It was only fair that William Shatner should get the chance to take directorial control here, since Leonard Nimoy had been at the helm for the preceding two adventures. While this lacks the wit and panache of The Voyage Home, it still makes for an enjoyable romp. The story revolves around a messianic figure (Laurence Luckinbill) who is holding a distant planet hostage, but, in reality, he wants to lay his hands on the Enterprise and its creaky crew. Shatner, who also had a hand in the script, seems to be aiming for a more mystical plane than usual, but the plot is embarrassingly trite at times. In the end it gets by thanks to the delightful interplay between old hands Shatner, Nimoy and DeForest Kelley, and a typically action-packed finale.

A renegade Vulcan with a startling secret hijacks the U.S.S. Enterprise in order to find a mythical planet.