on track is prioritized above the welfare of his ship and crew. Christopher's duty to report to his superiors is prioritized above his own welfare (he knows full well that a complete report will make him look like a loony).
The entire Kirk/Christopher conflict boils down to two very good men, both of whom want to do their duty, whose duties happen to conflict with each other. Each man fully understands the other's position, and even sympathizes. But neither can allow the other to fulfill that duty, not if it's in his power to prevent it. This is an interesting central dynamic, in that Christopher is essentially the villain of the story - he's the man Kirk and crew constantly have to thwart - and yet he is a very likable character.
This is the first episode to really use time travel as a plot element, rather than a throwaway. It's refreshing to see the Enterprise crew actually being thrown by their trip to the past, given how routine such trips would later become. The episode does utilize a lot of comedy, probably to keep the story feeling sprightly in the lack of an Evil Villain, but the comedy elements are well-integrated into the script. The base commander may be a bit too buffoonish, but his interrogation of Kirk is an amusing scene. The scene may be played for laughs, but there is an undercurrent of this being a serious problem, given that any of the obvious ways to rescue Kirk from this dilemma would pose a severe threat to history.
The remastered version of this episode spruces up several effects. Notable improvements are the Enterprise in the earth's atmosphere at the beginning, which now looks a great deal more convincing than on original transmission and features a much wider variety of shots; and the slingshot at the end, which places the Enterprise in-shot with the sun - greatly increasing the sense of danger at pulling off this maneuver for the first time ever.
Rating: 8/10. Hugely entertaining.
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