Doctor McCoy talks to Captain Kirk about Mister Spock's erratic behavior. Kirk witnesses Spock throwing a bowl of soup at Nurse Chapel. Spock asks Kirk for some time off, on Vulcan. Kirk agrees to let him have some time off on Vulcan as requested but he also asks him if anything is wrong. Spock doesn't want to talk about it.
A message from Starfleet forces Kirk to change course and head for Altair VI. Kirk relays this message to Ensign Chekov. Not long after that Kirk learns that Spock had Checkov change course and that the Enterprise is now headed for Vulcan. Kirk has Spock go to sick bay. Doctor McCoy examines him. The Enterprise changes course for Altair VI and then back to Vulcan after Kirk learns from McCoy that if they don't get to Spock to Vulcan soon that he might die.
Spock asks Kirk and McCoy to beam down with him once they get to Vulcan. There they are greeted by a group of Vulcans that is led by T'Pau, one of the leaders of the Vulcan people and the only person to turn down a seat on the Federation Council. T'Pring, Spock's wife-to-be is also present. She and Spock were promised to one another when they were 7 years old. It is time for them to be married but T'Pring insists that Spock must fight for her and she chooses Kirk to be the one that Spock must fight.
Kirk, as an outsider, is free to decline the role of combatant but he accepts. T'Pau explains, after Kirk has accepted, that it is to be a fight to the death. Kirk and Spock fight. Spock gains the upper hand, cuts open Kirk's shirt and draws blood. Kirk is winded and unable to easily adjust to the atmospheric conditions on Vulcan. Doctor McCoy obtains T'Pau's permission to give him a shot that will help him acclimatize.
The fight resumes after the shot has been administered. Spock wins by killing Kirk. McCoy and returns to the Enterprise with Kirk's body. Spock stays on the planet long enough to settle things with T'Pring. She explains why she wanted him to fight Captain Kirk and that she is no longer in love with him. She loves Stonn, another Vulcan who is also present. Spock relinquishes all claims to T'Pring and returns to the Enterprise. He is ready to turn himself in for killing the captain when it is revealed that Kirk is still alive.
Thoughts
This is the first episode in which Mr. Chekov appeared. Mister Scott does not appear in this episode.
I love how quickly and specifically Doctor McCoy diagnoses Spock's condition and determines that he is in danger to dying if they don't get Spock to Vulcan within eight days.
The title of this episode is kind of vague. It could refer to all sorts of things including damage to the space / time continuum, as happened in 1.28 City on the Edge of Forever.
This isn't a bad episode. It is a significant episode. I'm sure that I have seen it before, but it has probably been at least a couple dozen years since I last saw it. I don't love it. I just didn't find it terribly compelling. How are we supposed to believe that Kirk was really dead?
Notes
Celia Lovsky played the part of T'Pau. This is the only episode of Star Trek in which she appeared. She appeared in one episode each of Four Star Playhouse, Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1955), The Twilight Zone (1959), and The Alfred Hitchcock Hour.
Arlene Martel played the part of T'Pring. This is the only episode of this show in which she appeared. She appeared in two episodes of The Twilight Zone (1959), the first of which was 1.12 What You Need. She appeared in one episode of The Outer Limits (1963).
This is the second of two episodes that Theodore Sturgeon had a hand in writing. The first was 1.15 Shore Leave. He also wrote an episode of The Invaders, 1.12 The Betrayed.
This is the sixth of 14 episodes of this show that Joseph Pevney directed. The third episode he directed was 1.23 A Taste of Armageddon.
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