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Recap / Star Trek S2 E20 "Return to Tomorrow"

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Original air date: February 9, 1968

The Enterprise's mission leads them to uncharted territory, hundreds of light years beyond the territories explored by any Earth ship, pursuing a mysterious signal that turns out to originate from a world dead half a million years, sent by an alien that calls itself "Sargon" and begs the Enterprise for assistance.

It turns out that Sargon is one of only three aliens who survived the cataclysmic war that destroyed the planet millennia ago, and only at the cost of secluding their mental energies inside of orbs and forsaking their physical forms. Sargon begs with the Enterprise to allow the three of them to temporarily borrow the bodies of three of the Enterprise's crew, that they can have bodies long enough to employ their hyper-advanced technology and create robot bodies to inhabit instead.

After much deliberation, Kirk, Spock and Dr. Mulhall agree to become the hosts for the three aliens. Unfortunately, Henoch, the alien who chooses Spock's body, decides he would rather keep an existence of stolen flesh and blood, and makes plans to sabotage Sargon's plan by indirectly killing Sargon and persuading Sargon's wife, Thalassa, to side with him.

Gargoyles fans will recognize this plot as the one re-used for that series' episode "Possession."

Return to Tropes:

• Agony Beam : Thalassa and Henoch both use their mental abilities to inflict pain. Thalassa grows a conscience and stops. Henoch, on the other hand....
• Atmosphere Abuse : The Enterprise finds a planet whose atmosphere was ripped away by a cataclysm half a million years earlier.
• Cessation of Existence : Sargon says "Thalassa and I must now also depart into oblivion" before he dies, implying a disbelief in any sort of life after death. The idea is muddled a bit by his suggestion that him and Thalassa will be together forever after their deaths, which sort of requires them to still exist after death. note  The inconsistency is a result of the original draft by John Dugan saying they would still exist "into eternity" — just as disembodied spirits. Roddenberry changed it to match his atheistic philosophy, which upset the devoutly Catholic Dugan.
• Cradling Your Kill : In the James Blish novelization of the episode, Kirk, nearly breaking down in tears, does this with Spock's 'dead' body after Henoch has been forced to flee. Kirk didn't give the lethal injection himself, but it was done on his orders.

• Energy Beings : Sargon, Thalassa and Henoch qualify.
• Foreshadowing : Henoch's comment about wondering that the Vulcans had not conquered Earth could be an early sign that he's the bad guy.
• Gilligan Cut : "You're going to WHAT?"
• A God Am I : Apparently, Sargon's people developed this attitude as a result of their minds becoming so powerful , which led to the war that destroyed their world. Thalassa has a moment of this when McCoy tells her he won't trade Mulhall's body for Kirk's life ("You dare defy one you should be on your knees worshipping? I could destroy you with a single thought!") and uses her powers to torture him, but quickly becomes horrified with herself .
• Grand Theft Me : Henoch, unbeknownst to the others, has permanent designs on Spock's body, and convinces Thalassa to attempt the same.
• Green-Eyed Monster : Henoch has more than a little of this.
• Kill the Host Body : Kirk resorts to injecting Spock's body with lethal poison to destroy Henoch. Subverted when it turns out that Sargon arranged for them to think that the hypo was deadly so that Henoch would flee and render himself vulnerable, and that Spock's consciousness was hidden within Nurse Chapel.
• Kissing Under the Influence : Sargon and Thalassa are a very Happily Married couple who smooch no less than 3 times while borrowing Kirk and Mulhall's bodies.
• When Sargon is in Kirk's body, the hamminess is up to eleven. Yes, even by Shatner's standards.
• Nimoy is clearly having a ball getting to play someone completely different from Spock.
• Our Ghosts Are Different : The G word is never used, but this is essentially what Sargon, Thalassa and Henoch are.
• Possession Burnout : Possessed bodies have their metabolic and heart rates shoot up to dangerous levels (presumably native to the aliens' original forms) ; Spock's Vulcan physiology can tolerate it for several hours, but the humans can only take it for a few minutes before risking death.
• Power Echoes : When the aliens possess humans they gain echoing voices.
• Psychotic Smirk : Henoch gives a few in Spock's body.
• Readings Are Off the Scale : Dr. Mulhall announces this while she and Dr. McCoy are scanning Sargon's underground sanctuary.
• Red Shirts : Two of them are ready to beam down with the landing party, and no doubt breathed a sigh of relief when they didn't beam down after all.
• Right for the Wrong Reasons : McCoy naturally has his doubts about letting Sargon, Thalassa and Henoch borrow bodies. His concern proves well founded, but not for the reasons he expected as the danger comes from Henoch refusing to leave Spock's body and plotting to kill Kirk's body to ensure Sargon's death.
• Sense Freak : All of the aliens enjoy the sensations of life again after taking human bodies, and Henoch does use the fact that their robot bodies will not have this sensory ability to try and persuade Thalassa to side with him.
• There's a brief moment where McCoy sees Chapel leaving sickbay and yells "Nurse Chapel, what in the devil?!" — right after Spock's consciousness was stored in Chapel's body. That's him. Majel Barrett actually got to play Spock for those few seconds.
• Sufficiently Advanced Alien : Sargon, Thalassa and Henoch, aliens who survived the destruction of his world half a million years ago by becoming Energy Beings of pure thought.
• Telepathy : Sargon, Thalassa and Henoch are capable of this. Henoch abuses the power to brain wipe Chapel.
• Together in Death : Sargon and Thalassa ultimately choose this, deciding that they do not fear oblivion so long as they are together.
• Willing Channeler : Essentially what they're all doing, although Roddenberry and Gene Coon insisted on removing anything that seemed the least bit "spiritual", to the point that author John Dugan, a devout Catholic, used his pseudonym Kingsbridge on this. Roddenberry had rewritten the final scene to say that the Arretians departed into "oblivion" rather than just deciding to go on existing without bodies in "eternity" or "infinity" as Dugan had wanted it. He was a university professor and all his students and colleagues knew his beliefs.
• Your Mind Makes It Real : Sargon used his abilities to make McCoy believe he loaded a hypo full of poison so that Henoch would believe it as well and flee Spock's body after Chapel injected him with it.
• Star Trek S2 E19 "A Private Little War"
• Recap/Star Trek: The Original Series
• Star Trek S2 E21 "Patterns of Force"

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A friendly reminder regarding spoilers ! At present the expanded Trek universe is in a period of major upheaval with the continuations of Discovery and Prodigy , the advent of new eras in gaming with the Star Trek Adventures RPG , Star Trek: Infinite and Star Trek Online , as well as other post-57th Anniversary publications such as the ongoing IDW Star Trek comic and spin-off Star Trek: Defiant . Therefore, please be courteous to other users who may not be aware of current developments by using the {{ spoiler }}, {{ spoilers }} OR {{ majorspoiler }} tags when adding new information from sources less than six months old (even if it is minor info). Also, please do not include details in the summary bar when editing pages and do not anticipate making additions relating to sources not yet in release. THANK YOU

• Memory Beta stubs (characters)
• Non-corporeal beings

Sargon was a being from the planet Arret . He was among those who survived the cataclysm that destroyed their world by placing their consciousnesses into receptacles, living on only as non-corporeal beings of thought. Over time, most of the other such entities' essences ceased to exist, and eventually only Sargon, his wife Thalassa , and their opponent Henoch remained.

Sargon and the other two survivors were discovered by an away team from the USS Enterprise in 2268 . ( TOS episode : " Return to Tomorrow ")

By the 24th century , the Federation referred to his species as "Sargonians." ( TNG novel : The Buried Age )

Appendices [ ]

External link [ ].

• Sargon article at Memory Alpha , the wiki for canon Star Trek .

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Star Trek: The Original Series

“Return to Tomorrow”

Air date: 2/9/1968 Written by John Kingsbridge Directed by Ralph Senensky

Review by Jamahl Epsicokhan

Review Text

An alien being named Sargon—who exists as pure energy without a form—invites a small team to beam down to a planet that had been destroyed half a million years earlier. Sargon asks Kirk to volunteer his own and two of his crew members' bodies (Spock and Dr. Mulhall, played by Diana Muldaur), so Sargon, his wife, and an old enemy turned friend (or so we think) can create robot bodies and spread their awesome knowledge to the rest of the galaxy.

The episode does a great job of being intriguing until the final act degenerates into a mindless muddle. The plot, initially compelling and with rigid rules, throws all the rules out the window in an inane, arbitrary ending sequence that borders on incoherence. That's too bad, because the aliens' quest is an interesting, often poignant one—as they find their newfound human sensations almost too appealing to relinquish. The villain of the story inhabits Spock's body, giving Nimoy an interesting break from the norm.

There's also a speech in the episode that seems to epitomize Trek 's sense of adventure, but it's so overplayed with dramatics and Shatner's scenery chewing that it comes off looking self-important and silly. It practically forms the model for every Shatner impression (particularly Kevin Pollack's) that has since been performed. I got a chuckle out of it, although I wasn't supposed to.

Previous episode: A Private Little War Next episode: Patterns of Force

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Comment Section

58 comments on this post.

Why does Dr. Mulhall wear red if she's an astrophysicist? Why isn't she wearing blue?

What I dislike most in this episode is the revelation that the prime directive apparently only applies to other, less advanced cultures - the moment they meet superior beings they cant't wait to learn whatever they can from them with no concern for meddling with the natural development of their own society. It's more than only little bit hypocritical...

The Prime Directive is a convenience to hang a plot on and not much more. It's a nice idea, but it's not consistently enforced in any way at all. Right now I'm watching Bread and Circuses, in which we hear that they take an oath to die rather than to violate the PD, but they violate it all the time, especially in self-defense. Besides, Sargon contacted them, they didn't violate the PD by initiating contact.

Holy crap I just realized Dr. Mulhall in this episode is Dr. Polaski from TNG season 2, except much younger (and surprisingly attractive back then). I only recognized her by her voice, and then I started noticing her face was similar, but I thought it was my imagination, but no, it's Dr. Polaski alright.

Just watched this episode again last night. The episode raises all kinds of questions. Some answered, some not. But the first which came into my mind happens very early in the episode. As they approach the planet Spock says it registers as Class M. A moment later he informs Kirk that the atmosphere was ripped away thousands of years ago. So how can it currently be registering as Class M? Unless the sensors are so powerful they can detect what the planet's atmosphere used to be. A minor technobabble quibble, but it stuck out to me for the first time.

Was it ever canonically established that "class M" includes atmosphere? It was widely assumed (and, once assumed, may have fed back into canonical scripts). But the designation could refer to a more limited set of geophysical traits (mass, magnetic field, surface temperature) without reference to chemical composition. When I hear Spock say, as he often did, "Class M, nitrogen-oxygen atmosphere," I take that as two different facts. Strider's nitpick about Mulhall's uniform is fair, but there's also this: why send an astrobiologist (her stated specialty) to investigate a lifeless planet? (Or was this the one where Mulhall was summoned by the aliens?)

