"Return to Tomorrow" Full Reaction! - Star Trek: The Original Series Season 2
Added 2024-06-14 18:00:07 +0000 UTCFollow along with me using your own copy of the episode!
Before you watch, comment how you think I liked it!
Comments
I always thought they were in the ship after the balls were busted. Why did The one who inhabited Spock try to invoke horror in the Ann Mulhall alien? First, he enjoyed inflicting pain. Secondly he was manipulating her. By forcing her to confront eternity without feeling, he was getting her onto his side. (He was not a good alien.) On a totally unrelated note: Leonard Nimoy was a far better actor than you see in Star Trek. I am thrilled when he gets to play a part that is a bit more expressive. There was a made for TV version of Brave New Word where he had a few cameos as the leader of the world, one of the only two people who was not a brainwashed shell, just repeating programmed responses. The cool thing about that movie was, Spock was a truly great actor in it. Everyone else, not so much. Their woodenness and his warmth made the movie work.
Stephen Marino
2024-06-23 02:39:53 +0000 UTCSomething to put on the list! Though You have many many more movies to go before You work Your way down to these. I mean ... You haven't even watched the 1982 Conan the Barbarian!
Thane Greyhaven
2024-06-19 22:12:42 +0000 UTCNope, I have not!
bunnytails
2024-06-19 21:59:33 +0000 UTCThank you! and yes, I agree!
bunnytails
2024-06-19 21:56:15 +0000 UTCDefinitely a favorite of mine. Great deduction on guessing that they had no bodies right off the bat. Elementary my dear Bunny.
Mark Gosine
2024-06-15 23:46:35 +0000 UTCI had a thought this morning. Have You ever watched Heavy Metal? Both the original and the FAKK2 'sequel'? They're a solid 70's trip for sure!
Thane Greyhaven
2024-06-15 21:34:32 +0000 UTCNimoy does a super job playing a psycho: he's got the maniacal laugh and his plan is irrational.
William Terry
2024-06-14 23:56:54 +0000 UTCWow this episode was way more symphonic than I remember. Every once in a while, they decide to do a custom score for an episode. I guess this was one of them. I always thought Kirk's performance "arteries pumping blood flowing" was absolutely hilarious and took Shatner's acting chops to their limits. But I did like the episode more than I remember. I didn't like that they spent so much time showing the Beings body hopping. Those were minutes that could have been spent telling us more about the one in Spock's body.
SuicuneSol
2024-06-14 22:28:47 +0000 UTCDefinitely, Lee, agreed : ) And I never put that together! the Duning / Senensky connection, very cool! Cheers
Skyman's Follies
2024-06-14 20:32:46 +0000 UTCFair enough! We all have our favorites. All the TOS composers are worthy of appreciation, and I respect your opinion of Duning's work here. (It's probably no coincidence that he composed the scores for three of director Ralph Senensky's episodes: this one, "Metamorphosis," and "Is There in Truth No Beauty?")
Lee
2024-06-14 20:24:28 +0000 UTCI think this is one of the few cases Bunny where my thoughts on an episode are VERY different then yours. Nothing wrong with that, of course, we all enjoy different things. I never liked this episode much, and repeated viewings have not changed that for me. I don't hate it, but it's down in the lower tier of episodes for me. On the bright side, the idea of the episode is unique and interesting, and thought provoking. The idea about there being a 'precursor' race that seeded the galaxy many many years before the current time and helped intelligent life to spring up is an old one and is used in many sci-fi stories and movies, and will also be returned to again in later Star Trek. In addition, the idea of a 'race so powerful they become god like and thus destroy themselves' is also very old. But I always enjoy how Star Trek puts it's own spin on it. The acting was also great here. We saw a guest appearance from Diana Muldaur, another great character actor who you are going to see again in more Star Trek, and it was nice to have Nurse Chapel with some screen time. Seeing Leonard Nimoy with a rare chance to break character and act 'un Vulcan' must have been fun for him. And the ending was pleasing, if sad -- Sargon and his wife realizing that perhaps it was for the best they die out, less they cause more damage and harm. A lot of things bug me about this episode though. The plot is overly complex and confusing and I've never understood it. The mind control/telekinesis powers and transfers are poorly explained. There's no consistency on how the effects work on the borrowed bodies, or why Dr. McCoy wouldn't be more involved with the drug that was produced and needed for them to take place. And while Kirk's famous line of 'Risk is our business' is great and has been adopted by a lot of people and companies and is often used, Kirk REALLY did a poor job here in studying the dangers before agreeing to anything. I'll link to this short article that I really like that talks about it more: https://www.liquidplanner.com/blog/if-risk-is-your-business-do-it-better-than-captain-kirk/ I found something interesting about the hypospray when looking up that article, BTW, and I'll just quote the Wikipedia article: " The concept of the hypospray was developed when producers of the original Star Trek series discovered that NBC's broadcast standards and practices prohibited the use of hypodermic syringes to inject medications; the needleless hypospray sidestepped this issue. The prop used in the original series appeared to be a modified fuel injector for a large automotive diesel engine, similar to the engines from which jet injectors were derived. " It's yet another great example of how the production team found a way both around NBC's restrictions and their limited budget.
