Star Trek: TOS 2.13 - The Trouble With Tribbles

Review 41 - Episode 42

The One with the fur balls

Rightly considered as possibly Treks finest comedy hour, what really shines through is the chemistry and instinctual comic timing of the regulars. it's hard to imagine this story in any if the other series and it probably speaks volumes that DS9 is the closest to pull it off.

There is no simple A story here, but lots of threads that overlap each other and come together naturally for a satisfying end. The only thing I would say is that though on first glance this appears to be an ensemble episode, it's actually only Kirk and Scotty who have the main scenes. Everyone else really just has some excellent one liners.

The Enterprise is summoned to DS-K7 to protect grain from possible Klingon sabotage. And there are tribbles on board, multiplying. I think this episode really shows what a fine comedy actor Shatner is. Never mind Captain of a star ship, his first, best destiny is in this line of work as shown in more recent years such as Boston Legal and films. But he is very subtle here and his putdowns to Baris are hilarious.

The barroom brawl is also a masterpiece in comedic scripting with Scotty showing restraint up until the Enterprise insult. The debriefing is just as much fun, with Kirks realization that insults about him were not the ignition.

The rest of the cast, bar Sulu who is AWOL now for a few episodes for some reason, all have good lines, but never really individual scenes. Spock is always with Kirk, Chekov with scotty, Bones and Uhura together. It doesn't really matter, but it's amazing that you never really notice until you think about it, and that is surely a sign of good scripting.

The final scenes, with the poisoned tribbles falling on Kirks head is one of the most iconic images in Trek and the way it brings the storylines together, including the kilingons, is excellent.

Nothing bad to say about this episode.

5/5

Overall Star Trek Franchise Rating so far: 124/205

Star Trek: TOS 2.12 - I, Mudd

Review 40 - Episode 41

The One where Harry Mudd comes back

Ah yes, Harry Mudd. I despised him and his first episode when I watched it last season. So I wasn't exactly crying out for a follow up. But, surprisingly, this is actually quite good fun and Harry's quite likable. The key difference is that Kirk's a match for him this time and can go toe to toe with him in the verbal stakes and mind games. Before, he was totally overpowered and was left looking weak.

So the episodes split into 3 parts really, all daft, but lets skip through them quickly. A crewman takes control of the Enterprise and steers the ship to an unknown planet who turns out to be an android. This is quite effectively done and reminds me of a TNG episode when Data takes control of the ship, so I wonder if this was an inspiration. How he got on the ship or found the Enterprise and falsified crew records etc. is best left in the dark as it makes no sense.

We then find out Mudd has sent the android to steal the Ship, maroon the crew and he will go off and see the galaxy. This doesn't really bother the crew as their every whim is met and any pursuits or interests are in abundance. This leads to plenty of nice scenes, mostly with Chekov, who is really the bad boy of Trek in these days, the one you suspect would be smoking round the corner of engineering and having sly tea breaks. Kirks interactions with Mudd and his crew are quite enjoyable and funny to watch.

The rest of the episode is...bizarre. To make the androids self destruct, Kirk and crew start acting surreal so they cannot compute what they see. What follows is 20 minutes of improv drama dadaism, off the wall acting and some of the strangest Trek scenes ever filmed. It's so weird that it actually works, but beyond my mere words to describe. You really have to see it.

Poor Sulu is left again at the helm and has been shunted to the side in favour of the 6 others. Throwaway episode really, but worth watching for the surreal improvising.

2/5

Overall Star Trek Franchise Rating so far: 119/200

Star Trek: TOS 2.11 - The Deadly Years

Review 39 - Episode 40

The One where they all get really old, really fast.

I'm not going to spend long on this episode as it's mostly rather dull and has a lot of filler. Yet another high concept idea - what if the crew aged incredibly fast. How would they act and what would happen to the ship?

Well, not a lot really. Kirk, Spock, Bones all start getting old. Scotty as well, but he seems to age faster and is missing from most of the story. The trouble is, once they start making mistakes and getting senile, they have to stand down. It's common sense. But the episode still has 2 acts to fill, so we have this ridiculous situation of Kirk looking like an absolute idiot who can't remember orders and may put his ship in danger, but refuses to go. They then have a mock trial to see if he's fit and hear testimony of ALL the scene's we have just watched. God, you can see them really dragging this out. I don't think for a minute Kirk would want to stand down, but he would if he thought his ship was in danger. He's supposed to be old, not a fricking stubborn old asshole.

Speaking of which, Chekov is unaffected for some reason, yet all he does is moan that he has to have tests , while his ship mates are about to die. Seriously, he moans the entire episode. Talk about priority's.

