Tomorrow Is Yesterday has the Enterprise go back in time to the 1960's. The 19th episode aired Jan 26 1967. The Enterprise gets spotted by a pilot that they bring on board via the transporter. What to do with him now he's seen the future? First Kirk wants to take him back to the future but Spock does some research and the pilot needs to stay in his own time. Soon enough Kirk is down on Earth stealing the film from the planes cameras. He gets caught by security. Don't worry he's rescued. They figure that they can get home by slingshotting around the sun and when they get to the right time they can teleport the pilot back to his plane before he sees the Enterprise. It's dangerous but we all know the season is still in production, so they're going to be fine. There's a little of that shaken, not stirred, camera action as everyone leans left and right while the ship fights hard against the sun's gravity. This episode was written by DC Fontana and it was a pretty good one. I think it would be cool to be kidnapped by your decedents and brought to the future. Unless it's that whole Terminator future, or the one with the monkeys. I wouldn't like that so much.
Court Martial has Kirk on trial for the death of a crewman. They are at Starbase 11 for repairs and the Commodore investigates the accident. He charges Kirk because the computer said it was a yellow alert not red like Kirk insists. The computer has some damming evidence, a movie showing Kirk giving a command while the light is yellow. Spock also says it was red alert. Was the captain negligent? Of course not but it's touch and go there until the truth comes out. Spock figures that the computer has been tampered with when he can beat the machine at chess. Since he programmed the machine their games should have come to a draw. They figure it out and Kirk is back in command. In one scene Kirk has to go in the Jefferies Tube. I learned that it was made from one of those large cardboard tubes they use to mold concrete footings and such. What you can do with a lick of paint and some wires and lights.
The Return Of The Archons has Kirk, Spock, McCoy and some crew members down on the planet Beta III where the USS Archon had stopped 100 years ago. Nothing had been heard of the ship since. Kirk and crew find humanoid people who live like it's late 1800's America and have odd customs. Turns out they are all connected to some force they call The Body. Crew members get connected and abondon the Enterprise for planetfall. Kirk and Spock get tossed into jail. It's up to them to figure out that it's a rogue computer controlling the people. Kirk convinces it that it's failed it mission to help the people and the computer blows itself up. That would suck, huh, having your whole belief system tossed in the garbage. Poor computer. Hopefully the advisors Kirk leaves on the planet will help the citizens get all futuristic. We'll never know as the Enterprise blows town off on a new adventure.
So a group of fine episodes with some interesting ideas and the like. I find I'm liking the series more than I thought I would. For extras there's a 20 minute intereview with Billy Blackburn. He was often at the helm controls before Walter Koenig came onboard. He also played several aliens and landing party members. He shot a lot of color silent film on the stages and locations while they were making the series. Some of the bits and pieces are pretty entertaining to watch. Nice of them to put it in there. None of the episodes is having a commentary which is too bad. I'm not compaining much but they might have been entertaining.
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