Episode Rankings: Star Trek The Original Series

Star Trek: The Original Series is the oldest TV series I've ever reviewed and probably the oldest one I will ever review, which only begs the question of: Is it still worth watching today? Personally, I think it's absolutely worth watching. The Original Series has plenty of all-time great episodes of television, and while about a third of TOS is dated and probably even offensive, a large chunk of the show is also impressively relevant today. But the thing that's aged the best is the fantastic chemistry between its main trio, which shines through even in the worst of episodes. Not to mention the movies are (mostly) amazing too, offering some of the best that Trek has to offer. Here's my ranking of the episodes and movies of The Original Series:

1. The Trouble With Tribbles (S2.15)
2. The Doomsday Machine (S2.06)
3. The Undiscovered Country (Movie 4)
4. Wrath Of Khan (Movie 2)
5. The City On The Edge Of Forever (S1.28)
6. Mirror, Mirror (S2.04)
7. All Our Yesterdays (S3.23)
8. The Corbomite Maneuver (S1.10)
9. Amok Time (S2.01)
10. The Naked Time (S1.04)
11. A Piece Of The Action (S2.17)
12. Space Seed (S1.22)
13. Balance Of Terror (S1.14)
14. The Ultimate Computer (S2.24)
15. The Enterprise Incident (S3.02)
16. Tomorrow Is Yesterday (S1.19)
17. The Tholian Web (S3.09)
18. The Devil In The Dark (S1.25)
19. The Voyage Home (Movie 4)
20. Journey To Babel (S2.10)
21. Shore Leave (S1.15)
22. By Any Other Name (S2.22)
23. Return To Tomorrow (S2.20)
24. The Menagerie: Part 1 (S1.11)
25. Errand Of Mercy (S1.26)
26. The Changeling (S2.03)
27. The Search For Spock (Movie 3)
28. The Squire Of Gothos (S1.17)
29. Spectre Of The Gun (S3.06)
30. The Immunity Syndrome (S2.18)
31. The Enemy Within (S1.05)
32. A Taste Of Armageddon (S1.23)
33. The Savage Curtain (S3.22)
34. Obsession (S2.13)
35. The Menagerie: Part 2 (S1.12)
36. The Mark Of Gideon (S3.16)
37. The Motion Picture (Movie 1)
38. The Galileo Seven (S1.16)
39. Is There In Truth No Beauty? (S3.05)
40. A Private Little War (S2.19)
41. Arena (S1.18)
42. Day Of The Dove (S3.07)
43. Spock's Brain (S3.01) - So bad, it's amazing
44. The Return Of The Archons (S1.21)
45. Catspaw (S2.07)
46. Let That Be Your Last Battlefield (S3.15)
47. This Side Of Paradise (S1.24)
48. Where No Man Has Gone Before (S1.03)
49. Operation: Annihilate! (S1.29)
50. That Which Survives (S3.17)
51. Dagger Of The Mind (S1.09)
52. Whom Gods Destroy (S3.14)
53. Wink Of An Eye (S3.11)
54. The Conscience Of The King (S1.13)
55. The Lights Of Zetar (S3.18)
56. Bread And Circuses (S2.25)
57. For The World Is Hollow And I Have Touched The Sky (S3.08)
58. Court Martial (S1.20)
59. The Deadly Years (S2.12)
60. I, Mudd (S2.08)
61. Charlie X (S1.02)
62. The Apple (S2.05)
63. What Are Little Girls Made Of? (S1.07)
64. Plato's Stepchildren (S3.10)
65. Who Mourns For Adonais? (S2.02)
66. Friday's Child (S2.11)
67. The CLoud Minders (S3.21)
68. Metamorphosis (S2.09)
69. The Man Trap (S1.01)
    
70. The Empath (S3.12)
71. Miri (S1.08)
72. The Gamesters Of Triskelion (S2.16)
73. Requiem Of Methuselah (S3.19)
74. The Alternative Factor (S1.27)
75. Assignment: Earth (S2.26)
76. And The Children Shall Lead (S3.04)
77. Wolf In The Fold (S2.14)
78. Elaan Of Troyius (S3.13)
79. Patterns Of Force (S2.21)
80. Mudd's Women (S1.06)
81. The Final Frontier (Movie 5)
82. The Omega Glory (S2.23)
83. The Paradise Syndrome (S3.03)
84. The Way To Eden (S3.20)
85. Turnabout Intruder (S3.24)

Star Trek: The Original Series (Movies I-VI)

While Season 3 marked the end of Star Trek: The Original Series, I'm not quite done with the Enterprise crew yet. When I said I was intending to watch Star Trek, I meant everything, and that includes the movies. Here are my reviews of all six of the Original Series movies:

The Motion Picture: Coming out two years after Star Wars, TMP could have easily tried to ape that film's success. Don't get me wrong, Star Wars means a lot to me and it will always be my sci-fi franchise of choice, but I truly admire that this film feels like a whole different beast. It's slow, dialogue-heavy, and honestly kind of scary. TMP is pretty divisive from what I've heard, and I get why. It has its flaws, particularly its slow pacing, long length, and drawn-out introductory scenes. However, I actually liked this one a lot. Sure, it's slow, but it gives the characters time to breath and the tension time to build.

First, I just want to talk about the production values, because they are fantastic. This movie released about a decade after the original series, and it shows. The effects are incredibly good, like Star Wars levels of good. Sure, that Enterprise tour is a bit self-indulgant, but this movie deserves it. The iconic ship looks absolutely amazing here, maybe even better than TOS's remaster from the early 2000s. There's also so much attention to detail that we couldn't get in TOS. We get to see aliens that don't just look like humans (and they don't just speak in English either), the interiors are super detailed, and we get these wide shots of open areas that make places like Starfleet and the Enterprise feel much less claustrophobic. I also love the music in The Motion Picture. Once again, even in the slower scenes, Jerry Goldsmith's score does a fantastic job of keeping me engaged. It's bombastic, orchestral, and awe-inducing. Part of why the Enterprise tour scene was so memorable (aside from the starship porn) was because it had that phenomenal main theme backing it. As a whole, this film felt like such a step-up over TOS in almost every level production-wise. As charming as I found that show, it really feels like TMP realized the world of Star Trek to its fullest.

Speaking of which, let's talk about that story. TMP's main premise is incredibly simple. Kirk mans the Enterprise as they try to stop a destructive cloud entity from making it to Earth, which is later revealed to be the Voyager probe in a pretty sweet twist. In the grand scheme of things, it is another AI Star Trek storyline not unlike The Changeling, but it manages to make up for that with V'Ger just being a genuinely terrifying villain regardless. That's really the best thing about TMP, just how scary it is. It depicts space as far more dangerous than in the original series. There's the terrifying teleporter malfunction, the engines almost blowing up, the eerie visuals in V'Ger's cloud, Ilia's death, it's just such a different tone from The Original Series that I can very much get behind. However, while I think the slow pace helps increase the tension, it doesn't quite hide the fact that this easily could have been, at most, a two-parter episode of TOS. I still think this story is good, but it just can't sustain a film all on its own. Thankfully, the character arcs for Kirk and Spock are fantastic and explore the characters unlike anything in the original series, and entirely new character Decker ain't that bad either. The slow pace allows for a lot of great character interactions that I found myself really enjoying, even if they generally ended up being concentrated in the first half of the film.

Overall, The Motion Picture ain't bad! It definitely suffers from its drawn-out length, with plenty of stretches where nothing really happens, but it makes up for that with a fantastic villain, a sense of terror unlike anything in the franchise to date, some excellent character work, and production values that lets the film explore the Star Trek universe in a way the Original Series just couldn't.

