{"id":4132,"date":"2013-09-30T06:05:29","date_gmt":"2013-09-30T06:05:29","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/128-The-City-on-the-Edge-of-Forever"},"modified":"2013-09-30T06:05:29","modified_gmt":"2013-09-30T06:05:29","slug":"128-the-city-on-the-edge-of-forever","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/relivethemajesty.com\/index.php\/2013\/09\/30\/128-the-city-on-the-edge-of-forever\/","title":{"rendered":"1.28 — “The City on the Edge of Forever”"},"content":{"rendered":"\n \n

1.28 — “The City on the Edge of Forever”<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Plot:<\/strong> Time disturbances draw the Enterprise<\/em> 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<\/em> 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.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Thoughts:<\/strong> Star Trek<\/em> gave us something special with \u201cThe City on the Edge of Forever,\u201d 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<\/em> in 1993. It tops many people\u2019s lists of best TOS episodes. Some might say this is the way in which it was filmed. The sets, props, costumes, extras,\u00a0and night shooting give it a very cinematic look, while running up greater costs than any other first season episode.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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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\u2019s side \u201cas if you’ve always been there and always will,\u201d we know exactly what she means, these actors are that good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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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.\u00a0Dare I say it, the story has religious overtones. What is the Guardian, and who is it protecting? The discovery that Keeler\u2019s 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. \u201cThe City at the Edge of Forever\u201d is a love letter to all those, particularly war veterans, \u00a0who have felt compelled to do a bad thing, hoping it is in the service of a greater good.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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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<\/em> 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\u2019s 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?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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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.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Moral dramas fascinate me. They make it seem like there must be answers, somewhere. I also want to belong to a rock band called \u201cEdith Keeler Must Die.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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5 out of 5 accidental cordrazine injections.<\/p>\n\n\n

http:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/The_City_on_the_Edge_of_Forever<\/a>