Star Trek: TOS 3.11 - Day of the Dove

Review 65 - Episode 66

The One where Klingons and humans are tricked into fighting.

Yet another strange swirly alien makes an appearance as it fees of negative emotion and has the crew and Klingons fight one another.

The Klingons are good, giving a new dimension to their previous appearances and Chekov has some good scenes with his anger. It just feels a bit samey and familiar, plus the ending of them all laughing at the creature comes across as silly.

Still, I've seen worse this Season.

3/5

Overall Star Trek Franchise Rating so far: 188/325

Star Trek: TOS 3.10 - For the World Is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky

Review 64 - Episode 65

The One with the Asteroid Ship

A rare McCoy episode this and quite entertaining, if a bit daft and predictable in places. Bones is dying and has a year left to live. The Enterprise discovers an Asteroid ship on a collision with a planet controlled by a mad computer.

The scenes with Kirk and Spock knowing about McCoy are quite touching actually and it was nice to see Bones not only get the woman, but be well written again. The Ark ship is an interesting concept as well, though the budget can't quite match the episodes ambition.

The downsides of this episode is the Computer that has gone haywire (how many is that now?) and the fact the incurable disease has an antidote on the Asteroid which of course cures Bones. But the ending was a nice touch with Kirk promising to take McCoy to see them in a year. not bad all told.

3/5
Overall Star Trek Franchise Rating so far: 185/320

Star Trek: TOS 3.9 - The Tholian Web

Review 63 - Episode 64

The One where Kirk is a ghost

A good little episode this, but a couple of things really bug me. Bones is such a dick in this story, basically accusing Spock of wanting to lose Kirk to gain a command. It's so far over the line it's not even funny. The writers sometimes push McCoys irritability with Spock to the point that he looks an Idiot. The worst thing you could say is that Spock was too human in trying to save Jim, isn't that what Bones would want? If Spock just fucked off and left Kirk to die he'd be saying he was cold and logical. You can't win with this version of Bones and all the apologies in the world don't change the fact that he's an arsehole at times (like he was when Spock had the command in The Paradise syndrome)

Anyway, that's off my chest now. The idea is quite good, if never totally explained (at least, not until much later on Enterprise). The Defiant, the Enterprises sister ship, is phasing in and out of space. An away team (in nifty new space suits ) goes over and Kirk has to stay behind, when he is "phased " out of our space. The Tholians then arrive and start to destroy the enterprise with their nifty weapon, a laser web that spins in front of the ship. The crew are also going slightly mad.

There's lovely scenes for all the crew (barr Sulu who is ignored again), even Uhura getting a nice scene in her room. Kirk being avsent for most of it gave the crew room to breathe. And I liked the recording Kirk left for Spock and Bones and the ending. But McCoy ruins this episode for me and that's a pity as this is probably the only possible 5 rating episode of season 3. Shame

4/5
Overall Star Trek Franchise Rating so far: 182/315

Star Trek: TOS 3.8 - The Empath

Review 62 - Episode 63

The One where the Trio are tortured

Back to basics episode here. The Trio are captured and tortured to see how far an Empath can heal them. There's some excellent dialogue between them, especially when McCoy puts himself forward to die. It's fairly tame by today's standards, but still effective and quite shocking.

The sets are also very sparse giving it a feel of a stage play or stripped down drama, much like spectre of the gun was. Of course, it's because there's no dosh in the kitty, but it makes for compulsive viewing none the less.

The end scenes, when Kirk talks them into not killing them, is a standard Trek cliche, but works for me and doesn't ruin the episode.

An unexpected gem in amongst the dross that is Season 3

4/5

Overall Star Trek Franchise Rating so far: 178/315

Star Trek: TOS 3.7 - Is There in Truth No Beauty?

Review 61 - Episode 62

The One where Spock goes mad.

Entertaining enough, and Nimoy can act different scenes so well that it saves a sometimes pedestrian episode.

An alien ambassador is on board who cannot be viewed or you go insane called a Medusan (geddit?) and lives in what looks like a box.

What follows is a 3 part mini series I like to call Spocks big adventure. In the 1st part he starts to bond with the Medusans carer, Dr Jones (Pulaski again!! - I had no idea she was so prevalent in Trek lore), talks about his IDIC medallion (which apparently was just a plug for merchandise, but is a nice idea) and faces a murderous love rival, a former designer of the Enterprise, Marvick.