4/5 Stars

Wrath Of Khan: It's hard to watch a film that has been held up in such high esteem for so many years for the first time. Wrath Of Khan is so beloved by Star Trek and sci-fi fans that it left a very high bar to clear. Thankfully, I think it definitely lived up to that high bar. Wrath of Khan is a fantastic film, easily one of the best Trek films of them all, and fully deserving of its legacy.

Wrath Of Khan is about the titular character (from TOS's "Space Seed") returning to exact his revenge on Kirk for putting him in exile. It's definitely a strong story to base a movie on than TMP, as it feels much more high stakes and personal. It definitely helps that Khan is a fantastic villain, maybe even more than in his original appearance. Ricardo Montalbán exudes so much hate and anger, putting you on edge every time he shows up on screen. He is Khan, and the film would be leagues worse with any other actor in the role. In terms of its pacing, WoK is much tighter than TMP, constantly amping up the tension and excitement throughout. I think I prefer TMP's first third, which spends a lot of time establishing the arcs and reintroducing the characters, but wow, does this film stick the landing. Even knowing Spock's death is coming, it's still a massive gut punch and a fantastic scene. There definitely isn't as much of a focus on the characters in WoK, but the film does a great job of giving everyone (particularly Chekov) something to do, and Kirk's main arc about dealing with his age is really good. Even more than TMP, Kirk's character and Trek to a whole is deconstructed and subverted to an incredible degree, on par with The Last Jedi (Yeah, I said it. This is the TLJ of Star Trek, and they're both great). 

Production-wise, Wrath Of Khan isn't quite as much of a visual treat as TMP was, but it still has some pretty great effects thanks to ILM (who also did the Star Wars films along with many others). The obvious highlight was that groundbreaking Genesis shot, but I think WoK's greatest strength effects-wise is how it depicted starship combat. Unlike in The Original Series, the ships actually have visible signs of damage, both outside and inside. Circuitry gets set on fire, columns collapse, and people get seriously injured. Speaking of which, I was really surprised me with how brutal WoK was. While TMP was eerie and unsettling, this film was straight-up shocking in how bloody it got at points. The ear worms, the several burns, Spock's radiation poisoning, the hanging corpses, this film shocked me several times over, mostly because I just never expected these kinds of scenes to come from Star Trek. Then again, I guess it just means they were effective. As for the music, James Horner took the helm this time, and he did a pretty good job. It doesn't quite have as many memorable individual pieces as Goldsmith's TMP score, but it's fantastic at fitting the mood and tone of each individual scene. 

Overall, yeah, Wrath Of Khan is a really good film, and really lives up to its name. Khan is a fantastic, gripping villain and his wrath is brutal, intense, terrifying, and puts the cast in some really difficult situations. The starship combat is fantastic, the music is great, the characters all get stuff to do, and the pacing is incredibly tight. Even if there are things I think TMP does better, this is a categorically better film across the board.

5/5 Stars

Search For Spock: So there's this whole thing about odd-numbered Star Trek films being bad and even-numbered ones being good (as long as you shove in Galaxy Quest). I think that's a bit black-and white, since I still really like TMP and Into Darkness in spite of their flaws. But I think the biggest rebuttal to this claim is Search For Spock, a film that, while not as great as Wrath Of Khan, can still hold its own among the best the series has to offer.

The film's premise is simple: Kirk and the Enterprise crew tries to figure out how to bring Spock back to life, no matter the cost. It's not as tense or scary as the first two films, but the emotional hook of Kirk trying to save his best friend is compelling enough, especially as he pretty much loses everything to achieve that goal. Sure he saves Spock at the end, but he lost the Enterprise, his place in Starfleet, his own son, and is pretty much stuck on Vulcan. While bringing characters back from the dead is always shaky business, SoS does a good job of maintaining the stakes, and Spock's regeneration actually makes sense with the ending of Wrath Of Khan. The whole reunion of body and mind thing sounds a bit like Spock's Brain, but by tying it to Vulcan lore, it doesn't feel as goofy. There's really a lot of cool lore in this one, with a lot of exploration of Vulcans and Klingons, and the first signs that Starfleet might not be as politically idealistic as we expected. It's not a perfect story, though. Kruge isn't nearly as strong of a villain as Khan, the subplots on Genesis aren't super compelling, and the character arcs aren't all that great compared to the first two films. Still, Search For Spock manages to be an incredibly fun adventure with some truly fantastic scenes, like the stealing of the Enterprise, the self-destruct sequence, and Kruge's death.

On the production-side, however, The Search For Spock is a bit of a mixed bag, and it's something I can definitely say is a bit weaker than the first two films. At its best, there are some truly stunning sequences here. The space battles are just as strong as in Wrath of Khan, the Enterprise destruction looks outstanding, and parts of the Genesis planet do look really good. However, at its worst, SoS can really look like a TV movie at points, like when the Genesis planet falls apart. As a whole, I just don't think the visuals of this movie feel as stunning as TMP or as visceral as TWoK. On the other hand, the score is pretty great. It's once again not as good as the first two films, but James Horner did another good job here. The piece that plays when Spock is being resurrected is a particular highlight.

Overall, while Search For Spock might not be as good as the first two films production-wise, it makes up for that with an emotionally effective story with a ton of great lore and world-building, and some truly fantastic sequences. It's a really good middle entry in the "Spock dies" trilogy, number rule be damned.

4/5 Stars

The Voyage Home: I can't even begin to emphasize how skeptical I was going into this movie. The Enterprise crew going back in time to steal humpback whales and bring them to the present to stop a probe from destroying Earth all to convey an environmental message that doesn't even apply anymore seems like the plot of a TOS episode from Season 3, and a bad one at that. But you know what? This movie was fun. Even more, it was downright hysterical.

As mentioned above, The Voyage Home's plot is bizarre to say the least. It also doesn't quite hold water (get it?). I already brought up how the main theme of saving the humpback whales doesn't even apply anymore since they're not endangered, which makes the multiple long infodumps about the whales really boring. There's also a general lack of stakes and tension throughout a large portion of the film. Once the crew arrives in the 80s, the threat of the probe might as well not even exist, nor the risk of destroying the space-time continuum in any way. 80s San Francisco is a playground for the main cast to run around with, and it's incredibly fun to watch them do so. While the plot is thin, the script itself is phenomenal. The Voyage Home is not only stuffed with fantastic character interactions but it really gives the whole crew, even minor characters like Sulu and the criminally underused Uhura, something to do. Kirk and Spock's dynamic is easily the highlight, but everyone is super fun to watch. As the final installment of the "Spock dies" trilogy, there's a main focus on Spock regaining his memory and reasserting himself into the team, which was a really well-done storyline. It also ties up pretty much all of the loose ends left from Search For Spock in a fairly neat and tidy note.

I can't really talk about this film production-wise since it mostly takes place in 80s New York. I could make a joke about how this means it aged the best visually since it doesn't utilize many special effects, but I will say that it does generally look better than SoS, especially when it comes to the cinematography. Nimoy really did improve as a director and does a good job at preventing TVH from feeling like a TV movie, which was a very big risk given the premise. James Horner didn't return for the music, meaning it wasn't anything spectacular either. So instead, I'll be focusing on the humor, which is probably the best thing this film has going for it. The Voyage Home is first and foremost a comedy, and a really good one at that. It plays the Enterprise crew being in the 80s as a fish-out-of-water plot and mines it for as much comedic potential as possible, from Chekov being unaware of the Cold War, to Bones in an old hospital, to literally everything about Spock. Plenty of scenes had me laughing hysterically, and I think this genre shift worked really well for the film.

Overall, I was really expecting to hate this one, but damnit, it won me over! Even with its hamfisted message and bizarre premise, The Voyage Home is impossible to hate. It's funny, heartwarming, character-driven, and so stuffed with the charm that it proves that there's no such thing as a bad idea as long as it's executed well.

