"The Tholian Web" is the ninth episode of the third season of the American science fiction television series Star Trek.

As he explains the situation, Chekov lashes out in anger, a symptom McCoy believes is due to their proximity to Defiant.

Spock returns fire and the Tholian ship is disabled, but the Enterprise takes damage and begins drifting.

Spock and McCoy view a tape left by Kirk, to be played in the event of his death, which implores the two of them to work together.

With the Tholian web nearly complete, McCoy dispenses an antidote to the effects of the local space, and Spock determines the time of Kirk's next appearance.

[3] A 2018 Star Trek binge-watching guide by Den of Geek, recommended this episode for featuring the trio of characters Kirk, Spock, and Bones of the original series.

[4] In 1997 it became known that United States Customs investigators had used the name Tholian Web for a sting operation designed to root out and arrest child porn criminals.

Political scientists have compared the metaphor of the entrapment in this episode with the deep challenges politicians and administrators feel when confronted with competing factions and lobby groups.

[13] This episode was released in Japan on December 21, 1993, as part of the complete season 3 LaserDisc set, Star Trek: Original Series log.3.