@ Grumpy. I get what you mean mentioning how they always say Class M, Earth type conditions (or variations). But I always took that to mean Class M meant, planets similar to Earth, including atmosphere. I've always thought they kept repeating that phrase for the benefit of first time viewers who otherwise wouldn't know what Class M meant. But it could mean two separate things. At any rate, it shows how powerful the Enterprise's sensors are. :)

This is not one that I ever thought of as a "classic" episode; you won't find it on very many "best of" lists. However, on a recent viewing I was struck by how much I enjoyed it, and how well it represents what the message of Star Trek is and should be. And it isn't just the "risk is our business" speech, though that is indeed one of the very best moments in all of Trek. Star Trek was a breakthrough in television science fiction because at its very core was the simple idea that people could live together and respect one another -- not only among themselves, but even with alien beings from the edge of the galaxy, whose very natures stretched the limits of our understanding. The writers and producers of Trek were very brave about presenting such an idea on national television at a time in which America was descending into violence and chaos. "Return to Tomorrow" presents this idea as well as any episode of Trek I've seen. It begins with Kirk's visible agitation over a distress signal his officers can't explain, but the agitation gives way to curiosity and wonderment in short order as Sargon reveals himself and begins to explain who and what he is. Sargon, for his part, has the power to take what he wants from the Enterprise crew, who to him are at about the level mice are to us, but is committed to their right to life and self-determination even at the cost of his and his wife's existences. Finally, a (literal) meeting of minds convinces Kirk that the mutual possibilities of Sargon's proposal are worth any danger to himself. Ultimately, Sargon and Thalassa choose to sacrifice themselves rather than cause harm to what to them are the most inferior of beings. And all of it is, indeed, tied together with the understanding that "RISK is our business". The risk undertaken by the Enterprise and her crew, in this case, but what Roddenberry and co. were saying, by extension, was that risk is the business of all of us. It's risky to trust others. It's risky to put our faith in the intentions of people we don't understand. Mutual trust is a hard-won commodity, but Kirk chooses to trust his instincts in the case of Sargon -- and the result is that even beings at opposite ends of the evolutionary scale are able to communicate with, work with, and understand one another. This was pretty heady stuff in 1968, and is just as remarkable now. Sci-fi TV before Star Trek was mostly space monsters, and much of it post-TOS has been slickly-produced cynicism. Even TOS had its share of "captured by hostile aliens" plots, and so an episode like "Return to Tomorrow" is a breath of fresh air and a pleasure to watch. It is, as I now believe, a classic episode after all. (As for the definition of "Class M" planets, it's made pretty clear from the very beginning, when Spock runs his scan of the Talos system in "The Cage" and notes that "Number four appears to be Class M.... oxygen atmosphere.")

I completely agree with Brundledan, this is a wonderful episode. I love the "risk" speech. I love the fairly mature plot. It is paced well, and is truly a pleasure to watch. I think Brundledan would probably agree with me that I love the true-sci-fi episodes. bettering the human race, exploring the unknown. This episode is so much better then the black face-white face social commentary schlock that makes up a good chunk of star trek. Also, you make a great point about modern sci-fi being slickly designed cynicism.

I can't believe it took me until the final scene to realize that Ann Mulhall was played by Diana Muldaur! I think it's the eyebrows that gave it away. Also interesting how similar her character's name was to her actual name.

I really, really liked this episode for the reasons stated by Brundledan. So far I found season 2 a bit difficult to get through so this was very welcome.

Bravo to Brundledan, who makes the case for this episode very well. I guess further commenting is somewhat superfluous. I guess I'll try: The thing about Kirk's "RISK...IS OUR BUSINESS!" speech is that Shatner could have played it more, uh, subtle, naturalistic, etc., but instead he went for broke. He took, in other words, the riskier course. Look, I find it hammy and ridiculous, but it's also charming, elevating, and inspiring. It is all of those things, and part of the thing that stands up about Shatner's acting choices is that there is something inseparable about this man's bravado from its more ridiculous aspects. Which, you know, is true of the series at large. I think a different actor would maybe have been able to sell the gravitas of Kirk's speech without chewing the scenery, having that glint in his eye, etc. -- but I'm not entirely certain I want anyone to. In addition to this, it really gets to me that Kirk brings up the first Apollo mission landing on the moon so casually like that. Again, there's some risk to this. History could have proven them wrong; the Apollo mission could have burned up and never made it to the moon, and then, well, this episode looking foolish would have been a small problem/consequence of this, but still, there it is. There is a go-for-broke mentality to this: "we should take the chance on being hurt by *believing* in something, daring to risk being wrong." In some respects, this episode is as much engaged with the idea of grace in aging and death, not just on a personal level but on the level of society, as something like "The Inner Light" is. Yes, it's not as good (how often is Trek that good?), but this is also an episode which presents a few models on how to deal with the inevitability of death -- staving it off with technology (the robot bodies), completely using other people (as Henoch does), or accepting it with courage (as Sargon does). Thalassa finds herself torn between the Henoch and Sargon models of how to behave, and in that she makes the conflict seem human-scaled and relatable, even though Henoch and Sargon are more ideas (of evil and good, respectively) than fully-fleshed out characters. And through Thalassa, we understand how tempting it must be, to let Mulhall disappear and live again. She's going into death. And yet, she has to make the right choice. In addition to (quite genuinely) being an idea-play about a possible future for the human race, where we have developed far beyond where we are now, and then can choose whether to deal with this like Sargon and Thalassa on the one hand, or Henoch on the other, this is also a story about aging, and old people; older people have superior knowledge and experience, and can choose to use this knowledge to instruct and help the young, or to exploit the young to hang onto everything they have. There is something of the conflict between generations, writ large, and I think the ambiguity here of whether or not Sargon's people actually are responsible for seeding humans (are they the beings from "The Chase"?) related. They may, or may not, be our "parents," but they could well be, and as a result how do parents choose to deal with their children -- by manipulating and using them for their own benefit, or letting them live their lives? There is something going on with Chapel in this episode -- Henoch may be using alien powers, but I think he is using some Vulcan telepathy on Christine, when he touches her head and brainwashes her into being his slave. If Spock *wanted* to, I think, he could do this; use Christine, use her trust of him and attachment to him for his benefit, either through Vulcan mind control powers or just through everyday emotional manipulation. But he doesn't, and Henoch's rough treatment of her highlights how Spock's stoicism is a form of kindness to her. (I think Spock was tempted to use Chapel in "Amok Time," after he thought he wouldn't be able to go to Vulcan -- something the episode hints at and promptly dropped.) Henoch's inability to see Chapel as anything but a pawn is his downfall -- he stops being able to think of those around him as anything but people to be used. And she turns on him. That she gets to be the hero, in a sense, and also is able to share consciousness with Spock is something like a way of the episode "compensating" Christine for how she suffers. Spock will never show her the love she wants, but she gets some moments of intimacy with him, in some sense, justifies her faith in him, even if her faith in Spock, I think, left her open to be exploited by Henoch. Which really ties in with the episode's themes. The risk Kirk et al. took really *did* leave them open to Henoch; Kirk, Mulhall and Spock (and Chapel) just *barely* escaped with their bodies and their freedom intact. But being open to new experiences is not wrong, and those risks are worth it. Risk is their business. The episode still has a slowish pace at times and its plot has some turns that don't quite make sense -- Sargon's powers change pretty suddenly, and the question of whether the possessed individuals' original minds are left in those glowing jars or stay in their bodies is unresolved. (How can Spock be stored in Chapel, and Kirk and Mulhall briefly possessed, if up to that point they were all housed in receptacles?) Sargon remains something of a blank, and in general it's an odd choice to have the episode's emotional dynamics be carried basically by characters we don't know. But these seem to me to be mostly unimportant -- weaknesses, sure, and I don't think this episode is a classic, but I think it does what Trek does very well. A high 3 stars.

I'm in the "strongly like" camp, as well. I consider the "Risk is Our Business" speech classic and well done, whether one judges the entire episode as a classic, and despite what second-handed clowns like Kevin Pollack use to earn their way through life. But it's all been written better by William B and Brundledan so I won't reiterate it here. Funnier than Pollack would have been the opportunity presented in the Nurse Chapel / Henoch Filling Hypos scene, something that Mel Brooks, Monty Python, or Saturday Night Live might have spoofed. Did you notice how Henoch has to touch Christine's head to make her forget that she noticed the hypos were different? Okay, fair enough. But then he immediately launches into a rationalization (no doubt for our benefit, but she IS there in the scene) about why he's done that. Uh, why didn't he then catch himself, silently curse, then place hand on her head again to make her forget THAT? Of course, in the realm of beating a dead horse (unlike Pollack, right?) a good spoof might have him then prancing about again, silly grin, carrying on about what he'll next do, only to catch himself a second time, make her forget, then himself forget as he prattles on a third time, only to... Now that... (pause) would be... (pause) funny, Kevin.

DutchStudent82

A nice and enjoyable episode. 3 stars. Some minus points however : This planet is NOT class M, as far as star trek classifications goes this is a class K world (like mars is) I like consisicy, and it is not given here. As a reminder how star-trek classification works : Class M, is a rocky planet with atmosphere that naturally has plant and annimal life, suitable for humanoid life Class L is a rocky planet with atmosphere that naturally has plantlife but no annimal life, suitable for humanoid life. Class K means without atmosphere, and no life, but can be made habitable with pressure domes and such. Class D is also without atmosphere and no life, and the surface can not be terraformed, sub-surface habitats are however possible (like monitor stations/research stations) Class H means toxic to humanoid life, uninhabitable, even if it has atmosphere and life on it. Class N means toxic to MOST life humanoid and otherwise, sulfuric world, all water (if any) excist only as vapor, extremophiles and silicicium-based lifeforms may however still live here. Class Y means toxic to ALL life Class J means gas-giant So clearly this is a K-class world. Now minus point 2 : why the rush in self-destructing. this race could have learned the federation A LOT, and even if they deemed themselves "to dangerous" to recieve their new android-body's, least they could have done was give SOME tech manuals as a thank you for the assistance in the first place? We DID help them for the possible "gains" after all, so if we were willing to take the risk why chicken out now? How is kirk ok with them self-destructing and not trying to talk them in "stay a little longer we still could learn a lot"?? missed oportunity I say. Also Making sex (ok kissing still point stands) in ONEOTHERS persons body?? and everybody standing around it is ok with that?? serious?? It is one thing to LEND a persons body, one complete other what you use it for, and sexual pleasure SURELY was NOT included in the agreement. And did we really need multiple awkward relationships ak sexism [TM] again?? it's all that sexism that makes me dislike TOS in the first place.. your the army, behave professional!

Love evil-grinning Spock!