4/5 Stars

The Final Frontier: Up to this point, I liked every single Trek film I've seen, and was even super positive about The Motion Picture. The Final Frontier, however, is the first one I didn't like at all. It just felt off in so many ways. The effects were off, the dialogue was off, the pacing was off, nothing gelled at all. William Shatner is criticized a lot for TFF since he was the director here, but honestly, I don't even think Steven Spielberg could have salvaged it.

But before I get into the negatives, of which there are a lot, I wanted to talk about the things I did like. The Final Frontier puts a lot of focus on the main trio, and they still have as much chemistry as they always had. As a matter of fact, I think the dynamic between Kirk, Spock, and Bones was so good this movie that it actually improved the otherwise weak writing. There was a scene of the three camping and joking around with each other. It was a few minutes long and didn't contribute to the plot at all, but just watching them interact was entertaining enough. It also helps this movie was actually pretty funny at times, utilizing TVH's offbeat brand of humor to pretty great effect. I also think Shatner, as a director, isn't all that bad. He really knows how to stage and frame a scene, and compared to Nimoy's more matter-of-fact direction, the camerawork is really dynamic here. Jerry Goldsmith is back to do the score, and as to be expected, it's really good.

And that's where my praise ends. The Final Frontier is a mess of a film, with so many bizarre storylines all layered over for each other. We got a generic, poorly-acted Klingon villain. A ridiculously dumb search for god. Spock suddenly having a half-brother. The only decent storyline is Sybok taking over the ship and exposing everyone's pain, but even that's not effective because most of it happens off-screen! It could have been such a great way to explore the entire cast, but we really just have these moments for the main trio. That's another problem with TFF, it focuses heavily on Kirk, Spock, and Bones to the point of seriously underutilizing the rest of the cast, and right after TVH took strides to make sure that didn't happen. The film also suffers from some really wonky pacing, with plenty of useless drawn-out scenes, clunky dialogue, and multiple action scenes in rapid succession. I'm not going to complain about action in my Star Trek. Action scenes can add excitement to a film and increase the stakes by putting the characters in dangerous situations, but there were points in TFF where we got one forced action setpiece after another, and they just had zero impact to me. And while the cinematography was good, the effects looked pretty bad at times, and there was some painfully blatant religious symbolism. To add insult to injury, there are just some really dumb individual scenes, like the rocket boots, the fan dance, and literally everything about Uhura dating Scotty. Why did they think that was a good idea? They have no chemistry!

Overall, The Final Frontier is a massive mess, suffering from too many ridiculous storylines, bad effects, forced action scenes, an underutilized cast, and wonky pacing. If it wasn't for the strength of the cast and surprisingly solid direction, this would be a nearly irredeemable film.

1/5 Stars

The Undiscovered Country: They really just saved the best for last, didn't they? TUC takes everything that makes each previous film great and brings them together into one fantastic finale to The Original Series. It has the weighty themes of TMP, the tension and dark tone of WoK, the exciting setpieces and sense of adventure of SFS, the great character balance of TVH, and nothing from TFF. I won't say this is a perfect Star Trek film (that would be Galaxy Quest), but this comes pretty damn close.

The Undiscovered Country has by far the best main storyline out of all the movies. After a Klingon moon blows up, the Federation's attempts at a peace treaty with the species goes awry when the Klingon chancellor is killed in an assassination and Kirk is framed. Now, the Enterprise crew has to figure out who was the real culprit and clear Kirk's name, while also dealing with their own prejudices against the Klingons. TUC is a full-on political thriller/murder mystery, two of my favorite genres, and it's executed incredibly well. The core mystery is compelling, and it's really fun to watch the Enterprise crew try to suss out the assassin. The whole subplot does a good job of giving the minor characters stuff to do. Meanwhile, Kirk and McCoy being sent to an ice-cold prison planet adds some great world-building and exciting adventure. I love how most of the Enterprise are against making peace with the Klingons, especially Kirk who's still pissed about his son's death. I love the fact that even these characters still have their own biases and prejudices, and watching them confront and work through them only compounds TOS's main themes about compassion and acceptance. Not to mention given how much of the original series was based on the Cold War, I thought having a film that parallel its end feels like the perfect finale. Speaking of which, this is a fantastic finale! The Federation and Klingons make peace, the Enterprise is taken apart, the whole cast says their emotional goodbyes, and we get a nice set-up for TNG. Thematically and plotwise, I can't imagine a more satisfying ending.

The Undiscovered Country is a much darker film than anything Trek has done up to this point, and it shows in the visuals. The lighting is dimmer, the soundtrack is more solemn, and the acting feels quite understated at times. I'd actually say this film has some of TOS's best acting, especially from Shatner, who really sells his conflicted opinions towards the Klingons. Not to say this film is grim or bleak, there are plenty of fun moments of humor, levity, and character interactions that are weaved in naturally without ruining any of the emotion or pacing (looking at you, The Fifth Frontier). As a matter of fact, this was an incredibly brisk film that never dragged once, not even in the first third which tends to be a bit slow. The director of TUC, Nicholas Meyer, also directed Wrath Of Khan and it makes perfect sense. Not only does he seem to really like taking apart the Enterprise's crew and examining them in a less flattering light, but he also has a great knack for pacing and tension and it shows in both of these films. I said WoK stuck the landing, but the final action scene in this one was so incredibly tense and exciting that it probably rivaled it for me. Honestly, this whole movie just felt so well-crafted, I can only think of one big complaint: The CGI Klingon blood did look pretty bad.

Overall, The Undiscovered Country is easily my favorite out of the six Star Trek films. As a political thriller, it's tense, gripping, perfectly paced, thought-provoking, dark, and ends on a perfect note. As a Star Trek film, it's action-packed, adventurous, cerebral, filled with great character moments, genuinely challenging at points, and works as a perfect ending to The Original Series as a whole.

5/5 Stars

As a whole, I found myself really enjoying most of these movies, probably even more than the rest of The Original Series. The Final Frontier aside, the TOS films ranged from pretty good to absolutely fantastic. These films upped the scale of the universe, fleshed out the characters, darkened the tone (except for the fourth one), and showed the sheer amount of potential a serialized Star Trek series has.

My ranking of the first six Trek movies is:

6 > 2 > 4 > 3 > 1 > 5

Star Trek: The Original Series (Season 3)

Season 3 is a fairly notorious season of Trek. After the show got saved by a massive letter campaign, fans were rewarded with a season that was generally considered to be pretty bad. And honestly... I kinda agree.

Season 3 has a lot of issues that keep it from being as great as the first two seasons, but the biggest is easily the budget. It's obvious that this season had some pretty big budget cuts compared to the first two, as many episodes reused sets and footage, or at times just used whatever was lying around the studio. To give the crew some credit, this season definitely has a lot of really creative ways to get around these budget problems, and I might even say this is the most quirky and experimental season of the whole show. At times, these experiments worked really well, like in Spectre Of The Gun. However, not all of these experiments worked, and the emphasis on bizarre situations meant that this season kinda felt less like a science-fiction show and more like surrealist cinema. Even with episodes like The Enterprise Incident and The Tholian Web, Season 3 just didn't feel like the Star Trek I knew and loved from the first two seasons. It doesn't help that this season continues the problems that Season 2 had started to face. Episodes like The Paradise Syndrome and Turnabout Invader rank as some of the show's most unbelievably offensive episodes to date, and there are plenty of outings that felt like they were reusing storylines from previous episodes. This season also had an odd habit for flinging the Enterprise out of the galaxy and using that as a vague source of conflict, which I never really understood.

