The Tholian Web

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.

Season 3, episode 9. The Enterprise in previously uninvestigated territory run across the USS Defiant, a ship that is considered derelict and it vanished 3 weeks prior. Space is essentially breaking up, according to Spock's readings and logic. Sensors do not pick up the Defiant but they see it on their viewing screen, and their is no response from the ship when hailed. Kirk, Spock, Chekhov and McCoy board the Defiant wearing protective gear - they find 2 crew members dead, one seemingly about to chock the other when they died... looking like maybe a mutiny was about to occur. McCoy examines them and finds the Defiant's captain's neck broken. Kirk calls for some security because they fear that mutineers are aboard the ship and have all area of the Defiant searched... then he cancels the the security crew orders to Mr. Scott. All are dead on the Defiant when the ship is searched. While searching the area Chekov is overcome by something, almost fainting. Bones reported that all appeared to have killed each other on the Defiant. Then McCoy reports that the ship is dissolving, his hand just went though a solid object. The Enterprise can see the Defiant dissolving and is happening to the Enterprise as well. Only 3 can be beamed back aboard the Enterprise, Kirk decides to beam back last and he his disappeared along with the Defiant before Scotty can get him back to the ship. All contact with Kirk has been lost, with Spock in command of the Enterprise they must find away to get Kirk back before the Enterprise and crew disappears as well. Another problem: they must do this before all crew members go mad and kill each other or they will have the same fate as the Defiant. Time/Space fabric is ripping apart at that part of the Universe so it's a race against time - and space. The Tholians have taken over at area of space and will tolerate deceit - they are also punctual as Spock pointed out.

This is an episode that I recall rarely being shown on TV in the 80s when I was watching Star Trek fairly regularly. Having acquired all the Star Trek episodes recently, I am very pleased to see this one again. The Tholians are indeed a good foe and they are up against the always logical Mr. Spock acting as captain of an excellent starship crew. A very exciting episode.

9.5/10

Kirk is on a ship that is somehow losing its integrity--literally vanishing. While the rest of the party investigating this derelict ship get back safely to the Enterprise, Kirk is stuck as the ship disappears forever! It appears he is dead and Spock officiates his memorial service. However, later Uhura and others begin seeing the Captain in his cheesy space suit as he magically appears and disappears in the ship. Perhaps he really isn't dead after all. Unfortunately, although they want to stay and investigate further, the stupid Tholians arrive and try to trap them forever in a giant space web unless they leave.

This is a space-bound episode and because they never land on any planets or see any aliens face-to-face, this is a duller and more static episode than average. While it isn't bad, it is poor enough to feel right at home with all the other weaker episodes of season 3 (by most every opinion, the quality of the series dropped in this final year).

"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....