Return to Tomorrow (Episode)
| Series | Star Trek |
| Season | 2 |
| Episode | 20 |
| Production Number | 51 |
| Release Date | 9 Feb 1968 |
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Stardate 4768.3: Telepathic aliens take over Kirk and Spock's bodies.
Answering a mysterious distress call from Arret — a planet thought long dead — Kirk, McCoy, and Dr. Anne Mulhall are transported underground to confront the last three survivors of that world's civilization. Sargon, Thalassa, and Henoch have preserved their conscious minds within spherical containers, and have remained in this state for centuries. They now wish to "borrow" the bodies of Kirk, Spock, and Dr. Mulhall so that they can construct android bodies to house their minds on a permanent basis. Sargon assures Kirk that his people will be safe, their minds encased for a short time within the same containers his people now occupy. McCoy is concerned about the high metabolic rate necessary for "possession." The real danger, however, is Henoch, who appropriates Spock's body without any intention of returning it. Henoch telepathically forces Nurse Chapel to poison Sargon (in Kirk's body) and then destroys the globe that houses Spock's mind. Fortunately, Spock's consciousness had already left the globe, hidden within the mind of Nurse Chapel. Henoch is tricked into leaving Spock's body, and is destroyed. Sargon and Thalassa vacate the bodies of Kirk and Dr. Mulhall voluntarily, announcing (after one last kiss) that they will be happy to roam throughout the universe together in their noncorporeal state.
Story
John T. Dugan
Writer
Gene Roddenberry
Director
Ralph Senensky
Starring
William Shatner … Captain Kirk
Leonard Nimoy … Mr. Spock
DeForest Kelley … Dr. McCoy
Also Starring
James Doohan … Scott
George Takei … Sulu
Nichelle Nichols … Uhura
Walter Koenig … Chekov
Guest Starring
Majel Barrett … Nurse Christine Chapel
Diana Muldaur … Dr. Anne Mulhall
James Doohan … Sargon (Voice)
Uncredited … Thalassa (Voice)
Uncredited … Henoch (Voice)
