‘The Tholian Web’ (TOS) (TV)

  

‘THE THOLIAN WEB’ (TOS)

Please feel free to comment on my review.

‘The Tholian Web’ is another gripping ‘Star Trek’ episode to watch from ‘The Original Series’. It has the Enterprise crew going made with tantrums and also had Kirk lost into outer space in a spacesuit.

The episode has the Enterprise finding its sister ship, the Defiant, lost in outer space and fading green all over. Kirk with Spock, Bones and Chekov beam over onto the Defiant bridge to investigate.

But in the process, they discover that the Defiant is dissolving out of our universe as well as every crewmember on board dead. Kirk orders that Spock, Bones and Chekov beam back to the Enterprise.

Once Spock, Bones and Chekov return, they lose Captain Kirk in the process as the Defiant fades out of our universe altogether. This arouses anxiety and anger among the Enterprise members on board.

The Enterprise soon gets caught by the Tholians in an energy web after they accuse them for trespassing in their space. Will the Enterprise escape the web as well as rescue Captain Kirk in space?

I liked it when I saw Kirk, Spock, Bones and Chekov in spacesuits as they beam over to the Defiant. It’s rare to see ‘Star Trek’ characters in proper spacesuits and this feels like proper 60s space drama.

By the way, if you want to know where the Defiant went when it disappeared from our universe, check out the two-part ‘Enterprise’ story, ‘In a Mirror Darkly’. It ended up in that Mirror universe apparently.

This episode is where we get to meet the Tholians for the first time. Only one of them is seen on the Enterprise’s view-screen when Spock talks to her. Loskene seems pretty static when on the screen.

I can’t remember when the Tholians return to ‘Star Trek’ again, apart from the ‘In a Mirror Darkly’ two-parter from ‘Enterprise’. But they’re very good at creating energy webs, especially on the Enterprise ship.

Chekov is the first who goes berserk on the Enterprise after they’ve lost Captain Kirk. This is due to a space sickness caught from the Defiant and it gets to be an epidemic that spreads to crew members.

It was tense when Spock informs everyone at a service that Kirk is possibly no longer alive and a crewmember lashes out. Bones doubts and questions Spock when he assumes command of the ship.

I liked the interaction between Spock and Bones as they’re clearly in disagreement with one another on how to handle the situation. It was good those two got to see Kirk’s last message in his quarters.

Kirk relates to Spock and Bones in his last message how he puts his trust in them both when taking command of the Enterprise once gone. Bones says sorry to Spock for the harsh things he said to him.

There is a sense of growing dread and anxiety when it seems that Kirk is gone forever from the Enterprise. Spock is determined to keep onto the belief that Kirk is still alive, despite Bones’ doubts.

Uhura is the one who sees Kirk as a ghost before her in her bedroom mirror. She’s convinced that Kirk is still alive. I liked it that it’s Uhura who sees Kirk first, since she’s a very compassionate person.

Spock and Bones obviously don’t believe Uhura, until Scotty sees Kirk for himself in engineering. They then all see Kirk as a ghost on the bridge, confirming that he’s still alive and also in outer space.

‘The Tholian Web’ is another gripping and tense ‘Star Trek’ episode to watch from ‘The Original Series’. I’m very pleased with how they saved Kirk’s life and how they escaped from the energy web.

The DVD special features for this episode are as follows. On Disc 3 of both the original and re-mastered DVDs of ‘Star Trek: The Original Series – Season 3’, there is a preview trailer for this episode.

‘The Tholian Web’ (TOS) rating – 8/10

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The previous story For ‘The Original Series’ was ‘For The World Is Hollow and I Have Touched The Sky’ (TOS) (TV)	The next story For ‘The Original Series’ is ‘Plato’s Stepchildren’ (TOS) (TV)
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