This is another perfect episode. A rare space contaminant is making everybody drunk! A lot of exciting firsts here. First use of the Vulcan Neck Pinch, first time explicit reference is made to Mr. Spock being half human, also the first time we see Mr. Spock (who is never supposed to be emotional) get all emotional. I betcha when the series was all said and done Mr. Spock probably had more emotional breakdowns due to unforseen space viruses/probes/possessions than any other member of the crew. Also: Mr. Sulu greased down in Vaseline and swinging a sword around! Rrrreaorw! Nurse Chapel makes her first appearance and she has the hots for Mr. Spock. I guess Lt. Uhura’s crush has ended — she’s a tough cookie in this episode, shouting “Sorry, neither!” to Mr. Sulu as he puts his arms around her, also pushing back to Captain Kirk “Don’t you think I would shut it down if I could!!!” Another big first: Scotty needing more time, yet still managing to do what he needed to do in time. Best part is Lt. Reilly making dopey faces and waving his arms around to open the sensor-doors. One of the few examples in all of Trek where people get playfull with the technology. From a design perspective, when will it ever get better than Spock in his environmental suit that was, in fact, a refigured red shower curtain.
Of the four episodes I’ve seen so far, none end with the typical TOS ending — which is Kirk, Spock and McCoy going over the day’s events and someone making a dopey joke and the music going “doo-doo-doo.” I wonder when the first of these will start. So far, they’ve all been pretty dark endings, except for this episode which ends rather oddly — with the “discovery” of Time Warp. I question if this is actually the first time in the Star Trek Universe a ship has entered time warp (and I don’t have the energy to check the websites for this info) but they kinda act all shocked when they go into it. But then things quickly get back to normal and Kirk says something to the effect of “we haven’t seen the last of that!” Quick research tells me “The Naked Time” was originally slated to be a two-parter. . . .
