Ideal TOS series finale

[ToddPence]

Route 66 may have been the first American television drama to have a series finale in the sense that we understand the term today. "Where There's a Will There's a Way" (guest starring Harry Mudd himself, Roger C. Carmel) aired in two parts of March of 1964.

 

[TREK_GOD_1]

The Prisoner, of course, had quite a famous concluding episode. But the point, I believe, was that it was extremely rare for shows to tie things up. Most of them simply ended. This was not an issue for the majority of the shows that did not have a premise needed resolution. However, shows like The Invaders, Lost in Space, Time Tunnel, Run for your Life and so on, could have used definitive finales. The main difference with The Fugitive was that the resolution of Kimble's situation was written into the series proposal by creator Roy Huggins. I don't think the guys running the other shows thought it was that important. Either way, Irwin Allen, for example, had no advance notice to tie up his shows. Probably the same situation occurred for The Invaders.

I believe Allen was well aware the networks placed Lost in Space & Land of the Giants on the chopping block. Some accounts suggest by 1970, Allen wanted to go back to movies, and did not fight to keep Giants on (depsite some proposals for 3rd season scripts). Another curious event suggesting Allen was consciously wrapping things occured in the last couple of episodes of both series: scripts were produced where the principals traveled back in time to the event which served as the premise of the series (i.e., the pilot).

It may be pure conjecture on my part, but doing similar flashbacks to the pilots sort of read as though Allen was giving his viewers a fond look back at how it all started before the end arrived.

While not a strict series finale (from the audience POV), it could be one from the producer's side.

 

[Christopher]

^No, that's reading too much into it. The reason both LiS and LotG had episodes about the cast going back in time to the onset of their journeys is that Allen sometimes just straight-up recycled scripts -- took a script for one show and had it rewritten for another show. Or the writers chose to rewrite it themselves and sell it again to save themselves work. That's what happened with this script. It actually wasn't an uncommon practice in TV in days past; other examples include the Six Million Dollar Man episode "Survival of the Fittest" being remade for The Bionic Woman as "Fly Jaime" and the Knight Rider episode "Good Day at White Rock" being redone a year later as the A-Team episode "Black Day at Bad Rock."

Besides, the LiS version, "Time Merchant," was episode 18 of the 24-episode 3rd season, only 3/4 of the way through. So it wasn't late enough that you could really call it part of a series wrap-up.

 

[Gary7]

MY wife is convinced that Kirk's final words in TOS were meant to mean the whole series... "If only..." I have a real hard time thinking of TAS as the finale to TOS. At the time it first ran, I thought it was an insult to make a cartoon of Star Trek. Had they put the effort into the artwork at a Jonny Quest level, I might've thought differently. Now that I'm (just a bit *grin*) older, I tried really hard to like TAS. But I personally can't stand the shortness of the episodes, the lack of artwork effort and especially the seemingly phoned-in voice performances.

I never thought of that before. It almost works.

KIRK: Can you do anything for her?
COLEMAN: I'd like to take care of her.
MCCOY: Of course. Come with me.
KIRK: I didn't want to destroy her.
SPOCK: I'm sure we all understand that, Captain.
KIRK: Her life could have been as rich as any woman's, if only. If only.


TAS as the coda? NO. Definitely not. Not a cartoon. I agree with EEE that it's just far too inferior a work.

When looking back on all of the series I used to watch from the 70's, I can't remember any that had an original story ending episode to finish them (e.g. Lost In Space, Land of the Giants, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Time Tunnel, I Dream of Jeannie, Batman, UFO, Space 1999, Gilligan's Island... to name a few). Of course, some were revisited with remake episodes, the worst offender being Gilligan's Island. The only one that comes to mind with a solid ending episode is M*A*S*H. It was such a phenomenal ending to a series that held up so well over the years, which probably woke up a lot of production houses to try doing the same with their TV series.

TNG had a fairly good one with All Good Things, although it felt abrupt (the two part episode was grand, but not much different in story pace than other two part episodes; the catch was the mood cast at the poker table, and suddenly it sneaks up on you that this is the last one). The DS9 ending was very deliberate and well done. The Voyager one was good, especially for a series that really struggled to produce good material. Enterprise? It didn't really get one, IMHO. It was killed before its prime, which was a damned shame.