Once again, these are my reviews of every episode this season:

Spock's Brain: Ah, the infamous Spock's Brain episode. It's pretty much common knowledge that this is the "worst Star Trek episode" ever. But honestly, I kinda liked it. I mentioned this in Season 1, but the worst thing a story can be is boring, and Spock's Brain is absolutely not boring. The writing is so unbelievably bad, the acting is so tired and stiff, and the effects are so silly and fake-looking, that it completely doubles around to incredibly entertaining. The plot holes, the dumb quotes ("What is brain?"), the surgery scene, the species that forgot what the opposite sex is, Spock talking without his brain, the "BOING!" sound effect, it's all so incompetently made that it left me in stitches multiple times over. 

The Enterprise Incident: Unlike Spock's Brain, this episode was unironically fantastic. It felt like Star Trek's attempt at a heist flick, which is a genre I'm always a fan of. It was a ton of fun to watch the Enterprise crew face the Romulans and try to nab the cloaking device from under their noses, but the best thing about this episode was how the audience is completely out of the loop for its first half. Most of the episode made it seem like Kirk was genuinely going insane, and it makes the reveal that it was all a plan incredibly satisfying and memorable.

The Paradise Syndrome: Oh, no, no, no, this is not good at all.  Blackface? Stereotypical Native Americans? And they think Kirk is a god?! And there's an amnesia storyline?! As insulting as it was, at least The Omega Glory was so incompetent that it was funny. This episode actually seemed like it was trying to tell an emotional story with a tragic ending and deep subplots for the main trio, but it completely falls flat since the entire episode is so unbelievably offensive.

And The Children Shall Lead: This episode is a mix of some of other episodes, and is worse than all of them. Similarly to Miri, it's focused on a group of kids, but unlike that episode, the child actors are bad and the kids are incredibly bratty and annoying. Similarly to Charlie X, the children cause weird happenings in the Enterprise, but it lacks the commentary on adolescence. But worst of all, they picked a lawyer to play the Gorgan, meaning that the main villain of the episode is horribly acted and not intimidating at all. And to top it all off, ATCSL is just a bore to watch.

Is There In Truth No Beauty?: This was a really solid, if unremarkable, episode. It has a lot of things going for it. The camerawork was surprisingly dynamic, the contrast between Jones and Kollos was interesting, the core message about internal and external beauty was simple but effective, and Spock/Kollos was kinda adorable. I don't think this episode did anything amazing, but it was a solid story and a nice breath of fresh air after the previous two outings.

Spectre Of The Gun: This season of Star Trek has some pretty obvious budgeting issues, but this episode does a good job of getting around it by revealing that the "western town" the crew is in is actually an illusion. I like the concept of characters knowing how their story will end and trying to prevent it (case in point: Princess Tutu), and the incredibly offbeat and self-aware tone of the episode made it stand out. The final shootout was also pretty awesome.

Day Of The Dove: This was a very uneven episode, with really good points and really bad points. On the good side, the Klingons were more brutal and threatening than ever before, Kang is a terrifying villain, and the concept of the crew trapped with an equal number of Klingons was tense. On the bad side, the Klingon makeup was especially uncomfortable, Chekhov's material was awful, and I feel like the Enterprise is being flung to the end of the galaxy a bit too much. As a result, this episode was definitely fun, but it had its problems.

For The World Is Hollow And I Have Touched The Sky: This episode was kind of a mess, and wasted two really interesting ideas. The main premise of correcting Yonada's trajectory could have been really tense and fun, but it didn't feel like there was much urgency. McCoy being sick could have led to a cool storyline about the Enterprise trying to take care of the doctor, but instead we just got a marriage storyline with a status quo-maintaining ending. What we got wasn't bad, but it could've been better.

The Tholian Web: This was a really cool episode. Giving how often Kirk gets a spotlight, having him be MIA for most of this one was a breath of fresh air. Instead, Spock and Bones were the real focus here as they had to figure out how to deal with the Tholians and save their captain, with the tension slowly rising as more and more conflicts pile on each other. I like how surreal the Tholians are, and it gave me serious Corbomite vibes. 

Plato's Stepchildren: Did we seriously just get another Who Mourns For Adonais? This is the second Star Trek episode based on the Greeks, but at least this one is a little less boring. The main plotline of the Enterprise crew being telepathically tortured and forced to do things they normally wouldn't do could have veered into too depressing, but the especially awful effects cause much of the episode to veer into unintentional comedy. There's also the groundbreaking Kirk/Uhura kiss, even it was caused by two characters being forced to kiss against their will.

Wink Of An Eye: I've never seen anything like the way this episode is shot. Whenever you can see these "invisible aliens", the camera is tilted to show how fast they're going. It's such a bizarre usage of dutch angles, and I'm not entirely sure it works. Otherwise, the main premise of Wink Of An Eye is pretty neat, with the aliens that move too fast to see being a really cool concept. The science in play is a bit too overly ridiculous, but if you turn your brain off, it's an alright episode.

The Empath: The minimalist set design was charming in Spectre Of The Gun, but this episode was just ridiculous. The Empath took place on a set completely shrouded in darkness, as if it was a play rather than a standard episode of television. I'm sure this might be striking for some people, but for me, it's an obvious showcase of this season's budget troubles. As for the plot, it's not very good. It takes the same "trio is tortured" story from Plato's Stepchildren and makes it so much more incomprehensible. I'm still not even sure I fully understood what happened here.

Elaan Of Troyius: This episode feels like it threw everything at the wall to see what stuck. We got a new alien species, a plot apparently based on Taming Of The Shrew, a Klingon war, an arranged marriage, a love story for Kirk, and a whole lot of racism and sexism. The obvious sticking point is Kirk's "women are illogical" claim which shouldn't be in any TV show ever, but even more, the whole implication that arranged marriages are sometimes necessary just felt really wrong.

Whom Gods Destroy: Well, time for another torture episode. Thankfully, this was a big improvement on The Empath and Plato's Stepchildren. Garth was a well-acted and terrifying villain, which a solid motivation of trying to take over the Enterprise. Spock got some great moments, especially when he was trying to figure out which Kirk was which, and there was plenty of delightfully hammy acting. This wasn't an original episode, and it quite blatantly reused plot points and even props, but it was at least enjoyable.

Let That Be Your Last Battlefield: This episode was such a bizarre take on racism, it did so much stuff right and a lot of stuff wrong as well. It does a good job of exploring the futility of racial conflicts, with the fairly subtle skin-color differences and the unsympathetic depiction of both races. However, it's also painfully obvious that this episode was about the civil rights movement, which, let's face it, wasn't a "both sides" issue. I think this message could apply to plenty of useless racial conflicts... just not the one it was directly basing itself on. Still, I actually enjoyed this one for at least being original compared to the past few episodes, the ending was shocking, and the self-destruct sequence was fantastic.

Mark Of Gideon: This episode was pretty good. Similarly to The Tholian Web, it breaks Kirk away from the cast, though this time we still get to spend a lot of time with the captain. The "False Enterprise" storyline is really eerie and intriguing, though Kirk's love story with Odona drags a bit. The real highlight, however, is Spock trying to negotiate with Gideon and Starfleet, something I'd like to see far more often. The message about overpopulation and contraception is a bit heavyhanded, but the actual events of the episode were entertaining enough to make up for it.

That Which Survives: This one was decent? The main storyline was kinda hard to parse, especially with that exposition-filled explanation at the end of the episode, but I was still able to enjoy it because of all of the character work. Scotty and Sulu both got surprisingly large roles compared to most other episodes this season, and while I didn't love the villain, the fact that she can kill anyone with a touch added a good amount of tension. I didn't like Spock's arc being a retread of The Galileo Seven, though.

The Lights Of Zetar: So this is where Memory Alpha came from! The concept of a big intergalactic library sounds awesome, but the show's current budget didn't quite do it justice. I'd love to see the planet revisited in a later show, there's a lot of potential there. You can tell from the fact that I'm talking about a library planet that the rest of the episode was pretty dull. Scotty's boring love story took the bulk of the screen (and the narration that he was in love with someone one was so clunky), and the energy storm was a pretty unremarkable incorporeal antagonist.

