‘Star Trek’ Retro Recap: ‘Return to Tomorrow’

Written by John Edward Betancourt 

​How people deal with and face the prospect of death, is something that has always fascinated me. Simply because people handle it in such different ways. For some folks are quite brave and bold when it comes to dealing with the end in any capacity, while others find themselves in powerful pain while they deal with it and some… well they are just outright afraid of it and will do anything to avoid it and they just so happen to fascinate me the most. Because there is no escaping it, but these folks will do whatever it takes to try and cheat the end and I suppose my morbid fascination with these people comes from the age-old game of ‘what if?’ Because what would happen if they figured out how to cheat the inevitable? How much further would they go? And what would they become knowing this no longer applied to them? And clearly, I’m not the only one to wonder this or play this little mental game since these questions served as focal points for the next episode of Star Trek.
 
For ‘Return to Tomorrow’ saw the crew of the Enterprise venture to the edge of known space in order to investigate a strange distress signal from a seemingly dead world. Only to encounter a powerful being named Sargon, who was one of the final survivors of his race, beings that firmly believed they may have helped to seed life in the galaxy. Which, sadly, isn’t the case. Since we learn exactly who did that in The Next Generation, but I digress. Because what matters more here is that Sargon had a plan in mind to resurrect himself and the two closest people in his life from the virtual void they were trapped within, and he needed Kirk and Spock and a young Lieutenant Commander named Ann Mulhall, to help him with his wild plan. Which in essence, consisted of possession, wherein Sargon and his pals would take control this trio’s bodies and use them to build new android bodies so these ancient beings could explore the galaxy and leave their dead world behind.
 
Which is oddly enough, something that Kirk was cool with, and in one hammy but cool speech, he convinced his senior officers that this was the right thing to do and this is when the story slid into the exploration of what would become of a mind when death is left behind and well… none of what the story explored was good in the slightest. For we quickly came to learn that immortality is as boring and as bland as can be since Sargon and his wife Thalassa, and his buddy Henoch were utterly thrilled as the prospect of breathing air again and seeing the world through eyes, and they even found incredible joy over feeling a heart beating in their chest once again. And these little elements we take for granted were enough to prompt Henoch to decide that maybe he didn’t want an android body, that perhaps he could just reside within Spock’s from here on out and that’s really where the episode went into some fascinating territory.
 
Because in essence, Henoch’s decision to kill the man/entity that saved his life so he could enjoy a corporeal existence once again, speaks volumes to the fact that our humanity and the finality that comes with us, is what defines the best parts of us, and what motivates us to be good and live full lives so that we have no regrets and are remembered in positive fashion when we pass on. So, to lose all of that would be disastrous since it would give us a sense of arrogance, and help us to lose our compassion and I won’t lie, this made Henoch one of the more fascinating villains we’ve seen this season, simply because he didn’t have plans for world domination, he just wanted more life and he really didn’t care who he hurt in being able to achieve that and that made for one fascinating exploration of the human condition and I appreciate that the story went there.
 
If anything, this really was quite the unique episode, one that really took the time to analyze both the good and the bad when it comes to being human. Because while the exploration of how some of us fear death was powerful in its own right, Kirk’s decision to help these aliens in the first place, despite the risk involved; was a fine way to remind us of how brave we are and the good we can do when we put fear to the wayside. Plus, this episode also features an important guest star in Diana Muldaur, who played Dr. Mulhall and why she’s significant is because she too would return to the franchise in a big way many years down the line. For she also played Chief Medical Officer Pulaski on Star Trek: The Next Generation for an entire season when Gates McFadden left the show for a bit, and it is quite cool to see her Trek debut and be reminded of how good of an actor she is. In the end however, this was another bold episode of the saga, one that dealt with some heavy stuff, and I enjoyed every single second of it and this one continues to keep my hopes high that season two has found its stride, and that it will be nothing but incredible stories from here on out. Until next time. 

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