The Naked Time

Plot

The USS Enterprise, under Captain Kirk, arrives at the dying planet Psi 2000 to observe its breakup and retrieve a research team. Spock and Lieutenant (junior grade) Joe Tormolen beam down and find the researchers dead, one strangled. Tormolen removes his glove, touches a red liquid, and is later beamed back. Dr. McCoy finds no medical issues and clears them for duty.

At lunch, Tormolen becomes hostile, threatens Sulu and Riley with a knife, then stabs himself; he dies after surgery. Sulu runs about with a sword like a swashbuckler, while Riley locks himself in engineering, proclaims himself captain, and sings "I'll Take You Home Again, Kathleen." The infection spreads by touch, and as crew abandon posts, the ship falls into the planet's gravity well. Scott regains engineering but finds the engines shut down.

Spock becomes infected when Nurse Chapel confesses her love; he infects Kirk. McCoy discovers the water from Psi 2000 contains a molecule chain that depresses judgment and self-control, transmitted by touch. He develops a serum and administers it to the command crew, allowing them to regain control.

Production

Originally intended as a two-part episode, the ending was revised to make it standalone; the planned second part later became "Tomorrow Is Yesterday." George Takei learned fencing quickly for Sulu's swashbuckling scene, practicing by lunging at crew members, which led to a delegation threatening to quit if Sulu were given a sword again. This is the only Original Series episode showing the rank of Lieutenant (junior grade), worn by Joseph Tormolen. It is also the only episode in which all three principal female characters—Uhura, Rand, and Chapel—appear together.

Reception

George Takei has called this his favorite episode and devoted a chapter to it in his autobiography. In 2012, The Christian Science Monitor ranked it the third best episode of the original Star Trek. Wired magazine listed it among the top ten most underrated episodes in 2013. Syfy ranked it among the top ten essential Spock episodes in 2015 and listed Uhura's rebuff of Sulu as her tenth best moment in 2016. IGN ranked it the 8th best Original Series episode in 2016 and the 12th best of all Star Trek series in 2013. USA Today noted it as interesting in 2016. PopMatters ranked it 11th best in 2018. Nerdist included it in a "Best of Spock" guide in 2019. Screen Rant ranked it 15th best to re-watch in 2021. Hollywood.com ranked it 18th out of 79 original series episodes in 2024.