The answer is a bit dubious as well, simply that he was scared and ran out like a girl seeing a dead body and got adrenaline pumping. Kirk then gets young and saves the day from 10 (!)Romulan ships who are about to destroy the Enterprise, brought in by a desk jockey commodore who ordered them into the neutral zone. This was quite good to watch, even if Kirk still doesn't apologise for earlier.

There are a few other weird things. Kirk looks far younger than the rest and I suspect there is some vanity on Shatners part going on here. Also, a random love interest called Wallace has a Love of older men, so Kirk still has potential to get a lay!

I did like the continuity of the Romulans and the Neutral zone and also the nod to the corbomite maneuver. It's also weird seeing them old as by Star trek 6 , they're not far off these ages. But this was a interesting idea stretched out well beyond it's potential.

2/5

Overall Star Trek Franchise Rating so far: 117/195

Star Trek: TOS 2.10 - Mirror, Mirror

Review 38 - Episode 39

The One with the Parallel Universe

Yet another season 2 episode that is considered something of a classic. It's strange that this season has either the best episodes ever made for TOS or the worst. I think over the piece, season 1 may come out with a higher mark simply because there are more average episodes.

Simple concept time: What if a transporter accident sent you to an alternate universe where every one is "evil"? That's what happens here. There's plenty to like in this episode, with only a few things jarring, but nothing serious.

The best thing about it is that EVERYBODY has a chance to shine here. Kirk as always takes the main role, trying to work out exactly how this universe works and stopping the Enterprise firing on the Halkans. He's got some great scenes with the alternates and there's a quiet strength to him on the bridge as everyone about him goes OTT. His scenes with Marlena have good chemistry and I also like the nod to continuity with the mention of Chris Pike.

Spock steals the show though, with his goatee and his demeanour. He is almost our Spock, but the casual way he tortures Kyle (who is really the 8th Beatle at this point) and softly threatens Kirk is excellent. It was also great to see him in all out attack mode, taking on 4 people at a time. Of course, he ends up becoming more like the Spock we know at the very end and his compassion has far reaching consequences in DS9's mirror universes.

Bones has a quiet role, helping Scotty, but his compassion for Spock, which nearly gets him killed and marooned, is a nice touch. He simply must heal, regardless of who it is. Uhura has her best role in a long time, looking sexy in her alternate universe outfit and casually seducing Sulu to distract him, then defending herself with a blade. Sulu is brilliantly OTT, a huge scar on his face and utter evil in his eyes. It's interesting that certain characters are far more aggressively evil than others. Chekov is also good, trying to kill Kirk and then being tortured. Only Scotty really gets his usual stock scenes, but at least he gets a great conversation with Kirk when he calls him Jim, the only time in Trek history.

Wow, I've been waffling. Right, the bad things. It doesn't really make much sense that they would beam aboard in their alternates uniforms? I understand why they did it, to make it more visually dramatic and the questions it would otherwise raise, but you just have to accept it. Also, it's a bit lucky that Spock must have beamed the evil crew back at the same time Kirk and co were beaming back. And finally, the Tantalus field is one these randomly powerful alien objects that pop up in Trek and makes no sense of how it works or was fitted in his cabin. It comes across as a bit unnecessary when you have everything else going on.

Great episode and one that will have various follow ups in later series.

5/5

Overall Star Trek Franchise Rating so far: 115/190

Star Trek: TOS 2.9 - The Apple

Review 37 - Episode 38

The One with the Ompa Lumpas

Slightly boring episode this but a few things lift it above the bad. Kirk, Spock, Bones and Chekov beam down to a seemingly paradise planet, but his security team keep being killed by plants or exploding rocks. They can't beam back to the ship as a computer in the form of a monsters head is keeping them there and controlling the natives.

I'll say the few things I like before the many that I didn't. The planet setting is quite refreshing and there were enough plants to make the surroundings seem slightly more realistic than usual. Spock saving Kirks life was also good as was most of the banter with the Trio. Chekov had some nice scenes with Yeoman Martha Landon, who still comes across as too giggly and weak like most yeoman's, but actually had a decent fight scene! Most impressive. I really didn't buy her relationship with Chekov though.

Now on to the bad. This episode dragggged for me in places. There's far too much plodding through the jungle and watching red shirts be killed off in unusual ways (admittedly enjoyable to watch at times). There was also very strange acting on the Enterprise with Scotty and Kyle. He seemed to keep pausing after every sentence and question asked. Maybe he was adopting Shatners style of acting. Speaking of which, Kirks anguish at losing his men was a bit OTT and the sort of scene that gives Shatner a bad rep. Generally, I find him enjoyable and quite good, but he hams it up big time here, maybe because he had a slightly reduced part. It was also tiresome seeing him checking up on the Enterprise's status in it's decaying orbit. Surely viewers in the 60's didn't need to be reminded every 10 minutes of the B plot.

