We've reached the final episode of the Star Trek animated series. This episode (the title of which sounds like a Man from U.N.C.L.E. episode) was written by Fred Bronson (aka John Culver), who happened to be the publicist for the series. He went on to be involved in both "The Questor Tapes" (another Roddenberry project) and TNG.
Kirk and Co. are ferrying a distinguished passenger to an event in his honor--Robert April, the first captain of the Enterprise. He's reached mandatory retirement age (of 75?? In the 23rd century??). His wife Sarah was the first medical officer. She's wearing a flower that has a very short lifespan (just a few hours), and she notices it is dying.
Spock reports they are about to pass the Beta Niobe supernova. Sensors report an unidentified object about to strike the ship at Warp 36. Evasive maneuvers take them out of danger. The other ship is on course to hit the nova instead, and attempts to communicate with the Enterprise, but it's just gibberish to them. They figure out the gibberish is just backwards talk, and attempt to reply, but no luck. The tractor beam the Enterprise has thrown on the other ship is pulling the ship at incredible speed, so they try to release it--it's stuck! They go into the nova, and somehow survive.
Everything is opposite--space is white with black stars, the ship is going backwards, as are the controls. Dr. April notes that the flower has come back to life. Spock confirms that time is now reversed--they are getting younger. The other ship's captain notes that nova caused a gateway between the universes. They go to planet Arret (Terra backwards) and meet the other captain's son (really his father). They check the maps to find another place where novas coexist--there are none. So they have to make one! They also need the other ship, which has enough speed to survive.
There's another problem--Kirk and Co. are getting too young to run the ship, as well as losing their knowledge. So, it looks like April needs to take over. They make it through, but now most of the crew are babies. April notes they can go through the transporter, which has a record of their original forms. Dr. April says they could skip this and just stay young, but now Captain April says they've lived good lives. The Federationreconsiders the mandatory age policy.
Some things to look for:
- Kirk is back in a closet, based on his echoey voice at the start of the episode
- Here's another case where where TAS, while not technically in canon, established Robert April as the first Enterprise captain. Roddenberry used the name in the first TOS pilot drafts.
- I love how Sulu is just hitting buttons to hit the brakes, and how Kirk thinks if he hits the button, it will work
- The Enterprise going into the nova looks like they put the cel on a Spin-Art machine
- When I see the Enterprise going backwards, all I can think is the "beep-beep" sounds when you back up
- As the Enterprise crew gets younger, their uniforms shrink with them?
- Using the transporter to reverse their ages is a slippery slope--you could just keep getting your 18-year old body back using a backup disk.
Remember, you can play along by watching the show on Netflix!