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List Price: $19.99 | | Label: CBS Paramount International Television
Salesrank: 70326
Released: August 28, 2001 |
| Our Price: $14.99 |
| Used Price: $3.99 |
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MPAA Rating:
Media: DVD |
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Editorial Review:
"The Empath," Ep. 63 - As prisoners of the Vians, Kirk and McCoy are tortured so that Gem, a mute empath, can learn to use her abilities and save her race. "The Tholian Web," Ep. 64 - Kirk is trapped in interspace, and the Tholians, accusing the Enterprise of trespassing, begin to weave an energy web around the ship.
Description of Star Trek - The Original Series, Vol. 32 - Episodes 63 & 64: The Empath/ The Tholian Web:
"The Empath"
"The Empath" is an absolute must for fans of Star Trek's recurring shirtless-Kirk-being-tortured motif. Kirk, Spock, and McCoy are taken to a strange laboratory and tortured by powerful aliens while a mute woman is forced to watch--a woman whose empathic abilities are being put to the test. There is, of course, a broader scheme to it all--this is one of the early manifestations of Trek's eternal conflict between the needs of the many and the needs of the few, or the one. Keep an ear out for one of the all-time great Bonesisms ("I'm a doctor, not a coal miner!") and hang on to those fragile but oh-so-important human emotions. --Ali Davis
"The Tholian Web"
"The Tholian Web" was conceived when writer Judy Burns went looking for a new angle on ghost stories. A physics student suggested she somehow use the theory of infinite dimensions, and out of that came Burns's script, which finds Captain Kirk (William Shatner) trapped between different kinds of space, floating in and out of view of the Enterprise crew. Adding to the dilemma are time constraints (Kirk's oxygen supply is running low), an effort by the arachnid-like Tholians to trap the Enterprise in a gigantic web, sub-space dementia affecting the crew, and rising hostilities between Spock (Leonard Nimoy) and Dr. McCoy (DeForest Kelley), the latter none too happy with the way the Vulcan is running the ship in Kirk's absence. Burns's original conception was to make Spock the spectral Starfleet officer locked in interspace, but the show is quite effective in the way various characters mourn the presumed death of their leader and figurehead. The Tholians don't make another appearance in Trek lore until The Next Generation, but this particular episode won the original series its first Emmy for special effects. --Tom Keogh
Star Trek - The Original Series, Vol. 32 - Episodes 63 & 64: The Empath/ The Tholian Web Reviews:
Both episodes EXCELLENT! 
2007-05-18 - I love both episodes. I particularly LOVE the music for "The Empath." The Empath's (the character who plays the empath) theme is absolutely beautiful, as well as her turquoise and pink bejeweled outfit. Her beautiful musical theme includes orchestral string section doubled with orchestral bells with delayed vibrato, which is a nice and unusual characterization in musical terms of the empath character. I love watching both of these episodes.
One of the Very Few Season Three Keepers!
2007-02-04 - Though by far not among the better overall episodes of Classic Trek, this volume is a keeper if you are picking which volumes from the final season to keep. We have two above average episodes here with odd storylines but pretty good acting and above average scriptwriting too. In the first episode,"The Empath", we get an almost "Lord of the Rings" type parable which tries to illustrate a Christian message in the Star Trek setting even to the point of getting Scottie to talk about the "pearl of great price" at the end. The theme of redemptive suffering is dominant here and how self-sacrifice and short term pain can lead to long term gain and even the survival of mankind but it requires great courage and enough bravery to go through with it knowing that such sacrifice could lead to great pain and even death for yourself while aiding a stranger/neighbour. An episode most Christians would have a field day dissecting and discussing bible themes.
The second episode is stranger and indeed weaker except for the special effects which although is extremely lame by today's standards was actually pretty impressive way back when. The crew have to deal with the grief of what appears to be Kirk's death as well as to keep their minds on getting out of clear and present danger as is represented by the threat posed by the Tholians. The script appears to be strange and contrived to say the least which is a pity.
Overall, two episodes that fall under the "nice to have but not essential viewing" category if you are picking which volumes to collect.
Classic Spock in command episode....
2005-03-12 - The Tholian Web
The USS Enterprise finds her sister ship, the USS Defiant in unsurveyed territory at her last reported position. The vessel which vanished without a trace three weeks ago is investigated by Captain Kirk and a boarding party consisting of Spock, McCoy and Chekov. They discover upon beaming over to the vessel that the Defiant's crew had killed each other apparently during a mutiny on the ship. The landing party found out after further investigation of the vessel that it was mysteriously dissolving prompting Kirk to order the landing party be beamed off the ship immediately.
