Saw it for probably the first time the other day. It's definitely of its time; old-school space opera TV that doesn't really feel very genuine by today's standards. I think I liked the Enterprise-based scenes more than the planet-based ones. Like a lot of genre fiction where a major character goes through something that would realistically be life-altering, it feels like a missed opportunity, as if there's a story there that isn't really being told. Taken on its own terms, though, I think it's not a bad episode per se, with some thoughtful dialogue and the actors giving it some decent heft without overdoing it. There's also the possibility of it being a victim of its own reputation, and I'd be interested to see how some of my own fondly-remembered episodes from a bygone era (eg Déjà Q) hold up after all this time.