Requiem For Methuselah: There have been a lot of Kirk love stories this season, and there's not a single one of them that got my interest. Not only do I not believe Kirk would fall in love with anyone as quickly as he does, but the fact that status quo is god in this show means it's obviously going to end in some sort of tragedy or separation. I also wasn't a fan of Spock erasing Kirk's memory of Rayna's death without him knowing, which is just the worst! I like seeing characters deal with pain head-on and come out the other side, and compared to Edith's death, this just felt cowardly.

The Way To Eden: One of the coolest things about Star Trek is finally being able to get all the references and in-jokes, as well as learning about jokes that were actually based on real events. Case in point: Star Trek actually had an episode about space hippies, and yeah, it was pretty awful.  It's not even how poorly the hippies were depicted, it's just how unbearably awkward and annoying they were. The bad costumes, the irritating songs, I couldn't bear to watch most of it.

The Cloud Minders: The best part of this episode was by far the setting. I'm a fan of these beautiful orange-hued cities in the clouds (Bespin might be my favorite Star Wars planet), so Stratos is definitely a visual treat. Writing-wise, this episode was kinda boring. The message about class divisions was definitely less clumsy than Battlefield, and I like how the conflict wasn't entirely resolved. However, the emphasis on a dull Spock love story definitely held the episode back.

The Savage Curtain: Space Abraham Lincoln?! I'll be honest, this episode was pretty damn fun. I loved the first third, where everyone was skeptical that Lincoln was actually on their ship, but even after the mystery was resolved, the momentum didn't let up. The second half was a crazy battle between historical figures (Did Star Trek just do a Fate?), and I really liked how some of the historical figures were fictional characters from Trek's own history. This was a very silly premise, but a good time.

All Our Yesterdays: Finally, a genuinely great episode! Not ironically, not with an asterisk, but what is probably one of the best episodes of the whole show. There's a lot to love here. I love the shockingly good effects, the exploration of a one-off planet's history, the intercutting between both time periods, the character work for the main trio, a genuinely compelling love story, Spock's emotionalism, the bittersweet ending, it's all really good! Given how episodic TOS is, I also think this episode works as a solid finale for the series. Wait, what do you mean it wasn't the ending? Oh no...

Turnabout Intruder: While not all of Star Trek has aged well, Season 3 has been particularly problematic. Turnabout Intruder is by far the worst of the bunch, making the bold claim that "women can't be captains" (Janeway begs to differ). It's not just a few lines either, it's a message ingrained in the episode itself. Lester's characterization, Shatner's overacting, it all seems to imply that women are too emotional for a big job like captain. And as the last episode of TOS, it feels like a huge middle finger. Imagine ending a series by insulting half the human race? This is my least favorite episode of The Original Series and a horrendous finale. Shame on you, Trek.

Season 3 wasn't irredeemable by any means. It had a pretty good start, and plenty of solid episodes. However, the bizarre tone, lack of budget, and repeated storylines and clichés made for a season that just felt off compared to the first two. It doesn't get anywhere near the highs of Seasons 1 & 2, yet its lows reach far lower than any other season.

1/5 Stars

My ranking of the TOS seasons is:

1. Season 1: Easily the most consistently strong season of The Original Series. There aren't too many genuinely horrible episodes but there also aren't too many episodes I would call the best in the series.
2. Season 2: This is the uneven season. The heights are higher than anything in Season 1, but the low points are a lot lower, especially in the second half.
3. Season 3: I liked about three to five episodes in this season, the rest was really bad. You could tell the writers ran out of ideas. 

My ranking of the TOS finales (though none of them are good) is:

1. Operation: Annihilate: Kirk losing his siblings is a pretty crushing way to end a season... if only his siblings made any appearances before this episode.
2. Assignment: Earth: An insulting attempted series finale. Imagine if Star Trek ended with a pilot for another show, and a boringly dull pilot at that.
3. Turnabout Intruder: Sexist. I don't think more needs to be said about this one, probably the worst series finale any show has ever had.

And since this is episodic, my Top 5 episodes are:

1. The Trouble With Tribbles
2. The Doomsday Machine
3. The City On The Edge Of Forever
4. Mirror, Mirror
5. All Our Yesterdays

And my Top 5 least favorite episodes are:

1. Turnabout Intruder
2. The Way Of Eden
3. The Paradise Syndrome
4. The Omega Glory
5. Mudd's Women

Star Trek: The Original Series (Season 2)

Season 1 of Star Trek: The Original Series was remarkably solid for the first season in the entire franchise. I don't think Season 2 is quite as good, but it makes up for having some of the show's most iconic episodes.

Season 2 of Star Trek has some really fantastic episodes in it. As a matter of fact, its best episodes are even better than the high points of Season 1. I think it helps that the overall character writing is an improvement this season. The banter between Kirk, Spock, and McCoy is witty and fun in even the weaker episodes, and the season does a good job of splitting the screentime between the main trio and some of the more minor characters. However, Season 2 also has some big issues. You can really tell that the show is started to run out of ideas, since storylines start to get reused constantly, particularly ones involving godlike aliens, AIs, and planets modeled after Earth history. Even more, I think there are far more episodes this season that just aged poorly, with some being sexist and others dealing with serious topics in the worst ways possible. I'll elaborate more in the individual reviews, but keep in mind that I'll be getting a bit more serious and political than I usually do with some of these episodes.

Once again, I'll be reviewing each episode individually:

Amok Time: After all of those hints in Season 1, I think the decision to finally show off Vulcan makes for a strong season premiere. The main plot of "Spock is in heat" wasn't anything amazing, but Leonard Nimoy acts his heart out all episode, the fight between Kirk and Spock is fantastic and compelling (and oddly well-done for a Star Trek fight), and the extra Vulcan lore is just fantastic. I definitely get why Amok Time is a well-liked episode, it was a lot of fun! It also happens to be incredibly gay and I have no idea if that was intended or not.

Who Mourns For Adonais: Also known as The Squire Of Gothos: Greek Edition. The main storyline has pretty much already been done before, beat for beat: A godlike figure traps the Enterprise on his planet and plays around with them. But while Trelane was interesting for practically being a child, Apollo was kind of formal and dull. I don't mean to spend this entire review comparing, but this really just felt like Gothos but with stitled writing, weak effects, and nowhere near as much tension.

The Changeling: This episode was pretty cool. The evil AI Nomad looked kind of derpy, but that was all part of the charm, and its cold attitude and cruel actions still made it a really threatening villain for the Enterprise to take down. I like that Scotty and especially Uhura got a bit more screentime than usual, and Kirk using logical loopholes to shut down Nomad was a clever end to the episode. It's not too original nowadays and it has a lot of holes, but The Changeling was a pretty fun one.

Mirror, Mirror: This was another really iconic episode, and it definitely lived up to the hype! It takes a simple high-concept premise and mines it for all its worth, spending a lot of time developing and fleshing-out the mirror universe. Seeing Kirk, Uhura, Scotty, and Bones try and blend into the ship is tense and compelling, and I liked how Kirk is forced to make decisions he normally wouldn't have because of it. Uhura and Scotty once again get some nice screentime, Spock's goatee is magnificent, and the sheer cruelty of the mirror universe is a great contrast from Star Trek's usual idealism. You can tell from the length of this review that Mirror, Mirror is one of my favorite episodes of the show so far.

The Apple: I heard this episode was awful, but I have to say, it was almost really good! The evil plants at the start were pretty inventive, I really liked the subplot about Kirk dealing with the loss of some red shirts, and the moral dilemma at the heart of The Apple is an interesting one. However, for an episode about colonialism, I'm not all that sure how I feel about the colonists (Kirk) being depicted as in the right. There's a lot of potential here and some great ideas, but I think the general message just hasn't aged well at all.