The space that the Defiant had been drifting in was playing havoc with the Enterprise's transporter system, allowing for only three members of the landing party to be beamed off the fading vessel, Kirk elected to stay behind enabling them to return safely aboard the Enterprise. Scotty attempted to beam Kirk back to the Enterprise when the Defiant suddenly disappeared. Spock used the computer to calculate that Kirk would be able to be retrieved during the next period of spatial interphase, which would occur in two hours and twelve minutes.
Chekov, who experienced momentary stabs of pain while onboard the Defiant went mad and was removed from the bridge making it extremely urgent for Dr. McCoy to isolate and treat the madness which was apparently affecting the Enterprise crew just like it had affected the Defiant's crew. The rescue mission was disrupted by a Tholian ship claiming that the Enterprise had violated territory belonging to the Tholian Assembly. Spock relayed to the Tholian Commander that the Enterprise was on a rescue mission, the Tholians had no problem in allowing Spock and the Enterprise to complete it.
The rescue mission failed due to the Tholian vessels entry into the area. The Tholians who don't tolerate deceit or lack of punctuality fire on the Enterprise, forcing Spock to return fire thereby damaging the Tholian ship. The Enterprise who was damaged herself in the Tholian's attack starts to drift. A second Tholian ship appears and both ships begin to weave a web of energy around the crippled Enterprise. Spock who is forced to take command of the Enterprise deals with the loss of the Captain and the affect that it has on the crew.
The race against time was on for Scotty to repair the damage sustained in the Tholian attack and for McCoy to find a cure for the madness that was tearing the crew apart before the Tholians completed their web of energy trapping the Enterprise for good. Despite rising tensions and further episodes of madness amongst the crew, Scotty is able to repair the ship and McCoy finds an antidote to the madness. The Enterprise is able to escape the Tholian's web and retrieve Kirk alive and well.
A Little Too Late... 
2004-03-10 - Both The Empath & The Tholian Web could have been much better scripts.
In The Empath the flaws center around the cheesiness of the sets (no backgrounds? what set?) and the repeating S&M theme. Even in late '60's TV sadism & masocism had a place.
The Tholian Web had a great new adversary, just enough hard science to hold the story together (the Tholian Web stands out as well as the subspace jump the Enterprise uses to escape it) and a great emotional ride with the disappearance of Kirk. This would have been my favorite over-all episode (yes, despite its' being part of a terrible 3rd Season) if Spock only used his 'logic' and left Kirk 'floating in sub-space hell'.
Yes, you read that right.
Shatner's thirst for power took Star Trek away from the 'ensemble cast' that it was trying to develop, as seen in some of its' best episodes. I wonder what would have happened in an "Alternative Universe" without Kirk? Maybe Kirk should have been strung up and whipped in 'The Empath', he would have gotten the girl-of-the week again, and again...
TWO WONDERFUL EPISODES FROM STAR TREK'S FINAL SEASON!
2002-12-30 - Volume 32 of the Star Trek DVD series includes two of the finest episodes from the third season. Both these episodes are extremely well written and are different in there own ways.
THE EMPATH is one of Star Trek's most sensitive episodes ever. The Vians are a superior race with a lack of morals who use inferior beings in their tests of the mute empath who can heal. They torture the beings (sometimes to death) and they put the empath's healing abilities to the test. Kirk, Spock and McCoy however end up being the next subjects for the test! This episode is probably the most intimate Star Trek story ever. A well written plot overshadowed the obvious tight budget. There is no doubt that most of this episode's budget went to the Vian's costumes and make-up which ends of leaving the set almost always a completely black background. However the acting in this episode is excellent especially the guest star Kathryn Hays who plays Gem the mute Empath (somewhat of a mime role).
THE THOLIAN WEB is another excellent episode. The Enterprise ventures into unknown space territory in search of a fellow starship The Defiant. They find the ship but Cpt.Kirk is lost in space when the crew attempts to return to their own ship. This episode is different cause we get to see the crew function without Cpt.Kirk. William Shatner only appears in the beginning and the end, so he takes a back seat and allows Leonard Nimoy and Deforest Kelley to have most the screen time. We also see character development in the rest of the crew members, particularily Scotty. A great episode, good story, nice effects, great acting and scientifically plausible. Definetly one of the third seasons best.
Overall Volume 32 is definetly one of the DVD's from this series to get. Containing two different but both excellent episodes fro Star Trek third season (which is hard to come by, since most of the third season epiosdes were fairly weak). Nonetheless this one is definetly worth a look. Highly recommended!
