When the Enterprise travels back in time to the year 1968 to observe how Earth survived desperate measures without destroying itself, it intercepts a transporter beam of a man in a 20th Century business suit — plus his cat. The mysterious stranger calls himself Gary Seven, and he claims to be on a mission to save mankind from itself so it can eventually evolve into a peaceful society. Captain Kirk finds that hard to believe, but when Mister Seven escapes to the planet’s surface with the intention of sabotaging the launch of an orbiting nuclear platform, Kirk and Spock must decide whether they should try to stop him or let him carry out his mission — and every second they delay could have catastrophic repercussions on Earth’s future and the fate of the human race. Season 2 of “Star Trek” came to a close with “Assignment: Earth,” which was originally intended to be a pilot for a new television series. The pilot didn’t sell, and although it feels at times like Kirk and Spock are guest stars on their own show, “Assignment: Earth” still fits the bill as a unique, entertaining and suspenseful episode that features standout performances from Robert Lansing and Teri Garr, the latter of whom would soon gain greater fame for starring in the likes of “Young Frankenstein,” “Close Encounters of the Third Kind” and “Tootsie,” among many other iconic movies.

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