Original air date: September 29, 1966 | Run time: 50min
Captain’s Log, Stardate:
SYNOPSIS
The crew is infected with a mysterious disease that removes people's emotional inhibitions to a dangerous degree.
CANON CONTEXT
Something I thought was cool is that this is the first time the “Vulcan pinch” is seen in a tv episode. I wonder if anyone has counted how many times and by whom it’s been done in the entirety of the Star Trek shows? Also, this episode has a sequel in Star Trek: TNG called “The Naked Now.” Something to look forward to when I get to that series.
One other thing I found interesting is that "The Naked Time" is the only episode in which all three principal female characters (Lt. Nyota Uhura (Nichelle Nichols), Yeoman Janice Rand (Grace Lee Whitney), and Nurse Christine Chapel (Majel Barrett)) appear in the same episode.
RECAP
Let’s get one thing out of the way, right now: No one is fully “naked” in this episode. Why it’s called The Naked Time, I can honestly say, I missed. What I can say is, at one point, Sulu is topless, waving about a sword like a “swashbuckler” as Spock puts it. I found it interesting that he went to that reference when describing the actions of Sulu, but, it is what it is.
As to the point of the story? Well, it seems the crew gets infected after Spock and “some other character” (I feel like Star Trek has plenty of these to go around, almost like NPC’s) beam to the surface of a planet to investigate the fact that everyone seemed to be frozen to death. Two things from the opening scene:
They kept harping on the one guy (not shown) who was dead and fully dressed in the shower.
What in the HECK kind of “hazmat” suits are these??
Anyway, the guy on the right gets “touched” by some strange pinkish/redish blood looking thing and he starts going all crazy. Sweat, a lot of beads of sweat are involved that comes up later. Maybe the whole “naked” thing has to do with the fact that the infection is passed through sweat and those infected are experiencing forms of overheating so they disrobe? The latter doesn’t really happen all that much so…
Okay, certain members of the crew are getting infected and, as you can imagine, causing issues with the ships ability to function. And in true “how can we mess with Spock this episode” fashion, the nurse gets infected, she in turn infects Spock and then in a really strange moment reveals that she is truly, madly, deeply in love with him! Is it the infection talking or is she speaking truthfully?
What makes it even crazier is that Spock manages to get away from her, after apologizing (for lack of reciprocation) profusely. Once alone he… breaks down crying?
At this point the apparent solution could cause the ship to implode or explode, whatever it is that Captain Kirk argues about with Spock when he finds the sobbing mess.
When they perform whatever miracle they need to in order for the ship not to explode they end up going back in time three days! This is crazy to think and even crazier that Spock surmises, on the spot, that because of this ONE TIME they could potentially travel back in time to whatever period they wanted to. But, being the level-headed captain, Kirk says that they likely won’t use it. But it’s nice to know the option is there, of course.
In the end, shocker…they survive. The serum is given to all crew and everything/everyone is back to normal. What a ride!
DID THEY REALLY SAY THAT?
Sulu: Hey, Joey... You feeling all right?
Tormolen: Get off me! You don't rank me and you don't have pointed ears, so just get off my neck!