I also agree that the movies were the proper send off for TOS. Maybe they could have made a Voyager like ending with the Enterprise returning to Earth space dock, everyone celebrating at a big party, and Kirk brooding a bit as he heads off for a long vacation, with everyone waving goodbye and Spock wearing a deeply solemn face. Whatever was done, TMP would still have worked.

 

[Christopher]

TAS as the coda? NO. Definitely not. Not a cartoon. I agree with EEE that it's just far too inferior a work.

But consider it in context. Its production values were par for the course for 1970s animation, except that the first season was made under insanely tight time constraints that forced it to be even more limited. And in other respects, it was a superior production to what another animation studio at the day would've done. First off, Filmation's artwork was the best in the business even if it didn't move much; TAS is fantastic from a design standpoint, and in that sense it achieved what TOS only aspired to. Second, Filmation was the only animation studio that was willing to make a Star Trek series that was faithful to the tone and format of the original; every other studio that made a bid for the property wanted to turn it into a kids' show, add teen sidekicks and cute alien mascots, reduce the stories to simplistic shoot-'em-ups, etc. Instead, TAS had D. C. Fontana as its showrunner, nearly half of its episodes were by veteran writers from the original series (more than half if you count the episodes written by Walter Koenig and director Marc Daniels), it got Larry Niven to adapt one of his own novellas as an episode, and in all respects it strove to be a real continuation of the original, telling the same kind of stories at the same level, albeit at half the length and without the sex and violence, and with an unlimited FX budget. Given what it was, and the era in which it was made, it was the best continuation of Star Trek we could've hoped for.

I can understand how it might look crude to people today, but as someone who grew up with '70s Saturday morning cartoons, I can assure you that TAS was one of the classiest, smartest animated shows of its era, and the most authentic animated continuation of a live-action TV series that had ever been made at the time. And it did something that TOS never did: it won an Emmy. (Okay, a daytime Emmy.)

 

[TREK_GOD_1]

When looking back on all of the series I used to watch from the 70's, I can't remember any that had an original story ending episode to finish them (e.g. Lost In Space, Land of the Giants, Voyage to the Bottom of the Sea, Time Tunnel, I Dream of Jeannie, Batman, UFO, Space 1999, Gilligan's Island... to name a few)..

Batman did not have a scripted finale, but at the end of episode 119 (next to last), producer/announcer William Dozier already knew the series was over, so as the episode teased what would be the finale (ep. 120 - "Minerva, Mayhem and Millionaires") with a very in-your-face message:

That's about as final as a show can be.

 

[Galileo7]

TAS as the coda? NO. Definitely not. Not a cartoon. I agree with EEE that it's just far too inferior a work.

But consider it in context. Its production values were par for the course for 1970s animation, except that the first season was made under insanely tight time constraints that forced it to be even more limited. And in other respects, it was a superior production to what another animation studio at the day would've done. First off, Filmation's artwork was the best in the business even if it didn't move much; TAS is fantastic from a design standpoint, and in that sense it achieved what TOS only aspired to. Second, Filmation was the only animation studio that was willing to make a Star Trek series that was faithful to the tone and format of the original; every other studio that made a bid for the property wanted to turn it into a kids' show, add teen sidekicks and cute alien mascots, reduce the stories to simplistic shoot-'em-ups, etc. Instead, TAS had D. C. Fontana as its showrunner, nearly half of its episodes were by veteran writers from the original series (more than half if you count the episodes written by Walter Koenig and director Marc Daniels), it got Larry Niven to adapt one of his own novellas as an episode, and in all respects it strove to be a real continuation of the original, telling the same kind of stories at the same level, albeit at half the length and without the sex and violence, and with an unlimited FX budget. Given what it was, and the era in which it was made, it was the best continuation of Star Trek we could've hoped for.

I can understand how it might look crude to people today, but as someone who grew up with '70s Saturday morning cartoons, I can assure you that TAS was one of the classiest, smartest animated shows of its era, and the most authentic animated continuation of a live-action TV series that had ever been made at the time. And it did something that TOS never did: it won an Emmy. (Okay, a daytime Emmy.)

