re: Star Trek: TOS Watchers - S2 - Return to Tomorrow *Page 14*

Great episode. I remember seeing something about the director not knowing what to do with William Windom's solo scene where he loses it. From what I recall, it was all improv. They let the camera run and he went on a for a few minutes. They cut it up and made it from that. Gotta love stuff like that

He was good in this More at IMDbPro » Star Trek New Voyages: Phase II: Season 1, Episode 1

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And for those casual fans who do not know, the Constellation commander, Matt Decker is the father of Stephen Collins' character, Willard Decker, from Star Trek: The Motion Picture, although that is not altogether clear from the film itself.

However, in reference material and other sources (such as the novelization), it is more than mere apocrypha or speculation.

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Interesting, Ace. I would've thought they would've played up this connection in the film as they did with various others, like Sulu's daughter in Generations. Source(s) for the Decker connection?

Really liked this episode. Windom went a little overboard in his intial scene, but was solid afterward.

My favorite quotes (potential *spoilers* if necessary to note):






Kirk: Bones, you ever hear of a doomsday machine?

McCoy: No, I'm a doctor, not a mechanic.

Spock: You may file a formal protest with Starfleet Command, assuming we survive to reach a Starbase, but you are relieved. Commodore, I do not wish to place you under arrest.

Decker: You wouldn't dare. You're bluffing.

Spock: Vulcans never bluff.

Decker: No. No, I don't suppose that they do.

A little more trivia - apparently this was Jimmy Doohan's favorite episode, and D.C. Fontana's least favorite episode of TOS.

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I also liked the mystery surrounding the "Doomsday Machine.".

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Another "necessity is the mother of invention" thing - the original idea was that of a alien device bristling with all sorts of evil looking weapons.

Budgetary constraints ended up making it a windsock dipped in cement. However, I think that made it a more impressive foe - it was impervious to a direct attack and forced them to come up with a creative solution (just as the prop-makers had to) - this also added to the mystery.

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Decker is a very tragic figure, sympathetic even after taking control of the Enterprise.

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Obviously, Moby Dick is powerful source material for Star Trek - on several occasions, (Obsession, most notably) Kirk displays Ahab-like tendencies - in this episode, Decker does - Windom stated he realized this, but only years after he played the part. At the time, he felt as though he was acting in a cartoon, but, upon reflection, realized he was Captain Ahab in this episode.

Friday bump.

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Star Fleet Battles, the board game. I had that game as a child and played against the planet killer many times. It and the space amoeba were single player missions - and my brother wouldn't play with me.

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There is still a fairly robust community for this game, although I never played it myself. Those rules (more so than the Star Trek canon) provided the basis for many of the Trek video games.

Bump to clear the freakin' House of Cards flood.

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Pretty good episode overall, fairly obvious anti-nuke message.

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Yeah - they didn't hit us over the head with the message or anything, right.

*A WOLF IN THE FOLD*



Scotty becomes the prime suspect in the murders of 3 women and, due to a recent injury, cannot remember the events leading up to the murders. Kirk, Spock and McCoy race to find the identity of the real killer and prove Scotty's innocence.

If you thought Mr. Hengist (John Fielder) sounded a lot like Piglet from Winnie the Pooh, it is because he was.