THE PLOT
The planet Sarpeidon, home to a thriving civilization, has a sun that's about to go nova. When the Enterprise arrives, there is no sign of life on the planet. Kirk, Spock, and McCoy beam down to The Library in hopes of learning what happened to the population.
They are met by Atoz (Ian Wolfe), the librarian, who fusses that the three are "very late" and must make their "selection" as quickly as possible. He directs them to viewers with different data tapes showing different parts of the planet's history. Kirk is viewing a tape set in the equivalent of American colonial times when he hears a woman scream. Not thinking, he runs out, following the scream...
...And finds himself in the very scene shown in the viewer. Spock and McCoy run after him. But McCoy was viewing a tape showing the planet's ice age, and he and Spock find themselves in a mountainous region in sub-zero temperatures. They have all been propelled into the planet's past, with no apparent way back. With Kirk accused of witchcraft, and Spock and McCoy in the middle of a blizzard, the first challenge they face is their own survival!
CHARACTERS
Capt. Kirk: Very much the decisive man of action - which is what gets the crew into trouble in the first place! Kirk's impulsive run through the portal feels like a plot contrivance, necessary to get the action started. Kirk takes charge in his new surroundings efficiently, escaping from imprisonment and gaining the information needed to get back to the Library, and eventually to get Spock and McCoy back as well.
Spock: Through the power of Plot Contrivance, going back into the past unwinds Spock's Vulcan reserve. Step by step, he is returned to the savagery of his ancestors. This doesn't really hold up to scrutiny, but it does give Leonard Nimoy his best episode since The Tholian Web. At first, there's just an unusual harshness in his voice. He becomes more "human" in his gestures and postures. All of this builds to the point at which he lashes out at McCoy, responding to one of McCoy's typical barbs with a violent, "I don't like that. I don't think I ever did!"
Dr. McCoy: After Spock's violent outburst, it doesn't take him long to figure out what is happening. He takes a considerable personal risk to provoke Spock in order to snap him out of it. I'm assuming that his overt hostility to Zarabeth is more an approach to directly provoke Spock than honest outrage, given that he is quite charming to her in their only previous scene. Either way, he does have enough insight to realize that she may not be telling them the whole truth.
Hot Alien Space Babe of the WeeK: Zarabeth (Mariette Hartley) is the lovely exile, a victim of a brutal regime from a point in the planet's history at which time travel was already a possibility. She has been alone for what must have been years, and latches onto Spock with desperation. Apparently, among the necessities of survival she was allowed were a complete cosmetics set and a salon - but given that Mariette Hartley, circa 1969, was nothing short of stunning, I'm certainly not going to complain that she looks too good for her situation. Hartley, a consistently reliable actress, manages to invest more in Zarabeth than is there on the page, and her presence alone elevates this episode.
THOUGHTS
As was the case with Requiem for Methuselah, it's immediately apparent that more care has gone into the making of this episode than has been the case with most of the late Season Three offerings. The setup in the teaser is both intriguing and entertaining. I particularly enjoyed the way in which the library is run, with duplicate librarians alternating between anxious hand-wringing and offers of assistance. "Reference services are available at the desk," an Atoz duplicate tells the three when they ask for recent history. The way in which this is phrased and delivered makes me think that the writer spent a fair amount of time at a large library.
Production values are very much above average, particularly for Season Three. The mountains on which Spock and McCoy find themselves are an obvious set, but not a bad one. The fake snow is well-used, and goes a long way toward selling it. The cave in which they take shelter is one of the series' most convincing cave sets, and some thought has gone into the lighting of it.
There are two main strands, one following Kirk's adventures in the 17th century, the other following Spock and McCoy. The Kirk strand is entertaining, and William Shatner gives one of his better recent performances. But the Spock/McCoy material is the real focus of interest, with Leonard Nimoy giving his best performance of the season. Spock's regression creates a genuinely strong dramatic situation, and Zarabeth's plight - a hopeless injustice which is refreshingly allowed to remain hopeless - is effective.
If everything came together, this would be the best episode of the season and might even be the only Season Three episode to win full marks from me. Unfortunately, there are some ragged bits of scriptwriting. Kirk's impulsive dash through the portal can be excused, though Kirk normally isn't that stupidly rash. I can even twist my brain to justify that his jail just happens to be run by someone who's been through the portal, even if that seems overly convenient and dramatically unnecessary.
There are a couple of big issues that I can't overlook, though, simply because they are so central to the episode. First, there's Mr. Atoz. Exactly why, if everyone on the planet has already gone through the portal, is he still there? Wouldn't he have made his escape already? The episode would work just as well if the real Atoz had already escaped, and all that remained were the robot duplicates. In fact, it would make more sense of Atoz's refusal to listen to Kirk in the second half of the episode. A real person should pick up, from Kirk talking to Scotty about "warping out of there," that the captain just might not be from around these here parts, but a robot would simply follow its programming.
The other issue that keeps this from being a "great" episode is one that's central to the show's best material: Why does Spock regress? If traveling so far back in time by this method should have this effect, then shouldn't McCoy be jumping around making chimp noises while trying to pick fleas off Spock? The answer is, of course, that it's good drama for Spock to lose his Vulcan logic while McCoy is the same as he usually is. But it simply isn't justified in the script. It doesn't stop me from enjoying some excellent scenes. But I wish at least some attempt was made to address this fairly obvious issue.