Agree. I was a boy in the '70s Saturday morning cartoons era and TAS was my catalyst for watching TOS in reruns Mondays through Fridays in the '70s too.

 

[marksound]

TAS as the coda? NO. Definitely not. Not a cartoon. I agree with EEE that it's just far too inferior a work.

But consider it in context. Its production values were par for the course for 1970s animation, except that the first season was made under insanely tight time constraints that forced it to be even more limited. And in other respects, it was a superior production to what another animation studio at the day would've done. First off, Filmation's artwork was the best in the business even if it didn't move much; TAS is fantastic from a design standpoint, and in that sense it achieved what TOS only aspired to. Second, Filmation was the only animation studio that was willing to make a Star Trek series that was faithful to the tone and format of the original; every other studio that made a bid for the property wanted to turn it into a kids' show, add teen sidekicks and cute alien mascots, reduce the stories to simplistic shoot-'em-ups, etc. Instead, TAS had D. C. Fontana as its showrunner, nearly half of its episodes were by veteran writers from the original series (more than half if you count the episodes written by Walter Koenig and director Marc Daniels), it got Larry Niven to adapt one of his own novellas as an episode, and in all respects it strove to be a real continuation of the original, telling the same kind of stories at the same level, albeit at half the length and without the sex and violence, and with an unlimited FX budget. Given what it was, and the era in which it was made, it was the best continuation of Star Trek we could've hoped for.

I can understand how it might look crude to people today, but as someone who grew up with '70s Saturday morning cartoons, I can assure you that TAS was one of the classiest, smartest animated shows of its era, and the most authentic animated continuation of a live-action TV series that had ever been made at the time. And it did something that TOS never did: it won an Emmy. (Okay, a daytime Emmy.)

When TAS premiered it was the first new Trek onscreen in 5 years. That was huge. No one I know cared that it wasn't Disney quality animation. It was Trek, and it was new.

 

[TREK_GOD_1]

TAS as the coda? NO. Definitely not. Not a cartoon. I agree with EEE that it's just far too inferior a work.

But consider it in context. Its production values were par for the course for 1970s animation, except that the first season was made under insanely tight time constraints that forced it to be even more limited. And in other respects, it was a superior production to what another animation studio at the day would've done. First off, Filmation's artwork was the best in the business even if it didn't move much; TAS is fantastic from a design standpoint, and in that sense it achieved what TOS only aspired to. Second, Filmation was the only animation studio that was willing to make a Star Trek series that was faithful to the tone and format of the original; every other studio that made a bid for the property wanted to turn it into a kids' show, add teen sidekicks and cute alien mascots, reduce the stories to simplistic shoot-'em-ups, etc. Instead, TAS had D. C. Fontana as its showrunner, nearly half of its episodes were by veteran writers from the original series (more than half if you count the episodes written by Walter Koenig and director Marc Daniels), it got Larry Niven to adapt one of his own novellas as an episode, and in all respects it strove to be a real continuation of the original, telling the same kind of stories at the same level, albeit at half the length and without the sex and violence, and with an unlimited FX budget. Given what it was, and the era in which it was made, it was the best continuation of Star Trek we could've hoped for.

I can understand how it might look crude to people today, but as someone who grew up with '70s Saturday morning cartoons, I can assure you that TAS was one of the classiest, smartest animated shows of its era, and the most authentic animated continuation of a live-action TV series that had ever been made at the time. And it did something that TOS never did: it won an Emmy. (Okay, a daytime Emmy.)

Bravo! TAS love!

Honestly, many of TAS' scripts were on par or even superior to many TOS season 3 scripts--maybe a few season 2 episodes, too. Filmation had a few clunkers in the 70s, but to be brutally honest, they were not a hack studio like the horribly inept Hanna-Barbera, or not up to the challenge like DePatie-Freling or Ruby Spears--the latter companies suffering from a large hit and miss catalog.

