Assignment: Earth

Casually going back in time for observation, the Enterprise catches a man in transportation, with cat like prowess he manages to get free, and save the planet from World War Three.

A curious end to the season, having seemingly exhausted all planets that can host humanoid life the only place left to roam is back home, albeit with a bit of time travel thrown in for good measure.

An anomaly among the episodes of the original series, this finale to the 2nd season functions both as a sequel to "Tomorrow is Yesterday" and as a pilot for a new series which never came to be. Rather casually stated by Kirk's voice-over in the beginning, the Enterprise crew has purposely traveled back to 1960's Earth, following up on their accidental visitation in the previous episode from the 1st season. I wonder what Federation bigwig(s) greenlit this mission - everyone's always concerned about the Prime Directive but they think nothing of possibly altering Earth's history and wiping away the past couple of centuries of progress - I guess 'Murphy's Law' no longer applies in the 23rd century. Sure enough, the ship intercepts someone beaming to Earth from over 1000 light years away - so much for non-interference. The episode is at its best in these early scenes, when we meet the mysterious Gary-7, who, tho apparently human, can resist Spock's Vulcan nerve pinch and has knowledge of the future. Kirk, the one who is in the wrong time, still behaves like it's his job to police the spaceways above Earth and treats Gary-7 as guilty until proved innocent. The shots of '60s New York City now appear as strangely primitive, just as Gary-7 describes them; it's a weird play on perspective since the viewer is in 'futuristic mode' when watching this show.

The episode has some slow spots, especially with all the stuff about the rocket waiting to be launched, but it makes up for a lot of this with the intriguing Gary-7 character, played by actor Lansing with gravitas, an aura of solemn heroism and possible menace (note: Lansing's credit appears in the beginning of the episode rather than the end, also anomalous). The interesting backstory for such special agents as Gary-7 was created, of course, with the intent of an on-going series on present day Earth, probably as a combo superspy/alien visitors storyline, complete with futuristic gadgets and self-aware computers. There was a whole new modern mythology waiting to be launched with the premise presented here and I still sometimes visualize an alternate universe where we were treated to a season or two worth of adventures concerning agent Gary-7 and his daffy secretary, Ms. Lincoln. Oh, yes, Ms. Lincoln - this was an early role for the unusual actress Teri Garr, who brings her now well-known pert spunk to the part - she was deliriously eccentric and quite beguiling right from the start. I really would have liked to have seen the further interaction between her and the black cat, as well as Gary-7, a possibly odd menage-a-trois, to say the least. By the way, check out Kirk's swift beam out of the two cops from the Enterprise; seems he did learn one thing from his misadventures in "Tomorrow is Yesterday" - beam 'em out pronto!

I noticed a few comments regarding Robert Lansing not being in the acting credits for the Assignment: Earth episode. Lansing was actually listed in the show's opening credits, along with the episode title. I believe he's the only Star Trek guest star to be introduced in such fashion, perhaps giving an early clue that the episode was indeed intended as a pilot for a new show. What's sad about Gary Seven (Lansing's character) not receiving his own show is that we missed out on a chance to watch Terri Garr develop her role as unwitting secretary Roberta Lincoln. Garr has since gone on to establish herself as a fine actress, both in comedy and drama. And she came back to science fiction with her role as Richard Dreyfuss' wife in Close Encounters of the Third Kind. Among the best shots from the Assignment: Earth episode is the NASA footage of a rocket's stage separation high above the Earth. And who could forget the (all too) brief shot of Victoria Vetri as Gary Seven's mysterious cat in humanoid form? That appearance of Playboy's 1968 Playmate of the Year (as Angela Dorian) was just another in a long line of guest appearances of sexy '60s sirens on Star Trek.

An enjoyable episode but I've decided to focus on a few perhaps lesser known points.

The Policeman who says 'Charlie' to his colleague (when beamed aboard the Enterprise) is the actor Ted Gehring who had a long career appearing in many well known series (Bonanza - The Virginian - The Fugative) to name but a few. He also met Mr Shatner again in TJ Hooker.

Meanwhile his sidekick was none other than Bruce Mars who played Finnegan in Shore Leave. He played that role very well but I cannot find a reason why his career ended in 1969.

Footnote Bruce is now known as Brother Paramananda, he is a senior monk in the Self-Realization Fellowship.

One other point which I do not understand is why - after the CGI enhancements - they left the rather obvious 'still' photographs of the rocket in the episode.

The thing about this episode that stands out for me is my reaction to it when I saw it premier in early 1968, when I was 14. Terri Garr's character, far from playing as a ditzy blonde, instead read to all of us as a member of the baby boomer generation saddled with the hypocritical bs of those over 30, who we were learning to Not Trust. Thus her character suspiciously blowing the whistle on one and all, ultimately leading to her fine peroration toward the end where she expresses the hopes and fears of a generation. We all marveled at this episode in school during the course of the following week, and all boomer trekies have a soft spot in their hearts for Terri Garr on the strength of this performance. I'd also add that you have to remember we were all too close in memory to the Cuban Missile crisis of Oct 1962 for comfort. The notion of a nuclear war was physically felt back in those days in a way that it hasn't been since, well, 1962.