The Tholian Web ( episode ) While trying to rescue the Starfleet ship USS " Defiant " , Captain Kirk disappears when the dead ship is pulled into interspace . The " Enterprise " is then attacked by a mysterious local race , the Tholians . Summary . Teaser . As the searches for the , which vanished without a trace in unsurveyed space three weeks earlier , they encounter a glowing object that , according to sensors , is apparently not really there . As the ship moves closer , Captain Kirk identifies it as the " Defiant " and prepares to board the ship . Kirk , Spock , McCoy , and Chekov beam over to the vessel ' s bridge in environmental suit s , and discover the entire bridge crew dead and the " Defiant " s commanding officer lying near his chair with another officer ' s hands on his neck , both dead . Act One . When the party sees the ship ' s captain having been strangled by a crewman and the dead bridge crew , Chekov asks if there is any record of a mutiny on a Federation starship , and Spock says , " " Absolutely no record of such an occurrence , ensign . " " When they discover there are no life sign s on the vessel , the party splits up to investigate . McCoy checks out sickbay and finds many dead crewmen , some restrained to the biobed s , while Chekov finds that the life support section and engineering are littered with dead bodies . After giving his report to Kirk , Chekov suddenly becomes dizzy and loses his balance . McCoy reports that the crew of the " Defiant " seems to have killed each other , but he cannot determine why . According to the ship ' s log , the surgeon on board didn ' t know what was going on either . He encounters a translucent dead body and can pass his hand through both it and a table in sickbay . He determines that the " Defiant " is dissolving . Kirk orders McCoy to return to the " Defiant " s bridge immediately . As the " Defiant " starts to " blink " on and off , repairs are under way on the " Enterprise " s transporter , which Montgomery Scott reports has become " jammed up . " When Kirk and and the rest of the party are ready for beam - out , only three of the landing party can go at once . Spock requests permission to remain behind , but Kirk orders him back to the " Enterprise " and remains behind himself . During transport , Scott and Lieutenant O ' Neil have trouble getting the three officers to materialize . The " Defiant " continues to blink on and off , and Scott eventually gets Chekov , Spock , and McCoy back onto the " Enterprise " . Kirk waits on the " Defiant " s bridge while the " Enterprise " tries to beam him aboard . The " Defiant " disappears and Kirk is lost with it . Act Two . Back on the bridge , Spock explains that Kirk has slipped into another universe . He has determined that an interphase occurs for short periods during which one may travel between universes occupying the same point . In two hours , the computer calculates , another interphase will occur . However , the " Enterprise " must not expend any energy or the dimensional rift will be damaged and Kirk will be lost forever . During this explanation , Chekov becomes enraged and attacks Spock . In the struggle , Chekov is subdued when Spock applies a Vulcan nerve pinch to him . The " Enterprise " crew is subject to the same plague of madness that destroyed the crew of the " Defiant " . Spock must stay close to the space the " Defiant " was in in order to rescue Kirk at the right moment , or he will die , as his environment suit can provide air for only 3 . 62 hours . The conversation is interrupted by the approach of a geometric , rainbow - colored ship . A Tholian commander named Loskene informs the crew that they are trespassing on territory of the Tholian Assembly and they must leave immediately . Spock says that the " Enterprise " is engaged in a rescue mission but Loskene points out that there is no other ship present . In the interests of " interstellar amity " , Loskene agrees to wait until exactly one hour and fifty - three minutes when the " Defiant " reappears from the interspatial rift , the time Spock had calculated . When the time comes for the interphase , everything goes wrong . In sickbay , an orderly attacks Dr . McCoy , who was trying to find a cause of the mental derangement . Nurse Christine Chapel administers a hypospray to subdue the orderly . The time for the interphase comes and goes , but the Tholian ship ' s engines have disrupted the timing of the interphase . McCoy reports that the sickness is not due to an infectious agent . Instead , the area of space they are in is damaging the Human nervous system . This conversation is interrupted when the Tholians fire upon the " Enterprise " . Spock mutters , " " The renowned Tholian punctuality . " " Spock does not wish to attack but locks phasers on target and hails the Tholians . They do not respond , and he orders Sulu to fire phaser s . The Tholians stand down but the ship ' s power converters become fused and the " Enterprise " is adrift . Another Tholian ship appears , and the two touch aft ends briefly before separating , weaving a web between them . Spock analyzes the web and concludes that it is made of energy . However , " " there is no analog to this structure in Federation technology . " " He announces that if the structure is completed before their repairs are done , the " Enterprise " will not see home again . Act Three . Approximately two dozen crew members assemble for Kirk ' s memorial service . So far , McCoy ' s attempts to make an antidote for the space the spaceship is in have failed , while theragen was promisingly tested so far . Spock speaks , noting Kirk ' s concern for his crewmembers that led him to stay aboard the " Defiant " . Spock repeats the sequence of events that led to Kirk ' s disappearance and says that the crew must accept the fact that their captain is no longer alive . One of the crew members becomes unstable at this point , screaming and yelling , and must be removed and taken to sickbay under restraint . Spock concludes that " " I shall not attempt to voice the quality of the respect and admiration Captain Kirk commanded . Each of you must evaluate the loss in the privacy of your own thoughts . " " Scott calls the