I agree with Jammer that this episode is very intriguing but the ending is a bit of a mess. I do think Kirk's speech is very important for the Trek cannon - yes maybe Shatner's dramatics overdoes the moment but that is a very minor nitpick. Kirk makes very valid arguments for what they should do and reaffirms Trek's purpose - good to reestablish again. Also nice to see Muldaur's first appearance in Trek - a very attractive woman and good actress. Always preferred her over Crusher as doc on TNG. Great soundtrack from George Duning - really nails the romantic music and creating an atmosphere. Some good moments between Muldaur and Shatner. It is a captivating story about love lost for so long and found again. Not clear how Henoch dies or what kind of powers Sargon has but it does seem as if it gives the writers some kind of convenience for a nice ending. Ultimately this is one of the "purer" TOS sci-fi episodes for me. Some of the ideas are very interesting - how Sargon et al evolved into energy beings, their planet being destroyed in some cataclysm but they preserved themselves in a chamber over a 100 miles beneath the surface. The pacing is a bit slow - a lot of good ideas in this episode but the ending leaves a bit to be desired. I'd rate this 3 stars out of 4 for its concepts and intentions.

I like this episode, but I think there is a problem with it. Although it turns out Sargon and his wife are benevolent, Dr. McCoy rightly points out that the aliens wanting the bodies of the two highest ranking officers seems suspicious. Kirk gives a lame explanation about him and Spock being the best matches (maybe so, but surely somebody else would have been an okay match). Of course, the real reason Kirk and Spock are chosen for the mind transfer is because this a TV show, and they are the stars of the show. So I guess a certain amount of artistic license has to be allowed.

This is a classic "deep thought, big idea" Trek show: Non-corporeal aliens wanting to borrow crew bodies to build their own android bodies and revive their species is pretty darn high-concept. Some classic moments here like Kirk's risk speech come in slow-paced story that is heavy on mystical tones but light on logic and tension. Because the stakes never feel very high here, it's easy to doze off, but the stylish direction and thoughtful performances/dialogue make it a 3-star episode for me. Not much to add here, but one final note: Does anyone else find it ironic that the android bodies in this episode (see when the male android raises its hand while Henoch and Thalassa are examining it) actually look more like today's lifelike robots (see the freaky one in Japan) than Data and anything else we see from TNG forward? Sometimes TOS was really ahead of its time and TNG was really more dated in its vision of the future.

Why does Chapel and the other nurse have red cross badges but Mccoy has the standard science badge? Why bother with a drug that’s super deadly to Vulcans when a phaser set to vaporise does just fine?

I think most will argee that the freshest, most original thing about this episode is that the super-powerful aliens are well-meaning, respectful and have no insideous plans. They simply wish the help of humans. The humans - socialised to distrust the alien motives - altruistically offer help anyway. This altruism in the face of risk, and the kindness of the aliens, makes the episode's message fairly unique. What spoils it all is that one of the aliens reveals himself to be evil. This hokey cliche was wholly unnecessary. The episode's "help aliens build robot" plot had enough risks and dangers to make the generic "evil alien" subplot superflous. Granted the subplot does offer some nice additional themes (absolute power can corrupt absolutely), but such themes are as old as Trek itself. Indeed, Trek's pilot - Where No Man Has Gone Before - features a man buckling under the pressure of becoming a God-like alien. So, in a way, this bit of tacked on moralising spoils the episode's more interesting and original moralising. It's a excellent, above average, interesting episode, but with a little less conventional action and/or villainy, it would have been great.

RandomThoughts

Hello Everyone! @Tanner As far as the deadly drug goes, as I recall, the entity in Spock was able to use and augment his mental abilities, so he'd be able to sense if someone was coming at him with a phaser and stop them. But someone believing the hypospray was deadly, and eventually injecting Spock/entity with it, caused entity to leave. In conclusion, no one could get close enough to Spock to shoot him, so they had to resort to subterfuge. Regards... RT

If Sargon and his race could make android bodies for their minds. Why did they not make them in the past, instead of putting their consciousness in the sheres. They certainly could have done so in the past and escaped the planet in ships. Building them perhaps underground .

This has always been one of my favorite episodes. And, for me, the ending never unraveled even a little bit. Thalassa explained to McCoy quite clearly that they had powers Sargon wished them to never use. That would include the powers of life and death. When their consciousness inhabited the Enterprise, that would have been no different than their android bodies. I never had any trouble with it at all. This was a wonderful morality tale steeped in genuine science fiction. And the "risk is our business" speech will forever be the most inspiring words Trek has ever produced for me.

Hello Everyone! @Tony That... is a good question. Make androids, put minds in them, walk around and maybe get off the planet someday. Instead of just hanging around in the globes. I had never thought of that... Regards... RT

Other Chris

About a third of the way through, right around Kirk's big speech, I thought to myself "hey, we might have something special here!" And then it turned into the same old shit. Nice to see Nimoy get to show some range, though. He was very slick here.

A good ep. Intriguing storyline - not perfect handled, but generally well done. Love Muldaur here, and later in TNG as Pulaski - a beautiful, talented lady. Not a fan of the Shatner histrionics in the Risk speech. What could have been the highlight of the ep gets chewed to bits instead. Enjoyed Nimoy's portrayal of Henoch and Nurse Chapel's role. Definitely above average.

Sleeper Agent

-The risk-speech was a bit over the top in its execution; for a while I was convinced Kirk was still possessed by the alien. -Immediately when Sargon enters Kirks body, he starts to talk ... like ... Kirk. That was a bit dissapointing, but I understand. -Once again a missed opportunity to use Uhura. She would've been a perfect host for Thalassa. I understand why though; but what a shame. -Didn't really buy into the whole android body main plot, but on the other hand, I feel it really wasn't about that. -Bones gets no credit but he is the true hero of this episode. III / IV

Brundledan's brilliant comment on this episode (from 5/13/14) is worth reading in the context of what I would call "pure Star Trek" vs. modern day sci-fi including "nu-Trek". "Return to Tomorrow" is a beautiful episode -- not perfect by a long-shot (especially the ending) but it is great sci-fi and Kirk's "risk is our business" speech is so fundamental to what Trek is about. And by the way, happy 89th birthday Mr. Shatner!

EventualZen

Only a 5/10 for the disappointing ending. @4:00 Uhura says Kirk's subspace message will take over 3 weeks to reach Starfleet, I'm sure that violates continuity some how with the Enterprise D travelling further but never mentioning comm-range. @10:05 The energy being Sargon said his species once seeded the galaxy 6000 centuries ago & his ancestors could have been Adam & Eve. This explains why there are so many humanoid species in the galaxy better than the TNG episode The Chase. Every time Diana Muldaur (Ann) spoke I couldn't help imagining her as Dr. Pulaski, she actually looks beautiful here, she really changed in the 20 years between this & TNG season 2.

After watching many of the allegory-intense TOS episodes recently, this episode was a breath of fresh air. Most engagingly, the setup is an early take on the now classic Sci-Fi concept of ancient species that were once like humans but somehow became so advanced they destroyed themselves. I like how Kirk mentioned that humanity may be already superior in one way to Sargon in that it already overcame a similar self-inflicted disaster (presumably he means WWIII and the post-atomic horror but even the Cold War would be a sufficient example). Sargon dismisses Kirk's point and says that his people already evolved past an atomic incident, but one wonders if Sargon's people ever united in peace the way humanity did. The being that possesses Spock is from the "other faction", which implies there was still dissent and unrest among Sargon's people. This other faction ends up being Sargon's Achilles' heel by stopping his plan and showing that a part of his people never got past the original conflict. This chink in the armor also adds another dimension to Kirk's "Risk is our business" speech. Indeed, humanity is willing to take such risks for curiosity's sake but it appears that in this particular case humanity is better off without the reward of overwhelming power. It's worth mentioning since others commented on the disappointing ending that there was a controversy with this episode's writer John Dugan, a Catholic. He wanted Sargon and Thalassa to live on in the end as spirits without bodies, which is how he ended it in the original script. Roddenbery changed it so the two would simply fade into oblivion. Dugan was pretty upset by this change as he believed there should be an afterlife for even these beings and ended up using a pseudonym in the credits because of the change. I'm not sure the change materially affects the story, but it's funny Roddenbery went to such lengths. Anyway, this episode speaks to many of Trek's strong points and I think Jammer underrated it quite a bit (to be fair, he was right about Shatner overacting). I give it a high 3 stars. Random Historical Fact Check: Kirk rhetorically asks "What if the first Apollo mission failed?" Apollo I was the victim of a tragic fire that forced the mission to abort. Naturally though, NASA made more attempts after that.

"It's worth mentioning since others commented on the disappointing ending that there was a controversy with this episode's writer John Dugan, a Catholic. He wanted Sargon and Thalassa to live on in the end as spirits without bodies, which is how he ended it in the original script. Roddenbery changed it so the two would simply fade into oblivion." What a petty argument? Are both of them under the assumption that Kirk is a wizard and can "just tell" when a person dies whether their spirit 'goes on' or fades into nothing? I don't even know what it means to argue about this point. Catholics already believe that we have an afterlife *and* that you see nothing special when someone dies. Haha, what a dumb thing to fight about. And actually, the idea of disembodied human spirits floating around isn't even a Christian concept afaik. Or if it is one it's one of those quasi-pagan superstitious beliefs they had been in the 1500's when the old religions were still bound up with the new in many places.

Wow, this must indeed be the epicenter of shatnering. Not only does Sargon go through all stages of inhabiting a human body, which is at first extremely painful, then very nice, then painful again; but also the whole briefing looks like Kirk is fighting a toothache or something. Compare that to Nimoy just boyishly enjoying his bad guy. Or Diana Muldaur, who I think hasn't changed that much at all. Even back then Ann Mulhall conveys a quiet but resolved competence. I also actually like Dr Pulaski, but I guess I let you scream at me for that in a different comment section :) As to the speech, a similar point has been made - much more effectively imo - in The Immunity Syndrome, where they simply point out that look, we have come all the way here, this is what we do, so it *would* be kind of stupid to turn around and do what? go back home and hide under the bed? So yes I think it is comically oversold here, but you guys are right, it just wouldn't be Kirk without Shatner. I also like that the aliens actually are who they say they are. Genuinely surprising when Sargon says 'ok let's get to work building those robots to teach the humans the things'. It sounds a lot like a con, but for once it's not. Btw the funniest Shatner impressions have to be the ones that come from his crewmates, in interviews I found on youtube. Nimoy and especially Koenig do a great Kirk, sometimes to his face. Priceless.

Very enjoyable episode, nevertheless the moment when the transparent globes are no longer needed for switching souls (Kirk destroys them in sickbay actually giving up on Spock and Mulhall believed to be inside, a detail which does not bother anyone much), the logic string of the story telling is done for, unfortunately. What's also a plot mistake, is the temptation the aliens feel by staying in human bodies instead of proceeding into robotic bodies later. Robots mean much more of an extended life expectancy (with changing parts as they may become defect) than clinging to mortal bodies which are aging and dying some day (or by accident quite suddenly). And being able to construct such sophisticated bots should mean also to incorporate some sensors in them coming close to human feel. After all, it's just nerve ends collecting the impulses and the result (as sensation) is still done in the brain.