The Doomsday Machine: This is easily one of the best episodes of The Original Series, it really does have everything. There's mystery, action, character work, horror, dark themes, and an amazing ending. The planet killer is such a terrifying antagonist, made even scarier with the absolutely fantastic remastered effects. It just looks so alien, and that giant magma-filled maw is absolutely nightmarish! But the real star of the show is Decker, whose storyline about dealing with PTSD is both well-executed and well-acted. If it weren't for an episode coming up soon, this would be my favorite episode.

Catspaw: This was yet another Gothos clone, but unlike the first one this season, I think the decision to make Catspaw Halloween-themed made it kinda entertaining. It threw so many fun ideas at the wall that it never once felt boring, even if not all of those ideas ended up working. Catspaw wasn't all that scary, but it was that charming kind of "spooky" that I love so much about Halloween. I also thought the banter between Kirk, Spock, and Bones were especially good this episode. This was a very silly and cheesy episode, but I had a fun time with it.

I, Mudd: Ugh, of all the characters to bring back, it had to be Mudd. Even in this episode, he remains sexist and unfunny. The main conflict was also just not all that tense and compelling, especially compared to fellow AI episode The Changeling. However, I didn't hate this one nearly as much as Mudd's Women, because I could tell the cast was having the time of their lives. The enthusiasm and energy from everyone involved, especially in the final ten minutes, was infectious and made generally weak comedic writing land just a bit more reliably.

Metamorphosis: Similarly to The Apple, I think this episode was so unbelievably close to greatness if its age didn't show. The concept of a human-alien love story just feels so perfectly Star Trek, the sets are colorful and pretty, and apparently Cochrane is a reoccuring character. But... remember my big complaint about Wonder Woman 1984? Because this episode had the exact same problem. There's a similar consent problem with the alien taking over Hedford's body at the end, and it just left such a bad taste in my mouth by the end of the episode.

Journey To Babel: This episode had a lot of really good worldbuilding and character development. I really liked the concept of the Enterprise having to transport a bunch of alien ambassadors, and seeing the different species was really cool. I wish the political stuff wasn't relegated to the subplot, but getting to meet Spock's family and learning more about his origins still managed to be really interesting as well. Spock had always been the show's most fleshed-out character, but exploring his split between his human and Vulcan half really solidified that.

Friday's Child: I feel like I should have loved this episode more than I did. We got the Klingons back, and my favorite character Bones got a ton of screentime to himself. However, this episode just ended up boring me. The pregnancy storyline doesn't really have any urgency or tension that made it memorable, and as much as I wanted to enjoy the Capellan stuff, I was so unbelievably distracted by their costumes. Normally, goofy alien costumes in Trek don't bother me, but this was definitely an exception.

The Deadly Years: I'm not a fan of "rapid aging" stories, and Star Trek didn't do much to win me over on the concept. It definitely stuck with that pretty regressive mindset of old people being useless (which is odd given that the 60-year-old Picard is a captain), and suffers from an extended court sequence that restates scenes that we already saw. However, the banter between Spock, Kirk, and McCoy managed to save this one for me, and was generally really entertaining for most of the episode.

Obsession: Sparkly vampire Twilight jokes aside, this was a pretty good episode. I love when otherwise moral characters are pushed to the brink, so while the plot was a bit similar to Decker's arc from The Doomsday Machine, the fact that it's Kirk of all characters still made it pretty impactful. Seeing Kirk let his confident captain act down for an episode was really refreshing, and it was nice to be able to learn a bit more about his past. It all made me overlook the fact that the villain is just a cloud.

Wolf In The Fold: While there is already quite a bit of sexism in Star Trek, this episode was especially sexist, to the point that it ruined what could have been a really cool episode. We had a murder mystery, a fun focus on Scotty, Jack The Ripper, but then we also got stuff like Spock claiming women get terrified easily, the "pleasure planet", lots of female deaths, and Scotty's general attitude throughout the episode that just ruined the episode for me. It wasn't just a single plot point like Metamorphosis or The Enemy Within, this was the whole episode, and I couldn't stand to watch it.

The Trouble With Tribbles: Like many others, I was first exposed to Star Trek through the reboot films, and I remember spotting the Tribble in Into Darkness. My dad pointed it out and said I had to watch the episode with the Tribbles in it, and I'm so glad I did. The Trouble With Tribbles was the first Star Trek episode I ever watched, and it's still my favorite episode in The Original Series. Upon rewatching it, there were just so many scenes that I remember from my first viewing years ago. The bar fight, Kirk losing his mind, the Tribble music, Scotty's confession, and of course, that iconic shot of Kirk covered in Tribbles. But even more, the writing is impressively sharp and witty, and I was surprised at how quotable it is. It's a fantastic entry point to the series too, offering fun action, strong humor, an intriguing mystery, some iconic species, 60s charm, and a role for pretty much every single character. An absolute classic.

The Gamesters Of Triskellion: It's kinda depressing that my favorite episode is surrounded by two of the worst. Similarly to Wolf In The Fold, I don't think the core concept of the characters fighting as gladiators isn't all that bad, and I always love seeing characters not in the main trio get screentime. However, there were some really rough scenes here, particularly Uhura's attempted rape and the transphobic Tamoon jokes. The Spock/McCoy scenes make this one slightly more tolerable than Wolf In The Fold, but they're both very low points in the series.

A Piece Of The Action: This episode was just so stupid, but I loved it so much. The sheer existence of this episode is hysterical, just seeing Kirk, Spock, and McCoy in their sci-fi suits playing pool with 1920s gangsters is just a sight to behold. Thankfully, I'm pretty sure the people who made this episode were very aware of how silly the concept is, because they went all out with the humor. The gangster clichés, Spock saying "Youse", Fizzbin, Kirk driving, the fact that the episode had a punchline. Not unlike the X-Files, I'm happy to see Trek has a hidden talent in comedy.

The Immunity Syndrome: Similarly to Corbomite and Doomsday, this was one of those episodes about the Enterprise crew confronting a seemingly unstoppable floating object in space. While not as good as those two episodes, this was still a tense outing due to just how crippling the space amoeba was to the Enterprise crew. The highlight, though, was the character work, culminating in that fantastic argument between the main trio over who would go on a suicide mission to save the ship.

A Private Little War: This was a pretty alright episode with a lot of depth. The actual storyline on Neural, Klingons aside, wasn't anything amazing, but it dealt with the subjects of pacifism and intervention pretty well. I especially liked how Kirk makes the decision to supply the hill people with guns at the end of the episode, yet it's not framed as Kirk making the "right decision". The ending leaves you conflicted over Kirk's decision, which is a bit of a bold move given how neatly tied most Star Trek episodes are.

Return To Tomorrow: This episode was actually a really neat usage of the body swap trope. Shatner and Nimoy did a good job of playing completely different characters, especially since we got to see Spock act like a mustache-twirling villain, and the escalation throughout the episode into sheer chaos in the last few minutes was incredibly well-done. I also really liked how it dealt with the ethical nature of using someone's body, as most of the characters consented to it and the main antagonist was the only one who refused to give their body back. 

Patterns Of Force: Patterns Of Force tries to be a comedic romp not unlike A Piece Of The Action... but in a planet resembling Nazi Germany. Look, I like seeing Nazis getting beat up as much as the next person, but this episode also tried to say something, and horribly fails. It not only tries to deal with Nazism with the subtlety of a sledgehammer ("Zeon"? Really?), but even made the claim that they were efficient? That's not true! The ending felt off too. If current day is any indication, you can't just get rid of the leader of a movement and expect it to die out. And why was Spock shushed for pointing that out? This happens multiple times in Trek. Spock rightfully doubts the episode's message and Kirk and McCoy just laugh him off! Patterns Of Force just left a bad taste in my mouth, and felt far too lackadaisical for an episode about Nazism.

