episode #22 - The Counter-Clock Incident
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episode #22 - The Counter-Clock Incident
Air Date: 10/12/74 written by Fred Bronson (as John Culver)
The Enterprise is on its way to Babel with ambassador Robert April, the first captain of the Enterprise, and his wife. The Enterprise crew witness a small ship traveling at incredible velocity (warp 32 ) towards a star going nova. Kirk attempts to stop the ship with a tractor beam but this just results in the Enterprise getting pulled along; they surprisingly survive and end up on the other side of a new star in another universe where time moves in reverse. The only way to get back home is to find a star that is simultaneously aborning in the reverse universe and dying in the home universe. In addition, the crew begin to get younger, until only April is old enough to command the vessel.
A lot of this episode doesn't make much sense - such as why are the crew de-aging at such an accelerated rate? (this was done to, of course, showcase the elderly April and his wife, as well as show off the crew as kids). The entire concept is loopy, to the extent that when Alan Dean Foster adapted this into one of the Log Books and expanded it to novel length, he changed the conclusion to demonstrate how such a reverse universe could not work. Chief among the bizarre concepts is the notion that people are born as elderly people and age to infants; then what..? But, it's still an entertaining episode, even if just for hearing Shatner heighten the pitch of his voice when his character gets younger. BoG's Score: 6.5 out of 10
Trek Trivia: writer Bronson inserted a few homages to TOS episodes, such as the name of the exploding star, the one from All Our Yesterdays. Robert April was the captain scripted by Gene Roddenberry when he wrote his first draft for the proposed TOS show; the character was never actually mentioned in TOS. But, thanks to this animated episode, it is now Trek canon that April was the first assigned captain of the Enterprise, followed by Capt. Pike and then Kirk. This was the last animated episode.
The Enterprise is on its way to Babel with ambassador Robert April, the first captain of the Enterprise, and his wife. The Enterprise crew witness a small ship traveling at incredible velocity (warp 32 ) towards a star going nova. Kirk attempts to stop the ship with a tractor beam but this just results in the Enterprise getting pulled along; they surprisingly survive and end up on the other side of a new star in another universe where time moves in reverse. The only way to get back home is to find a star that is simultaneously aborning in the reverse universe and dying in the home universe. In addition, the crew begin to get younger, until only April is old enough to command the vessel.
A lot of this episode doesn't make much sense - such as why are the crew de-aging at such an accelerated rate? (this was done to, of course, showcase the elderly April and his wife, as well as show off the crew as kids). The entire concept is loopy, to the extent that when Alan Dean Foster adapted this into one of the Log Books and expanded it to novel length, he changed the conclusion to demonstrate how such a reverse universe could not work. Chief among the bizarre concepts is the notion that people are born as elderly people and age to infants; then what..? But, it's still an entertaining episode, even if just for hearing Shatner heighten the pitch of his voice when his character gets younger. BoG's Score: 6.5 out of 10
Trek Trivia: writer Bronson inserted a few homages to TOS episodes, such as the name of the exploding star, the one from All Our Yesterdays. Robert April was the captain scripted by Gene Roddenberry when he wrote his first draft for the proposed TOS show; the character was never actually mentioned in TOS. But, thanks to this animated episode, it is now Trek canon that April was the first assigned captain of the Enterprise, followed by Capt. Pike and then Kirk. This was the last animated episode.
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