The tribes people looked hilarious with their strange wigs and the orange makeup reminded me of the Tango ads from a few years ago and Willie Wonkas ompa's. The strange situation of how Vaal came to be created is never explored or why it needs food and why it's shaped like a snakes head. The concepts so bizarre it could never be explained away satisfactorily. I did like Spock arguing that perhaps they should indeed leave these people alone as they had been doing fine for 2000 odd years. Indeed, Kirk is definitely breaking the prime directive and seems to get away with it. Without the ship in danger story, it would have looked quite invasive and forced, rather than a fortunate by product.

So, watchable enough episode, but hampered by rather boring long drawn out scenes and some ropey makeup.

2/5

Overall Star Trek Franchise Rating so far: 110/185

Star Trek: TOS 2.8 - The Changeling

Review 36 - Episode 37

The One that's a bit like The Motion Picture

Tricky one this. Two or a Three? In many places it's terrible and quite boring. In other's, funny and enthralling. Bit like TMP then. What's startling to me is that this is as much a dress rehearsal for TMP as Balance of terror/Spacer Seed is for Wrath of Khan. The innocent probe sent out, becomes altered, and comes back ridiculously powerful and looking for the creator.

Right, confession time. I've had a couple of wines and Euro 2008 is intruding on my trek watching, so this might be a wee bit random. Disclaimer aside lets proceed.

There were strange references here, Kirk calling Sulu navigator and Spock barking out observations like early season 1. The 2nd half was much warmer and I suspect rewriting here, but it jars.

So the Enterprise is nearly destroyed by a robot who resembles a dustbin and beams it aboard. It's powers are frankly ridiculous including wiping out a solar system and resurrecting the dead! Kirk talks it to death and we're all right.

Kirk has some good scenes with the crew and talking to Nomad. The problem is that Nomad looks so fucking ridiculous that it's hard to take seriously rather than a god like being who can wipe out solar systems.

Spock does a mind meld with it which he pulls off well, but I'm very suspect of it working with a computer. Bones is his usual irritable self, but slightly unprofessional in goading Nomad and Chapel is sporting a Rand hair-do.

The ancillary cast have a few good scenes though. Scotty is KILLED and gets brought back to life and he's back in engineering the same day!! Uhura is caught singing and has her BRAIN wiped and somehow retrains English and all her starship skills in week? WTF? And poor Sulu is relegated to driver role.

Nah, you know what. This is a two. It's average trek without any brilliant storyline threads to save the day. And Nomad's power level are stupid. I wouldn't watch this again, but it's worth a spin.

2/5

Overall Star Trek Franchise Rating so far: 108/180

Star Trek: TOS 2.7 - Wolf in the Fold

Review 35 - Episode 36

The One with Jack the Ripper

Very silly and bizarre episode this and tor the first third I thought I was going to have to wade through it But then a strange thing happened in that I started enjoying it and by the end I was amused and satisfied, even If I still didn't know what was happening really.

The action all starts very weirdly with Kirk, Bones and Scotty on a planet of hedonists (which for the 60's meant belly dancers - ooooh, risque). Kirk then invites the belly dancer over for Scotty to pull and get a shag, while her ex fiance is sitting at a nearby table watching this. Scott heads off to shag her and Kirk suggests to Bones they go and visit a place with beautiful woman. Bones cuts him off and says he knows the place, lets go. They are clearly talking about a Lap dance bar and I finally realised that they were on a Lads night out in Newcastle. They're setting off when they hear a scream and Scottys bird is dead, stabbed to death, with Scotty holding the knife.

They try to solve this by beaming down a scientist technician who is of course a blonde hottie and she goes to examine Scotty in private where she is stabbed to death and Scotty looks guilty again. It's hilarious that the murder weapon is left out on a shelf effectively and a suspected murderer of women is allowed to wander about the house freely.

A seance (!) is then attempted by the prefects wife who is killed and again Scotty's looking a wee bit suspicious. They beam up to the Enterprise where it's revealed to be jack the Ripper possessing people, Sulu is high on drugs so he won't be scared, and It ends with kirk wanting to go back to the Lap dance bar, but everybody is stoned apart from Spock, who gets his signature "lets laugh at Spocks non emotional nature" and everybody leaves happy and laughing, including Kirk, who hasn't even had the drugs.

This is bizarre, very watchable rubbish and I can't believe I seen Kirk and crew out on a stag do on Star Trek. Fantastic. Catspaw was bad. This is good-bad.

3/5

Overall Star Trek Franchise Rating so far: 106/175