Star Trek 065: The Tholian Web

65. The Tholian Web

FORMULA: The Corbomite Maneuver + The Naked Time + Day of the Dove + The Paradise Syndrome

WHY WE LIKE IT: The Tholians are groovy! And there are nice moments for the big three.

WHY WE DON'T: Technobabble, technobabble, technobabble.

REVIEW: At the core of The Tholian Web, there's a story of loyalty and friendship, and that's what you have to look out for, since the plot is a lot of rubbish. Might as well get the negatives out of the way first...

The story has too many elements that just don't come together to be a true classic, though it is well remembered. Consider: We have an area of space that gobbles up spaceships, acts as a dimensional doorway, makes a crew go insane, and may or may not be the doing of a totally cool, but underexploited new enemy called the Tholians. Oh yeah, and throw in a ghost story for good measure. Now, like I said, the Tholians are cool, but judging from events during the episode, their web has nothing to do with the Defiant's disappearance. So they're just a convenient opponent to trap the Enterprise in that region of space. Too bad. Being so alien, they could never be fully exploited in the original series, but that small taste has endeared them to Trekkies everywhere.

As for the rest of the plot, the writer just threw in too much, and none of it can be properly explained. The amount of technobabble is off the charts by the original series' standards. I must also mention the supposedly cute moment where Scotty trots off with the cure to mix it with scotch. Falls flat, and is inappropriate for the situation.

Now for the good... I've already mentioned the Tholians, but points also go to the designers of the spacesuit. These look pretty good. Seeing Uhura in civvies in her quarters highlighted the fact that there hasn't been much character development for the secondary characters recently, except maybe for Scotty. Glad to see some of that creep back into the show.

The real point of the episode is the death of Kirk, or rather, what would happen if Kirk died (we know full well he hasn't). McCoy and Spock are naturally deadlocked, but when they hear Kirk's final orders, they must start working together. It's well played overall, but I really appreciate how understated Spock is. The guy can't really emote, yet there's a defeated sadness about him. "What would you have me say, Doctor?" is his response to "It hurts, doesn't it?" And then there's the funeral, where he basically leaves grief up to each person. A man of few words, as they say. The core of the original series can be said to be friendship and loyalty, values that will be used fully in the movies later, and The Tholian Web exemplifies this admirably.

LESSON: The less you tell us about an alien species, the more likely it is to become popular.

REWATCHABILITY - Medium: If the story wasn't such a mess, it'd be rated High, but as is, I can only recommend it for the character moments. Hey, that's what keeps me coming back to the Star Trek experience anyway!