Marvick goes insane and sends the Ship on a transdimensional trip where the only way home is Spock melding with the Medusan. This leads to warm human Spock laughing, etc which is still affecting and surprising even though they pull it out every 10 episodes.

Finally, he sees the ambassador without his visor and goes mental, but Dr Jones rescues his mind. It's a Spock tour de force this episode, but it doesn't quite click for me the way previous episodes have.

I think there's too many plot lines going on here. McCoy and Kirk have some nice lines, and the rest of the crew are just kind of THERE as always.

Not bad, but average.

3/5

Overall Star Trek Franchise Rating so far: 174/305

Star Trek: TOS 3.6 - Spock's Brain

Review 60 - Episode 61

The One where Spocks Brain is nicked

Sheeeeit man, this is bad. So bad it's good, but bad none the less.

A bunch of women steal Spocks brain - Kirk wants it back. It is simply impossible to take this episode seriously and I can't believe they used this as the Season 3 premiere. I mean, part of me loves it as it's so funny because it's played so straight. Not once did I see any actors wink or lose their game face.

I can't be bothered writing much for this episode. It doesn't deserve it and the scene where Spock TALKS McCoy through his own brain transplant operation seals it. Worth watching for the unintentional laughs, but dire, dreadful nonsense.

1/5

Overall Star Trek Franchise Rating so far: 171/300

Star Trek: TOS 3.5 - And the Children Shall Lead

Review 59 - Episode 60

The One with the annoying kids

This one started out average, then went downhill fast, but there are some nice moments. The Kids are rescued from a planet after their parents have committed suicide, but they have weird powers.

I liked the red shirts being beamed out into space and the horrible realisation that they weren't on the planet below. It was the first time I've really seen how dangerous transporters can be, although I find it hard to believe that there are no safety measures in place.

Kirk, Bones and Spock discussing the situation on the planet and the kids is also interesting and reminded me of the good old days in Season 1-2. However, any scenes with the Kids are awful and their constant shaking of the fist becomes incredibly tedious and annoying. I don't know why the alien looks like a Victorian ghost either,

The fears are quite strange as well and a bit insulting: Uhura looks old and falls apart, Sulu hates swords (?!) flying around and Chekov, well they didn't bother giving Chekov a fear angle.

Pretty bad, but the chemistry of the regulars saves it.

2/5

Overall Star Trek Franchise Rating so far: 170/295

Star Trek: TOS 3.4 - The Enterprise Incident

Review 58 - Episode 59

The One that's a bit like Oceans 11

And we're back. A nice holiday break came at just the right time as I have been toiling through these end days of TOS. It's hard to tell if I'm simply prejudging them as being Season 3 bad or if they just aren't up to scratch - actually, strike that. Season 3 is rough, but I still go in expecting diamonds, and while this is a solid episode, it doesn't quite shine as brightly as I'd like.

Kirk has gone mad with stress and orders the Enterprise into Romulan space, where 3 Romulan/Klingon birds of prey decloak and surround them. Kirk is then killed by Spock (!) and Spock turns towards helping the Romulan empire and gets very close with the female commander. If all this sounds unlikely, it's because it is and I think the episode is weak because it plays out this bluff too long. We know something is up, but not exactly what, but the first half of the episode tries too long to fool us and I can't imagine even 60's audience members believing it.

The second half is better as Spock's relationship becomes surprisingly erotic in a subtle way and Kirk is alive again (surprise), but goes back as a Romulan to nick the cloaking device. I like the idea of the Federation being rather underhand and devious, but the whole gambit is ridiculous and the answers as too why Kirk is acting erratic and strange don't really hold up. The dialogue is slightly disappointing as well considering it's Fontana, which was a surprise.

The rest of the cast are largely anonymous (especially McCoy who you always think will have a big part, but never does), though Scotty has some nice one liners.

It's good and ambitious, but I admire it's goals more than it's actual execution.

3/5

Overall Star Trek Franchise Rating so far: 168/290

Star Trek: TOS 3.3 - The Paradise Syndrome

Review 57 - Episode 58

The One with the Indians

Surprisingly good episode this with some interesting things to say. There are 2 very separate plots here. In the A plot, Kirk has his memory wiped and is trapped on a planet with a village of Indians who he joins, takes a wife and is happy. In the B plot, Spock tries to deflect an asteroid heading for the planet, fails, and limps back to the planet while trying to solve the riddle of the obelisk. This takes over place over 56 days.

