Star Trek (TV Series) The Way to Eden (1969) User Reviews

A missed opportunity for insight into an era

[ajoyce-222-935612 · 6/10 · 24 February 2013]

I agree with other reviewers that this is a poor example of original Star Trek, but for different reasons. It's quite clear that the scriptwriters or producers were hostile to the youth culture movement of the day. The ridiculous way the space hippie tribe is depicted make them little more than a caricature. Worse, they are shown exhibiting all the behaviour of cult members. This is hardly what the hippie movement was about. Most were just looking for a way to reconnect with the planet. Here they are shown as delusional and even dangerous, which of course is the way authorities saw them in the '60s.

Fortunately the scriptwriters make Spock an excellent foil to this all-out hostility toward anyone who questions authority. (Was that Roddenberry's contribution?) If there's a redeeming quality to this episode, it's Nimoy's performance. That the most logical mind in the universe could fully understand the urge to find a way to create a better society proves it's hardly a delusional concept. How else does the human species progress, but by striving for better? Ignore the snarls of the social Darwinists. They just want excuses for their bad behaviour.

In reality there were many complex social factors that created the ferment that was the 1960s —a protracted, bloody war; a suddenly booming economy; higher education for the masses for the first time in history; an incredible explosion of creative genius in most of the arts; racial tensions; emerging gender equality, etc. etc. etc. To oversimplify the stated aims or visions of such a generation is to do them a grave injustice. To depict them as foolish, deluded children is just plain ignorant.

After all, Roddenberry pushed the envelope from the very start of Star Trek. That was hardly establishment thinking. In his own modest way he was as much a part of the social changes sweeping society as any of the other change agents. For a start, he showed women as capable, professional, highly competent and intelligent—besides being sexy. Just look at what else was being made in television and film at the same time and see how many shows you can say that about. I mean, besides Rod Serling and The Twilight Zone.

So as songwriter Nick Lowe once said, "What's so funny about peace, love and understanding?" Is it attainable? Who knows? Probably not. Does that mean we stop trying? "A man's reach must exceed his grasp or what's a heaven for," the poet Browning reminds us. Which is precisely what Roddenberry's Star Trek was all about. Reaching further. Either Roddenberry stumbled on this one, or Heineman had a bad hair day. Or the producers just didn't get it.

"You've got a hard lip, Herbert".

[classicsoncall · 6/10 · 6 March 2011]

As a product of it's times, it was probably inevitable that at some point, Star Trek would take on the hippie counter-culture. To be sure, there were prior episodes in which the series introduced signature elements from the era (#3.5 - 'Is There in Truth No Beauty?' for it's psychedelic effects), but this one appeared to take the hippie movement head on. With it's emphasis on brightly colored attire and a staged sit-in aboard The Enterprise, Roddenberry and his writers were definitely making a statement about the peace and love generation in an outer space context.

But in the execution, this has got to be one of the most embarrassing stories for the players themselves. I wonder what actor Charles Napier must have been thinking when he strapped on those knee high leather go-go boots to give it a whirl as the free wheeling lead man for the Aurora Six. Come to think of it, as far as his manner of speech went, Adam sounded more like a beatnik than a hippie, so the story actually had two generations covered. Yeah, brother, yeah.

But you know, if I was reviewing this episode just a few weeks sooner, I wouldn't have been able to make the following observation. Considering Dr. Sevrin's (Skip Homeier) rants against authority and rejection of sterilized atmospheres, didn't he come off a lot like the Charlie Sheen of his day? You could blame it on the old synthococcus novae, but hey, maybe he had a touch of the old tiger blood. You never know.

Well, credit Spock for keeping things in perspective here. He had an instinctive harmony with the concept of an ideal planet, even if the Captain was stuck in his limited and rigid thought patterns. Somehow, Captain Herbert Tiberius Kirk just doesn't have the right ring to it.

Futuristic Hippies

[bkoganbing · 6/10 · 16 August 2014]

In the year after Woodstock it seemed rather obvious that Gene Roddenberry was using this episode to tap into the Hippie movement which was sweeping the country after the seminal event of Woodstock. Whatever his motivation, Star Trek prime created a nice story about some young people who are looking to tune in, turn on, and drop out.

They're led by a scientist played by Skip Homeier who has done just that. He also has contracted some kind of biological contagion and as Leonard Nimoy observes, he's quite mad. But Nimoy also kind of connects with Homeier's followers.