By Any Other Name: This one had a bit of a slow start, but it became really entertaining in the second half. I'm a big fan of aliens that have a fundamental misunderstanding of humanity, so seeing them take over the Enterprise is really tense and compelling. However, the best part was actually the last fifteen minutes, where the remaining members of the Enterprise crew trick the aliens into experiencing human emotions, at which point the episode becomes oddly fun and upbeat.

The Omega Glory: And I thought Patterns Of Force was bad, this episode was horrendous! It's such an unbelievable mess that I can't even figure out its message. On one hand, the America surrogates (Yangs) are savages, and overly patriotic to a fault, implying that TOG is a criticism of blind nationalism. But on the other hand, there's definitely a big "yellow peril" message here, and Kirk's final speech that America is right and every other country is wrong is so shamelessly patriotic that it doubles back over to utterly hilarious. I think you can get a lot of unintentional hilarity out of this one, but there are also a lot of unfortunate implications here that solidify The Omega Glory a truly awful episode.

The Ultimate Computer: Coming after The Omega Glory, an obvious product of the Cold War, this episode surprisingly aged like fine wine. The fear of AI taking over our jobs isn't only still here, it's probably even greater than ever as technology progresses. I love how this episode actually lingers on the subject, with Kirk spending the entire first half of the episode dealing with losing his role and wondering what it even means to be captain. M-5 becomes a really scary villain near the end, and Dr Daystrom is a fleshed-out character given his one-off role. Good stuff!

Bread And Circuses: Those Earth surrogate episodes tend to have a really bad track record, which is why I was surprised that the one about Space Gladiators wasn't all that bad. The gladiator fights were fun, the planet being based on Earth history was actually justified, Spock and McCoy have some truly fantastic scenes together, and there wasn't really too much poorly aged stuff in it. However, I did think the overall story was a bit confusing, and Uhura's religious speech at the end was just... ugh.

Assignment: Earth: What an odd finale. It's pretty obvious that it was meant to be the backdoor pilot of a spinoff we never got, meaning that the Enterprise crew we know and love doesn't actually appear all that much. I just can't bring myself to really care about any of the new characters this episode focuses on, and for an episode about stopping WWIII, it doesn't feel like there's much urgency here. I was honestly focusing on Gary Seven's adorable black cat more than the actual plot.

Overall, this season was far more uneven than the first one. Its high points are incredibly high, containing some of my favorite episodes in the entire series, but its low points were far more frequent, with some really poorly-aged and tone-deaf storylines and many more reused ideas. Still, I can't be too mad with the Tribble season, so...

3/5 Stars

Star Trek: The Original Series (Season 1)

As a massive fan of Star Wars, Galaxy Quest, and sci-fi in general, it might be surprising to hear that I haven't really seen all that much Star Trek. I saw the reboot films, parts of Wrath Of Khan, a few episodes here and there, and Galaxy Quest. That was pretty much it. But with all the Star Trek shows slowly heading to Paramount+, a streaming service I don't intend to get, I thought this is a better time than any to get through at least the big ones (TOS, TNG, and DS9). And thus begins the biggest undertaking on this entire website:

Even to this day, I think Star Trek's core premise is really novel for a science fiction show. There's no big villain to stop or goal to achieve, it's just a team going on a cosmic exploration for five years and then returning home to report their findings. The original series uses a pretty episodic structure, but I think it really works with this premise. Every episode feels entirely different in terms of genre, feel, aliens, planets, it's like you never know what you're going to get. However, this also means that the quality of this original series can be pretty hit or miss at times. While there are plenty of fantastic episodes that still hold up really well, there are also quite a bunch of stinkers, as well as episodes that are good but with a big poorly-aged element. I think this first season actually has more great episodes than bad, especially in its nearly consistently strong second half,  but even it struggles with some pretty blatant sexism despite how groundbreaking it was for its time. 

Still, for a show made in the 60s, Star Trek generally ages better than it has any right to. The practical effects can look pretty good at times, the lighting and cinematography can be downright stunning, the sets and costumes are colorful and distinct, and the diversity of the cast has been talked about ad nauseam. The space sequences got remastered in the early 2000s with CGI and they really do look fantastic, with highlights being Balok's ship, Murasaki 312, and Trelane's planet. Even for 2000s CGI, I think it looks consistently great. Even more, unlike Star Wars's attempt at a remaster, the CGI is only used to touch up effects that may have looked pretty bad in the original version and nothing more. There are no massive story changes or scene replacements, just the general CGI touchups. And even then, all of the non-space effects remain purely practical, meaning that there are plenty of bad and cheesy effects to laugh at.

While the episodes can be incredibly varied, what does stay pretty consistently strong are the characters. Obviously, the main trio of Kirk, Spock, and Bones is the highlight here. Their dynamic is fantastic and the heart of the show. But even individually these characters are great. Kirk is a really likable captain and while Shatner's acting can be a bit goofy at times, he plays the character with such charisma and earnestness that I still really enjoy watching him. Spock is definitely the most interesting character in the cast, with his struggle between his human and Vulcan half, and I think Nimoy's acting is easily the best of the whole cast. Bones... Outside of the main trio, though, the show does a good job of letting everyone on the Enterprise get chances to shine, with Sulu and Uhura also being highlights. However, I do think some of the female characters get some pretty bad material, particularly the nurse Chapel and especially Yeoman Rand. Rand's actor left halfway through the season and given the episodes she stars in, I totally understand. 

Since The Original Series feels like more of an anthology, consisting of entirely standalone episodes with a range of quality, I wanted to review each one individually, and give them a score from 1-5:

The Man Trap: This was the first Star Trek episode to air, and I don't think it works really well as a pilot. It doesn't spend much time introducing the characters and world, instead throwing you right into this episode's main conflict. Even as someone who knew this cast, I spent most of this episode incredibly confused. However, as its own episode, The Man Trap is solid. It's tense, contains some fun interactions between the cast, and has some really good effects, especially in regards to "Nancy".

Charlie X: An improvement over the premiere, Charlie X does a really good job at exploring its themes on adolescence and isolation. Charlie's actor does a really good job of feeling like a realistic teenager, and the downbeat ending definitely caught me off-guard. I think the effects can be a bit cheesy when it comes to Charlie's powers, but otherwise, I thought this one was alright.

Where No Man Has Gone Before: Originally intended to be the actual pilot of Star Trek, this episode definitely looks a lot different than all the others. The costumes, Spock's eyebrows, the absent characters, it makes this episode feel a bit cheap. It's a shame, though, since the rest of WNMHGB is pretty fun. It's a nice balance of thoughtful commentary, sci-fi action, and escalating tension.

The Naked Time: Funny, sharp, and character-driven, The Naked Time is easily the best episode yet. There are just so many good moments here, like Sulu with a rapier, "Sorry, neither", Spock crying, literally everything about Riley, the first Vulcan neck pinch, and the crew accidentally inventing time travel?! Even presentation-wise, the soft lighting gave this episode a comfy feel, and Spock's scenes were really well-shot and acted. After this episode, I knew I was in it for the long haul.

The Enemy Within: This is an episode with high highs and low lows. Shatner does a good job at making his two counterparts feel distinct, the message about balancing passiveness and aggressiveness is a good one, and the big confrontation on the bridge is fantastic. However, Rand's attempted rape by evil Kirk isn't well-handled in the slightest, and the simplification of the two Kirks as "good" and "evil" loses a lot of potentially interesting nuance.

Mudd's Women: Something that I will bring up a lot in these reviews is that the worst kind of media isn't bad, it's boring. Mudd's Women is already a bad episode. It's sexist, convoluted, and is focused around a character who is way less likable than the show thinks he is. But worst of all, it's not even entertainingly bad. Mudd's Women is a dull episode with no tension, stakes, or excitement. I wasn't hooked at all, rather it nearly put me to sleep.