@Kubershark, yes, watching Spock was lots of fun! @Rahul is spot on, this is a beautiful episode. Episodes like "Return to Tomorrow" give Trek its soul. And the touchstone for that is Kirk's incredible "risk is our business" speech. I never get tired of hearing it. I was reminded of Kirk's speech recently by an equally inspirational speech in the current season 5 of The Expanse. Call it the "Great things are achieved by embracing great dangers" speech. Courtesy "The Expanse," a show that in this day and age, seems to have more of Trek's soul than Trek itself. https://youtu.be/xd26sQ58zHk?t=71

Jammer is spot on - a great potential story early on, that descends into chaos. (Or rather, as I saw it, not so much chaos as 1940s Hollywood-style 'romance / jealousy' with sentimental orchestral strings to unnecessarily hammer home the message). It's a real 'could have / should have' episode. The premise of incorporeal minds was fascinating, though one would immediately question why they hadn't originally built robot receptors before they voluntarily went into the spheres. The hijacking of The Enterprise before making a polite request to 'borrow' 3 bodies, was an excusable plot device, as no-one got hurt in the initial stages. As for the Henok using of Spock's body, that was a highpoint, as we got to see Nimoy getting the chance to emote again. Kirk's "risk" speech was melodramatically delivered, but a good moment: "Do you... WISH.. that the Apollo mission hadn't got to the moon? Then to Mars...?" It's a sobering thought that this was shown a full two years before the moon landing, and now it's only days since a drone flew over the surface of Mars. Fine stuff. As others have pointed out, it was also good that Nurse Chapell got to share her body briefly with Spock, in a wish-fulfilment of her dreams. Small wonder that it didn't put her off him! But in the end, I simply couldn't believe in those incorporeal minds retaining their passions and jealousies, and the whole thing turning into a botched melodrama. 2.5 stars

On this viewing, for some reason I found myself thinking how forgiving everyone, crew and Sargon alike, seems to be of Thalassa. She had shown a very dark side of herself that I don't think can be blamed simply on Henoch's evil influence unless you're her mom and you subscribe to the "just fell in with the wrong crowd" theory of moral development. She planned to kill Mulhall for her body and was willing to torture McCoy to get his cooperation. Is this the kind of person Mulhall trusts to borrow her body one more time so she can enjoy a final kiss, or the kind of person the supposedly high-minded Sargon wants to kiss?

As I continue the search to the purpse of life and love, being battered along the way with false dawns, but remaining incurably optimistic as a Star Trek fan, my comments: This is the most romantic ending to a Star Trek episode ever, with perhaps only Metamorphosis coming close. I am sure there many holes in the plot, with even the concept of binary sex being challenged. But look beyond our current limitations and marvel at the idea of love being presented here. After refusing her own temptations of power, Thalassa and Sargon choose to be together for oblivion, together. Imagine that, when current realtionships are so fragile. Imagine CHOOSING to be with one person for oblivion, having already spent half a milliion years as energy trapped in a ball. Takes your breath away. Meanwhile, back on Earth, there is still huge danger that the pursuit of total power may get us all killed, facing the same problems as Sargon and his band. Who would we choose to survive the extinction of mankind? A most thought provoking and romantic episode of Star Trek. I like it even more every time I watch it, being jealous of those who have never had the pleasure. TOP MARKS!

Amazing. Muldaur used to be incredibly sexy back in the day. Sad she turned into such a bitter old shrew by the time of TNG. That said, the regular cast turns in some great performances this show. Spock tampering with the hyposprays, plotting to kill Kirk, all the while a friendly smile upon his face, is frankly, chilling. Top drawer TOS era trek. (Drek compared to 90s trek and the film's so TOS gets its own "rating" standards.) :)

Interesting episode, and the idea of the crew's bodies being taken over is a Trek staple. Not to be a pain, but Dr. Mulhall should be wearing a blue shirt, not a red one.

Why didn't they build the robots back when their planet was dying, then they would not have had to spend millions of years living in those globe things.

I pretty much agree with Jammer. Some intriguing fascinating stuff then wtf in the final act? And Kirk's "in the business of risk" speech is the most ridiculous sophistry I think Kirk ever engaged in. Probably Shatner knew the speech was nonsense and decided to go full Shat mode. We're in the business of risk so we should allow three officers (including the top two commanders) to be possessed by spirits? What could POSSIBLY go wrong? It's ridiculous, and if I were McCoy I would suspect Sargon planted this enthusiasm in Kirk's head when he first possessed him. You know that soon after, Starfleet must have added a "DO NOT WILLINGLY BE POSSESSED" rule to the books.

And to be clear, the speech IS great, but using it for this situation is ridiculous.

Kind of fascinating how themes of consent are filtered through this story; it's obviously not the focus, but for a 1960s story to just take that element seriously is wildly progressive

Every time I watch this I wonder why someone doesn't suggest in the briefing room scene that they take the globes to the planet they left Harry Mudd on and get the androids there to build three androids for Sargon and co to move into - after all, those had a conservative lifespan of a quarter of a million years, not the paltry one thousand that the ones Sargon etc build and were completely life-like.

So in what sense is humanity doomed to "perish," as threatened in Sargon's first message, now that Sargon has had to abandon his plan of passing his society's knowledge on to his "children"? Or was their brief contact sufficient to prevent that fate? Or was that just a trick to secure their cooperation? The whole episode would look different if viewed from the perspective that Sargon is no more trustworthy than Henoch or Thalassa.

A very good episode that manages both an intimate, low stakes story and an epic, millennia-spanning feel. - To the question as to why Sargon and co didn’t build robot bodies back in the day, it’s possible that: A) the disaster that trashed their planet might have come on too fast for them to get artificial bodies ready, maybe just getting into their globes was all they could muster. B) they didn’t have that tech yet and only came up with adequate robot body designs while they were sitting around thinking for the last 500,000 years or whatever. - Perhaps the androids from I, Mudd were Sargon’s people’s butlers? Just waiting around for the return of their creators? - Kirk’s “risk” speech is great. I know Shatner catches a lot of flak for the giant mouthfuls of scenery he chews but honestly it’s one of the reasons Kirk was such a standout character and thus one of the main reasons TOS worked. Subsequently Shatner’s ACTING!! is one of the reasons we have decades of trek to pour over. So while it makes me chuckle at times, I still have an appreciation for his style. - It’s always fun to see Nimoy get to stretch his acting legs a bit. He does a great job in this episode of making henoch seem like a distinct personality. - I very much liked the poignant ending, Sargon and Thalassa accepting their fate as long as they can accept it together. Very touching. 3.5/4 hypospray shenanigans.

Proud Capitalist Pig

Is Captain Kirk insane? I’d remind Kirk of a simple two-word phra--uh, two-letter word, I mean--that is best used whenever an alien entity asks to “borrow” your body to house its consciousness. This beautiful word, which isn’t said enough in our society, and is the best protection against scam artists, charlatans, and ungrateful bums, is the useful and emphatically delivered word, “No.” “No.” It’s *my* body. You can’t have it! (Those pro-choice feminists have a point, you know, and I applaud them.) Sargon can kiss my ass and go to hell. Sure, he has all the power in the world to destroy my starship and kill everyone on board. But I say this without irony--far better to be disintegrated in a fiery death than to have an alien entity “possess” my body for whatever nefarious purpose it has in mind. “Risk is our business” when it comes to acceptable risks like defending a Federation colony, facing down a pile of Commie Klingons or exploring some bizarre gas cloud with evil proclivities. But in “Return to Tomorrow,” the risk is a foolish one, and I agree completely with the plaintive, sarcastic reactions of McCoy and the incredulous, hilarious skepticism of Scott when Kirk is trying to convince them to sign their bodies away for--get this--SCIENCE! (I mean, shit, I would at least ask for money.) Kirk’s entire argument is based on what the crew could obtain from Sargon’s promised gifts and insights regarding scientific progress. That MILF scientist played by Diana Muldaur (who went on to play Rosalind Shays--a magnificently conniving, cutthroat bitch--in L.A. Law) enthusiastically agrees to be used as a meatsuit because of *what her scientific mind could gain in knowledge.* The message here is as true today as it was then--we will literally sell our souls during our quest to figure out “how to fly.” Well, you can’t use AI slaves if they all rise up and destroy humanity, can you? For scientific progress to work, you must control it at all times and at all costs. You must come out on top of any arms race. And you must have a prophet motive in mind for your innovation to be fully embraced and integrated into society. But here, Kirk is about to make the proverbially fatal mistake of relinquishing such control. He’s giving up his very mind in the name of progress. And he’s goddamn lucky that Sargon isn’t a malicious interloper--which, by the way, Spock’s alien definitely is. Spock, you see, is possessed by The Evil Alien. I mean, duh. This is my whole point--what do you *think* will happen when you give up your autonomy to a stranger for no good reason? Other than hosting a pricelessly hysterical Leonard Nimoy performance, you’re just going to be eaten alive if not shoved aside. And don’t get me started on Nurse Chapel. Some friend of Spock’s she is. “Spock,” fully possessed by a maniacal pesky pervert, rises up from the bed leering, sneering and complimenting her on her foxy body. All this airhead can say in response is, “Thank you!” Where’s her revulsion? Where’s her horror? Where’s, frankly, her disgust? Oh, that’s right! This is the 1960’s where “brainless blonde bimbo” is a redundant term! You know, The Haunting of Bly Manor (on Netflix), without giving away too many spoilers, has a shocking scene in its seventh episode “The Two Faces, Part Two” where the prospect of body possession is treated with all the terror and devastation that such an idea deserves. Seems like we all need more Henry James and less Albert Einstein, amirite?! Kirk’s big speech is delivered well by Shatner, but it’s pure nonsense considering the circumstances. This speech would actually have worked really well in “The Immunity Syndrome” when the crew needed Spock’s help to face down their scary encounter with a space monstrosity. In that context, it quite possibly would have brought tears to my eyes. Here, I wanted to throw things at the screen and relieve Kirk of his captaincy. Despite Shatner and Muldaur delivering sensational performances, and Nimoy a hilarious, entertaining one, “Return to Tomorrow” is clumsy, hammy, and completely collapses under its own weight. Keep your aliens off my body! Speak Freely: Spock -- “Not even a Vulcan can know the unknown, Captain.” My Grade: C-

"prophet motive" Haha, the Grand Nagus would like to have a word :)

@Proud Capitalist Pig I know this episode isn't regarded as a Trek classic, but I think it should be. In fact I think it could even have been the pilot episode (if it was made earlier). The idea of taking risks and the near impossible situations it presents the crew, I think, is a very worthy premise for an episode. Here, the upside and downside risk are basically unquantifiable, infinite. Engines the size of walnuts as an upside example, the destruction of the Enterprise and maybe even the human race etc. as the downside. I don't think Kirk can just walk away either... I'd encourage you to check out Brundledan's comment from 2013 -- thought it was one of the best comments I've ever read on this site. It really helps frame this episode in terms of the beauty of sci-fi and what made TOS so special for me. As I said in a prior comment, this is great sci-fi. The "risk is our business" is kind of the soul of Trek, the idea of exploring and not knowing what you will encounter. Doing some kind of cost-benefit analysis won't always come with well-defined inputs (and even outputs), as this episode exemplifies. But I agree with you that the episode collapses under its own weight -- just with respect to the ending where the plot machinations are a confusing mess. But there was potential for a 4* episode here. I think I'd give it a B+ on your scale!

