[Nate the Great]

February 9th, 1968, "Return to Tomorrow"

Fiver (by IJD GAF)
Transcript
Memory Alpha

The Episode

There are several instances in the beginning of the episode where Sargon uses his power to strongarm our crew into doing what he wants and nothing else. This shouldn't encourage trust on the part of our crew, and they should've left and let him rot.

SPOCK: Not even a Vulcan can know the unknown, Captain. We are hundreds of light years past where any Earth ship has ever explored.

Once again we see that despite the creators' word to the contrary, speeds in TOS are faster. We don't have any indication that the ship has been on this mission for months, do we? "Earth ship"...cue Azetbur cliche, moving on...

KIRK: Log entry out. How long before Starfleet receives that?
UHURA: Over three weeks at this distance, sir.

Once again subspace is portrayed as being much slower than it should be. The problem is...why is a three week delay needed for the events of this episode?

SPOCK: Coming from deep under the planet's surface, Captain. Under at least one hundred miles of solid rock.
SARGON [OC]: I will make it possible for your transporter to beam you that deep beneath the surface. Have no fear.

The amount of rock that the transporter can punch through is rather inconsistent, but at least the writers were aware of it this time and handwaved the problem away. Good for them.

KIRK: Composition of walls?
SPOCK: They're an alloy or substance completely unknown to me. Much stronger and harder than anything I've measured before.
MULHALL: All readings are off the scale, Captain.

I hate how the creators keep saying that alien races have these supermaterials when it just isn't needed and only creates plot holes. Just say that there's a jamming field and you can't get exact readings, then move on!

SARGON: Sealed in this receptacle is the essence of my mind.
SPOCK: Pure energy. Matter without form.
KIRK: Impossible.

Yes, it is! "Pure energy" and "matter" are mutually exclusive and not needed as it only creates plot holes. "A mixture of plasma and unknown energy" is sufficient for these purposes.

KIRK: That's twice you've referred to us as my children.
SARGON: Because it is possible you are our descendants, Captain Kirk. Six thousand centuries ago, our vessels were colonising 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 travellers.
MULHALL: Our beliefs and our studies indicate that life on our planet, Earth, evolved independently.
SPOCK: That would tend, however, to explain certain elements of Vulcan prehistory.
SARGON: In either case, I do not know.

More unneeded plotholes, grrr. Sargon calls humans "my children" because the race is so young compared to his! That's all that's needed!

KIRK: 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.

Ugh. "We knew that there had to be other intelligent races in the universe, and eventually they would find our planet" is more than sufficient.

SCOTT: A starship engine the size of a walnut? That's impossible. But I don't suppose there'd be any harm in looking over diagrams on it.

Ha ha. Scotty is such a hypocrite.

KIRK: 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. You may dissent without prejudice. Do I hear a negative vote?

Ah, the classic "Risk is our business" speech. I keep imagining this speech being in other episodes.

SPOCK/HENOCH: This is an excellent body, Doctor. I seem to have received the best of the three. Strength, hearing, eyesight, all far above your human norms. I'm surprised the Vulcans never conquered your race.

Cue "Enterprise" joke. I find it hard to parse what knowledge these guys can get from their hosts' minds, and what they can't. Does Henoch not have access to Spock's memories, or was that last line blatant "I'm evil" exposition for the benefit of the audience? I thought Gene treated Trek viewers as more intelligent and perceptive than this...

The Fiver

Kirk: Wouldn't it be ironic if the longest, greatest speech of Star Trek was reduced to the shortest scene in this fiver?
Spock: Yep. Risky too.

Ha ha.

Sorry, the fiver is fine, but nothing else really jumped out at me.

Memory Alpha

* Takei is finally back after filming The Green Berets. It's a shame, as this is an episode that definitely didn't need him, whereas some of the other episodes could've made use of the character.
* First appearance of Diane Muldar in the first of her three roles.
* Mulhall is a lieutenant commander, the highest-ranking named woman in TOS.

Nitpicker's Guide

* Phil wonders why Thalassa was so opposed to this android body simply because it wasn't a perfect humanoid substitute. He asks why gradual upgrades weren't considered, and points out that perfect humanoid duplicates have been seen in episodes like "What are Little Girls Made Of" and "I, Mudd". I also point out that in "I, Mudd" the androids didn't seem to be opposed to turning our heroes into one of them.
* Kirk declares that beings of pure energy are impossible, but we've seen multiple examples of such in "Metamorphosis", "Obsession", and "Wolf in the Fold."

YouTube

* Meeting Sargon, and "our children".
* "Risk is our business!"
* Thalassa tries to bargain with McCoy.