Not that they don't have a goal in mind, it's to reach a mythical planet called Eden which is not unlike the Garden Of Eden featured in our Abrahamic monotheist religions.

The rub here is that they reach Eden, but the Creator/Deity has put something in the life on Eden that will truly take care of the infestation of civilization as Homeier and several followers find out to their regret.

An interesting and timely episode taking advantage of a trend in our culture.

You have a hard lip, Herbert

[HelloTexas11 · 1/10 · 10 March 2009]

There were plenty of stinkers during ST's final season, but the designation for All-Time Worst Episode usually comes down to a choice between 'Spock's Brain' and 'The Way To Eden.' 'Spock's Brain' might best be described by the question, "what would happen if Ed Wood directed an episode of 'Star Trek?'" 'The Way To Eden,' on the other hand, is the show trying desperately to be 'hip' and contemporary, with painful results. A short plot re-cap pretty much says it all- six space hippies hijack the Enterprise to take them to the planet Eden. Kirk is the rigid, unyielding authority figure that they mock by calling him 'Herbert.' Spock is the cool go-between, because he and the hippies 'reach.' Chekov was once in love with one them, the beautiful Irina, before she 'dropped out.' The mind reels at some of the scenes present here, like the jam session which Spock takes part in. Charles Napier, of all people, plays Adam, lead singer (and sort of lead guitarist) for the hippies. Yes, this is the same Charles Napier who would later appear as a redneck cowboy in 'Blues Brothers' and a police officer/dinner morsel for Hannibal Lecter in 'Silence of the Lambs,' among many other roles. Some of his lines are priceless, like "He's not Herbert!" and "It would sound!" But it is his many songs that are burned into one's brain forever. Eden turns out to be a deadly planet, because all of the plants there contain 'acid.' (How trippy is that?) And at the show's close, Kirk turns to his first officer and says, as only William Shatner can, "We... reach, Mr. Spock." What an appropriate final line for a real howler of an episode.

Not as bad as everyone says

[mszouave · 6/10 · 12 September 2022]

This is far down on my list of Star Trek episodes, but I think it gets too much scorn. Actually , I think it is one of the funnier episodes of the Original series. I especially get a kick out of Charles Napier's Adam. I'm not sure if the episode was supposed to be funny, but it is. There are certainly much worse episodes- bleak and nonsensical episodes like "the Empath" or " the Paradise syndrome". If you don't take it too seriously, it is a moderately fun episode. It is also interesting as a social commentary on the times the show was being made.

It surprises me that this is the lowest rated episode of Star Trek TOS. Granted it is silly, but at least it has some laughs. The worst episodes are just boring.

Space hippies can do no wrong.

[chrisbaird-ma · 1/10 · 1 April 2013]

This episode is probably Star Trek's worst. Aside from the basic weirdness of 1960's hippies in 23rd century space, this episode managed to insult everyone. People who are sympathetic to hippies are insulted by this episode's exaggerated portrayal of hippies as aimless, clueless, cult-like, misbehaving children. People who are annoyed by hippies are insulted by this episode because they are watching characters that are annoying. Worse still, the crew acts like hippies are cool and engaging. When a rebellious band of thugs steals a ship, spreads disease because they don't like vaccines, and foments chaos on your ship, you throw them in confinement. But instead, Kirk keeps pardoning them of their offenses, let's them have free rein of the ship, buys into their delusions of Eden, and even let's them put on a folk concert. Why? Because hippies are cool. That seemed to be the message of this episode: if you're cool (have tattoos and play the guitar), then you can get away with any crime.

One of the low points of the whole series is when Spock has a musical jam session with the hippies for no reason at all. It had nothing to do with the plot and was painful to watch. I have heard others say that this episode is supposed to be funny; a kind of fish-out-of-water humor with hippies on a military spaceship. I did not find it funny. Watching malcontents be disrespectful and adolescent jerks is not funny to me. It was just painful to watch the capable and honorable Kirk submit to denigration at the hands of brainless adolescents for no apparent reason.

Like so many other third-season episodes, this one seemed like a desperate plea for a new audience. Throw hippies on the show and maybe hippies will start watching the show. Throw Abraham Lincoln haphazardly into a story and maybe the history buffs and conservatives will start watching the show.

Good Satire and Comedy, Better than Average Episode.