TAS was more than a void-filler in the decade of TOS re-runs (some could argue the animated Return to the Planet of the Apes fit that description with a couple of recycled running plots from the movies), but a legit production using more tools from the source (TOS) than any ST production to follow, and used it well.

Even with the lack of overt violence and Kirk's appetite for the ladies, TAS was able to get to the heart of stories, and maintain adult drama within a 22-minute format. For American TV animation, that was and remains a rare feat.

 

[Redfern]

And, during a period of Saturday animation when violence and implied violence had been "curbed" by "concerned groups", the animated Trek presented death in several episodes. "Yesteryear", in the altered timeline, young Spock died during his Kahz Won testing and later Amanda died in a lunar shuttle accident. In the restored timeline, not only does young Spock's Sehlat die, he makes the choice of euthanasia. In "Albatross", McCoy is accused of planetary scale genocide. Okay, so he's proven innocent, but didn't change the fact that a global population died. In "The Slaver Weapon", the crew of the Kzinti pirate ship are killed, effectively "on camera" when the weapon tricks them into triggering its auto destruct. Several are vaporized and we see at least one body collapsed from violent decompression.

What did Scooby Doo and the other HB teen mystery 'toons present at this time? Villains who spooked snoopers out of town or tied up property owners until the ownership changed hands.

Yes, Filmation animation itself was limited almost to the point of immobility, but the background plates cretaed to depict alien vistas, dang, they hold up today. Spock's home town from Yesteryear was even "slipped" into an establishing shot in the remasted "Amok Time" and looked very close to the original painted version.

Sincerely,

bill

 

[Christopher]

Yeah, "The Slaver Weapon" is rare in Filmation's history for showing characters dying essentially on-camera. I can only think of a couple more examples. There was an episode of a later series, I think it was The Space Sentinels, that featured an even more on-camera death of a youth-stealing villainess who dropped dead of old age when her life-force-transfer thingy was destroyed. And Filmation's superlative Flash Gordon movie and the TV episodes that incorporated portions of it had Hawkmen being vaporized in flight by Ming's energy weapons. Filmation's last show, BraveStarr, featured character deaths in three episodes, but it was always off-camera -- and in contrast to the other cases, it was treated as a tragic and shocking thing rather than a victory over the villains or an incidental plot point.

And TAS wasn't devoid of romantic or sexy elements either. Kirk flirted with Lara in "The Jihad," Anne Nored and Carter Winston had a romance in "The Survivor," "Mudd's Passion" showed the whole crew coming under the influence of a love potion, and "The Lorelei Signal" was a whole episode about hot alien women using their allure to entrap men. It was presented more subtly than it would've been in prime time, to be sure, but it was there. (And TOS couldn't have gotten away with dressing a guest actress like this.)

 

[Captain Shatner]

Honestly, I have to agree with the people who say that there should be no finale. That being said, "Turnabout Intruder" was an absolutely miserable way to end the series. It left me feeling rather empty.

 

[AtoZ]

As many great responses that I've read so far about how the series should or could have ended, it might have been fitting to end the series off sort of where it began....with an encounter with the barrier at the edge of the galaxy....and whatever intrigue that would entail.

I love TOS and I love the TOS movies. TOS could have wrapped-up better of course, but as one member pointed out, maybe that it did not served best for us all. That stated....we could have landed the show a little more on its feet than as was the case of Turnabout Intruder.

 

[Gary7]

"Well, it's better than no Trek at all." I don't really agree. Yes, compared to other animated series at the time, Star Trek TAS was pretty much on par visually. Story wise, there were some terrific IDEAS conceived. But implementation? The script writing was not very good, IMHO, and the voice overs were so disjointed, in addition to the changed inferior SFX intensifying this.

I watched it as a kid, though. I did enjoy it at the time, but in retrospect I tried watching TAS and simply could not get into it. On the other hand, TOS became even more attractive to me.

 

[TREK_GOD_1]

^No, that's reading too much into it. The reason both LiS and LotG had episodes about the cast going back in time to the onset of their journeys is that Allen sometimes just straight-up recycled scripts -- took a script for one show and had it rewritten for another show. Or the writers chose to rewrite it themselves and sell it again to save themselves work.

