YMMV / Star Trek S1 E4 "The Naked Time"

• Alternative Character Interpretation: Was Tormolen Too Dumb to Live, taking off his hazmat glove, as is usually assumed, or were those only Thermal suits, at a point where it wasn't yet clear there was any danger except severe cold? His and Spock's surprise at what they find suggests they had no reason to expect anything unusual— perhaps sensors showed frigid temperatures and no survivors, and they thought they were investigating a fatal, but non-hazmat, life support malfunction.
  • This is supported by the fact that there was no seal between the headpiece and the body.
  • Consider the warning Spock gave Tormolen to make sure they did not expose themselves to anything, his request upon beaming back to the ship for decontamination, and Kirk having them get checked out medically as well. Was that normal protocol for a hazmat situation? Or was it based on what Spock observed while on the station?
• Best Known for the Fanservice: The episode is best known for a pretty ripped Hikaru Sulu running around shirtless with a rapier. The Daily Show with Jon Stewart had a bit of fun when George Takei got married and out of all the Star Trek stills available, the news put up a picture of Sulu fencing shirtless. "Oh my" indeed.
• Cargo Ship: Kirk confirms it in the midst of his breakdown. It's even Deconstructed somewhat, as the relationship he describes is not a healthy one at all:
  Kirk: This vessel...I give. She takes. She won't permit me my life. I've got to live hers.
• Common Knowledge: While this is often remembered as the episode where a virus causes the entire Enterprise crew to start acting like horny drunks, only Nurse Chapel (and even then, her attraction is specifically towards Spock) and a couple of minor crewmembers really act that way. It's actually this episode's Star Trek: The Next Generation follow-up, "The Naked Now", where much of the Enterprise-D crew starts acting like horny drunks, and even then it's far from being everyone on-board who acts that way.
• Harsher in Hindsight: The scene between Spock and Nurse Chapel plays very differently and even more sadly following the retcon in Star Trek: Strange New Worlds that they did have a brief relationship years previously, that ended because she chose career progression over it.
• Hilarious in Hindsight:
  • Tormolen dies from an injury that wasn't really that serious, apparently because he just lost the will to live. Nearly 40 years later, the same thing happened to a prominent character in another famous sci-fi franchise.
  • Kirk complains that his job means he can't live his own life. In the Saturday Night Live skit he'll be the one telling Trekkies to get a life instead of living his.
• Ho Yay: When Spock tells Kirk of his feelings for him and how ashamed they make him feel, it sounds a lot like someone confessing a homoerotic attraction.
• Signature Scene: "Shirtless Sulu with a sword" is right up there with "Kirk buried in tribbles," "Evil Spock with a beard" and "Kirk vs the Gorn" in the franchise's iconic moments.
  • That and Kevin Riley singing "Kathleen"...ONE MORE TIME!
• Special Effects Failure: There's a frozen female corpse that is very obviously a shop-window dummy: it doesn't even have human proportions!

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