Synopsis (from the official Star Trek website):
Spock and Joe Tormolen beam down to planet Psi 2000 to pick up a research party before the planet disintegrates. They find everyone has died, frozen when life support was turned off. Even stranger, the positions of the researcher's bodies show they were out of their minds when they perished and some died by suicide.
Unknowingly, Tormolen carried what is later termed the "Psi 2000" virus back to the U.S.S. Enterprise and it spreads among the crew at an alarming rate, reaching into their souls and pulling out their deepest desires for public display. The virus is water borne and spread by perspiration in a touch. While trying to stop Tormolen from killing himself, Sulu and Kevin Riley are infected with the virus.
The Naked Time is an interesting episode. While the story is serious and somewhat grim for a 1960's episode of television, the writers obviously tried too hard to inject humor into the script to offset the dark tone of the primary storyline-the Enterprise's crew is slowly becoming infected with a virus and the ship is locked into a decaying orbit of a planet without functioning engines. The basic premise is interesting, even gripping at times and while this episode has become a classic, it could have been so much more had it simply been a harrowind tale of the Enterprise's near destruction.
Instead, the virus from the planet (which can be transmitted a number of ways) basically just removes everyone's inhibitions (now there is a plot device we will never see again...). Uhura acts a little wierd, Sulu for some reason decides not only to start fencing in random places on the ship (apparently he think he is D'Artagnan), but to do it shirtless and with a crazed smile on his face. Kevin Riley, an engineer that is featured only in this episode, is also infected and suffers delusions of grandeur as he decided to take over the entire engine room and proclaim himself Captain of the ship, all the while saying odd and stereotypical things about his Irish heritage. It is odd to say the very least. While I think most of the forced humor was unnecessary and felt flat (especially Kevin Riley's unfortunate moment in the spotlight), the stuff with Sulu was hilarious and has become part of the Star Trek legend-so its hard to find too much fault with the humor elements of the episode.
Continuity:
- Some very, very suspect Star Trek science (even setting aside the questionable merit of discussing present world science as it applies to science fiction), specifically some very odd things about impulse engines, warp mechanics, and time travel. While much of this can be attributed to the show still being in its formative episodes, it is interesting to note that while some elements(completely made up at will explanations for time travel) remain constant, basic impulse and warp engine operation eventually becomes fully fleshed out.
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