However, in both cases, it took more honest scripting to do the "change history" type of plot than a recycled plot, clip show, or combination of the two.

In the case of LotG, the attempt to alter history was made more difficult by the leads stealing a time travelling device from two "observers," only to be pursued into the past, while the leads tried (ultimately failing) to convince their comrades to back out of their flight.

I've seen enough season or series-ending clip shows to know there was a bit more reason for the episode than simply filling the episode commitment.

 

[Christopher]

^I just don't think it's safe to assume that. It's important to avoid projecting modern assumptions onto something from the past. Just because an episode from late in a '60s series happens to resemble the structure of a modern "finale" type of episode, that doesn't mean the creators were thinking of it in those terms. Series finales were simply not a common practice at the time. It wouldn't have been part of the mindset the way it is today.

Not to mention that production order and airdate order could differ significantly, so there's no reason to assume that an episode which aired near the end of the series was written or shot near the end of the production process. All of Star Trek's season finales were the final episodes produced in those respective years, but that's only because the post-production was so involved that it slowed them down and the final episode wasn't even ready until all the others had been aired (indeed, "Turnabout Intruder" was aired after a 3-month delay). The Irwin Allen shows had much simpler effects and cheaper production values, so there's no telling what order they were shot in.

Besides, I really don't think Irwin Allen cared enough about the writing on his shows to put any thought or effort into creating finales for them. His habit was to put a lot of care and thought into the beginning of a show, give it a strong, smart pilot with solid production values, but then let the rest of the series degenerate into formula and silliness and cheap, sloppy production values. He wouldn't have bothered to make the finale anything special, because by that point he would've already been largely neglecting the show's quality for some time and had his attention on whatever he was developing next.

 

[Duncan MacLeod]

As it happens I did come up with a series finale that I would have liked to have seen made a few years ago. Here it is for any who might be interested.

The episode opens on the last day of the 5YM. The Enterprise has been ordered home and the whole crew is looking forward to several months’ worth of accumulated leave time. At the same time they're pondering where their careers will go now that this mission is over. Most of the senior officers have been offered teaching assignments, to better prepare the next generation of Starfleet officers for what they'll be facing out there.

Spock has been offered a position at the Vulcan Science Academy, with McCoy and Scotty being offered senior positions at Starfleet's schools of Medicine and Engineering respectively; Kirk, still being young for his rank, fully expects to serve another tour of duty as a starship commander preferably aboard the Enterprise, but there are rumors that Starfleet may have something else in mind.

The junior officers are all expecting promotions and new assignments elsewhere, for them the happiness is mixed with sadness at the inevitable parting of the ways. Sulu is being considered for an Executive Officer's slot aboard the Lafayette, Kirk has nominated Uhura for Command School, Chekov has put in a request for Security and Intelligence training, and Chapel is considering leaving nursing behind and becoming an MD.

Only a day out from Earth, the Enterprise encounters the First Federation starship Fesarius. The vessel seems to be a derelict drifting in space with most of her nodes dark. Kirk leads a boarding party and finds Balok in his quarters near death. He tells the tale of how the Fesarius encountered an alien vessel adrift, he sent young Mr. Bailey to render aid but somehow he was overcome and instead led the aliens back to the Fesarius intent upon capturing the massive vessel. Balok managed to keep them from acquiring the main ship by sabotaging his own vessel but they were able to seize the small pilot vessel instead. Balok jury rigged the engines and headed for Earth but the repairs failed and he has been drifting for several days. When asked why he headed for Earth Balok explains that Bailey had announced that he intended to teach Starfleet a lesson for abandoning him. Bailey had been growing more dissatisfied with his posting to the Fesarius for some months and contact with the aliens seems to have somehow brought his resent out in full force. After saying this, Balok dies.