crew to order , and they observe a moment of silence . After the crew is dismissed , McCoy informs Spock that Kirk has left a message in his quarters that was to be played in the event that the captain is declared dead . McCoy persuades Spock to view the message , but first berates the Vulcan for attacking the Tholians and reducing the " Enterprise " s chances of escape . McCoy accuses him of attempting to usurp Kirk ' s command . After their argument , they play the message , and in it Kirk asks Spock to temper logic with intuition , and if he needs help with the latter he should consult with McCoy . He also tells McCoy to remember that Spock is now the captain and that his command decisions must be followed . McCoy apologizes to Spock for his earlier outburst and they leave to attend to their duties . Meanwhile , Uhura is off - duty in her quarters dressed in her civilian wear . She feels a sudden pain , and when she recovers she sees an image of Kirk wearing an environmental suit in her mirror . She runs out into a corridor and tells McCoy what she saw , but he takes her to sickbay as if she had been hallucinating . She wants to tell Spock , but she faints . In the engine room , another crewman goes berserk and attacks Scott . McCoy is attempting to synthesize an antidote that will counteract the debilitating effects of interspace . When McCoy returns to the bridge , Scott reports that he also sees an apparition of Kirk . Scott returns to the bridge . Spock and McCoy are talking there when suddenly McCoy appears to be fainting . Spock catches him and then turns to see the image of the captain , who appears to be trying to shout something . The captain ' s image then disappears . Act Four . When Uhura is released , the crew ' s fortunes begin to change . Spock and Scott have calculated the next time that Kirk will appear . McCoy has found an antidote for the mental degradation with a diluted theragen derivative . Theragen , a Klingon nerve gas , while toxic in its pure form , merely acts as a powerful nerve blocker when dissolved in alcohol . Spock is understandably reluctant to take this antidote , but McCoy orders him to and tells him that it ' s the " Human " thing to do . Scott , on the other hand , likes it well enough that when he leaves he takes the rest of the bottle with him , presumably to see how it will taste mixed with Scotch . At the next interphase , Kirk appears in space near the " Enterprise " . The ship attempts to rescue Kirk , but the ship is thrown clear of the web when it tries to resist a Tholian tractor beam . Thankfully , since Kirk was locked into the transporter beam , he was also dragged along . McCoy and Nurse Chapel stand by in the transporter room with a hypo of tri - ox compound , as Kirk ' s environmental suit is beginning to run out of air and he is about to suffocate . Kirk is successfully beamed back by O ' Neil aboard the " Enterprise " and revived . Kirk is back in uniform and sitting in the captain ' s chair on the bridge , and tells Spock and McCoy that after the " Defiant " was thrown out of the interphase , he had a whole universe to himself , but he prefers a crowded one instead . He asks them how they got along , and Spock and McCoy say that things went all right , for the most part . Kirk says he hopes his last taped orders were helpful , but Spock and McCoy lie and say that they were so busy with the crisis that they never got a chance to listen to them . Kirk gives them both a doubtful look and orders Sulu to take the " Enterprise " to warp factor two . Memorable quotes . " " The renowned Tholian punctuality . " " " " I shall not attempt to voice the quality of respect and admiration which Captain Kirk commanded . Each of you must evaluate the loss in the privacy of your own thoughts . " " " " He was a hero in every sense of the word , yet his life was sacrificed for nothing . " " " " Doctor , I am in command of the " Enterprise " . " " " " I would like to remedy that situation . " " " " You might find that he is capable of Human insight and Human error . " " " " He ' s alive ! He ' s alive , Doctor ! " " " " In critical moments , men sometimes see exactly what they wish to see . " " " " Do you suppose they ' re seeing Jim because they ' ve lost confidence in you ? " " " " I ' m sure the captain would simply have said : ' Forget it , Bones ' . " " " " One good slug of this , and you can hit a man with phaser stun , and he ' d never feel it or even know it . " " " " Does it make a good mix with Scotch ? " " " " It should . " " " " I ' ll let you know . " " ( Scott walks out with the flask ) " " I see him ! " " " " There he is ! " " " " It ' s the captain ! " " " " I must say I prefer a crowded universe much better . " " " " Orders , Captain ? " " " " What orders are you referring to , Jim ? " " Background information . Remastered information . The remastered version of " The Tholian Web " aired in many North American markets during the weekend of . Some of the effects shots were virtual recreations of the original footage , whereas others were more dynamic and showed angles of both starships never before seen . The Tholian starship retained the essential design elements of the original model , but more detail and internal lights were added . The scene involving Commander Loskene was left intact and no new images of the Tholians were shown . Links and references . References . alcohol ; analogy ; annexation ; biochemistry ; " Bones " ; brain tissue ; central nervous system ; ; ; emergency maintenance power ; emergency manual monitor ; energy field ; environmental unit ; Exo III ; Federation ; hypo ; interphase ; interspace ; intravenous ; kilometer ; library computer console ; logic ; Loskene ' s ship ; mass analysis ; medical lab ; medical surgeon ; Medical Surgeon , USS " Defiant " ; memorial service ; message tape ; mutiny ; oral ; orderly ; parsec ; phaser tracking control ; power supply converter ; radiation ; red alert ; scanner ; Scotch ; sensor s ; shock ; ship ' s log , USS " Defiant " ( NCC - 1764 ) ; spasm ; squad ; theragen ; Tholian ; Tholian Assembly ; ; Tholian web ; tractor field ; transporter accident ; trespassing ; tri - ox compound ; universe ; Vulcan ; Vulcan neck pinch