Star Trek 102: The Counter-Clock Incident

102. The Counter-Clock Incident

FORMULA: The Menagerie + (-1)The Deadly Years + Mirror, Mirror

WHY WE LIKE IT: Robert April is made more or less canonical!

WHY WE DON'T: The physics presented are a total mess.

REVIEW: As you may or may not be aware, Robert April was the original name of the Enterprise captain in Gene Roddenberry's first treatment. That changed to Pike, and when another character was required, to Kirk. Traditionally, a picture of Roddenberry in Starfleet duds has been used as a place-holder for April, and the character has been considered canonical despite never appearing on screen. Well, he appeared once, and it was in the last episode of the animated series.

Unfortunately, while he and his wife are engaging characters, the plot of The Counter-Clock Incident is scientifically ridiculous and not at all well-thought out, taking away from his appearance. There's a lot to grate on the nerves, from the mention of warp 32 to the idea that the Enterprise was the first warp-capable ship, but the "antimatter universe" is so fantastical as to wring out every ounce of suspension of disbelief I have in me. It's got a white sky and black stars, but light seems to work the same as here. There, time is supposed to run in reverse, and people talk backwards, age backwards, etc. but still have linear lives in the other direction. Further, it seems to flow at an incredible speed, but the natives don't change at the same rate as the crew does. It's all quite silly, with the Enterprise flying backwards for no discernable reason through most of the episode, and the crew losing their memories as they grow younger (which makes no sense if you think about it, and is totally inconsistent within the episode).

It's amazing that such a dismal plot would be reused a couple times in later series. Voyager used the same stupid premise in Innocence, and Counter-Clock forsaw the transporter-activated reset button used in TNG's Rascals. Many sins can be traced back to this episode, it seems ;-). And despite all that, there's something inherently fun about the crew becoming little kids, the antimatter universe has a striking look, and it's nice to finally see the Aprils (despite the rather unnecessary reset to status quo for them at the end). Extra points for using supernovas from the show's history itself (from All Our Yesterdays and The Empath).

LESSON: In the reverse-universe, people are really nice and charitable. What does that say about our own world?

REWATCHABILITY - Medium: Watch it for a glimpse of the OTHER Enterprise captain, but check your brain at the door - the plot is pure hogwash.