Even though Sargon protests heartily, the similarities of this story to nuclear destruction are obvious. I never thought about it in my younger years, but Sargon, Thalassa, and Hanoch are located within a bomb shelter. There are some great elements to this episode. The story behind the planet's destruction would have made a great standalone episode. Trish wrote: "The whole episode would look different if viewed from the perspective that Sargon is no more trustworthy than Henoch or Thalassa." Very true. According to Sargon has powers that Hanoch doesn't suspect. He didn't include Thalassa in that statement, but that would have to apply to her as well. She didn't know that he had taken up residence in the Enterprise. It would take a very great power to rip the atmosphere away from the planet. Just saying. Sargon includes himself in thinking his race were gods. I wonder just how the Prime Directive works in an episode like this where aliens promise wonders if humans lends them their bodies for a short time. Kirk is useless in this aspect as he's already been dazzled by Sargon. But Dr. Mulhall and Spock make the conscientious decision to allow the entities to use their bodes. Regarding Kirk's speech, yes, it is totally hammy. But Shatner make have done that extra deliberately in this case. It almost makes him seem somewhat childish, but when he assumes Sargon's character, I really felt like I was watching a different actor. It was wonderful. As far as love stories go throughout Star Trek, this is, in my opinion, hands down the best. No tragedy here. The two aliens went off into oblivion together, fearless. That made for a great love story.

I apologize for the typos on my post above.

@Rahul Out of curiosity, and as a courtesy to you for your input, I took your advice and Control-F'd the name "Brundledan" on this page. So Brundledan's take is that Kirk's decision to accede his autonomy to a total stranger is part of the spirit of Star Trek--that the "risky business" of being in Starfleet includes putting blind faith in the kindness of strangers, of making that leap for the sake of communication, of understanding, of progress and of the betterment of one's character. Lofty and admirable, but hardly workable and definitely actionable. I'm still dubious. I think a straight body possession story might have been the way to go here, as we still would have learned about the aliens' core motivations without any minor changes in the plot. Making it about "consent," as others above point out, frames the episode in very deliberate way. If Gene Roddenberry wanted to convey that true harmony and acceptance means willingly giving up your control to your neighbor, well, that may fly with aspirational Star Trek viewers but would never fly in the real world. Maybe that's the argument, that this is something that we all should aspire to. But I think most people, including myself, are highly cynical with a healthy dose of skepticism. I'm again reminded of The Haunting of Bly Manor*, which is fresh in my mind having just watched the series with my family over the past few days. In that series, the motivations of certain characters are exactly the same as the aliens' motivations here--prolonging life. It's an understandable wish to be sure, and one might certainly empathize with Sargon here. But as pointed out in both Bly Manor and in "Return to Tomorrow," sometimes things are just too big of an Ask. Good to hear from you as always! * = Folks, if you're a fan of horror, ghost stories, love stories, creepy psychological dramas, or all of the above--watch this Netflix show! It thrilled, chilled, and moved this old Pig to tears.

@Peter G Oh, yikes! Hahahhaha. Stupid homonyms--an occupational hazard of the English language. Despite my username, I encounter the word "prophet" just as much as the word "profit" in my travels, so I was bound to mess this up sooner or later. Yes, that should be "profit motive" in my comment. And to be frank, most "prophets" indeed have a healthy profit motive to be sure, so we should all bear that in mind.... Look at that, me giving free advice. Maybe Star Trek is rubbing off on me.

@Proud Capitalist Pig Great to hear from you as well - look forward to more of your Trek thoughts. Re. this episode — Of course we’d be totally skeptical / cynical if somebody like Sargon (analogy could be the government) asked to possess our bodies to do X, Y, Z. The environment today is one where one has to be very skeptical of all the BS narratives that come one’s way. Can’t trust government, major media to be independent and objective, public health etc. So with this healthy dose of skepticism, it turns into cynicism when some “authority” figure genuinely asks for trust (and a lot more than that). I totally get that. But if we put ourselves in Kirk’s shoes, growing up in a utopian 23rd century, there’s far less reason to be skeptical and maybe no reason to be cynical. The other thing to consider is that Kirk had joined with Sargon so maybe that gave him an added understanding of things — and so Kirk is perhaps biased to adopt Sargon’s proposal. And thus the episode goes along its way with Henoch providing some antagonism, which comes across as silly given the more mature nature of the main theme.

Well we know that an episode has 52 minutes and has to tie up all the loose ends in the last several minutes. This time the drama is with Spock's body needing to be killed since the crew believes (incorrectly) that his mind has already been destoyed. The all powerful but morally benevolent incorporeal being has any power than can be imagined by the viewer, and thankfully returns the status quo in the ending. Nimoy gets to portray dual personalities and Nurse Chapel gets to share Spock's essence that she has the hots for but was never able to penetrate before. Kirk gets to make out with the female lead but it's not really him doing it, as opposed to many season 3 episodes when he really does get the goods. There is not really much sci fi in the episode other than McCoy enduring the blue flames of punishment, and the lighting that occurs during body switching. So this episode was produced while those before and after used a lot of outdoor sets that are more expensive, correct me if I'm wrong. This was 60's television that had to be done start to finish in less than a week, and one of a series of many weeks that were done on the fly by the producers, which had many mutinies going on all the time with directors and producers and Roddenberry doing whatever it takes to hold the ship together. I'm sure they wouldn't have suspected that many decades later people would be over analyzing every aspect of every show with much of the technology the show inspired now reality. I watched this episode decades ago, but while revisiting now the sets, scores, and bit character parts picque the most interest since we obviously already know the story.

Well, all I can say is there is a great love for the series, otherwise people wouldn't be overanalyzing it. One thing I found while doing some research is that in the original writing, Sargon and Thalassa were to go off together, alive. Roddenberry nixed the ending on that, instead having them making the fateful decision to end it all by committing suicide.

I enjoy the informed, intelligent posts here as a way to open my mind. I used to dismiss Return to Tomorrow but can now better appreciate its good qualities. I'm not big on romances, so this is an episode that does not appeal to me, but that does not make it inferior. My sense is perhaps unfairly colored by Diana Muldaur who has a certain body language and speaking style that comes across to me as snobby and off-putting. It's not role specific because I get the same negative vibes from her in Is There in Truth No Beauty? and later in TNG. I guess it's just me. Consequently, I do not feel in a position to fairly review and rate this episode.

In this episode Nimoy plays an alter ego, as happened a few times such as the spores that made him happy, the frozen cave in the past with the woman who offered him meat which he enjoyed because Vulcan culture used to be omnivorous, and to some extent mirror mirror and spock's brain. Much of the drama revolves around his character conniving to keep the body he inhabits and get rid of the Captain and Sargon who would presumably try to stop him. I'm trying to focus on this instead of the annoying violin that plays when the main characters are kissy kissy. A major plot hole I did not see mentioned above, if the energy entities are so all powerful as they seem, and two express benevolence as to the human's rights to their own selves, albeit the obvious temptation ........ why couldn't Sargon ask to be transported to a star base or another planet where they could commence the task of building their android receptacles? If they waited a half million years couldn't they wait another week? ..... why did they have to do it right then using the command crew as guinea pigs? And the answer of course is that the show has TV stars that have to be involved in each dilemma, and be depicted making out with the female lead, or doing someting to save the situation. Body snatching/character inversions appears in quite a fe w episodes like mirror, turnabout, weak vs. strong Kirk, what are little girls made of, amok time, etc. Nimoy goes on to portray a snatched body in The Invasion of the Body Snatchers remake. One of my favorites.

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Star Trek – Return to Tomorrow (Review)

The first Star Trek pilot, The Cage , was produced in 1964. To celebrate its fiftieth anniversary, this December we are reviewing the second season of the original Star Trek show. You can check out our first season reviews here . Check back daily for the latest review.

Return to Tomorrow is similar to By Any Other Name in a number of ways.

Most superficially, it’s an episode about aliens in human bodies, who find themselves learning (or, in this case, remembering) how to appreciate all that mankind has to offer. The plot similarity is rather broad, but it seems strange that By Any Other Name and Return to Tomorrow would be produced right after one another, and that no significant effort would be made to space them apart on initial broadcast. (Both aired in February of 1968.)

Leonard Nimoy only gets to smile once a year, so the show makes the most of it…

However, there are more fundamental and underlying similarities between Return to Tomorrow and By Any Other Name . Both are episodes that are very much engaged with the underlying philosophy of the franchise, particularly concerning humanity’s place in the universe. Indeed, there’s an argument to be made that Return to Tomorrow and By Any Other Name both work much better as statements of philosophical intent than they do as stories in their own right.

Co-written by Gene Roddenberry, Return to Tomorrow is a rather generic piece of television, but one that feels like a considered statement of the franchise’s central themes.

“Things are going to be a little different around here…”

The biggest problem with  Return to Tomorrow is the pacing. The episode is almost halfway to the end before the actual plot of the episode kicks in – before Sargon, Thalassa and Henoch have  “borrowed” their human bodies. As with the capture-and-escape sequences at the start of By Any Other Name , the exposition sequences that open Return to Tomorrow slow down and hamper the plot significantly. There’s a sense that Return to Tomorrow takes far too long to get going.

While the first half feels over-extended, the second half feels a little rushed. Henoch turns evil too quickly, while Thalassa flip-flops on whether she wants to keep the body, and Sargon appears to be killed off before we really get a chance to know him. And then there’s the rushed last act, where Return to Tomorrow desperately tries to wring drama from its set up, but nothing has any room to breath, leaving a rather unsatisfying conclusion.

“Jim’s dead, Jim…”

The final few minutes of Return to Tomorrow hinge on the fact that Kirk and McCoy think that they have to murder Spock in order to stop Henoch. It’s one of those great dramatic hooks – would you kill your best friend to save the universe? – but the scripts bungles it because there’s no room to explore the implications of this decision. The entire plot point plays out over about three minutes of screen time.

Most obviously, Kirk and McCoy settle on the fact that they have to kill Spock in four lines of dialogue in the scene right before they attempt to do it. “Jim, the receptacles!” McCoy protests. “Spock’s consciousness was in one of them!” Kirk replies, “It was necessary.” McCoy demands, “What are you talking about? There is no Spock to return to his body. You’ve killed a loyal officer, your best friend.” Kirk is all business. “Bones, prepare a hypo. The fastest, deadliest poison to Vulcans. Spock’s consciousness is gone. We must kill his body, the thing in it.”

“Let’s get the ball rolling, shall we?”

