79. All Our YesterdaysFORMULA: The Guardian on the Edge of Forever + This Side of Paradise + The Naked Time
WHY WE LIKE IT: A neat idea, good Spock-McCoy action, and that luscious Zarabeth.
WHY WE DON'T: The rather boring and/or annoying "musketeer era" sections with Kirk.
REVIEW: The idea of an entire planet's population escaping their star going nova through time travel is a really interesting one, and with the irreversible death of the planet, it's not like paradoxes will create much of a problem (as long as you don't prevent the invention of time travel). Or the atavachron might "prepare" you in a way that makes history static (you can't change it) rather than fluid (à la The Guardian on the Edge of Forever). So the premise itself is thought-provoking.
But a premise is only that. Good thing then that Spock and McCoy's predicament generates a number of good scenes. The icy environment itself is well done and original for the series, and we find out the atavachron was once used for other purposes. Zarabeth has real presence and sweetness, even if her clothes seem impractical in her locale (why do I always remember a fur bikini here?). McCoy accuses her of many things at the end, but I think he was trying to goad Spock into realizing he'd changed. She wasn't really guilty (at least not consciously) of those things. Anyway, Mariette Hartley, good guest-star.
As for Spock's change, it asks some questions that were never explored after this on the nature of his mindlink with other Vulcans. He suffered from psychic shock in The Immunity Syndrome when 400 Vulcans died in one go, but here, the rampant emotions of the ancient Vulcans affect his behavior and he loses control. It makes for some memorable scenes, in particular when he attacks McCoy for calling him names. "I don't like it. I don't think I ever did." Wow, intense. It gives Spock a chance to really react before the series' close. The romance here is way more believable than in The Cloud Minders, as these two share a real loneliness. It's heartbreaking that we have to leave Zarabeth behind, and Spock's handwaving at the very end almost manages to hide his pain. Good stuff.
Meanwhile, Kirk is stuck in a time period that combines foppish musketeers and witch trials, all too reminiscent of Earth in its clothing styles (parallel history again?), but with outrageous period accents. Ugh. My eyes glaze over whenever we switch to Kirk. I understand his function in the story, but his part in it is pretty dull compared to Spock and McCoy's. Still, it does put a different spin on the "Bones" nickname (even if the witness never heard him say the word). We have more fun with his scenes in the library, though he's a bit rough with poor Mr. Atoz, whose character is a real hoot. His trying to wheel an unconscious Kirk into the time portal still draws a chuckle from me after all these years.
LESSON: Just because you live alone in a icy cave 5000 years in the past, doesn't me you should let yourself go.
REWATCHABILITY - High: I was angling for Medium, but there are enough cool ideas, guest-stars and scenes here to warrant higher rewatchability. Not perfect, but in a way, the original series' last classic episode.
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