Wanderlust

1.28 — “The City on the Edge of Forever”

1.28 — “The City on the Edge of Forever”

Plot: Time disturbances draw the Enterprise to the planet of the Guardian of Forever, a mystical stone doughnut which offers the crew a gateway to the past of planet Earth. Dr. McCoy, crazed by an accidental cordrazine injection, leaps through the gate. The Guardian informs those left behind that the past as they knew it has been destroyed, stranding them on the planet, for the Enterprise is no longer there. Kirk and Spock must pursue McCoy to New York City in 1930, where they meet the remarkable Edith Keeler, whose deep brown eyes hold great fascination for the Captain. While Kirk is busy falling in love, Spock’s researches lead to an unexpected conclusion: Edith Keeler must die.

Thoughts: Star Trek gave us something special with “The City on the Edge of Forever,” which won a Hugo in 1968 for Best Dramatic Presentation, the last television program to win that honor until a 5th-season episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation in 1993. It tops many people’s lists of best TOS episodes. Some might say this is the way in which it was filmed. The sets, props, costumes, extras, and night shooting give it a very cinematic look, while running up greater costs than any other first season episode.

Others may argue it’s because of the performances. William Shatner and Joan Collins make you believe their love story through understatement. Leonard Nimoy and DeForest Kelley do some of their best acting work of the season. When Edith tells Spock that he looks like he belongs at Kirk’s side “as if you’ve always been there and always will,” we know exactly what she means, these actors are that good.

But it’s the writing that brings all of this about. You just don’t see scripts this audacious. Look at the Guardian–a device so bold it defies explanation, yet it doesn’t seem to need any. Dare I say it, the story has religious overtones. What is the Guardian, and who is it protecting? The discovery that Keeler’s death is necessary, coupled with the idea that peace may be the right answer at the wrong time, speaks for those who look for consolation in the idea that bad things happen for a reason. Kirk is shattered, but the 1960s television audience contained many people shattered by the sacrifices made in the fight against fascism. “The City at the Edge of Forever” is a love letter to all those, particularly war veterans,  who have felt compelled to do a bad thing, hoping it is in the service of a greater good.

The story is so damn clever that all I really want to talk about is the implications. Why does the landing party not wink out of existence when McCoy changes time like the Enterprise does? Is it the influence of the Guardian? Have they all then become uncaused, uncreated time orphans? Is this why the members of the landing party seem to be the only agents who have free will? One way of looking at things is that McCoy’s trip through time shouldn’t have changed history at all, even momentarily, since his actions inevitably cause Kirk and Spock to travel back and successfully stop him. How do Kirk and Spock know that it is not their actions, responding to McCoy’s action, that cause the changes in history? What if the only way for them to stop the distortion is to do something totally unexpected, like stay behind and play Parcheesi with Uhura and Scotty?

Also–Hitler succeeding in Europe does sound bad, but how are Kirk and Spock in the position to know which overall outcome, in the fullness of time, is better or worse? Maybe the seeds planted by Keeler prolong World War II, but give rise to a more final and lasting peace, without the Eugenics Wars looming in the 1990s. When Kirk and Spock go through the Guardian, it is they who are planning to murder a whole future of unrealized possibilities. As a great Wizard once said, “even the very wise cannot see all ends.”

Moral dramas fascinate me. They make it seem like there must be answers, somewhere. I also want to belong to a rock band called “Edith Keeler Must Die.”

5 out of 5 accidental cordrazine injections.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_City_on_the_Edge_of_Forever

Posted

in

by

krblack42

Tags:

Comments

3 responses to “1.28 — “The City on the Edge of Forever””

  1. Randi Cohen Avatar
    Randi Cohen

    There is apparently both a band and a song called “Edith Keeler Must Die”.  Also several t-shirts.

    Great episode.  Brilliant writing with quick turns between genuine comedy and high drama (I particularly loved that Shatner didn’t do his usual shrug-off-and-smile at the end of the episode, thanks to whoever prevented him from doing that!).  Nice small touches that really “make” the episode, like the glass milk bottle shattering on the street when the bum sees McCoy.  I love McCoy’s make-up and demeanor also when he is crazed by cordrazine, Deforest really sells it.

