Search - Star Trek - The Original Series, Vol. 39, Episodes 77 & 78: The Savage Curtain / All Our Yesterdays on DVD

Aimee M. (AimeeM)
Reviewed on 2/22/2010...

SAVAGE CURTAIN
This episode is certainly not very dramatic or well written, but it is worth watching for anyone who was a fan of the whole "Vulcan Culture" thing.

The idea of an alien making an exact replica of Abraham Lincoln is a little ridiculous, but it at least gave viewers the opportunity to see this "father of Vulcan" guy called Surak. Oddly... for a father of Vulcan he is dressed... well...he is in a rainbow suit! Little odd.

ALL OUR YESTERDAYS
This is a classic episode that is probably on a list somewhere of "If you like Star Trek watch this one." That being said, it is not high on MY list of "gotta see" episodes. The idea is cool of a library that send you to different time periods, and of course the plot of getting stuck in an Ice Age isn't bad at all...

But for the record: if it is an Ice Age how come the girl is wearing a leather bikini? Seriously! :) Ok, it is so Spock can get a girl instead of Kirk, but sheesh...

Not a masterpiece by any means but pretty much every Star Trek is worth watching at least once.

STAR TREK THE ORIGINAL SERIES' LAST GASPING BREATH!

Jared Insell | Canada | 03/22/2003

(5 out of 5 stars)

"We must be reaching the end, because Volume 39 of The Star Trek DVD series contians two of the last great episodes producedin the series three season run.At first look THE SAVAGE CURTAIN may be considered a ridiculously silly episode. This is the infamous episode where 'Abraham Lincoln' makes an appearance. True that this episodes plot is way too far out to ever actually occur but still you have to give the writers credit for their creativity even if this is too cheesy. Basically the story goes that the Enterprise crew are abducted by a friendly alien entity who takes the form of Lincoln. Lincoln insists he is who he actually is and requests that Kirk and Spock accompany him to the molten planet where (unbeknowst to our heroes) the rock like aliens, the Excalbians have organized a battle between good and evil. Pitting (good) Kirk, Spock, Lincoln and the greatest Vulcan philosopher Surak against (evil) Genghis Khan, Kahless the Unforgettable (founder of the Klingon Empire), Col.Green (someone who supposedly is a Tyrant in our future) and Zora (some fairly forgettable experimental witch tyrant here). The story has essentially an anti-war message. Some people consider this to be one of the worst episodes. I actually greatly disagee with that thought on this show. Of course it's nowhere near the best but it's effective and creative, especially considering that (by this time) the Star Trek series was on life support. Not the best but good for third season standards. Hey, at least they didn't credit Abraham Lincoln played by himself!ALL OF OUR YESTERDAYS was the last great Star Trek episode to ever make it into production. Being only an episode away from the end of the series' three year run, in retrospect they should have ended with this one. The story essentially deals with time travel. The Enterprise journeys to Sarpeidon and Kirk, Spock and McCoy meet a peculiar old librarian (played by Ian Wolfe). It's a really effective time travle episode since this story has three settings: Present day Sarpeidon, Kirk in Sarpeidon's Victorian age, Spock and McCoy in Sarpeidon's ice age. The last setting really steals this episode. Partly because we see Spock's barbaric nature take him over. There is no doubt why Nimoy is on the front of the DVD case. He even gets an effective love interest in this story (played by Mariette Hartley). An interesting plot, great acting and a somewhat tragic ending make tihs episode one of the more memrable episodes from the tail end of the Star Trek series.Overall this is another must. One of the better pair of episodes from the end Star Trek's wildly uneven third season. Highly recommended."

"It Was the Best of Treks, It Was the Worst of Treks..."

Bruce Rux | Aurora, CO | 08/04/2002

(3 out of 5 stars)

"I suppose you could get sillier and more childishly simplistic than to find an unbelievable lava-rock monster pitting Abraham Lincoln against Genghis Khan on an arena planet (with Kirk and Spock aiding the centuries-dead ex-president) to see whether good is stronger than evil, but - come to think of it, no you couldn't.That's "The Savage Curtain," probably the worst-ever episode of the series."All Our Yesterdays" is one of the best-ever.Kirk, Spock and McCoy try to evacuate the inhabitants of a planet about to be devastated by a supernova, only to find that they've already found their own way out via the Atavachron, a time-machine that sends people back into the past, out of harm's way. Kindly Mr. Atoz (Ian Wolfe) and his numerous clones mistake the Enterprise personnel for people needing to be evacuated - so, Kirk soon finds himself accused of being a witch in a 17th century setting to which he is sent against his will, and Spock and McCoy are sent back to the planet's Ice Age. The sole human resident in that Ice Age is the fetching Zarabeth (Mariette Hartley), a sad and tragic forgotten prisoner who falls madly in love with Spock (and he with her) and will do anything to keep him with her - even if it's possible to send the misplaced pair back to the place from whence they came.This is a great episode, owing largely to Hartley's moving performance as the doomed beauty, Zarabeth. Leonard Nimoy and DeForest Kelley really shine in this story, McCoy going crazy and Spock succumbing to his atavistically violent Vulcan lusts. Shatner does pretty well too, but this is really Nimoy and Kelley's time to show what they've got."

Finally! A Volume Worthy of Keeping From the 3rd Season!

Frederick Baptist | Singapore | 03/12/2007

(5 out of 5 stars)

"As TOS finally comes to an end we get a volume worthy of Trek lore. A mediocre 3rd season had me praying for someone to put this puppy out of its misery but at least we get two episodes, the second of which even more so, that are worthy of inclusion among the very best episodes across all 3 seasons here.

The first episode is a little silly at times but the huge redeeming factor for me is the introduction and explanation of very key characters that are pivotal to future Trek series like DS9 e.g. Kahless and the Founding Father of the Vulcans. Also, the moral that the pursuit of science and knowledge are noble and worthy causes in and of themselves but not at the cost of misery and suffering to innocent others I found to be very relevant even today.

The second episode is one of my all-time favourites and I even liked it better than "City On...Forever." Just as in that episode, there are a number of inconsistencies and strange events here like how can a completely different planet have a similar history as ours with musketeers to boot! Ignoring this though, the side-story with Spock and McCoy is simply brilliant. Nimoy does a very good acting job here as he shows emotions of jealousy and anger and then reverts to his usual self at the end. A very good time-travel episode and very easily the best episode of the final season.

If you are deciding which volumes to keep, this one falls under the "Must Have" category.

Recommended."