Star Trek Epsiode 64, Season 3:
The Tholian Web
Home
| Purchase: | 
 |
Episode #: | << 64 >> |
|---|---|
| Air #: | << 64 >> |
| Season: | 3 |
| Air Date: | 1968-11-15 |
| Stardate: | 5693.4 |
| Writer: | Judy Burns, Chet Richards |
| Story: | |
| Director: | Ralph Senensky |
| Guests: | none |
When the Enterprise attempts to ascertain the fate of the U.S.S. Defiant which vanished 3 weeks ago, the warp engines begin to lose power, and Spock reports strange sensor readings. They visually detect the Defiant, but sensors indicate it is not there. Kirk, Spock, Chekov, and McCoy beam aboard wearing life support suits and find the entire crew dead. The captain's neck is broken, and the landing party initially suspects mutiny. An inspection of the ship, however, reveals that all crew members are dead, and McCoy concludes that they killed each other. When McCoy tries to touch one of the dead crew members, his hand passes right through him, revealing that the Defiant is starting to disintegrate. The transporter aboard the Enterprise is meanwhile behaving erratically, and only Spock, McCoy, and Chekov are successfully beamed back aboard, leaving Kirk alone on the Defiant.
Kirk and the ship are trapped in a parallel universe by the weakening of the surrounding fabric of space, and the computer calculates that the next time of spatial interphase will occur in two hours. Meanwhile, the crew of the Enterprise begins suffering from a state of insanity caused by a weakening of the fabric of space, and Chekov must be put under restraint.
The appearance of two hostile Tholian ships disrupts the spatial interphase which would have allowed Kirk to reenter his own universe. Spock is able to convince the Tholians to wait until the interphase occurs, but when it does, the Enterprise is unable to beam Kirk aboard. After this time has expired, the Tholian fires and damages the Enterprise. The Enterprise is forced to fire on Tholian commander Loskene's ship, and the Tholians respond by surrounding the Enterprise with an energy web.
McCoy and Spock, believing Kirk to be dead, review a recording left behind in his cabin. Kirk has predicted that Spock will be making difficult decisions and that McCoy will be critical of them, and instructs the two of them to work together, Spock tempering his decisions with human insight, and McCoy restricting his criticisms to take into account human fallibility.
In her cabin, Uhura sees a vision of Captain Kirk and reports to McCoy that he is alive. McCoy believes Uhura is going mad, and confines her to sickbay. Scott then sees the same vision, and rushes to the bridge, where everyone, including Spock, sees it as well. A therigram derivative (therigram, in its pure form, is a deadly nerve gas used by the Klingons) is found to act as a cure. Scott is hesitant until McCoy informs him that he has prepared it using alcohol as a solvent and that, after drinking it, a man could be hit with phaser stun without feeling it.
The Enterprise is able to hold Kirk in the transporter beam at the next interphase and then escape from the completed Tholian web by using ship's power to disrupt space-time and throw the Enterprise 2.72 parsecs distant. Kirk's oxygen is just about to run out, but McCoy is ready with a hypo of triox just as Kirk beams aboard and faints. Back on the bridge, Kirk reminisces about having a universe all to himself, but admits he likes a quiet one better. He then asks Bones and Spock if they reviewed his last orders, but Spock avoids the question and McCoy lies (transparently) about it.