I'll get my gripes out the way first. Yet another planet with old earth customs and history? There's an interesting theory about it later on, but I'll let it slide this time. The whole idea of Kirk finding peace and being given over a month to live a total different life is interesting, but the execution doesn't work. I'm not really bothered about Kirk becoming an Apache Indian and his acting is pretty shaky here. It's a nice concept and will be reused to better effect in TNG with "The inner light", but I found it dull, which is a shame as I appreciate them trying something different.

The B plot is excellent as Spock trys to deflect the asteroid and ignores all Scottys warnings about burning out the engines (I also liked Spocks explanation to Bones with the rocks about why they had to leave the planet - his frustration and patience were in perfect balance). His plan fails and they only have minimal speed to try and stay 4 hours ahead of the asteroid. This leads to excellent scenes with Bones and Spock discussing what had happened and Spock agonising internally, yet trying to come up with a new solution. An interesting discussion was talking about the Preservers, a race of aliens who "seeded" humanoids across the galaxy, hence all aliens look the same. It would be touched upon in TNG and obviously the real answer is budget reasons, but it's good to see them address it and while the answer is never followed up, I was happy with the explanation I didn't really feel the passage of time on the Enterprise, but that's the only real flaw.

The obelisk was also a very impressive set design, as was the village and the location shooting. This is apparently the only outdoor episode of Season 3 and I was noticing the lack of extras on the ship. Hopefully it won't affect to many episodes, but they really seem to have spent it all on this episode.

It 's very good, but the Kirk story drags for me and I wouldn't really want to watch it again for a long time, so I have to mark it down slightly, but worth a watch.

3/5

Overall Star Trek Franchise Rating so far: 165/285

Star Trek: TOS 3.2 - Elaan of Troyius

Review 56 - Episode 57

The One with the new Klingon Ships

Ah, so finally we get to see the Klingon ships from the movies that we all know and love. What a great design, it really stands the test of time. Having said that, I seen the flyby of the ship so many times in this episode that by the end I was sick of it.

That isn't even the main story here though. That belongs to Elaan, a Helen of Troy type figure who being escorted to be married. Her and Kirk argue, then fall in love and I suppose it's all watchable enough, but I wasn't really buying it. I was more interested in the Klingon ship to be honest. The lighting was really strange on the bridge as well, very dark and casting shadows. I can't help feeling their budget was away and they didn't have enough money to pay for lights.

The battle was a bit boring as well, using the same stock footage of the Klingon ship over and over again.

Not bad exactly and there are some nice scenes, but it fell flat for me overall.

2/5

Overall Star Trek Franchise Rating so far: 162/280

Star Trek: TOS 3.1 - Spectre of the Gun

Review 55 - Episode 56

The One set in the Old West

The start of a new Season is always a good boost for a series. Changes have normally been made, some subtle like lighting and sounds, others major like new cast members. There's nothing hugely different here, beyond Scotty's hairdo and the lack of a budget, but if feels fresh all the same.

The episode is a bit of a dog however. Kirk is warned of a planet, but ignores it and visits anyway. They're punished by being sentenced to death by means of a distant memory in Kirks brain, mainly the gunfight at the OK Corral. However, since Trek can't afford a budget, the sets are all extremely basic and it has the appearance of a stage play, especially since they're playing other characters.

It's slightly surreal watching it and Kirk really is an idiot for forging ahead with visiting the planet. The solution is logical and it's interesting seeing Spock mind melding with all of them, but the lesson learned at the end has been done to death, where Kirk spares his opponents life and the alien see's he is peaceful. Also, alien with God like powers? Hello, I though we'd done that to death by now.

Watchable for the strange setting, but rather dull and cheap looking.

2/5

Overall Star Trek Franchise Rating so far: 160/275

Star Trek: TOS 2.26 - Assignment: Earth

Review 54 - Episode 55

The One that's not really a Star Trek episode.

Bit of background for this episode, though I'm sure you know it. Star Trek was teetering on the brink of cancellation, so Roddenberry decided to sneakily put a Pilot episode into Star Trek which would have been called Assignment: Earth.

