Star Trek Retrospective: Episode 63 For the World is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky
This episode has always been one of great confusion for me. I never actually saw it as a kid. The network that showed my Start Trek reruns opted out of doing this one (and a few more I guess). The thing is I used to buy up sci fi paperbacks at the thrift store for $.10 each and anything with the word Star Trek on it went home with me. I once picked up a book of episodes and read them back to back. When I got to this this one I had my first very horrible moment of doubt as to my validity as a Trekker (that moment would be repeated ad nauseum at my first five Star Trek conventions). How could I have not seen this episode? Is it possible I had forgotten it?
This is one of those episodes that looks a lot better written down than actually performed. I quite enjoyed the story and found the concept fascinating. Generation ships is probably exactly how we are going to colonize the universe so it is highly relevant. Seen on the screen in the order that the show was presented had a much lower enjoyment factor. Pacing was really kind of off, Kirk hammed it up even more than usual, and the costumes looked like the props guy raided his mothers sleepwear collection. Also the concept of a primitive society being under the thrall of a super computer had been so beaten into the ground that as a trope it was only outdone by the Red Shirt dying a horrible death. (Ensign Ricky image courtesy of the Star Trek T-Shirt collection)
That being said a bad day of watching Star Trek beats a good day of most anything else. To be honest more mediocre than bad, and the whole brain hook up thing was another Star Trek technological prophesy about to come to fruition (cough cough Google Glass cough cough).
Dave
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