Plot: What’s it about?
Episode #77- “The Savage Curtain” >>> Airdate 3/7/69
As they survey a planet bathed in lava, the Enterprise crew are surprised to receive a request to board, but even more startled by who made the request. The man who asked to come on board is none other than Abraham Lincoln, the great American president himself. Of course, Kirk allows him to take refuge and gives him much respect, but it seems as though Lincoln has some pressing issues on his mind. He guides Kirk and Spock to a hideous rock monster named Yarnek, who puts good natured folks against mean ones, to see who comes out on top. His race wishes to know which is stronger, so that they can follow suit and be as powerful as possible. Now unless Kirk can claim victory in his battle, the Enterprise is doomed…
I know we’ve all dreamed of seeing Captain Kirk and Abraham Lincoln in the same place, so this episode is a rare treat indeed. Add in a rock monster and some strange arena combat, and we’re in business with a more than acceptable episode. Of course, the main interest here is novelty based and all, but even so, never look a good Trek episode in the mouth. You won’t see too many in your lifetime, so take the rare good ones whenever you can. It’s just fun to see old Honest Abe mingling with the Trek crew I suppose, as the rest of the episode pretty much sucks, aside from Yarnek the rock beast. But even so, the presence of Abe is enough to pull this one from the fire, so Trek nerds and casual fans should be interested here.
Episode #78- “All Our Yesterdays” >>> Airdate 3/14/69
A great threat looms over the planet Sarpeidon, as the planet’s sun is set to explode and if the locals aren’t rescued, they’ll perish in the process. So Kirk and his magical crew whisk nearby and prepare to save the inhabitants, but they only discover one person still there. This person is the librarian and this was the planet’s true hero, as the librarian used a time machine to push the others to safety, instead of risking a longer wait for assistance. This is great news of course, but soon enough, Kirk ends up heading toward the past by mistake, which could mean very news for him and the Enterprise’s crew members. Spock and Bones decide to mount a rescue mission and wind up in the Ice Age, where we start to see a new side of Spock. He quickly falls in love with a gorgeous woman and after that, has no plans to ever leave this era. Will Spock come to his senses, help retrieve Kirk, and restore order to the Enterprise?
This is an unusual episode of Trek to be sure, as the premise is solid and in a rare turn, the potential is actually fulfilled. I wouldn’t say that All Our Yesterdays is a classic television program, but it is one of the better Trek episodes, if you ask me. The time travel angle seems tired at first, but a few wrenches in the gears perk it up, while a nice conclusion ensures the episode turns out well, better than most Trek adventures, to be sure. Yes, it has the usual Trek flaws of often poor writing, bad acting, and cheese laden production design, but as far as Trek episodes go, this one is a nice cut above the rest. As such, both Trek nerds and more casual fans will want to check it out, especially since this disc holds two good episodes.
Video: How does it look?
The episodes are presented in full frame transfers, as intended. As always, Paramount has spruced these up a shade, so they look much better than the reruns, as well as previous home video editions. The prints still show some defects, but look cleaner than they’ve looked in a long while, so I won’t complain too much here. The colors are stable and never err, while contrast seems well balanced and yields an acceptable amount of detail at all times. In short, these episodes look as good as we can expect, so fans should be more than pleased.
Audio: How does it sound?
The new Dolby Digital 5.1 mixes sound decent, but don’t put your expectations too high, or else you’ll be let down. The surround use is limited to some really gimmicky moments and the musical score, but that seems to mesh with the material well, since the series itself is rather gimmicky, without a doubt. The dialogue is clean and easy to understand however, with no problems in the least to report here. This disc also includes English subtitles.
Supplements: What are the extras?
This disc includes the original broadcast trailers for each episode.
