This Side of Paradise: TOS Episode 24 Production 25 Original Air Date 3/2/1967 Stardate 3417.3

This Side of Paradise - Star Trek TV Episode [ Synopsis | Editorial Reviews ]
Production # 25 Episode # 24
Air Date: 3/2/1967
Stardate: 3417.3

Expecting the colonists of Omicron Ceti III to be dead after three years of exposure to deadly Berthold rays, Kirk and Spock are surprised to find the colony alive and flourishing.

Spock beams to the surface and meets a young botanist, Leila Kalomi, that he'd worked with previously, and they renew the old friendship. When she worked with Spock six years before on Earth, Leila had tried to interest Spock romantically, and failed. Now she leads the Vulcan to a secluded section of the planet where a native plant sprays him with their spores. Leila tells Spock that the plant induces feelings of harmony and peace and love, along with a desire to remain on Omicron Ceti III and their paradise.

The spores serve to break down Spock's inhibitions and soon he has declared his love for Leila and his desire to remain on the planet. Some of the plants are beamed aboard the U.S.S. Enterprise and more of the crew are affected.

Captain Kirk, the last holdout, finally is affected by the power of the spores and discovers, through his own violent, adverse effect at leaving his beloved U.S.S. Enterprise, that strong, violent emotions are what reverse the effect of the spores.

Kirk manages to lure Spock back to the U.S.S. Enterprise where he goads Spock into a fight. The extra adrenaline in the Vulcan's system pushes the effect of the spores from Spock and he reverts to normal ... just short of killing Captain Kirk.

Using subsonic sound waves, the two officers manage to bring around the rest of the crew and colonists. Now that the colonists realize that the spores have prevented them from making any real progress and accomplishments, they plan to relocate where the plants do not grow.

Volume 11 in the classic Star Trek series on DVD contains the delightful episode "This Side of Paradise," a time-travel story with an infectious blend of suspense and humor. After dropping into a black hole, the Enterprise ends up orbiting the Earth in the late 1960s, and is spotted by U.S. Air Force Captain Christopher (Roger Perry), who happens to be flying by in his jet. Inadvertently giving poor Christopher an unwanted glimpse into the future, and wrecking his jet with an overpowering tractor beam, Capt. Kirk (William Shatner), not having a good day, beams him aboard the Federation starship. The collision of sensibilities and reference points between characters born several centuries apart has a fresh, urgent tone that subsequent Star Trek series have never captured (though Deep Space Nine came close with its dazzling episode "Trials and Tribble-ations"). The problem, of course, is what to do about Christopher now that he knows what he knows, and history demands that he stay put in his own world: the pilot's unborn son, it seems, will one day make a space flight of historic importance. Terrifically entertaining and something of a precedent-setter for Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (the theatrical feature set in contemporary San Francisco), "Tomorrow Is Yesterday" is Trek at its best.

Also on this disc is "Return of the Archons," a cautionary story about mind control written by Gene Roddenberry. The tale begins when Ensign Sulu (George Takei) is taken hostage on an Earth-like planet with a primitive culture. Zapped by a weapon that leaves him under the control of someone or something named Landru, Sulu is then pursued by Kirk and Spock (Leonard Nimoy), who discover that Landru has the same grip on everyone else. Once Landru becomes aware of efforts by the captain and first officer to interfere with its bidding, Kirk and Spock become the target of a massive hunt by locals. A minor episode with a somewhat obvious scenario, "Return of the Archons" does have novel appeal in its heightened role for the ever-charming Sulu, and in Roddenberry's characteristically humane interest in elements that make people (and intelligent aliens) everywhere free to fulfill their destinies. The solution to the who-is-Landru mystery won't surprise anyone, but it may strike you as a prototype of several future episodes, from all the Trek series, involving centralized caretaking on various planets. --Tom Keogh