That’s not a plot thread or a character arc. It’s barely even a conversation. It is two actors trying to invest some emotional charge in exposition. It is a bullet-point summary of the climax of Return to Tomorrow , one that explains to the audience what is happening, but doesn’t have any real room to explore the implications of this plot development. This is to say nothing of the actual ending, where it is revealed that Sargon simply tricked McCoy into thinking he’d poisoned Spock when he had just tranquilised him, in order to trick Henoch into leaving Spock’s body.

It’s a gloriously convoluted final act, one that might have worked a bit better if Return to Tomorrow had managed to get through the first half of the story a little quicker – leaving a bit more room for the drama in the second half of the story. As it stands, Return to Tomorrow is a mess of an episode, one packed with interesting ideas and hampered by mediocre execution. It is an episode that fades into the background of the second half of the second season.

“That’s no moon…”

Even those involved in the production of the episode have acknowledged that Return to Tomorrow is not especially memorable. Diana Muldaur, making her first Star Trek appearance here, has joked that she has never actually watched the episode and can’t remember too much about it :

I actually have a VHS tape of the episode. I don’t have a DVD of it. And I have to look at it. The episode is still bound. It still has the plastic wrap on it. But I do remember an incredible crew. I remember a brilliant costume man. I remember meeting all the people. Shatner was one of the best young actors out of Canada. He wasn’t young by me; he’s older than I, but he was a very good actor who’d done some very wonderful performances in things before Star Trek. All of them were very interesting, very good people. I remember incredible lighting. They could make you incredibly gorgeous in a second.

Although Muldaur is polite and good-natured about the show and her co-stars, she doesn’t seem to remember Return to Tomorrow as vividly as Is There In Truth No Beauty? or her stint on Star Trek: The Next Generation . She does good work here, but it is hard to blame her.

“Sargon lives!”

Muldaur is not alone. Return to Tomorrow is the last episode of the second season directed by Star Trek veteran Ralph Senensky. Senensky has very thoroughly (and entertainingly) documented his experiences working on Star Trek via his wonderful blog, but he conceded that he was quite reluctant to talk about Return to Tomorrow :

Eighteen months ago today I posted the Prolog, my first entry, on this website. In the following weeks, for reasons I explained in that Prolog, I started this cinema journey by writing of my adventures on Star Trek, but I only covered six of the seven treks I had made. I omitted Return to Tomorrow with the lame excuse, “Return to Tomorrow, about which the less said the better.”

Senensky did eventually cover his work on Return to Tomorrow , which is well worth a read. However, there is a general sense that the episode is just sort of there in the final stretch of episodes of the second season. It comes at a point where the entire production team is exhausted, and after a major change in ownership with all sorts of resultant pressure and constraints.

“Well, this is a sexual harassment case waiting to happen…”

Senensky has talked about the production constraints facing those working on Star Trek after the change in ownership . Leonard Nimoy offers another example in his interview with The Archive of American Television . Asked what was important for a Star Trek director, Nimoy explained:

Get it done fast. How to get it done fast. It was constantly schedule, schedule, schedule. You had to try to get something interesting happening within the time and money allotted, but schedule was primary. You had to get it done on schedule. In fact, it got so bad second/third season that at 6:30pm, if a person was working on the show – if a crew member was on the stage – they were on over time. It got so tight that it was absolutely not allowed. And the plan was that at 6:18pm, you quit work, which gave the staff twelve minutes to put away their stuff for the next morning and get off the lot. Either or. I remember, we’d be in the middle of a scene at 6:18pm, and a voice would yell, “That’s a wrap!” And the lights would go out. And you were through.

Senensky’s version of events is slightly different – he suggests the lights went out at twelve minutes past six, leaving eighteen minutes for tidying up. Nevertheless, it gives a sense of the kind of pressure under which Star Trek was working.

“We could be immortal. We could even appear on The Next Generation, albeit separately…”

And yet, despite the fact that the actual plotting and storytelling of Return to Tomorrow is bland and generic, there is a sense that is an episode that is fundamentally about Star Trek. It is an enunciation of some of the franchise’s core themes. Return to Tomorrow is an episode about exploration, in multiple senses. The most obvious is the literal sense. We are told that the Enterprise is “hundreds of light years past where any Earth ship has ever explored” and that it will take Kirk’s logs “over three weeks” to reach Starfleet “at this distance.”

More than that, it is an episode about exploring in a figurative and philosophical sense. Sargon tempts Kirk down to the planet with something of a grave threat. “And I am as dead as my planet. Does that frighten you, James Kirk? For if it does, if you let what is left of me perish, then all of you, my children, all of mankind must perish, too.” It’s a nice sting for the end of the teaser, even if the show makes it clear quite quickly that Sargon is not a villain. He seems to be talking in the abstract – as if humanity’s worth is measured in its curiosity and spirit of adventure.

Kirk’s willing to play ball…

After all, Return to Tomorrow features Kirk’s famous “risk is our business” speech about the value of exploration and adventuring. It’s a key (and popular) part of the franchise’s outlook and philosophy , an optimistic and impassioned way of looking at the universe:

They used to say if man could fly, he’d have wings. But he did fly. He discovered he had to. Do you wish that the first Apollo mission hadn’t reached the moon, or that we hadn’t gone on to Mars and then to the nearest star? That’s like saying you wish that you still operated with scalpels and sewed your patients up with catgut like your great-great-great-great-grandfather used to. I’m in command. I could order this. But I’m not because, Doctor McCoy is right in pointing out the enormous danger potential in any contact with life and intelligence as fantastically advanced as this. But I must point out that the possibilities, the potential for knowledge and advancement is equally great. Risk. Risk is our business. That’s what the starship is all about. That’s why we’re aboard her.

It’s a beautiful moment, delivered well by Shatner and framed wonderfully by Senensky, with the camera slowly tightening on Kirk’s face as he explains just what he perceives to be the Enterprise’s core mission.

“Yes, I’m sure having our two most senior officers controlled by god-like aliens we just met is a good idea… why wouldn’t it be?”

It fulfills the plot-necessary function of explaining why Kirk would give over his body to a random alien – even if it would still seem safer to nominate two less senior officers – but it also very clearly articulates some ideas at the heart of the franchise. The script for Return to Tomorrow was heavily re-written by Gene Roddenberry, and it feels like something of a prelude for Roddenberry’s more evangelical approach to writing Star Trek from Star Trek: The Motion Picture onwards.

Much like By Any Other Name , Return to Tomorrow is predicated on the idea that humans are inherently and irreducibly special. As with By Any Other Name , a bunch aliens forced to take human form as part of a larger plan find themselves enamored with the pleasures of the human experience. “Lungs filled with air again,”   Sargon! Kirk proclaims. “To see again. Heart pumping, arteries surging with blood again. A half a million years. To be again. Your captain has an excellent body, Doctor McCoy. I compliment you both on the condition in which you maintained it.”

“One is a twenty-third century starship captain. The other is a god-like consciousness trapped inside a glowing ball. Together, they fight crime…” Goodness, I’d love a Kirk/Sargon buddy comedy…

The episode is not credited to Roddenberry, but to John Kingsbridge. Kingsbridge was a pseudonym of writer John T. Dugan, who had been forced to fight Roddenberry for credit. The matter went to the Writers’ Guild of America for arbitration, and they decided in Dugan’s favour. ( Alan Dean Foster had to fight Roddenberry for credit on The Motion Picture .) However, Dugan took exception to some of the creative decisions made during the re-writes, and asked that the finished episode by credited to  “John Kingsbridge.”

However, the writing credit on  Return to Tomorrow would become a matter of no small controversy. The credits for the episode would become confused and mixed up for the next few decades. James Blish’s prose adaptations of the  Star Trek episodes would credit Dugan under his real name. The VHS cover of the Return to Tomorrow cassette credited Gene Roddenberry. Dugan took the matter up with Paramount, earning a settlement and corrections across all associated media.

“A god am I…”

Much like Roddenberry’s attempts to strong-arm Harlan Ellison, this is not one of the show’s prouder moments when it comes to dealing with writers. Dugan voiced his frustrations in an interview with Starlog :

“I mean, to be an original Star Trek writer is quite a thing. Then, to have your credit stolen by the god of Star Trek is a cheap shot. I put the tape in and saw that the credit is fine on the show itself, but what pissed me off was that it’s not correct on the jacket, for anyone casually looking at it.”

Roddenberry had heavily re-written episodes like Shore Leave without seeking to “jump” credit, but perhaps he felt Dugan was an easier target because he was not as established a science-fiction writer as Theodore Sturgeon.

“Oh my, it looks like Sargon’s just come into possession of William Shatner’s acting powers…”

The disagreement between Dugan and Roddenberry of the script concerned the final act. At the end of Return to Tomorrow , Sargon and Thalissa decide to drift off into “oblivion” together, abandoning the universe to mankind and other similar species. According to the aforementioned Starlog interview, Dugan objected on philosophical grounds to this ending:

“That line totally went against my philosophy and cosmology,” he says. “It was  only one line, but I didn’t want to be associated with it. This oblivion idea is  Roddenberry’s philosophy, not mine. My philosophy was that these entities would exist as spirits for eternity, but they wouldn’t  have their bodies. That might be a small  thing, but I have a reputation and a philosophy, and everybody who knows me knows  what I stand for; I certainly don’t stand for oblivion in the afterlife, so I used my pseudonym. When you write a script, you don’t expect to have your world view  changed by a producer. The rest of Roddenberry’s changes were all trivial, as I  said in my letter to the arbiters; the big thing was that change in the episode’s philosophy. Other people might think I’m crazy, but that’s the way I live.”

However, as much as Dugan’s central cosmology and philosophy would reject the idea of Sargon and Thalissa fading away into nothingness, Roddenberry’s central cosmology and philosophy all but demanded it.

An impressive body of work…

At its core, Return to Tomorrow is a story about how the universe does not need its gods any more. It is a tale about how mankind has moved beyond the need for an all-powerful father-figure to tell them what to do and what not to do. This is as much a story about Gene Roddenberry’s atheism as The Apple or most of Who Mourns for Adonais? (Which, of course, sets it at odds with the conclusion to Bread and Circuses .)

Sargon and his people are cast in a very religious light. It is no wonder that Henoch, the evil character, ends up in the most satanic body. Sargon confesses to Kirk, “One day our minds became so powerful, we dared think of ourselves as gods.” It seems that Sargon hasn’t ever moved past that. He refers to Kirk as “my son” and to humanity as “my children.” He describes space as “the heavens.” He speaks in a disembodied voice with absolute power.

Spock hated to burst Henoch’s bubble…

Return to Tomorrow draws rather heavily from The Book of Genesis , with Sargon even doing some biblical name-dropping. He takes credit for creating life on Earth… maybe. “As you now leave your own seed on distant planets, so we left our seed behind us,” he boasts. “Perhaps your own legends of an Adam and an Eve were two of our travellers.” When Mulhall questions his suggestion, Spock suggests Sargon’s people may have “seeded” Vulcan. Sargon promptly changes the subject. “In either case, I do not know. It was so long ago.” It’s hard to keep track.