Even with these problems, All Our Yesterdays is a very good episode, a reminder of the quality this series used to regularly turn out. A part of me wishes this had been the series finale, as I have a feeling it would be a far more fitting finish than Turnabout Intruder is likely to provide.
Rating: 8/10.
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I saw someone on another site come up with an explanation for Spock's regression (and McCoy's non-regression). This person suggested that Vulcans always have some tenuous telepathic awareness of other Vulcans. Nothing like a full mind-meld, of course, just a tenuous sense that they exist, with a bit of their general state filtering through.
ReplyDeleteIf this is so, then during the 23rd Century, each individual Vulcan is partly restrained by the collective restraint of all other Vulcans. No one Vulcan has that much effect, but the cumulative effect of a planetful of billions of them could be fairly powerful. During Spock's time in the past, then, his normal personal restraint isn't enough to overcome the telepathic effects of an entire planetful of UNrestrained, savage Vulcans.
We know that Spock felt it when the 400 Vulcans on the Intrepid died (during "The Immunity Syndrome"), so we know that he has some telepathic awareness of other Vulcans at a distance under some circumstances. Whether he has any telepathic awareness of other Vulcans when they're not dying is something TOS doesn't make clear.
As I said, this isn't my theory; I just read it somewhere. But I thought it was reasonably plausible, and I thought it took an explanation for Spock's behavior in this episode that seemed really stupid on the surface and turned it into something really interesting. If this person's theory were true, then going against Vulcan norms wouldn't be as easy as just deciding to do so, because there'd be all that telepathic influence. Something neat to think about.
Dear JP Halt: I enjoyed reading your thoughts – warts and all - on this episode. IMHO, “All Our Yesterdays” is one of the three best in Season 3, and I put it in my top 12 for the entire series. I would also give it a score of 9/10.
ReplyDeleteHere are some of my thoughts…
First, there are some holes in this plot, as you (and others on other sites) noticed. Yes, Spock’s behavior reverts to his Vulcan ancestry whilst McCoy’s does not. And yes, Mr. Atoz did not need to stay after everyone had gone (although have you ever known a librarian that would close the library early if it was a slow day?) But how could everyone miss the first problem we see – the Enterprise is coming to a planet that is about to be destroyed, to evacuate, presumably to their starship, the entire planet’s population (Thousands? Hundreds of thousands? Millions?) which will be destroyed by a supernova - in just over 3 hours? I mean, I know they can use the shuttlecraft for the overflow crowd, but still. Oh wait, if there are too many, Kirk will have to play Kodos the Executioner all over again?
All that aside, this is a great story. They were able to blend the concept of time travel into a story that is essentially a tragedy – Spock finding that rare place where he can spend his life with a woman who feels much like himself (Zarabeth: “Do you know what it is like to be alone? Really alone?” Spock: “Yes. I know what it is like.”)
Like all fine stories, this one has many fine ideas just below the surface. The two most interesting ideas that I saw both involved Spock and Zarabeth. First, of the 4 main characters that went back in time, only Zarabeth and Spock were changed – Zarabeth was changed by the Atavichron, Spock by his “connection” to his Vulcan ancestry. And because they were changed, they could both start a new life, different from the one into which they were born, and find happiness, on that island of solitude, with each other.
The second idea is the one involving tragedy (fitting, since the episode’s title comes from one of the greatest tragedies of them all). Zarabeth and Spock both shared tragedy. Zarabeth’s was one of exile and solitude. She will never know love, physical affection, motherhood (the one thing that makes all women complete). And she would have had the chance for that, and more, with Spock, were he to remain. And she realizes this, even to the end (the single tear running down her face). And no less a tragedy is visited upon Spock. He is in love with this woman in a way that he could never be with any other woman, because the ancestral connection that is growing within him is allowing this. If you doubt this, just remember the last thing he wanted from Zarabeth – a moment alone with her to say good bye. (“How much time do we have?”) He even tries to throw McCoy into the portal ahead of him. But he cannot – they came through together and must return the same way. He can’t even have that small, private moment with her, just the two of them. Tragic. And once Spock gets back, he is back to being trapped in his world of logic (“She is dead and buried, long ago.”), but with the memory of another type of life he could have led, one filled with warmth and love (ironically in the midst of a frozen wasteland).
One more thing: The final shot of the Enterprise flying away, leaving the nova and the destruction of the planet behind, was one of the best images of the entire series. I agree with those who believe that this episode should have been the series finale.
Finally, there is some great writing:
- McCoy: “Spock, you pointy-eared Vulcan!” Spock [grabs McCoy by the throat]: “I don’t’ like that. I don’t think I ever did. Now I am sure.”
Magistrate [pompously and officiously]: “I’ll see that you get a fair trial in front of the Inquisitional Tribunal.”
Kirk: “You must help me get back to the Library.”
Magistrate: “I can’t.”
Kirk [a serious, sinister look comes upon his face]: “Then I’ll denounce YOU to the Inquisitor”.
Magistrate [pompous look is gone, replaced by one of horror]: “Please. I beg you. They will burn me.”
The ice age Spock and McCoy are in was only 5,000 years before the present, according to the librarian. Therefore, there is no reason that McCoy would change. Humans were exactly the same 5,000 years ago as there are in McCoy's time.
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