★★★★ September 29, 1966 Season 1 Episode 4
If you want to see where we are…and you missed a few…HERE is a list of the episodes in my index located at the top of my blog.
This show was written by John D.F. Black and Gene Roddenberry
This episode is probably best known as the one with Sulu, stripped to the waist, running around the ship’s corridors with a sword. But, it’s this episode where we learn a lot of interesting things about the main characters. After visiting the surface of a planet where many people had died in odd ways, one by one the Enterprise Crew starts acting with no inhibitions. You learn some of the inner secrets of the crewman as they get sick which is much like them getting drunk.
Majel Barrett as Nurse Christine Chapel makes her first appearance in Star Trek since the pilot when she played Number One. She starts professing her love for Spock who is shaken because the disease is affecting him as well and he is losing control of his emotions. We also learn in this episode that Spock is half-human… his mom is human and his dad is Vulcan.
Bruce Hyde who plays Riley is the comic relief in this one. He catches the disease and locks himself up and shuts the engines down while drunkenly serenading the Enterprise for a good part of the episode. They are in orbit and are about to crash unless they find a way to start the engines long before the 30 minutes required to do so.
This is also the first episode Spock did the famous Vulcan Nerve Pinch. The main reason for the 4 stars is because of the way we get to know these characters.
From IMDB
After the scene where Spock is weeping, Leonard Nimoy’s fan mail increased exponentially. Viewers were enthralled with the idea that Spock was secretly a reservoir of love and passion instead of an empty emotional void. This reaction inspired further scripts which explored Spock’s inner makeup.
The budget-strapped show often made good use of the creativity of its prop staff in coming up with low-cost solutions to otherwise pricey items. Here, the “thermal suits” worn by Spock and Tormolen on the planet’s surface were fashioned from 1960s art deco-style shower curtains.
This is the only TOS episode in which the three primary female crew members – Uhura, Chapel, and Rand – appeared together. The characters did not appear together again until Star Trek: The Motion Picture (1979).
While under the influence of the virus, Nurse Chapel attempts to seduce Spock. This would be the first depiction of what many fans perceived as underlying romantic tensions between the characters, or at least Chapel’s unrequited romantic attraction to Spock.
Summary
When Lieutenant Junior Grade Tormolen brings aboard an infection that killed the science team on Psi 2000, the crew of the Enterprise soon find themselves unable to control their most predominant emotions. Soon the entire starship is in shambles and plummeting toward the self-destructing planet.
CAST
William Shatner … Captain James Tiberius ‘Jim’ Kirk
Leonard Nimoy … Mister Spock
Stewart Moss … Tormolen
Majel Barrett … Nurse Christine Chapel
Bruce Hyde … Riley
DeForest Kelley … Doctor Leonard ‘Bones’ McCoy
Grace Lee Whitney … Yeoman Janice Rand
George Takei … Lieutenant Hikaru Sulu
James Doohan … Lieutenant Commander Montgomery ‘Scotty’ Scott
Nichelle Nichols … Lieutenant Nyota Uhura
William Frederick Knight … Amorous Crewman (as William Knight)
John Bellah … Laughing Crewman
Tom Anfinsen … Crewman (uncredited)
Bill Blackburn … Lieutenant Hadley (uncredited)
Frank da Vinci … Lt. Brent (uncredited)
Andrea Dromm … Yeoman Smith (uncredited)
Eddie Paskey … Lieutenant Ryan (uncredited)
Woody Talbert … Crewman #2 (uncredited)
Ron Veto Ron Veto … Crewman (uncredited)
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Naked Time! Do we call it Trek Porn? Scotty is the best, always sweating and his anxiety must have been through the roof at times dealing with Kirk and Spock
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Yes it had to be….they wanted impossible things from him.
Beam me up Scotty…I wonder if they ever really said that ever….I’ll have to see.
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Looks like a slightly racy episode! 🙂
I also found a YouTube clip of the naked offender, which at the end features Spock’s Vulcan Nerve Pinch!
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Thanks man! I love the Vulcan Nerve Pinch! It’s cool that Nimoy came up with the idea because he knew his character didn’t like violence.
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This looks like a great episode, and I should probably watch it again.
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It’s been a lot of fun watching these before I write….things come up that I don’t remember.
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It was good to see Nimoy stretch out his tight character a bit. And, I love Majel…
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Yea I do also…she was great in that role. NBC didn’t like her in the The Cage because she was Number One and a woman…thats what I read anyway which is stupid.
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It is stupid. She was a steady anchor for Pike. Pure chauvinism…
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Yes it was.
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A really fun episode that definitely expanded our understanding of the characters.
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Ah, Scotty- if its not ‘I need more power Captain,’ its ‘I need more time.’
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That is it!
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It’s a good one. So funny that fan mail for Nimoy increased after Spock cried.
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This is one of my many favorite episodes. (Next Gen did a remake of it titled “The Naked Now. “) I did not realize this was Majel Barrett’s first appearance as Nurse Chapel. I used to wish she and Spock had been able to have a romantic relationship, but they did get to share consciousness in one episode, which seemed to give her some satisfaction.
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I need to watch some of the 2nd Generation again.
I did watch a Deep Star 9 when they basicaly remade Trouble with Tribbles…more like added to the original story. It’s a great episode.
There was another episode also that showed Nurse Chapel liked Spock I believe. The one where Spock had to go back home to marry a fellow Vulcan…I just looked it up…I forgot the title. Amok Time.
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So many good episodes! That DS9 when they went back in time was fun.
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I’ve read where they had another one based on an original episode. I need to watch the series.
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Kinda gives a feeling of continuity when they do that.
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One of my favorite episodes. My younger brother chased me around with a stick for days after this episode, pretending he was Sulu. We loved the show. I didn’t like the remake on TNG as much, mainly because it felt like the show’s writers were being lazy.
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Yea I watched TNG a few times but nothing is like the original…thats the one I really like.
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Me too. People make fun of the sets and special effects, but the writing and characterization were topnotch.
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For me….if it gets across the point…that is all I care about special effects…and they did.
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So stupid. Whenever I’d beam someone up from a planet I’d run a computer analysis on their nano-particles and if any virus was discovered I’d just beam the person up and leave the virus behind. That’s not just Spacework 101 but common sense! Dumbasses. 😒
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I know…what the hell are they thinking! They should have Captain Blaine….NOT Kirk
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😂😂
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Are you watching these as you review them? Or remembering them?! I remember this episode but not the details. Loved Star Trek. Brilliant show. Wasn’t it great that Shatner got to space with Bezos
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Yes I am…I did the Twilight Zone a couple of years ago so this was tempting.
Shatner making that come true was epic.
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I remember your twilight zone posts…couldn’t quite get the most out of them though as I haven’t seen the whole series. Where are you watching Star Trek? One of the streaming services?
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No I have all of Star Trek as well as the Twilight Zone.
You know I’m in IT…we share! lol
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Haha yes, yes. Nice one.
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Classic episode. Not least for Uhura’s response to the “fair maiden” quip from Sulu: Sorry, neither! Got one over on the censors there, say it loud im black and im proud, and also stating she isnt a virgin. Outrageous for an unmarried professional woman 🙂
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Oh yea…they did push the boundries some in this and The Twilight Zone.
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Watched this with the boy (almost 18) and partner last night. Good episode, that I’d rank a little lower than you, Max, due to the very dodgy ‘contracting the bug’ scene early on and the very confused ‘time travel’ sequence at the end! Still, most entertaining; especially Zulu with a fencing épée.
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