Kirk and the boarding party return to the Enterprise. Uhura reports that she’s picking up a series of distress calls from ships and installations the renegade pilot vessel has attacked which Spock analyzes to figure out a pattern to Bailey’s actions. He determines that Bailey is most likely to strike next at Alpha Centuari with a 87.936 percent probability of following it up with a strike at Earth itself. Captain Kirk contacts Starfleet with their conclusions and is ordered to Alpha Centauri at maximum warp, the Earth Sector Patrol Group will meet him there. Kirk, however, has a gut feeling that Bailey has tapped into the communication and will therefore head straight to Earth. Rather than risk alerting Bailey, Kirk ignores his orders and directs the Enterprise to Earth at warp 7.

Kirk’s guess is right, Bailey and the pilot vessel have just begun attacking Earth installations when the Enterprise arrives. The starship attacks but the pilot vessel is every bit as tough as Balok had stated years earlier. Between the Enterprise’s superb crew and his greater tactical skill, Kirk manages to avoid crippling damage but it is clear that the pilot vessel is more than a match for the Enterprise. Kirk tries to talk Bailey into giving up this senseless quest for revenge, but Bailey goes on and on about how Earth will suffer as he has. During his tirade, Spock notices something strange in a corner of the pilot vessel’s bridge. Enhancing the image he finds it to be one of the flying parasites thought to have been eradicated on Deneva. Obviously Bailey was infected when he went aboard the derelict alien vessel, the creature must have discovered Bailey’s dissatisfaction with his assignment and expanded upon it until Bailey had become a willing tool in the creature’s quest for revenge.

With this information in his hands Kirk formulates a plan. The Enterprise launches a full scale attack intent on collapsing the pilot vessel’s deflectors. In spite of the Enterprise taking severe damage he perseveres and manages to burn through the shields. At this point Scotty beams a dozen high-powered ultraviolet lamps aboard the pilot vessel killing most of the creatures. Lieutenant Commander Giotto and his security teams follow up with hand-held lamps and finish the job. Back in his right mind Bailey is appalled at the death and destruction that he has caused and breaks down in tears.

The badly battered Enterprise enters Spacedock where a hero’s reception awaits them. Starfleet decides that the ship is too badly damaged to go through merely a routine refit. Instead she will be the test vessel for a major upgrade program. They tap Scotty to oversee the program. Captain Kirk is offered a promotion to Admiral and a position on the commanding admiral’s staff, he says he’ll consider it and make his decision when he comes back from leave. Spock decides to return to Vulcan, for a time at least. McCoy has yet to accept his teaching position but figures he probably will. The three friends share a drink together in a small lounge overlooking the Enterprise. McCoy asks if they’ll ever be serving together again. Kirk remarks that it’s a small galaxy. Spock states that while this may be true in cosmic terms, in real terms the galaxy is… McCoy interrupts him asking if he has to be so literal all the time? Spock raises an eyebrow at him as Kirk looks on smiling then says – Yes, Bones, I’m sure we’ll be together again, there’s a whole lot more galaxy waiting to be explored. Then the camera pans over to the Enterprise as a new slower-paced voice over of the opening monologue plays, then fade to black and roll credits.

 

[AtoZ]

As it happens I did come up with a series finale that I would have liked to have seen made a few years ago. Here it is for any who might be interested.

The episode opens on the last day of the 5YM. The Enterprise has been ordered home and the whole crew is looking forward to several months’ worth of accumulated leave time. At the same time they're pondering where their careers will go now that this mission is over. Most of the senior officers have been offered teaching assignments, to better prepare the next generation of Starfleet officers for what they'll be facing out there.

Spock has been offered a position at the Vulcan Science Academy, with McCoy and Scotty being offered senior positions at Starfleet's schools of Medicine and Engineering respectively; Kirk, still being young for his rank, fully expects to serve another tour of duty as a starship commander preferably aboard the Enterprise, but there are rumors that Starfleet may have something else in mind.

The junior officers are all expecting promotions and new assignments elsewhere, for them the happiness is mixed with sadness at the inevitable parting of the ways. Sulu is being considered for an Executive Officer's slot aboard the Lafayette, Kirk has nominated Uhura for Command School, Chekov has put in a request for Security and Intelligence training, and Chapel is considering leaving nursing behind and becoming an MD.

