"The Way to Eden" begins a string of episodes that almost makes Trek fans glad the series ended when it did. The premise is laughable (helping space hippies find their paradise), as is the story. Very little of what made the series such a groundbreaking one was evident as it limped toward cancellation in the final episodes, and this one is a good (or bad) example of a show that had simply lost warp capability.
Leonard Nimoy, as usual, brings some humanity to Spock, as we see in him a genuine desire to help the hippies in their quest. He seems to empathize with their plight of a search for meaning in a cold universe, and it helps us understand a little more about his human/Vulcan dichotomy. There's nothing really enlightening about this quest, however. No high-minded values or flights from persecution are evident to help the viewer sympathize with the hippies.
And while no series hits the mark every time, and one as far-reaching and ambitious as Trek deserves some forgiveness in criticism of those ideas that simply don't work, these final few episodes are just hard to watch.
With the exception of the interesting Spock regression in "All Our Yesterdays," "Way to Eden" clearly marks the beginning of a very disappointing end. When you review this episode together with the others that follow: "The Cloud Minders," "The Savage Curtain" (I mean, really, a talking rock! Possibly the second-worst Trek episode just ahead of "The Lights of Zetar") and the final episode, "Turnabout Intruder," it becomes obvious that Star Trek's creative resources were in full retreat. As they say in the TV world, the series had jumped the shark.
Leonard Nimoy, as usual, brings some humanity to Spock, as we see in him a genuine desire to help the hippies in their quest. He seems to empathize with their plight of a search for meaning in a cold universe, and it helps us understand a little more about his human/Vulcan dichotomy. There's nothing really enlightening about this quest, however. No high-minded values or flights from persecution are evident to help the viewer sympathize with the hippies.
And while no series hits the mark every time, and one as far-reaching and ambitious as Trek deserves some forgiveness in criticism of those ideas that simply don't work, these final few episodes are just hard to watch.
With the exception of the interesting Spock regression in "All Our Yesterdays," "Way to Eden" clearly marks the beginning of a very disappointing end. When you review this episode together with the others that follow: "The Cloud Minders," "The Savage Curtain" (I mean, really, a talking rock! Possibly the second-worst Trek episode just ahead of "The Lights of Zetar") and the final episode, "Turnabout Intruder," it becomes obvious that Star Trek's creative resources were in full retreat. As they say in the TV world, the series had jumped the shark.
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