- Title: Star Trek – The Naked Time
- wiki: link
While orbiting the planet Psi 2000 Spock (Leonard Nimoy) and Lieutenant Junior Grade Joe Tormolen (Stewart Moss) beam down to the surface to investigate the mysterious deaths of Federation scientists when the lieutenant is unknowingly exposed to the madness which caused their deaths. Despite transporter decontamination procedures Tormolen returns to the Enterprise spreading the madness among the crew and putting the ship in danger both from within and from outside as the planet’s increasing degradation threatens the starship’s safety.
Providing us the iconic image of a rapier-wielding shirtless Sulu (George Takei), “The Naked Time” gives Star Trek fans an episode where the enemy isn’t an outside force but an uncontrollable disease spreading like wildfire aboard the ship that with each passing second threatens the lives of the crew all the more. The set-up and themes of the episode would be readdressed in an early episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation where the Enterprise D would encounter a similar phenomenon and struggle through the same obstacles to find a cure.
With the stripping of the crew’s inhibitions we witness Nurse Chapel (Majel Barrett) admit her feelings for Spock, the First Officer’s human side is revealed as is the pain of his inability to share his feelings towards those he loves, and along with Sulu we witness the indulgences of several characters including Scotty (James Doohan) whose actions almost cause the destruction of the Enterprise. Thankfully Bones (DeForest Kelley) is able to find a cure and the crew and its captain are able to hold it together long enough to get the ship to safety.