This isn’t the only parallel. The climax of the episode owes a debt to Abraham’s sacrifice of Isaac, when God directs the man to sacrifice his only son. However, it is revealed to be a test of faith at the last possible moment, with God sparing Isaac. At the end of Return to Tomorrow , Sargon asks Kirk to sacrifice Spock. Kirk does so willingly, only for Sargon to spare Spock at the last minute. “I could not allow your sacrifice of one so close to you.”

Taking the opportunity to chew the scenery is only logical…

Return to Tomorrow makes several references to the theory of “ancient astronauts” – the idea that Earth was visited by pre-historic space explorers who either created or curated life on the planet. Sargon seems to suggest that his people created mankind specifically so that Kirk would find this planet all these years later. “We knew the seed that we had planted on other planets would take root, that one day you would build vessels as we did, and one day you would come here,” Sargon! Kirk boasts.

The Star Trek franchise is quite fond of the idea of ancient astronauts – the idea of aliens who have shepherded evolution across the cosmos, possibly including Earth. The Preservers fulfil a similar function in The Paradise Syndrome , while  Who Mourns for Adonais? ,  Requiem for Methuselah and  Plato’s Stepchildren hit on similar ideas. On The Next Generation , The Chase reveals that all the alien races on Star Trek look so alike because they were all seeded by the same race.

“Yes, Bones, purple alert is now totally a thing…”

It is worth noting that Roddenberry himself firmly rejected the idea of ancient astronauts, interpreting the idea as an insult to humanity’s own power of self-determination and autonomy . Mankind was perfectly capable of building the pyramids on their own terms, without any assistance from extraterrestrials. It is a powerful statement of Roddenberry’s atheist humanism, and one that informs a lot of what of the writer saw in Star Trek .

So the franchise’s fixation on the concept is interesting, because it runs so contrary to Roddenberry’s worldview, and that of the entire franchise. Then again, Star Trek has never been entirely internally consistent, especially on matters of faith. However, there are a number of possible reasons why the franchise may have returned so frequently to this subject. Most obviously, because the concept of ancient astronauts allowed the franchise to engage with religion in an indirect way.

Enlightenment…

After all, religion is a pretty controversial subject. Actually questioning and exploring Christianity would have been impossible in the late sixties on American network television. However, as Ryan Britt has noted , creating aliens who satisfy many of the expectations of deities gets around a potentially thorny issue:

The idea that aliens could be our ancestors (instead of gods or supernatural deities) opens up new avenues of faith for skeptics with a science-based worldview. Instead of being made from mud, or springing from the head of Zeus, we can look up to the stars and say, “well, it probably was on one of those things, where everything else came from.”

It’s not wonder that the idea is as old and archetypal as it is, with Chariots of the Gods? tracing a rich line of speculative fiction dating back through Dawn of the Magicians to H.P. Lovecraft and beyond.

Let Sargons be bygones…

On the twelfth anniversary of Gene Roddenberry’s passing, James F. McGrath reflected on how Star Trek used these sorts of pulpy science-fiction ideas :

It is interesting that so many stories on Star Trek and other science fiction shows explore the scenario that advanced aliens are mistaken for gods and advanced technology for magic or miracle. It allows the exploration of longstanding traditions of storytelling to continue in the framework of our modern scientific worldview. But it also allows the gods to be challenged, rejected, taken on, beaten, and brought down to size. And so if, on one level, doing that posits that such beings as Apollo really exist, on another it allows human beings to outgrow them and treat them as beings like us, and not infallible sources of truth worthy of worship.

With all this in mind, Gene Roddenberry’s script for Return to Tomorrow could only have ended one way.

Kirk can handle this situation…

Sargon and Thalissa’s decision to retreat into “oblivion” implies that they are handing over the universe to their successors. It is a way of making explicit the ideas implied by the early first season and late second season episodes that portrayed the universe as a mostly-empty graveyard haunted by the ghosts of once-powerful civilisations. Humanity has inherited the universe; this is their opportunity to define themselves against it.

That said, it wouldn’t be a Gene Roddenberry script if there weren’t a few moments when Return to Tomorrow gets a little heavy-handed with its morals. Explaining how he and his people ended up in their protective bubbles, Sargon recalls “the cataclysm which [they] loosened upon [themselves]” , “a struggle for such goals and the unleashing of such power that you could not comprehend.” Kirk makes the immediate implied connection with the atomic age. “We faced a similar crisis in our early nuclear age. We found the wisdom not to destroy ourselves.”

“… And that’s why, when I’m trying to maintain a mortal body, I use Doctor McCoy’s patented Homebrew Immortality Serum. Available from all good deep space outlets.”

To be fair to Roddenberry, Sargon does suggest that atomic horror is not the only potential calamity awaiting a rapidly-advancing society. “We survived our primitive nuclear era, my son,” Sargon tells Kirk. “But there comes to all races an ultimate crisis which you have yet to face.” That ultimate crisis is existential and philosophical in nature – much like Sargon’s threat to Kirk at the end of the teaser. Sargon’s society was destroyed by its own arrogance and hubris, having survived its atomic age.

It is a little weird to hear that line in the wake of Roddenberry’s writing on The Motion Picture and The Next Generation , where it frequently seemed like mankind had elevated themselves to the status of the divine – deciding when and when not to intervene, taking great pride in lording their superiority over those they deemed less advanced. It seems like episodes like The Last Outpost and Lonely Among Usfthe gam might have learned from Sargon’s wisdom.

“See, Bones, THIS is why we have purple alert!”

There’s also some of the troubling background radiation sexism we’ve come to expect from Star Trek . To be fair, Mulhall is a much more developed and competent female guest star than usually appears – Diana Muldaur holds her own quite well against the rest of the ensemble, giving Mulhall some of the same bite that she would bring to Pulaski on The Next Generation . However, it’s telling that – much like Kelinda in By Any Other Name – Thalassa is the alien most skilfully and casually manipulated.

It is Thalassa who is corrupted (albeit briefly) by Henoch’s promise of immortality. Henoch and Sargon are defined as moral absolutes. Sargon is never tempted to abuse his power, while Henoch starts plotting to hang on to his new body almost the moment he wakes up. Thalassa, on the other hand, seems prone to change her mind depending on whom she spoke to last. Even when they decide to keep their bodies, Henoch schemes in the background until his plan is complete, while Thalassa lashes out at Doctor McCoy in a rather transparent and petulant manner.

Strange new world…

Still, there is something quite pointed in Thalassa’s plea to keep Mulhall’s body. After all, the audience knows that Kirk has to be Kirk and Spock has to be Spock by the end of Return to Tomorrow . Mulhall is a guest star, and so she is disposable; she is even wearing a red uniform. Thalassa tries to bargain with McCoy. “It happens to belong to a young woman,” McCoy insists. Mulhall cuts across him, “Who you hardly know. Almost a stranger to you.”

There’s something quite pointed in that remark. It almost seems like Thalassa is drawing attention to how casual and callous Star Trek can be about lives outside those of the primary cast. Mulhall has never been seen before, she has never been seen again. How is she different from the dozens of Enterprise crew members who appear in episodes like this so that they may be killed off to provide cheap drama. Is Mulhall any more or less important than Yeoman Thompson, forgotten at the end of By Any Other Name ?

“Sargon, you will discover that mankind has pioneered many revolutionary dance moves since your last visit…”

Return to Tomorrow never answers that challenge. Mulhall never appears again, despite Muldaur’s performance and the appeal of a no-nonsense hyper-competent female staff member other than the still-nebulously-defined Uhura. However, the fact that the episode dares to raise the question is interesting. It might be too much to describe Return to Tomorrow as self-aware, but there are faint glimmers to be found buried in the messy script.

The production on Return to Tomorrow is quite impressive. The design of Sargon is very cost-effective, but it is also iconic. The idea of an entire civilisation preserved in simple white spheres is incredibly memorable – the design recalls the “head museum” in Futurama , and it seems unlikely to be a coincidence. Like the Gamesters from  The Gamesters of Triskelion , Sargon is the kind of eccentric realised-on-a-tiny-budget alien that people think about when they think of  Star Trek .

Welcome back, Sulu…

It’s also nice to have George Takei back, after his ten-episode absence from the middle of the season. Takei was filming The Green Berets , a production that ran significantly over-schedule. Takei regrets that unfortunate scheduling mismatch, because the second season had promised a larger role for Sulu :

During the first season I lobbied Gene Roddenberry and the directors and the writing staff to beef up the role — well, everybody was doing that, and when you have seven regulars it gets to be very difficult. Gene said, “This is the first season and we really have to strengthen the two leads.” But he promised me that in the second season he’d devote more attention to the other characters. He did keep his promise and develop wonderful roles for Sulu. But I got cast during the hiatus in The Green Berets, the John Wayne movie. We ran way over schedule and I couldn’t be back in time for the beginning of the second season. Walter Koenig was brought in to essentially say the words that were written for me. I had already memorized them because I was so excited.

Perhaps the most notable example of Chekov stepping into a Sulu-sized gap is The Trouble With Tribbles . Sulu doesn’t do anything particularly noteworthy or important over the course of Return to Tomorrow , but the show opens on a nice a close-up of George Takei to assure viewers that the character has returned.

“Let’s see what’s out there…”

Return to Tomorrow is also notable for allowing Leonard Nimoy a chance to step outside the role of Spock, if only for twenty minutes. Nimoy relishes the opportunity to play a more manipulative and scenery-chewing role than that of the half-Vulcan first officer, accepting that Henoch is never going to be a multi-faceted antagonist for the show. There is something strangely charming about seeing Nimoy grin and smirk and plot in his familiar Spock make-up.

By Any Other Name and Return to Tomorrow may not feature the best writing on the show, but they are packed with visuals and ideas deeply associated with Star Trek .

You might be interested in our other reviews from the second season of the classic Star Trek :

• Supplemental: (Gold Key) #1 – The Planet of No Return!
• Supplemental: (Marvel Comics, 1980) #4-5 – The Haunting of Thallus!/The Haunting of the Enterprise!
• Metamorphosis
• Friday’s Child
• Who Mourns for Adonais?
• Supplemental: Spock’s World by Diane Duane
• Supplemental: New Visions #3 – Cry Vengeance
• Wolf in the Fold
• The Changeling
• Supplemental: (DC Comics, 1984) #43-45 – The Return of the Serpent!
• Supplemental: (IDW, 2009) #13 – The Red Shirt’s Tale
• Supplemental: Deep Space Nine – Crossover
• Supplemental: New Visions #1 – The Mirror, Cracked
• Supplemental: (DC Comics, 1984) #9-16 – New Frontiers (The Mirror Universe Saga)
• Supplemental: Mirror Images
• Supplemental: Mirror Universe – The Sorrows of Empire by David Mack
• Supplemental: (IDW, 2009) #15-16 – Mirrored
• The Deadly Years
• Supplemental: (Gold Key) #61 – Operation Con Game
• Supplemental: (DC Comics, 1984) #39-40 – The Return of Mudd
• Supplemental: The Galactic Whirlpool by David Gerrold
• Supplemental: Alien Spotlight – Tribbles
• Bread and Circuses
• Journey to Babel
• A Private Little War
• The Gamesters of Triskelion
• The Immunity Syndrome
• A Piece of the Action
• By Any Other Name
• Return to Tomorrow
• Patterns of Force
• The Ultimate Computer
• The Omega Glory
• Supplemental: Assignment: Eternity by Greg Cox
• Supplemental: (DC Comics, 1989) #49-50 – The Peacekeepers
• Supplemental: (IDW, 2008) Assignment: Earth

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Filed under: The Original Series | Tagged: ancient astronauts , androids , chariots of the gods , credit , credit jumping , Diana Muldaur , Federation , gene roddenberry , James Doohan , john kingsbridge , john t. dugan , religion , return to tomorrow , risk is our business , sargon , sargon's people , star trek , star trek: the original series , the original series , themes , tos , writing |

2 Responses

I love this blog. You go deeper into these Star Trek episodes than, perhaps, the writers and producers. It will take me months to digest all of your ideas.