[Jakealope · 6/10 · 5 June 2009]

This episode was derided when it first came out for "exploiting and denigrating hippies". While stock versions of hippie counter culture folks and themes are used, it is not some mindless hippie love or hate fest, though it had scenes of intense hippie corniness with bad folk style music & vocals, and extravagant psychedelic day glow fashions. Star Trek was always hip to the current trends and if they didn't have at least one episode like this, in the height of the anti-war Woodstock days, they would have been neglectful. It certainly is a lot more sympathetic to hippies than a contemporary right wing talk show crackpot raving about evil godless communist hippies. The episode brought up some useful questions about how even the enlightened and far more humane and just future may be sterile, depressing and boring to some. It also captured the mindset of some of the demented radical types; renegade intellectuals and Scientists, who found a niche in those movements. It had some comedy, some drama and some insight. It wasn't one of the best episodes but far from the worst, I say 6 out of 10 in the scale of ST episodes. Certainly, it was in the spirit of Star Trek and avoided the stock monsters, bad aliens, superior beings or evil villains which drive most sci fi shows while it did explore uncharted space and ideas.

The single worst Star Trek TOS episode

[fabian5 · 1/10 · 19 December 2007]

The Way to Eden was both a terrible Star Trek episode and, in my view, certainly the Worst TOS show ever made. Even Spock's Brain had its campy, humorous moments but this show was bad throughout! It epitomized the very depths of season 3 of TOS. The plot holes in the show are too many to count: how did a group of space age hippies manage to travel to their Eden by hijacking the Enterprise and then maneuver the large starship into Romulan space without sparking a Romulan response? Why does the young Chekov suddenly become the inflexible status quo adult personality we see here in this episode? Moreover, why would Spock, the Enterprise's second-in-command, play music with a group of social outcasts who had just stolen the Aurora spaceship and nearly violated the Federation-Romulan neutral zone? A real Vulcan would have had them thrown in the brig instead. If Eden was such a poisonous, acidic planet, how did Dr. Sevrin, the leader of this group, manage to climb a tree when logically the tree trunks should have burned his skin upon contact. But, I forgot: there is simply no logic in this episode! If DC Fontana had remained the show's script writer in season 3 of TOS, most of her original 'Joanna' storyline could have been produced as she envisioned it instead of being rewritten almost out of existence by the season 3 script staff. Its no surprise that Fontana removed her name from this show due to the disaster it became.

Fontana's original 'Joanna' script--the prelude to 'The Way to Eden'--was competent: Eden is now a dead planet because its peace-loving people allowed their baser emotions to take over and destroy themselves. Fontana never mentions that Eden was located within the Romulan Empire. Chekov's love, Irina, doesn't appear either. The group of social misfits--called 'The Artists'--are actually rescued from a planet where their spacecraft crash landed. There are few plot holes and plenty of character interactions (ie. sparks) flying between Dr. McCoy and his daughter, Joanna, since the doctor realizes that she has been lying to him for the past 3 years and was not studying to be a nurse, as she had claimed. Joanna and McCoy eventually begin to reconcile at the end of the show after Joanna states that she will serve time for helping hijack the Enterprise and McCoy decides to allow her to choose whatever career she wants. In short, the show had the ingredients to be an excellent and highly personal TOS episode instead of the very depths of season 3 of Classic Trek.

Hippies steal the Enterprise

[Tweekums · 6/10 · 20 August 2015]

As this episode opens the Enterprise intercepts a stolen spacecraft as it heads into Romulan space. Those aboard are flying it in such a reckless manner that it explodes just as they are beamed out. Once aboard the Enterprise we see that they are a bunch of space-hippies. They intend to set up a new colony on Eden; a perfect planet they believe they will find. Kirk is unimpressed and plans to take them to the nearest star base; the only reason they aren't thrown in the brig is that one of them is the son of an ambassador. They soon start causing trouble; trying to incite younger crew members to join them and generally being obstructive. Spock seems to have an understanding with them and agrees to use the ship's computer to help them find the planet they seek. The group are given medical scans which reveal that its leader Dr Sevrin is the carrier of a deadly disease; he is quarantined but soon after his followers release him and take over auxiliary control. From here they shut off bridge controls and take the Enterprise to their Eden in Romulan territory. To ensure they are left in peace Sevrin plans to kill everybody left aboard the ship.

This is another one of those episodes that could have been so much better; the idea of a cult lead by a madman looking for their Eden isn't a bad idea but having them acting like a bunch of space-hippies was a mistake. Perhaps it seemed a groovy idea in '69 but now it just seems terribly dated. The way they constantly call authority figures 'Herbert' and one of them keeps breaking into song is embarrassing… although I admit some viewers might mind such things accidentally amusing. Sevrin wasn't a bad villain; his plans to dispose of the Enterprise crew did give him a Manson-like madness; it was his followers who were embarrassing. As well as these hippies we have to believe that it would be easy for such a small number of them to take control of the Enterprise and even harder to believe that the logical Spock would be the one to sympathise with them. On the plus side I was pleased that the annoying singer was the first to die when they arrive on their Eden and find every plant is poisonous! Overall a disappointing episode; it isn't surprising that the show was cancelled soon afterwards.

Somewhat embarrassing

[johnsawyercjs · 2/10 · 22 December 2007]

I remember seeing this episode when it was first aired, when I was 10, and I can confirm that it was considered silly at the time. The "hippie" characters in this episode were similar to some other conservative "hippie" portrayals at the time--we all knew real hippies didn't act that way, and we didn't really know where certain people in Hollywood got the idea for this kind of portrayal, though once they got it into their heads, it became ingrained in the minds of certain writers and directors for a while, as what you should do when you needed to portray a rebel. Some people in Hollywood have always been big on recycling characterizations, and simplification.

Totally dated, but still one of my favorites

[notropis01 · 9/10 · 16 August 2014]

No spoilers here. Do they reach Eden? Watch and find out!

Yeah, I know, no self-respecting Trekkie would give this episode 9 out of 10 stars. But sorry, Herbert, if you don't reach, you don't reach.

I laughed so hard I pee'd myself when I saw this in 1969 (it's OK, I was 7 years old), and it still contains dozens of my all-time favorite Star Trek quotes, plus Spock playing an auto harp while the blond chick plays a bicycle wheel.

"He's not Herbert! We reach."

"Gonna crack my knuckles and jump for joy, got a clean bill of health from Dr. McCoy!"

"Only the primitives can cleanse me."

And the Obama "O" hand symbol, 40 years ahead of its time.

The worst

[jeffjones-88225 · 25 July 2020]

The fact that the same plotline was recycled somewhat for Star Trek V should clue you in. The third season threw up some stinkers, and some that transcended the cuts to the budget, but there is no hiding the dated hippy star children plotline. It just shows how great an actor Shatner is, that playing the 'square' he doesn't come off pompous or over bearing. And to think a few seconds too late at the beginning and they would have all died when the ship explodes. Although it would be nice to think Adam is a descendant of Tucker McElroy from the Good Ol' Boys in The Blues Brothers.

Not nearly as bad as people make us believe it to be

[ferrenberg · 7/10 · 1 May 2022]

Season 3 of TOS has a collection of terrible episodes and, in comparison, this is not the worst of them. In fact, I'd say this is one of the best episodes out of a very shaky season. Also the music is super fun, I love them.

Hippies take over the show and Spock drops acid (or so it seems)

[planktonrules · 2/10 · 8 December 2006]

The episode opens with a group of futuristic hippies being apprehended by the Enterprise after they stole a shuttle craft and went in search of Eden!! The group is lead by a guy who looks like he's gotten an ear transplant from an Indian elephant--he also happens to be nuts. Among his hippie followers is a girl who once loved Chekov as well as a guy who seems attracted to Spock and vice-versa (I'm not going there). Although Kirk is obviously too "square" to appreciate these "free spirits", Spock gets a sudden injection of "coolness" and is amazingly at-home with these vagabonds. Seeing Spock jamming with them using what looks a bit like an electric auto harp is unintentionally hilarious, as is most of the episode. And, when the hippies begin singing about Eden ("yeah, brother,..."), I find myself feeling kind of queasy! I am sure that dumb TV like this helped finally put a nail into the coffin of 60s idealism--as today's teens will only laugh until their sides hurt at the whole mess! This is my choice for the third worst Star Trek episode ever (right behind the one about Spock losing his brain and the one about the Yangs and the Coms).

The Cauliflower Power...

[Xstal · 4/10 · 17 February 2022]

Hijacked by a pair of cauliflower ears, the Enterprise is taken by a group who have no fears, by singers and dancers, hippy-like prancers, to a planet called Eden but no paradise appears.

It's a tough swallow, especially at the end, and flower power doesn't save the day.

Trump and Planet Eden

[sambase-38773 · 7/10 · 27 December 2021]

This episode is not about "hippies" this episode is about evil leaders. Trump and his delusional, demented followers tried to overthrow the United States government on January 6th 2021. Sounds like we could use a little peace and love, at least for an hour. So I watched this episode to find some peace and love.

There's that in this episode, but there's also a demented leader just like Trump. He thinks he's going to find the mythical planet Eden and he wants to use the Enterprise to do it. He keeps his followers in line by telling them lies, just like Trump does. Trump is still screaming that he won the election when he has no proof whatsoever. Every single recount shows that he lost. But his gullible followers believe him and not their own eyes.

Let me repeat what I said earlier. This episode is not about "hippies". This episode is about evil leaders. The lesson of this episode is to never follow insane leaders. It's a good lesson for Trump followers. Heed this great lesson.

Hippies in Space rename Kirk...Herbert!

[Bogmeister · 4/10 · 8 March 2007]

Though I cannot in good conscience give this one more stars, due to the ridiculous tone during most of the episode, it does have its charms in places. As mentioned elsewhere, unless you're very, uh, stiff, this one will elicit some laughs from you. Kirk beams aboard a group of radicals from a fleeing ship. Barely dressed, they have rejected the sterile trappings of future civilization, seeking the mythical planet of Eden (now that I think about it, they would have done well to find Apollo's planet in "Who Mourns For Adonais?"). One of these hippies is Chekov's ex-girlfriend, from his academy days - it's amusing when Kirk learns of this; in fact, Shatner is amusing in most of his scenes here. Like several other 3rd season escapades, this attempts to capture the mood and spirit of the decade's (the '60s) relevant topics and, as a result, has become one of the more dated episodes. The interstellar hipsters use future slang such as 'you reach, brother?' and call Kirk 'Herbert' - a derogatory term - when he starts speaking of rules and regulations. It comes across as quite silly now, and probably also sounded silly 35 years ago, and viewers were probably also laughing at these scenes 35 years ago.

The episode tries to come up with insightful explanations for the antics of these flower children of outer space. Spock, of all people, er, Vulcans, relates best to these troublemakers because he understands about being alienated from your own society. However, this episode may have knocked Spock down a peg or two in the eyes of some fans; when he joins the band of free-spirited kids in a jam session of sorts, you expect him to place beads on his head in the next scene and join these punks in their wilderness Shangri-La. Thankfully, that didn't happen. In fact, the best scene is when Spock gets a cold splash of reality and tells Kirk that the leader of this band, a former scientific researcher, is insane. It's also kind of interesting that the motivations of a couple of these radicals are revealed to slightly veer from the main group, showing that everyone, as usual, has their own agenda. But, many scenes are cringe-worthy indeed, perhaps the most embarrassing to watch of the entire series. Most of the singing (by cast-against-type Napier) and shouting by the group of nutcases falls into this category. The climax does have a dark ironic tone, as well it should, as we tend to forget that it actually takes place on a planet somewhere in the Romulan Zone! It also attacks the entire concept of the biblical Eden, but this subversive message is lost amid all the attacks on the authority of the 'Great White Captain upstairs.'

I like it.

[mikesey · 6/10 · 29 November 2019]

This is one of my favourite Star Trek, episodes. I am aware of some people's criticism, but I disagree with them. I like the pointers to the 60s, from the social attitudes to the 'hip language'. The heavily castigated songs were so "bad" that at least one of them was released commercially!

The episode ends very sadly with a big disappointment for the seekers of Eden. Perhaps it mirrors the real disappointment for the idealists of that era.

The Way to Cancellation! The absolute worst episode of all time!

[mike48128 · 1/10 · 8 May 2015]

Yes, there is an episode worst that that one about the evil angel and the spoiled children (AKA "And the Children Shall Lead"). Who knew that Spock was a Vulcan Hippie? Chekov had a girlfriend? Kirk was a "Herbert" (square)? Well, dust off your bellbottoms and go "commando", The Enterprise crew joins "The Cowsills in Outer Space". They do everything but sing "Hair" and "Are You Going to San Francisco?" They sing 2 even worse songs instead. So the 6 space hippies hijack a shuttlecraft to what they believe is "Eden". Two die from bad fruit and the remaining four get the "hot foot" from bad grass (not the smoking kind) and limp back to the ship. So bad that I want the 51 minutes of my life back I wasted watching this! Written by D.C. Fontana, (under a pen name) who must have been on "a bad trip" at the time. Could be recycled as a script for "Lost in Space".

Similarities with the Manson family

[Moody2008 · 7/10 · 3 February 2021]

A lot of commenters here equate this episode with a characterization of the hippie culture as a whole, when in fact I think it strides more to show the extremes of that culture and where it can reach. I see many similaties between the hippie cult shown in this episode with the real life Manson family which murdered the actress Sharon Tate.

The Sharon Tate murder took place in 1969, while this episode runs in 1971, showing influences from this incident are probable. The similarities are astounding: both cults are led by insane figures, both embrace hippie culture and strive for a more simple comunal life, both have music and beautiful women as a way of attracting new members. I don't know how many of you know this but Charles Manson had a song recorded by the Beach Boys.

The Enterprise encounters a group of space hippies in search of the planet Eden

[sportsmedia25 · 1/10 · 14 March 2008]

This episode was a preview of Star Trek V:The Final Frontier with the same premise of searching for Eden. Although Star Trek V was the search for god with a similarly bad storyline. But, Star Trek is like pizza or sex. Even when it's horribly bad as this episode it's still good.

The story itself is so 1960's dated using space hippies who are led by a madman in search of the planet Eden. When they finally do arrive there, the planet is not a paradise but dangerous to humans.

The third season is well chronicled for Star Trek being produced on a shoe string budget. Even creator Gene Roddenberry had given up and left for MGM to pursue other projects. Still, this is one of the 79 episodes and is classic campy Trek.

Oh come on, I'm disappointed...

[marvinthemartian25 · 8/10 · 15 June 2009]

...in those of you who rated this episode low. You seem to be taking this show way too seriously. This episode was just a lighthearted break in the constant action that is star trek. You can't have EVERY episode result in Shatner's shirt being mysteriously ripped off in an epic one-on-one battle with the alien of the week. Sometimes you just need to see Spock having a jam session with some weird hippie types instead. Alright, maybe it's just because I have a not-so-secret crush on Spock, but that was probably one of my favorite scenes in the series. Sure, it's a little campy, but that's half of the show's appeal. Lighten up man, and enjoy the original series for what it was.

Space Hippies! Some call it the worst Trek. Nonsense. Take a look at Assignment Earth, or Lights of Zetar for the worst.

[Bababooe · 6/10 · 23 September 2018]

The main idea here is a cult leader, Dr. Sevrin, that has been damaged by technology (air purifiers/artificial environments) taking a bunch of flower people to a mythical paradise, Eden. They take over the Enterprise by incapacitating the crew with a sonic dog whistle, steal a shuttle craft and end up on the planet Eden. However, the planet's vegetation is poisonous and the musician Adam is found dead after biting into an apple. A great quote from Spock "His name was Adam". Sevrin and the rest are found in the shuttle craft with acid burned bare feet. Sevrin runs over and takes a bit out of the poison apple and also dies. At the end Spock tells one of the women, keep searching for Eden, or make your own. Very good message and ending.

One of the best aspects of this episode is the hippy music. The acting was fine by most of the main cast. Checkoff did well. Take a look at Scotty when he looks at one of his underlings as he's grooving to some hippy music, then after Scotty's look, he stops and gets back to work. Sevrin's acting was good. The rest of the guest actors did fine, but not great.

They should have spent a little more time on Sevrin's background, and how he got to be a carrier of disease from technology. Also, although the music was great, it also derails the tension and dread of Sevrin's disease, and their quest to find paradise. As other's have mentioned, 60's hippy culture, of peace and love, seemed to have been hijacked by crazy cult gurus.

This is far from the worst Trek. More like average. Assignment Earth is probably the worst Trek. It's not even Trek. It's a space 007 nonsense. Trek is only a side show. Lights of Zetar has some decent ideas, but overall it's a joke. Characters acting like idiots. Poor acting. Poor script.

Although I liked the music, I would have rather they cut the music sections, and shown more of a sinister plot of Sevrin, maybe introducing some kind of drug or hypnotics to take over the Enterprise crew, and a few dead Redshirts. More action. That would have elevated this episode from a 6 to 8.

Lost its Way

[stevemcd1227 · 1/10 · 31 October 2007]

"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.

Previous reviewer is incorrect about Woodstock's influence

[dave_silverman · 5/10 · 11 August 2017]

A previous reviewer wrote that Roddenberry was influenced by Woodstock for this episode; however, this couldn't possibly be the case.

This episode originally aired on February 21, 1969; Woodstock took place between August 15 and 18 in 1969.

Otherwise, this is not one of the best episodes of the series (much of Season 3 wasn't good due to a number of reasons, not the least of which was network interference and the downgraded role Roddenberry was allowed to have).