Only a day out from Earth, the Enterprise encounters the First Federation starship Fesarius. The vessel seems to be a derelict drifting in space with most of her nodes dark. Kirk leads a boarding party and finds Balok in his quarters near death. He tells the tale of how the Fesarius encountered an alien vessel adrift, he sent young Mr. Bailey to render aid but somehow he was overcome and instead led the aliens back to the Fesarius intent upon capturing the massive vessel. Balok managed to keep them from acquiring the main ship by sabotaging his own vessel but they were able to seize the small pilot vessel instead. Balok jury rigged the engines and headed for Earth but the repairs failed and he has been drifting for several days. When asked why he headed for Earth Balok explains that Bailey had announced that he intended to teach Starfleet a lesson for abandoning him. Bailey had been growing more dissatisfied with his posting to the Fesarius for some months and contact with the aliens seems to have somehow brought his resent out in full force. After saying this, Balok dies.

Kirk and the boarding party return to the Enterprise. Uhura reports that she’s picking up a series of distress calls from ships and installations the renegade pilot vessel has attacked which Spock analyzes to figure out a pattern to Bailey’s actions. He determines that Bailey is most likely to strike next at Alpha Centuari with a 87.936 percent probability of following it up with a strike at Earth itself. Captain Kirk contacts Starfleet with their conclusions and is ordered to Alpha Centauri at maximum warp, the Earth Sector Patrol Group will meet him there. Kirk, however, has a gut feeling that Bailey has tapped into the communication and will therefore head straight to Earth. Rather than risk alerting Bailey, Kirk ignores his orders and directs the Enterprise to Earth at warp 7.

Kirk’s guess is right, Bailey and the pilot vessel have just begun attacking Earth installations when the Enterprise arrives. The starship attacks but the pilot vessel is every bit as tough as Balok had stated years earlier. Between the Enterprise’s superb crew and his greater tactical skill, Kirk manages to avoid crippling damage but it is clear that the pilot vessel is more than a match for the Enterprise. Kirk tries to talk Bailey into giving up this senseless quest for revenge, but Bailey goes on and on about how Earth will suffer as he has. During his tirade, Spock notices something strange in a corner of the pilot vessel’s bridge. Enhancing the image he finds it to be one of the flying parasites thought to have been eradicated on Deneva. Obviously Bailey was infected when he went aboard the derelict alien vessel, the creature must have discovered Bailey’s dissatisfaction with his assignment and expanded upon it until Bailey had become a willing tool in the creature’s quest for revenge.

With this information in his hands Kirk formulates a plan. The Enterprise launches a full scale attack intent on collapsing the pilot vessel’s deflectors. In spite of the Enterprise taking severe damage he perseveres and manages to burn through the shields. At this point Scotty beams a dozen high-powered ultraviolet lamps aboard the pilot vessel killing most of the creatures. Lieutenant Commander Giotto and his security teams follow up with hand-held lamps and finish the job. Back in his right mind Bailey is appalled at the death and destruction that he has caused and breaks down in tears.

The badly battered Enterprise enters Spacedock where a hero’s reception awaits them. Starfleet decides that the ship is too badly damaged to go through merely a routine refit. Instead she will be the test vessel for a major upgrade program. They tap Scotty to oversee the program. Captain Kirk is offered a promotion to Admiral and a position on the commanding admiral’s staff, he says he’ll consider it and make his decision when he comes back from leave. Spock decides to return to Vulcan, for a time at least. McCoy has yet to accept his teaching position but figures he probably will. The three friends share a drink together in a small lounge overlooking the Enterprise. McCoy asks if they’ll ever be serving together again. Kirk remarks that it’s a small galaxy. Spock states that while this may be true in cosmic terms, in real terms the galaxy is… McCoy interrupts him asking if he has to be so literal all the time? Spock raises an eyebrow at him as Kirk looks on smiling then says – Yes, Bones, I’m sure we’ll be together again, there’s a whole lot more galaxy waiting to be explored. Then the camera pans over to the Enterprise as a new slower-paced voice over of the opening monologue plays, then fade to black and roll credits.

In a word - brilliant.

 

[Duncan MacLeod]

Thank you.

I'd love to hear other folks ideas, so don't be shy everyone.

 

[Bubbles McGee]

Very Cool!