    Some favorite moments include McCoy’s waking up: “I’ve decided you’re a hallucination”, “I’m a surgeon not a psychiatrist”.  And his cordrazine-induced rant on modern-day hospitals: “they cut people up and sew them like garments” delivered with genuine disgust and horror.  And Kirk “explaining” that Spock’s ears “got caught in a rice-picker”.

    The other awesome thing about this episode is the risk it takes in having Kirk be the one to hold back McCoy and allow his love to be killed.  Amazing — it’s just not the type of a thing a hero does, not even in today’s movies, as dark as they can be sometimes.  Really interesting foreshadowing of the “needs of the many outweigh the needs of the one”.  Also, “peace was right but not at this time” is a controversial political statement given the Vietnam war was going on.

    Some random quibbles: How did they get back out of the time portal?  Could they not take Edith with them?  Would she not have been so taken advantage of by now that she could not afford to run a mission, with that attitude?  Isn’t it interesting that Kirk only truly admits he is in love with her once he knows that she is doomed?  Classic commitment avoider.  Still, the connection between them feels real, and sweet.  This is the kind of episode that gives the series the staying power it still has with modern audiences.

    Rating: 6 out of 5 anachronistic Clark Gable references (he was not making movies in the 1930’s, but who cares)

    Reply
  2. Kevin Black Avatar
    Kevin Black

    How they get back is a good question–there is a line of dialogue:

    KIRK: Guardian, if we are successful…

    GUARDIAN: Then you will be returned. It will be as though none of you had gone.

    …but it does beg the question. It’s a sign of the strength of the writing that you just go with it. The whole Guardian device is the kind of thing that most writers or writers rooms would shoot down preemptively out of fear of embarassment.

    Reply
  3. R. Alex Reutter Avatar
    R. Alex Reutter

    This is easily the best episode we’ve seen so far.  Why?  Because it’s overall so solid that it manages to make us forgive the spots where they do stumble?  Because it’s Shatner’s best performance from wire to wire in an episode that could easily have been ruined by him doing stupid Shatnerian things?  Oh, yes, we get Good Shatner at his absolute best, remaining understated with no attempts at Drama! or broad comedy.

    Great opening sequence with McCoy accidentally stabbing himself right after twitting Kirk for questioning his medical judgement — if cordrazine were truly that dangerous, it would definitely not come in a delivery system that could inject you with that much of it — but who cares?  It’s a great moment that finally punishes Starfleet for going with the lowest bid to build the Enterprise (and the contractor skimped on seatbelts)

    Love the makeup for McCoy.  He’s absolutely gruesome.  

    Minor quibble: Kirk and Spock assault a police officer (however gently) and it never comes back to haunt them.  The right thing plotwise is to make those clothes from her mission, and introduce Edith Keeler just as Kirk’s explanations start to go south.  Facing the person from whom he’s stolen the clothes, Kirk is about to admit his guilt, and she forgives them, smooths it over with the policeman, and we go from there.  But who cares?  The scene with the cop is played well for humor, and basement scene is still powerful.

    “You’re right, Spock.  Sometimes I expect too much of you.”  Kirk the motivator!  Perfect clipped delivery with no jokiness about it, just an unspoken acknowledgement between friends that he’s not really serious.

    Minor quibble: It would build more tension if, after Kirk supposes that McCoy is the cause of Edith’s death, that Spock does not immediately counter that McCoy could save her, and that it’s only after they have the evidence that “Edith Keeler must die” that Kirk, and the audience members who haven’t thought of this yet, are hit like a sledgehammer with this possibility.

    Slo-mo effects coming through the gate are good.  Spock and Kirk arriving is a little weak, but McCoy’s arrival in the past… whoa, and followed by his confrontation with the homeless man pinching the milk.  Whoa.  

    Again, great effects coming out of the gate at the end.  The expressions on Uhura and Scotty when they see Kirk; my goodness.  No need for extraneous verbiage, the actors’ faces and posture say it all.  

    Reply

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *