EPISODE

28. The City on the Edge of Forever

Ripples in time have provoked the curiosity of the Enterprise crew. One such ripple shakes the ship and gravely injures Sulu. McCoy brings him back from the brink with a powerful drug, but another ripple results in a tragic overdose, afflicting McCoy with dangerous paranoia! He beams down to the planet - the transporter was locked onto the source of the time disturbances. On the surface, he evades the landing party long enough to flee - into the past, where his psychosis results in him somehow erasing the Federation, and the Enterprise, save only the landing party. Their one chance is to use the same artifact - the self-styled Guardian of Forever - to arrive before McCoy and prevent him from changing their history.

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Plot summary

After accidentally overdosing on a powerful stimulant, Dr. McCoy becomes unbalanced and disappears through the Guardian of Forever, a newly discovered time portal on a remote planet. Kirk and Spock follow after learning that McCoy somehow changed history, removing everything they once knew, including the Enterprise. Arriving in the 1930s, the duo meets Edith Keeler, a New York social worker, who gives them a place to stay. As the days pass, and McCoy is nowhere to be seen, Kirk finds himself falling in love with Keeler, but Spock discovers that Keeler must die to restore the timeline. In 1997, TV Guide ranked this " Hugo Award "-winning episode number 92 on its list of the 100 Greatest Episodes. In 2009, it moved to #80.

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