Star Trek (1966) 1.19

Tomorrow is Yesterday

Earth, late 1960s. US Air Force jets are scrambled to investigate the sighting of a UFO, which turns out to be the USS Enterprise. The first pilot on the scene, USAF Captain John Christopher is beamed aboard when his jet starts to break up. He is treated as a guest but Captain Christopher attempts to escape. Captain Kirk catches him before he can get away. Spock's research reveals that Christopher’s son will command a future mission to Saturn.

Captain Kirk and Lieutenant Sulu beam down to recover evidence of the Enterprise’s visit to the 20th century. Military Police capture Kirk. Sulu beams back to the Enterprise with the stolen audio and video evidence. Spock, Sulu, and Captain Christopher beam back down to rescue Captain Kirk.

The rescue mission is successful. The Enterprise slingshots around the sun and gains enough velocity to return to the 23rd century. They return Captain Christopher to Earth as they are passing by the planet.

Thoughts

This episode was a little easier to summarize than I feared it might be. I skipped a few details here and there but I think I caught the essence of the episode.

One of the details I omitted in my summary is that at one point the computer starts calling everyone Dear. Well, maybe it was just Captain Kirk. Spock tells Captain Christopher that the computer's preference for calling people Dear was first noticed after the computer was serviced on Cygnet XIV.

I have a distinct memory of watching this episode in the early 1980s. It is the first memory I have of watching a specific episode but it might not have been the first episode that I watched. I previously thought my memory was of Assignment: Earth, the final episode of the second season, but I'm pretty sure now that it was this episode that I recalled watching.

This episode was written by D.C. Fontana. It is the second of 10 episode of the original series that she wrote.

I really like this episode. It is far from perfect. Everything works out a little too neatly in the end but I still really like it.

Notes

Roger Perry played the part of Captain Christopher. This is the only episode of Star Trek in which he appeared. He also made guest appearances in episodes of Wonder Woman, The Six Million Dollar Man, The Invaders, and The Alfred Hitchcock Hour,

John Winston played the part of the Transporter Chief in this episode. It isn't a very big part in this episode but this is the first of 11 appearances he made in Star Trek (1966). He also appeared in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan (1982).

10/08/25 - 14:00