Star Trek's Best One-Off Guest Star Appeared 58 Years Ago, And The Franchise Still Hasn't Topped Them

Star Trek: The Original Series

One episode ofStar Trek : The Original Seriesis universally see as the greatest of them all , and its guest star remainsStar Trek ’s gold touchstone . 1960sStar Trekmay have peaked early with time of year 1 , episode 28 , " The City on the Edge of Forever . " The penultimateepisode ofStar Trekseason 1was an heroic clock time travel saga and a doomed romance forCaptain James T. Kirk ( William Shatner ) .

InStar Trek : The Original Series'“The City on the Edge of Forever,“Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock ( Leonard Nimoy ) prison term travel to 1930s New York City to stop a temporarily craze Dr. Leonard McCoy ( DeForest Kelley ) from changing the timeline . In Depression - Era New York City , Kirk falls in love with Sister Edith Keeler ( Joan Collins),a societal worker who proves to be polar toStar Trek ’s timeline . In unforesightful , Edith Keeler has to die for story to unfold as it should , and Kirk must make the ultimate , tragical alternative between love and the fate of the universe .

Joan Collins As Edith Keeler Is Still Star Trek’s Best One-Off Guest Star

Captain Kirk’s Great Love Looms Over All Others

ThroughoutStar Trek ’s almost 60 - year account of TV showsand film , infinite actors of the high caliber have client - asterisk , butJoan Collins remains in a rarified air . As Sister Edith Keeler , Collins is almost an ethereal presence juxtaposed against the poverty and desperation of Depression - earned run average New York . Keeler is compassionate , intelligent , and believes in a progressive visual sense of the future , but does n’t suffer patsy gladly . It ’s no curiosity Captain Kirk fall for Edith .

Star Trek : The Original Series produced some of the best science fiction television of all metre , and the best episodes still curb up well .

Joan Collins hold up on to become a TV caption who is best know as the seductive Alexis Carrington on the prime - time grievous bodily harm operaDynasty . InStar Trek , Collins substantiate grace , hope , and lighting as Sister Edith Keeler . Even though she only appears in one episode ofStar Trek : The Original Seriesand is never reference again , Joan Collins made Edith Keeler unforgettable . WithinStar Trekcanon , Edith Keeler ’s tragical fate literally enabledGene Roddenberry ’s optimistic vision ofStar Trek ’s future to be .

Joan Collins Helped To Make “The City On The Edge Of Forever” A Star Trek Classic

Sister Edith Keeler Is Unforgettable

Joan Collins ' contribution to " The City on the Edge of Forever " becoming known as the greatestStar Trek : The Original Seriesepisode ( and arguably the greatestStar Trekepisode , period ) ca n’t be overstated . At its core,“The urban center on the Edge of Forever " is a love storey . Collins had to embody Edith Keeler to be someone Captain Kirk would be uncoerced to deal the future for . Kirk , who was devoted to the Starship Enterprise , in earnest count the fate of the timeline against his love for Edith .

" The City on the Edge of Forever ’s " Guardian of Forever returned inStar Trek : Discoveryseason 3 , played by Paul Guilfoyle .

Captain Kirk had many honey intereststhroughoutStar Trek : The Original Series , but Edith Keeler shine as Jim ’s great , doomed love . " The City on the Edge of Forever " may center on time travel , but author Harlan Ellison ’s original story ( which was interpolate for broadcast ) eschewed many ofStar Trek ’s common tropes . This only made " The City on the Edge of Forever " stand out , making it more memorable . And , at the heart ofStar Trek ’s greatest episode remains Joan Collins , its cracking guest star .