The Tholian Web
| "The Tholian Web" | |
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| Star Trek: The Original Series episode | |
The Tholians weave an energy web around the Enterprise.
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| Episode no. | Season 3 Episode 9 |
| Directed by |
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| Written by | |
| Featured music | Fred Steiner |
| Cinematography by | Al Francis |
| Production code | 064 |
| Original air date | November 15, 1968 |
| Guest appearance(s) | |
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"The Tholian Web" is the ninth episode of the third season of the original American science fiction television series, Star Trek. It is episode #64, production #64, first broadcast on November 15, 1968, and repeated August 19, 1969. It was written by Judy Burns and Chet Richards and directed by Herb Wallerstein.
In the episode, Captain Kirk is caught between dimensions while the crew of the Enterprise works to retrieve him. All the while, the Tholians are weaving a destructive energy web around the Enterprise because Spock will not leave Tholian space without his Captain.
The Federation starship USS Enterprise enters an uncharted region of space while searching for her sister ship, the USS Defiant, which disappeared three weeks prior. Their sensors detect dimensional fractures in the area of space, which are draining power from all systems. They find the Defiant adrift, and Captain James T. Kirk, First Officer Spock, Chief Medical Officer Dr. McCoy, and Navigator Ensign Chekov transport across, using environmental suits for protection. Aboard Defiant, they find the crew is dead, apparently having killed each other in the midst of a mutiny.
The boarding party discovers that the Defiant is slowly dissolving as it enters an interdimensional rift. At one point, McCoy is able to pass his hand through an almost invisible man and a table. With limited transporter functionality due to the rift in the fabric of space-time, Kirk orders his men to return to Enterprise first. The beaming takes much longer than normal, and they are almost lost. As Chief Engineer Mr. Scott tries to beam Kirk aboard, the Defiant vanishes, taking the Captain with it.
Spock studies the sensors and believes that, because they had locked onto him before disappearing, Kirk will reappear when the rift experiences a spatial interphase, though he notes that this will stretch the oxygen supply in Kirk's suit to the limit. While they wait, an increasingly furious Chekov starts to go mad and lashes out, a symptom that Dr. McCoy believes is due to their proximity to the rift, as happened to the Defiant's crew. McCoy urges Spock to move the Enterprise to safety but Spock refuses, believing that movement will disrupt the interphase, which would result in the loss of the Captain.
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