The Naked Time
Episode Overview:Psi-2000 is a lifeless, frozen world in the final stages of planetary disintegration, an invaluable opportunity for scientific study. But the entire scientific outpost complement is dead, apparently by violence. And soon enough, an odd intoxication of similar nature begins sweeping through Enterprise, threatening all of the crew and even the ship itself, as intoxicated crewmen lose all sense of duty and purpose. Worse, McCoy’s investigations reveal no causative agent, limiting his ability to treat those affected.
Air date: 9/29/1966
Directed by: Marc Daniels
Guest Stars: DeForest Kelley as Dr. Leonard Haratio “Bones” McCoy, James Doohan as Lt Cmdr Montgomery “Scotty” Scott, Nichelle Nichols as Lt. Nyota Uhura, George Takei as Lt Hikaru Sulu, Grace Lee Whitney as Yeoman Janice Reand, Majel Barrett Roddenberry as Nurse Christine Chapel, Bruce Hyde as Lt Kevin Thomas Riley, Steward Moss as Joe Tormolen, John Bellah as Laughing Crewman.
One of the strange things about watching Star Trek: The Original Series again is realizing just how many episodes I barely remember. “The Naked Time” was definitely one of those episodes for me, and that made watching it again feel almost like seeing it for the first time.
Fortunately, this was also one I really enjoyed.
The episode begins when the USS Enterprise arrives at a planet that is in the process of destroying itself. Kirk and his crew are there to retrieve a scientific team stationed on the surface, but when an away team arrives, they discover something very strange: the entire research team is dead.
Even stranger is how they died.
Instead of trying to escape or protect themselves from the freezing temperatures, the scientists apparently just sat there and allowed themselves to freeze to death. Naturally, the Enterprise crew wants to know what happened.
Unfortunately, they are about to find out firsthand.
Soon after the away team returns to the ship, crew members begin acting strangely. Whatever happened to the scientists appears to be spreading through the Enterprise, and the situation quickly becomes more dangerous.
I normally don’t love stories where the villain is something invisible that the heroes can’t simply confront or fight. Give me a Klingon, monster, or angry alien that Kirk can punch and I’m usually happy. But “The Naked Time” manages to make the unseen threat work.
Part of that comes from the growing sense of urgency.
As more members of the crew are affected, the Enterprise begins losing its ability to function. At the same time, the collapsing planet below them is becoming increasingly dangerous. The crew not only has to figure out what is happening to them, but they also have to regain control of the ship before it is too late.
The clock is ticking, and you really feel it.
That combination makes “The Naked Time” one of the more intense episodes of Star Trek: The Original Series so far. Instead of relying on a traditional villain, the episode creates tension by slowly taking away the crew’s ability to control themselves and their ship.
It also gives us an opportunity to see familiar characters behaving very differently than we normally would, something that becomes increasingly interesting as the episode goes on.
Going into this one with almost no memory of what happened probably helped, because I genuinely wasn’t sure how the crew was going to get themselves out of the situation.
Overall, I thought “The Naked Time” was a very good early Star Trek episode. It has mystery, some surprisingly tense moments, and an escalating threat that keeps the story moving. For an episode without a traditional villain, it does an excellent job of making the danger feel very real.
This was definitely one of the stronger episodes of Star Trek: The Original Series that I’ve watched so far.