This is why we have such ridiculous concepts as the Enterprise "popping back" in time to see what's happening in 1969 and the fact that the bridge crew are relegated to guest stars and being ineffective in their own show.

I would probably still be pissed off even if it was a decent concept, but it's a lot of shite about Gary seven and his cat, plus a ditsy secretary saving humanity from it's self. Frankly, if Gene has made some decent season finales, perhaps the show would have survived instead of this garbage. It's not even Trek really. So not impressed with this idea.

Anyway, that's the end of season 2 (way to bow out on a downer). There have been some classics, but I've struggled with this Season and in all honesty I'm quite glad there's only one more to go. I'll probably be sad when it's done, but episodes like this make it harder than it should.

Not technically as bad as Catspaw, but for sheer cheek and the fact "our" guy's were so crap and I don't give a toss about Gary and his cat, it's getting nil points. Avoid.

0/5

Overall Star Trek Franchise Rating so far: 158/270

Star Trek: TOS 2.25 - The Omega Glory

Review 53 - Episode 54

The One with the American planet

Quite a strange episode this. It starts interestingly as Kirk finds the USS Exeter in orbit round a planet with it's crew dissolved. They beam down and find they're infected and can't leave, but Captain Tracey has violated the prime directive. It then turns out that the planet is actually a parallel world that has a stars and stripes flag and is basically old America!!

I mean, WTF is going on here. I've never seen an episode change storys so fast in my life and not in a good way. The virus story, while similar to Miri, has been done before but is interesting, as is the prime directive violation. If he thought he was going to die, then Kirk may have used his phaser as well. Tracey's too much of a villain to have any grey areas though, so it's never really developed.

Then this crazy story comes in about Yankees and the constitution, on an alien planet, and no one seems interested? What's more shocking is that this was considered for a pilot!! Spock's mind controlling is too powerful and thankfully never seen again.

It's all over the shop this episode and not very good. The basic banter between the trio and the 1st half save it from total disaster.

2/5

Overall Star Trek Franchise Rating so far: 158/265

Star Trek: TOS 2.24 - The Ultimate Computer

Review 52 - Episode 53

The One with the computer with a mind of it's own.

Good episode this, though a couple of things let it down. Commodore Wesley comes across as a total buffoon, even though the characters all love him. First he makes almost all the crew leave the ship, then he insults Kirk with his Captain Dunsel remark and finally he's so thick he thinks Kirk is firing at his fleet of ships, even though he knows the experimental computer is running the ship. I mean, for fucks sake, this guy is a complete moron and he riled me up everytime he was on screen. Daystrom is also idiotically blind when it comes to M-5, but I'll let that go as he was supposed to be a bit crazy at this point.

The good scenes involve Kirk facing his possible future without a starship and talking to Bones about it over a drink (McCoy's always drinking in these episodes!) There's also a lovely subtle little scene with Spock and Kirk, where Spock, who has defended M-5 and Daystrom, tell's Jim he has no desire to serve under a computer. No big histrionics, just a nice quiet speech. Shatners good this episode as well, facing his impending retirement. There are also lines here reminiscent of Star Trek 5, especially the poem, which is nice.

Needless to say, the computer goes mental, starts attacking ships and Kirk talks it to death as he has many times before. It's also a shame the fleet is old reused footage of the Enterprise (not to mention space seed).

D.C Fontana for me can do no wrong and a lot of Trek's success should lie at her feet. She absolutely nails these characters.

3/5

Overall Star Trek Franchise Rating so far: 156/260

Star Trek: TOS 2.23 - Patterns of Force

Review 51 - Episode 52

The One with the Nazi's

Much like the Aliens with God like powers, the Planet of Romans/Gangsters/Children and now Nazi's has become a common theme in TOS.

It's a bit OTT for me this episode. A lot of the episode seems to be either a) the novelty of seeing Kirk and Spock dressed as Nazi's and B) people's reactions to Spocks ears. Nimoy always puts on this silly face when he gets rumbled that really start's to irk after the umpteenth reveal.

There's a nice B story about the prime directive being ignored, but I'm not sure what the main point of the episode is. Surely it can't simply be to let us know that Nazi's were bad? It's hard to really see any worth to the show beyond that. The ending is also rushed and everything seems wrapped up and the Nazi problem solved. Only Bones appears later in the episode and the regulars are sadly missed. I did like the 2 planets shot at the beginning. Nice change.

