Star Trek's beloved cast took a back seat to a cat
The cost of that backdoor pilot ambition was paid almost entirely by the regulars. Kirk, Spock, and McCoy spent much of the episode watching events unfold from behind glass, commenting on the action rather than driving it. More specifically, Shatner and Nimoy each appeared for roughly 14 to 15 minutes of the episode’s runtime.
And our other regular co-stars—Nichelle Nichols, James Doohan, Walter Koenig, and George Takei—saw their usual limited screen time limited even more. The result was an episode that felt curiously hollow, a TOS-shaped frame holding a story about anyone but the crew.
The supporting guest cast further underscored how far the episode drifted from the norm. Don Keefer, Morgan Jones, and Paul Baxley populated the Earth-bound narrative with military and law-enforcement authority figures, grounding the episode firmly in late-1960s techno-thriller territory.
Even Gary Seven’s cat, Isis, received more narrative attention than some Enterprise officers. (Continued...)