Synopsis: The Enterprise gets caught in a time warp and is sent back in time to Earth of the late 1960s.
I do not have a lot to say from a depth psychological perspective per se about “Tomorrow is Yesterday,” perhaps because despite the dire need for the Enterprise to leave the Earth of the 1960s and erase all trace of her appearance there, it is a lighthearted episode. Yet the overall theme of the story seems to be on the fragility of life and how easily what we see as reality can be altered.
The fragility of the timeline is identified by Mr. Spock twice. The first time is shortly after Captain John Christopher, the pilot of the U.S. Air Force interceptor sent to engage the Enterprise, is transported aboard the starship because her tractor beam is too much for his “fragile” plane. Spock tells Captain James T. Kirk that Christopher now has knowledge of the future and if some “unscrupulous man” learned of that information, he could manipulate the history of the Earth, which could lead to them not existing at all. The second time the delicate nature of the timeline is explored is when Spock initially researches the life of Christopher to see if his not returning to his time would change the course of history. However, he neglects to investigate Christopher’s prodigy. Of course, we know for sure that this is a comedy when Spock admits a mistake. When he looks into the matter further, he learns that Christopher’s yet to be conceived son will play an important part in future space travel, so Christopher must return.
The lightness of “Tomorrow is Yesterday” is on display almost immediately, when Kirk gives Christopher the explanation of how the Enterprise is in the past, that “it was an accident,” and Christopher replies “you seem to have a lot of them.” This is in fact true, as before the episode is over another Air Force officer from the 1960s accidentally comes aboard the Enterprise, although he seems to be paralyzed from disbelief and doesn’t even try to leave the Transporter Room. Finally, the lightness of the music track highlights the punchlines of the comical moments, much as it did in “The Trouble with Tribbles,” the most famous lighthearted episode from Star Trek: The Original Series.
Finally, as in many comedies, or light-hearted dramas, at the end of “Tomorrow is Yesterday,” everybody is sent back to where they were before, none the wiser for their adventure. Christopher is not allowed to remember or be changed by his visit to the Enterprise.
Original post created 23 January 2021
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