I remember watching this episode immediately after deciding not to undergo hip replacement surgery. The heads of my femurs were made of dead bone and were crumbling.

I emphasized with Henoch and Thalassa. What is life if I can’t feel? Could I live a life of near-eternity inside of an unfeeling android body? I could at least think, couldn’t I? But what would it be like to think without feeling? What could anchor my thoughts?

So I lived with the pain for awhile, but it got worse, and I was unable to think at all because “feeling” became such a dominant sensation. I gave up and eventually did get my hip replacement surgery. I can still feel. I am still human.

Anyway…. thanks again for this blog.

Thanks for the kind words John.

And thank you for sharing your story. I have had several relatives go through joint replacement surgery, and while they described the process (and subsequent rehab) as incredibly tough, none of them regret the decision.

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Thalassa was one of three survivors of a species that died half a million years ago . She was the wife of Sargon . The two of them, along with their seemingly former enemy Henoch , housed their consciousnesses inside receptacles , which the USS Enterprise discovered in 2268 . She would borrow the body of Ann Mulhall , an Enterprise crew member, in order to build androids that could house her mind.

After she, Sargon and Henoch had transferred to their borrowed bodies, she was tempted by Henoch to keep the body of Ann Mulhall. She offered to save Captain James T. Kirk , whose body, which housed Sargon, was poisoned by Henoch, if she could keep her Human form. After coming to her senses, she helped Sargon kill Henoch, and she and Sargon returned to their pure consciousness state and embarked from the Enterprise to oblivion. ( TOS : " Return to Tomorrow ")

• Category: Events

Star Wars Outlaws, Assassin’s Creed Mirage, Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown, and More Showcased at Ubisoft Forward 2023

Ubisoft Forward took place earlier today, offering first looks, release dates, and more for upcoming games like Star Wars Outlaws , Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown , Assassin’s Creed Mirage , and Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora , among many others. If you missed the show, we’ve rounded up the biggest announcements and trailers to get you in the loop.

Star Wars Outlaws

The first look at Star Wars Outlaws gameplay debuted during Ubisoft Forward, giving us a brand-new look at cunning scoundrel Kay Vess and her companion Nix taking on a high-risk, high-reward mission. The two must infiltrate a secret location, use stealth, fight with a blaster, and steal valuable goods.

Announced during the Xbox Games Showcase on June 11, 2023 , Star Wars Outlaws , the first-ever open-world Star Wars game, invites you to pull off one of the greatest heists the Outer Rim has ever seen as cunning scoundrel Kay Vess. Set between the events of “Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back” and “Star Wars: Return of the Jedi”, Star Wars Outlaws takes place in a time when the Galactic Empire relentlessly pursues the final defeat of the Rebel Alliance, and the criminal underworld is thriving. Seeking the means to start a new life, Kay and her companion Nix will fight, steal, and outwit their way through the galaxy’s crime syndicates and join the galaxy’s most wanted. Star Wars Outlaws is coming to Xbox Series X|S in 2024.

Assassin’s Creed Mirage

Assassin’s Creed Mirage launches on October 12, 2023, for Xbox Series X|S and Xbox One, taking players to ninth-century Baghdad, where a young Basim starts his journey to become a Hidden One. Haunted by visions, Basim begins as a common street thief, but with guidance from Fuladh and Roshan (voiced by Shohreh Aghdashloo), he will grow to become a master assassin. An homage to the first Assassin’s Creed, Mirage will emphasize classic stealth gameplay, with tools that include throwing knives and smoke bombs, as well as new abilities like Assassin’s Focus – which lets Basim take down multiple enemies in rapid succession. Additionally, Assassin’s Creed Mirage will be fully localized in Arabic, allowing players across the world to experience the story in Basim’s native language.

For a closer look at Assassin’s Creed Mirage , check out the gameplay trailer breakdown with the Creative Director and Art Director of the game.

Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora

Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora , a stand-alone adventure set within the Avatar universe, will launch on December 7, 2023, as announced at Ubisoft Forward today. In a world premiere trailer, we were introduced to the player character, a Na’vi who awakens in a never-before-seen region of Pandora, the Western Frontier, years after being abducted as a child and raised by a human militaristic corporation known as the RDA. Now a stranger in your own birthplace, it’s up to you to rid Pandora of a newly formed RDA and learn what it means to be N’avi.

The first Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora gameplay also debuted, showing off Na’vi customization, combat that allows you to wield specialized human weapons built for the Na’vai plus stealthier, more traditional N’avi weapons, and breathless arial combat on the back of your very own customizable banshee, or ikran. We also got our first look at crafting, where new and valuable resources enable you to craft the best gear and weapons for your playstyle. 

Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora will launch on Xbox Series X|S. For more on Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora , visit avatarfrontiersofpandora.com . 

Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown

Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown will launch on January 18, 2024, for Xbox Series X|S and Xbox One. A new platformer inspired by Persian mythology, Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown centers on a new hero named Sargon, with Metroidvania-inspired gameplay. Ubisoft Forward debuted an anime-style narrative trailer as well as a gameplay walkthrough.

A member of the legendary Immortals, Sargon and his allies travel to the mythical Mount Qaf in pursuit of a kidnapped prince – only to find themselves tangled in a mystery that has unraveled time and turned the mountain into a maze of monsters and traps. Created by the studio behind Rayman Legends, Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown will challenge players to platform their way through hazard-filled environments and battle immense creatures with fast, fluid combat and divinely granted superpowers.

The Crew Motorfest

The Crew Motorfest is coming to Xbox Series X|S and Xbox One on September 14, 2023, and is available now for pre-order. Set on the island of O’ahu in the Hawaiian archipelago, The Crew Motorfest is designed to be a celebration of car culture, offering players a lush playground full of diverse driving options fueled by a fleet of vehicles. You’ll be able to race through the streets of Honolulu, speed down the side of a volcano, trek deep into the rainforest, or take a relaxing drive on winding mountain roads and sandy beaches.

Playlists are a significant part of The Crew Motorfest , letting you choose your own path through a selection of campaigns themed around different car-culture experiences and driving styles, including American muscle cars, Japanese night racing, electric supercars, and more. The game will have more than 610 vehicles at launch, and you’ll get to choose and customize your car from models including the Lamborghini Revuelto, the first in-game high-performance hybrid vehicle and The Crew Motorfest’s cover car. The Crew 2 players will also be able to import most of their collection of vehicles into The Crew Motorfest for free.

XDefiant , the free-to-play arcade shooter, is coming later this summer to Xbox Series X|S. Executive Producer Mark Rubin spoke about the game during Ubisoft Forward and revealed its Year 1 roadmap, which detailed everything players can expect for the game’s first four seasons (which include 12 new maps, 12 new weapons, and new game modes).

Earlier this year, XDefiant had a successful closed beta, and the team showed a community-reactions trailer that highlighted some of the top moments from the testing phase. It was also announced that XDefiant would have an Open Session from June 21-23, 2023, which will allow players a chance to test out the game’s brand new netcode and ensure server stability before the game launches. Register at playxdefiant.com or follow @playxdefiant on Twitter for updates on all things XDefiant .

The Master Chief and the Arbiter are coming to Brawlhalla ! The new Epic Crossover, called Brawlhalla: Combat Evolved, will kick off on July 12, 2023, bringing heroes who have inspired generations of players to the free-to-play fighting game. The Master Chief, a Spartan super-soldier who is an Epic Crossover for Isaiah, will wield the SPNKr Rocker Launcher and Magnum Pistols in combat, and his signature attacks will feature Guilty Spark. The Arbiter, a legendary alien warrior known for his unyielding tenacity, will use the Fuel Rod Cannon and Energy Sword, and will be an Epic Crossover for Sidra. Brawlhalla is available to play for free on Xbox Series X|S and Xbox One.

Just Dance 2024 Edition

Just Dance 2024 Edition will launch on October 24, 2023, for Xbox Series X|S, bringing 40 new songs to the franchise. It will also introduce a new feature that lets you play tracks online with friends who own Just Dance 2023 Edition . Plus, to celebrate Just Dance 2024 Edition’s announcement, Just Dance 2023 Edition players get early access to “Sail” by AWOLNation starting today until June 20. Check out a list of some of the new songs here:

• “How You Like That” by BlackPink
• “Tití Me Preguntó” By Bad Bunny
• “I Wanna Dance With Somebody” by Whitney Houston
• “Flowers” by Miley Cyrus
• “Sail” by AWOLNation
• “My Name Is” by D Billions

Star Trek (TV Series)

Return to tomorrow (1968), james doohan: scott, voice of sargon, quotes .

Scott : [in astonished disbelief]  You're going to WHAT? Are they all right in the head, Doctor?

Dr. McCoy : [boldly]  No comment.

Capt. Kirk : A simple transference. Their minds and ours.

Dr. McCoy : [sarcastically]  Quite simple. Happens every day.

Dr. McCoy : There was enough poison in that hypo to kill 10 Vulcans.

Sargon : No, Doctor, I allowed you to believe that to be true so that Henoch would read your thoughts and believe it also.

Capt. Kirk : The planet is dead. There's no possibility of life there as we understand life.

Sargon : And I am as dead as my planet.

Sargon : But there comes to all races an ultimate crisis which you have yet to face.

Scott : It's a fancy name, but how will something that looks like a drop of jelly make this thing work? You'll need microgears and some form of pulley that does what a muscle does.

Sargon : Your probes have touched me, Mr. Spock.

Capt. Kirk : That's twice you referred to us as "my children."

Sargon : Because it is possible you are our descendants, Captain Kirk. Six thousand centuries ago, our vessels were colonizing this galaxy, just as your own starships have now begun to explore that vastness. As you now leave your own seed on distant planets, so we left our seed behind us. Perhaps your own legends of an Adam and an Eve were two of our travelers.

Ann Mulhall : Our beliefs and our studies indicate that life on our planet Earth evolved independently.

Mr. Spock : That would tend, however, to explain certain elements of Vulcan prehistory.

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