Greg Polander
2024-06-14 20:16:25 +0000 UTC"We do not have time for a quick shag." Easily one of Bunny's best quotes and likely her best one yet. I'm glad you liked this one even more than I expected. Frankly, I think I liked it more than *I* expected. It really holds up as one of the great second season episodes. Henoch was employing reverse psychology on Thalassa, pretending to follow Sargon's plan with the android bodies while actually leading Thalassa to rebel and adopt Henoch's intention to keep the bodies they were inhabiting. Good think Sargon was around to restore Thalassa's good judgment, or this would have gone very differently. Trivia: James Doohan provided the voice of Sargon. William Blackburn not only played the ever-silent bridge officer sitting at the navigator's station, but also the android body that Thalassa rejected. Episode writer John T. Dugan took his name off the script after Roddenberry rewrote the ending. Originally, Sargon and Thalassa were supposed to continue on as disembodied entities exploring the universe together instead of fading into oblivion.
Lee
2024-06-14 19:55:07 +0000 UTCMusically, Star Trek OS is nothing if not a hodgepodge of this cue from that composer and that cue from this composer. No shade on Steiner- he was the dominant force on TOS, and, brilliant cue here in Return to Tomorrow. But for me, Dunning is the star of this episode.
Skyman's Follies
2024-06-14 19:32:06 +0000 UTCDuning composed the love themes, but Fred Steiner's music (originally composed for "Balance of Terror" and reorchestrated to superb effect for "Mirror, Mirror") plays under Henoch's sinister efforts to eliminate Sargon and take Thalassa for himself. It's one of my favorite motifs in all of TOS, and it worked brilliantly here.
Lee
2024-06-14 19:28:46 +0000 UTCLoved the reaction Bunny. Always love when Spock gets to act out of character and we get to return to that ongoing theme of his relationship with Christine : )
Skyman's Follies
2024-06-14 19:04:11 +0000 UTCAnother Season 2 favorite of mine. Aside from the great story and unique take on the "Gods" theme and performance by actress Diana Muldaur, it's also notable for the return of George Dunning's wonderful music and Kirk's famous "risk speech". Sidenote: we are now leaving behind Gene Coon's influence (not totally yet but almost) with new producer, director & writer, John Meredith Lucas.
Skyman's Follies
2024-06-14 19:02:38 +0000 UTCBunny asking for predictions on whether she'll like the episode or not? Sure, I'll play! I think you'll enjoy this one very much. The story is fairly straightforward, but Kirk's speech in the briefing room elevates it, as do the performances. Leonard Nimoy seems to be thoroughly enjoying himself here, and who can blame him? This has to have been the most fun he'd had since "This Side of Paradise." All in all, a solid second season showing. Now, on to the reaction!
Lee
2024-06-14 18:22:01 +0000 UTCSame here. Haven't even gotten to last weeks.
Mark Gosine
2024-06-14 18:05:29 +0000 UTCLove this episode. Can't wait to watch the reaction : )
Skyman's Follies
2024-06-14 18:02:24 +0000 UTC
