Last Updated on June 14, 2022 by Scott Charleboix

This post, City on the Edge of Forever is a collection of my favorite scenes from Star Trek The Original Series (TOS) of the episode City on the Edge of Forever starring Joan Collins where Kirk and Spock travel back in time to find Dr. McCoy who has entered a time portal and has inadvertently changed history. They need to go back in time because they’ve been warned that “All that you knew is gone.”

City on the Edge of Forever

In one of the first shots of this episode we get a rare glimpse of the screen as if we were seeing what Captain Kirk sees from his Captain’s chair.

All of a sudden there’s an overload at the ship’s console where Sulu is sitting and Dr. McCoy is called to the bridge to help him. Unfortunately, the ship is hit with another burst and Dr. McCoy gets an extreme dosage which makes his adrenaline going into overdrive and thusly he flees the ship because he thinks that everyone else is all assassins.

As they orbit the planet, a small group of people beam down to the planet’s surface in search of Dr. McCoy. If you look closely at the picture in the middle when they’ve beamed down Spock slightly turns his head toward the side and is no longer looking straight ahead.

Kirk and Spock see the device for the first time and are trying to figure it out. Captain Kirk asks a question to which activates the device and turns it on so they can determine it’s purpose.

While Captain Kirk and the rest of the crew are staring at the device, Dr. McCoy wakes up and makes his way past Captain Kirk to go into the past. I really like the photo on the left, something about the way that they’re standing as they gaze into the past.

Where McCoy leaps into the past is brought about from some pictures melded together to give the allusion that he’s jumping into a time portal.

Now we have an encore performance of Captain Kirk and Spock making their way back into the past and traveling back into time.

Realizing that they are out of place Captain Kirk and Spock “borrow” some clothes so that they don’t stand out like a sore thumb. However, they’re almost apprehended by a Policeman. Spock put the Vulcan nerve pinch on the cop and then they run for cover seeking shelter into the nearest place they can find (where they’ll find Edith Keeler).

When Captain Kirk sees Edith Keeler for the first time, doesn’t it look like love at first sight? Look at the pictures below and judge for yourself.

In the first photo (on the left) is one of the rare times that we see Spock with his ears covered (that he had to do from time to time). The middle photo is a gentleman that passes between them stroking his beard after he’s had a good meal and we don’t see him again. In the photo on the right, Spock is busy trying to making a machine so they can find Dr. McCoy.

I just watched this episode a few days ago and I can’t recall the point that Spock was trying to make in the first photo. In the middle photo Edith knocks on the door and Spock rushes to cover his ears and Kirk rushes to the door so that Spock isn’t spotted.

Edith notices the device that Spock has put together and ponders it’s purpose.

Below someone is fixing something with some fine jeweler’s tools that Spock notices and would like to acquire. Spock picks the lock where the tools are stored and Edith approaches them and somehow Edith and James T. Kirk end up going to dinner.

Below are some iconic scenes from the episode where Kirk and Edith are going out for a leisurely stroll. Two of the most iconic scenes are the last two where Kirk points up to the heavens.

The next couple of images are staggered but they allow Kirk and Spock to decipher that Edith Keeler has changed history (not to their advantage).

Spock’s device that he made blows up so they’re unable to find out precisely what and when Edith Keeler will die (and how).

The next couple of images refer to a character that is called the Rat. Unfortunately he has found Dr. McCoy’s instrument and has it set at a lethal setting.

Dr. McCoy stumbles into Edith who provides him with aid so that he gets better. Right after they make their exit, Spock walks into the kitchen and has just missed McCoy. Then he proceeds to serve coffee and to the visitors at Edith’s soup kitchen.

Spock and Kirk get their last glimpse that Edith has tremendously changed history which can dramatically change their future. What a mind game. In the next few photos Spock looks on as Kirk might have saved her life and Spock tells him that could have been the catalyst that changed everything.

Edith tells Kirk about the person that she has been helping by the name of McCoy and Kirk is excited to hear the good news. He and Spock go to join their good friend. Happy that they’ve found him they leave Edith on the wrong side of the street. She walks forward to join them in their celebration and Kirk notices the impending danger. Then he must make a split second decision to save her or keep their life (as they know it).

Kirk, Spock, and McCoy return to their own time and everything has been restored as it was once. At the end of this episode, Kirk doesn’t waste any time any time and insists that they leave right away.

If you like this post, please be sure to visit my other Star Trek posts beginning with my #1 post that has more than 15,000 Social Shares called 79 Star Trek posters for The Original Series.

If your a Star Trek fan, you also might want to visit the site called Trek Core where I managed to get all of these images. I’ve set the hyperlink to go to the Star Trek The Original Series and they have amassed quite a collection of all the Star Trek universe.