About as subtle as a Nazi invasion this story, with it's moral message.

2/5

Overall Star Trek Franchise Rating so far: 153/255

Star Trek: TOS 2.22 - Return to Tomorrow

Review 50 - Episode 51

The One with glowing balls

Kirk, Spock and A.N.Other (Dr. Ann Mulhall (Diana Muldaur) - Holy shit - I've just realised she plays Pulaski in TNG season 2!! Bizarre!!) have their minds taken over willingly so the aliens can make android robots. Things go awry.

Quick one for this episode as it's a bit rubbish. Shatners acting is terrible here, from his impassioned speech as to why they should do it to his body being taken over by Sargon. Spocks quite good as the evil Hanoch, though if Spocks mind goes into Chapels body, where's Chapel's mind gone? Hmm. Sulu's back as well, which is nice though he's barely used, as always. Still good to have him back.

There's an interesting story here about quality of life vs ultimate temptation, but I hate God like being episodes and Shat's acting is all over the shop. Spock's worth a watch, as is McCoy's rational arguments against. But Kirk comes across as a bit of a dick here I'm afraid to say.

2/5

Overall Star Trek Franchise Rating so far: 151/250

Star Trek: TOS 2.21 - By Any Other Name

Review 49 - Episode 50

The One with the magic belts

So, this is the one with the hexagon cubes. I don't know why, and I certainly didn't remember the rest of this episode, but that one scene, when Kirk walks down the ships corridor and finds all the cubes seems to resonate in trek fans everywhere.

The rest of the episode is okay, mainly due to Fontana's input I think. The Enterprise is captured by aliens masquerading as humans who want the Enterprise to return to the milky way. They seem quite weak beyond there belts which can paralyse you and turn you into hexagonal cubes.

I was wary at first of this story as beings with god like powers are one of my pet hates (which I didn't know until I started this marathon, so there you go), but it actually follows logically and satisfactory.

The Enterprise is forced through the barrier at the edge of our galaxy which is a nice reference to the first episode of Kirk and crew. I suspect it was just a reason to reuse old footage, but I appreciated it all the same. I also liked Rojan crushing the cube and the fact it was the yeoman who got killed! Nice to see Trek playing on expectations even in this 2nd season.

The entire crew are wiped out bar the top 4 and the 2nd half of the episode is them playing on the Kelvins human weaknesses. McCoy inject's one with medicine that makes him irritable, Spock plays mind games with Rojan, Scotty has a great scene getting drunk with one and Kirk, of course, seduces Kalinda (Barbara Bouchet), who falls for his charm, but of course.

It's a fun episode, but average all the same

3/5

Overall Star Trek Franchise Rating so far: 149/245

Star Trek: TOS 2.20 - A Piece of the Action

Review 48 - Episode 49

The One with the 1920's Gangsters

Okay, big ask here. A planet that has based it's entire culture on 20's Chicago gangsters, based on a book a previous ship has left behind. If you can't accept that, if this seems like Star Trek at it's worst, it's most stupid, then move on. There's nothing I can say that can convince you to like this if you can't swallow that concept (I've had a couple of beers, hence the passionate intro).

If you're still reading, then I presume you've decided to give this a chance, like I did. And you should, because this is a very good Trek and a very funny episode. It possibly overdoes the gangster comedy angle a tad, but I'll forgive it that.

Koik, Sawbones and Spocko are from the Feds and trying to take over the planet. At least in the 2nd half they are. In the first, they approach it from a star fleet point of view and lose hopelessly and have no idea what they are doing. Kirks reactions to Oxymyx and Krako are very funny as for once Shatner is talked down in scenes.

The 2nd half sees Kirk on the offensive as he realises that he has too act like a gangster to be respected. Bones is left out these scenes as Kirk and Spock steal the show in their sharp outfits and improvised plan. Even Scotty gets a few good lines. I also like the fact that the gangsters weren't stupid and realised that Kirk could be bluffing this whole thing.

The whole tone of the episode is very similar to The Voyage Home, especially the scenes with Spock and kirk in the car. Spock is probably too funny this episode, but I like to think it's his human side coming through and the chemistry between them at this point in time is as good as it gets. The prime directive gets an airing again which is nice to see and though the rest of the cast are largely missing, it's just the way the show is going.

