‘Star Trek’ Retro Recap: ‘For the World Is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

We face a great many difficult moments in our lives, and one of the toughest, is when we lose a loved one. Because they mean the world to us and knowing that the rest of our days won’t feature their smiling faces is a tough prospect to deal with. But tough or no, death is a constant in life. For our time on this world is limited. But what is truly fascinating about death, is that we outright forget that we are going to face our own departure from this world at some point down the line. And it is something we don’t want to ponder upon because not only is it unpleasant, but we haven’t a clue how to handle those final days and that’s why television and books and movies take the time to examine this important topic, often.
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Because perhaps fiction can give us a bit of a blueprint as to what we should do when we face the end, and oddly enough, this topic is so important to us, that it even finds its way into stories that are often designed to be uplifting and hopeful. Which oddly enough, includes Star Trek. Because despite the medical advances present in the 23rd Century, death still finds the good people of the Federation and the end is something that an important crew member aboard the U.S.S. Enterprise was forced to face unexpectedly in the next episode of this brilliant series. For Doctor Leonard ‘Bones’ McCoy came to discover that he had a supremely rare and fatal disease in ‘For the World is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky’ and that forced him to decide how best to live his final days in a fulfilling manner.

Which at first, involved him taking the time to go about his day as though nothing had changed in regard to his health. For when the crew of the NCC-1701 encounters a rogue asteroid that somehow manages to fire ballistic missiles at the ship, he is right there on the transporter pad, ready to beam down and investigate with Kirk and Spock, despite the captain’s misgivings. But this speaks volumes to McCoy’s pride and how his view of meeting the end involves facing it in the bravest and boldest of fashion until his body would no longer allow him to do so. Which is a lovely message to find in the framework of a story that should in turn be bleak, and the uplifting nature of McCoy’s bravery led to more bittersweet and beautiful moments as the episode rolled along.

Because once they were aboard the asteroid, they came to discover a living and thriving society beneath its surface, one that was put there by a dying society in the hopes that their beliefs and people would live on. And while Kirk and Spock figured out a way to save this species, since they were on a collision course with another world, McCoy found another way to face his final days in peace. All by letting the leader of these people into his heart and really, it was just wonderful to see the Doctor savor the moment, knowing full well it would never come again. But while all of these tender moments were lovely in their own right, eventually the plot and his illness had to be resolved. Because this is Sci-Fi. Where anything can happen and of course, we know McCoy lives, and eventually everything ended happy and a cured McCoy resumed his duties aboard the Enterprise, and sadly the ending of this tale leaves one feeling hollow.

Not because McCoy survived. But more so due to the fact that this episode didn’t do enough in its exploration of mortality. For this was a prime opportunity to really reflect upon a life well led, and McCoy’s regrets over what he may not have accomplished just yet, and sadly, most of that is pushed aside for exposition and special effects, wasting a great opportunity. Which is a shame because it could have led to one powerful story, one that rivaled some of the show’s best. But with season three being a shaky venture already, and the series staring down the cancellation barrel, taking a soft approach makes sense. Because it makes such dark matters fluffy and digestible to an audience, but at the same time, it also makes the episode mediocre at best. But all flaws aside, it was nice to see a McCoy-centric episode so that the ultra-talented DeForest Kelley can do his thing acting wise, and one has to wonder if more side character themed stories are going to pop up as we close in on the end of this storied series. Until next time.

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