The Tholian Web

"The Tholian Web" (Nov. 15, 1968) Old TV Guide synopsis: 'Spock takes command when Kirk vanishes into a hostile segment of space where matter disintegrates - and men are seized by madness.' A Federation starship is discovered with its captain and crew all dead, having killed each other in a power draining section of Tholian space. Only Kirk is left behind by a transporter malfunction, caught in another dimension until the next interphase can take place, a strict timeline broken by the arrival of Tholian ships that start building a web to entrap the Enterprise. The assumption that their captain is dead adds more pressure to Spock, and the moments he and McCoy spend viewing Kirk's final orders is an absolute gem, easing the tension in their bickering.

I've been a trekkie since the 70's. I know many people and critics pretty much panned season 3 of TOS. Since they were losing ratings and money along with it, I do agree that generally season 3 was of lesser quality. Nevertheless, there are a few hidden gems in there, and this was one of them. With Kirk MIA, this episode had a completely different vibe, and was rather riveting for its seriousness, unpredictability, sharp tension and verbal sparring. Plus, an alien that actually looked completely alien and weird, rather then humans with cheesy makeup or antenna. Highly recommend this episode....

One of the highest quality productions in TOS universe. Kirk is trapped alone in a hidden, unpredictable, parallel universe. Spock deals with the building tension of Enterprise systems failures, Tholian attacks, Kirk's disappearance, and McCoy's ranting in such a calm manner it only adds to the tension. With the crew going berserk, Kirk's ghostly 'phasing in and out' and the Tholians closing the trap, the well-written interactions between McCoy and Spock are the one thing the viewer can hang their sanity on. There's a lot going on and the writers and production staff did a stellar job in telling the story.

One of the best episode, The Tholian Web put Captain Kirk out for 40 minutes and give Mr Spock and doctor McCoy a run for their money. The feud between the two is back and still fun to see. McCoy Always test Mr Spock decision and leadership but Mr Spock just dont Care and do what he have to do ! He Always do the right thing the logical thing, what a legend... Love the moment when they listen to Kirk tape and in the end when they denied having listen to it, so Funny. A great episode of TV 9/10.

An away team boards the USS Defiant to find the crew all dead.

This is a strong character episode that has a few story issues but is well made.

The plot has a decent ticking clock premise and contains a few interesting concepts, slightly too many, but it is told in an entertaining way due to the focus on characters.

Spock and Dr McCoy have most of the limelight, as Captain Kirk is absent for a large part of the episode and their dynamic is quite compelling. Bones is slightly infuriating at times, but that makes it all the more satisfying when Spock puts him in his place with some calmly delivered reminders of who's in charge.

U'Hura, Chekov and Scotty have some decent moments, particularly Nichelle Nichols getting a rare opportunity of do more than just open hailing frequencies. James Doohan has some funny moments and so does Walter Koenig (albeit some unintentional).

Visually it works wonderfully well, as there is a lot of storytelling done with the camera. I love the scenes on the Defiant, and the odd camera angles indicating the perspective of characters suffering space madness. The effects used for the web and the interspace phasing are also good.