So, very funny episode, but if Spock acting like a gangster sounds like the worst thing in the world to you, skip to the next episode. Me, I loved it.

4/5

Overall Star Trek Franchise Rating so far: 146/240

Star Trek: TOS 2.19 - The Immunity Syndrome

Review 47 - Episode 48

The One with the giant space amoeba

Two episode in a row with a daft monster? A giant amoeba is threatening to destroy the galaxy.

This episode really works though. I think it's because we don't see the monster until half way through and even then it's so big, that it's more like a hostile environment than an actual sentient being trying to kill them.

It's actually very dark as we open on a system being wiped out and a ship being destroyed with 400 Vulcan's killed. Spocks reaction is interesting to say the least as he seems to have Force like powers to sense their loss. The black void idea is also good and reminds me of Where Silence Has Lease in TNG and the Motion picture when they are travelling inside something much bigger than them.

As always, excellent scenes with the Trio, but especially between McCoy and Spock, especially when they are trying to volunteer for the shuttle. Kyle fills in for Sulu this week and it's nice to see him popping up as to me he's really a part of the crew. I can just about forgive it it's blatant sexism at the very end as Kirk eyes up the yeoman at the end, but sometimes the series seems mature beyond it's years, then a 60's anachronism will pop up.

But this is very good and well worth watching.

4/5

Overall Star Trek Franchise Rating so far: 142/235

Star Trek: TOS 2.18 - Obsession

Review 46 - Episode 47

The One with the Killer Cloud

Some interesting ideas in here, but doesn't rise above it's main theme. Kirk is chasing a monster that he encountered 11 years previous and still blames himself for the deaths he feels he caused.

It's good to get some back story on Kirk and his past history in Starfleet. I like that he made mistakes when he was younger on the Farragut, though the writers do bottle it slightly by absolving him of blame. It ruins the impact of the incident as Kirk no longer has the guilty survivor complex. It's also pushing it a bit to have his previous captains son suddenly onboard just as they face the creature and going through the same thing. Ah, yes, the creature is undeniably silly and lessens the emotional tug of Kirks vendetta as it's just so daft. I mean, a VAMPIRE CLOUD that can travel through space and reproduce?! It's played totally straight so just about gets away with it.

There are some excellent scenes with McCoy and Spock confronting Kirk and the B plot of meeting up with the Yorktown gives more rope for Kirk to hang himself and ruin his career.

Solid episode, but the actual monster ruins it a bit.

3/5

Overall Star Trek Franchise Rating so far: 138/230

Star Trek: TOS 2.17 - The Gamesters of Triskelion

Review 45 - Episode 46

The One that's a bit like Gladiators

Not very good. Kirk, Uhura and Chekov are snatched from the Enterprise to fight in gladiatorial games.

The A plot is AWFUL and if it was this alone then the dreaded 1 out of 5 mark would be getting handed out. The initial interest in this odd trio being together soon fades as we have boring acted out fights taking place and Kirk trying all his moves on Shahna (Angelique Pettyjohn) who comes across quite likeable actually and stars in one of the funniest scenes when Kirk kisses her, then punches her out. There's also a rather dark scene where Uhura is about to be raped in her cell, which comes out the left field, but I presume is to make it easier for Kirk to kill him later on. Chekov has a few funny lines, but is wasted really and the story doesn't really make the most of the trio.

The B plot is far more interesting with Spock in command trying to find the missing crew and following his hunch, even though Bones and Scotty are not backing him. They come across quite unreasonable in these scenes, but the chemistry between them makes it work. I'm not sure what's happening at the end though, with Kirk seeming to be able to talk to his bridge on some strange loudspeaker system whilst the Providers are speaking. Ah yes, the Providers. 3 brains that steal people from around the galaxy to participate in their games. No real reason why, but what the hell. Kirk fights 3 fighters to win his bet and change the culture of the planet after talking his way out of death again.

It's really a very bad episode, especially with Shatner shouting at the sky half naked, but it's strangely watchable and the detective work on board the enterprise is half decent. Don't think I'd ever watch it again though.

2/5

Overall Star Trek Franchise Rating so far: 135/225