What Are Little Girls Made Of?: I'm not a big fan of those Kirk-centric episodes, since the interactions between the cast is one of this show's biggest strengths. While this episode's main storyline about replacing people with androids isn't super original nowadays, it was still fairly tense, with scenes like Kirk-android on the Enterprise and Korby killing both himself and Andrea really sticking out to me.

Miri: This episode was really just unremarkable. It had an interesting concept of this civilization of immortal kids, yet focused nearly entirely on a pretty unoriginal infection plot. I also thought Kirk's interactions with the titular character was a bit uncomfortable to watch due to the pretty obvious age difference. Otherwise, this was another boring one. 

Dagger Of The Mind: This episode has a lot of similarities to What Are Little Girls Made Of? in structure, but I think this episode was an improvement because of its Spock and Bones subplot. Not only did it give the two characters a chance to interact and do something, but it led to the really cool "mind-meld" scene. The Kirk stuff was alright too, with the tension increasing as you learned more info about Adams.

The Corbomite Maneuver: This episode was so intense and gripping that it made me forget how most of it just took place in a single room. Given the premise of exploring unknown worlds and alien life, I really liked seeing the Enterprise crew being stumped by tech they had absolutely no knowledge of. The themes on the cold war were obvious but effective, Kirk got some badass moments, and the remastered effects were fantastic, making even a spinning cube in space feel threatening. I will say, though, the alien at the end being a child with an adult voice was very creepy.

The Menagerie: In addition to Where No Man Has Gone Before and The Man Trap, Star Trek had an unaired pilot called "The Cage" which had a mostly different cast, and it was pretty good. The Menagerie manages to include that entire unaired pilot within a mystery plot about Spock acting out of character, and it mostly works. However, watching The Menagerie feels like watching two episodes at the same exact time, and while I thought both of them were great, jumping between the two felt jarring.

The Conscience Of The King: This was another fairly unmemorable episode. I like the contrast between the actual events of the episode with the Shakespearean plays, the mystery about Kodos was interesting, and it was great to see Riley again after The Naked Time, but there were also a lot of pretty dull stretches, and the romantic subplot between Kirk and Lenore was a bit of a bore.

Balance Of Terror: There's a lot to love in this episode. We got the first appearance of the Romulans, some pretty well-done commentary on bigotry, the show's first full-on space battles, and an impactful and bittersweet ending. While I still probably prefer Corbomite for how bizarre Balok's tech is, I think Balance Of Terror works as a strong followup since the Enterprise crew isn't being played with this time. The Romulans intend to kill, and that adds a lot of tension and stakes to the episode.

Shore Leave: Similarly to The Naked Time, this episode explored the cast a bit, albeit in really comedic fashion. Shore Leave went an extra step in the surreal direction, resulting in an episode with the White Rabbit, samurai, knights, World War II fighters, and a crazy fist fight. While it lacks the emotional hook or thoughtfulness of the TNT, the sheer unadulterated 60s camp made this one a joy to watch. 

The Galileo Seven: Another solid episode, The Galileo Seven gave Spock, McCoy, and Scotty the bulk of the screentime rather than Kirk as usual. It's a tense episode as things slowly get worse and worse for the titular crew, and Spock's rigidity is taken apart fairly well. However, the rest of the crew did seem a bit harsh towards Spock at times, and it didn't really handle its theme of logic vs emotion all too well. I also think the remastered Murasaki 312 looks absolutely stunning.

The Squire Of Gothos: Similarly to Shore Leave, this was another bizarre episode. The concept of the crew being played with by a reality warper is a cool one, and it leaves you wondering how they'd be able to escape. There were tons of neat effects and strange sequences, with my favorite being a planet chasing down the Enterprise, but the best part is the antagonist Trelane. William Campbell did a great job with making him immature and childlike to the point where he becomes scarily unpredictable.

Arena: This was one of those episodes I was aware about prior to this watch, and I'm surprised at how much more it has to offer than just the infamous Gorn fight. Yes, the Gorn fight is pretty cheesy, though I think it's really fun. And even with all the goofy action, there's a bunch of really solid themes about violence. This isn't one of my favorite episodes since the first half is probably more intense than the actual "arena fight", but I still enjoyed it. At the very least, I can see why Arena is a classic.

Tomorrow Is Yesterday: I'm not a massive fan of time travel. It's so common yet so rarely done well, not everything can be as airtight as Steins;Gate or Lost Season 5. This episode is filled to the brim with plotholes and paradoxes, but it makes up for being incredibly cute. Kirk's dynamic with Christopher is really enjoyable, the one-liners and interactions were funny, and there's something so charming about watching the Enterprise crew face off against the real life military. 

Court Martial: After a whopping six really solid episodes in a row, this was the first one in the while that just didn't grip me all that much. It's the second "courtroom drama" episode after The Menagerie, and unlike that episode where Spock's motivations leave you intrigued, it's obvious that Kirk didn't intend to kill anyone. Even more, the courtroom scenes just weren't all that interesting. This wasn't a bad episode, it was watchable, I just couldn't bring myself to care about it much.

Return Of The Archons: "The Purge" is my least favorite movie of all time. I'm not gonna ramble about why here, but a big sticking point is its flawed premise. So color me surprised when I learned that The Purge was inspired by this very episode, and even more, I actually enjoyed it! It's a legitimately creepy episode with a strong opening and a lot of substance. It helps that "Festival" is once a day rather than once a year, the episode isn't just a glorified home invasion plot, and the themes are more based around conformity and indoctrination rather than human psychology.

Space Seed: I can say I definitely wasn't expecting Khan to show up. I thought he was just in the movie! He's still a fantastic villain, though, probably the best in the series yet. He's charismatic and cruel, coming the closest to completely taking over the Enterprise. I think some of the characters like McGivers and Kirk make some dumb decisions in their glorification of Khan, but in terms of its overall plot, this was a very fun and tense thriller.

A Taste Of Armageddon: In terms of the actual story, this episode was alright. The computer-generated war made some of the plot points a bit confusing, but overall, it was a fun watch with a strong conflict and some great Scotty moments. Thematically, though, A Taste Of Armaggedon is fantastic, and probably one of the best aged in the whole show. The anti-war message is incredibly well done, and the themes of how death can be normalized through statistics to the point where no one questions it anymore is still relevant today!

This Side Of Paradise: I didn't love this one all that much. The main plot about the spores wasn't all that interesting, so the highlight really just ended up being Spock. Spock showing emotions and falling in love is such a strange premise, but Nimoy manages to do wonders with the material, nailing the comedic and dramatic elements of the story. I also liked the pretty downbeat ending, as Spock reveals that was the only time he was ever happy.

The Devil In The Dark: This episode was cute, though not entirely creative nowadays. The main storyline of trying to kill a creature only to learn it was kind has been repeated to death by now, but it's executed pretty well here. There's a nice focus on the core trio of Spock, Kirk, and Bones that lets the three shine, the Horta monster has a charmingly silly design, and the message of compassion is optimistic and heartwarming. For such a subterranean episode, The Devil In The Dark was surprisingly comfy.

Errand Of Mercy: Klingons! The coolest thing about Errand Of Mercy for me outside of the debut of one of Trek's most well-known species is that the Enterprise crew isn't actually correct for a lot of the episode. Kirk keeps trying to fight a war for the Organians, ultimately making things far more complicated for them. The twist that they're actually godlike beings that are too evolved for violence was well-foreshadowed, and it really put into perspective just how needless the Human-Klingon fighting has been.

The Alternative Factor: The other really bad episode of this season, unlike Mudd's Women, this one was at the very least entertaining, even if it was still awful. The concept of alternate universes could have worked really well in Star Trek, but Lazarus's actor wasn't good, the effects were painfully bright, and the script was incredibly repetitive due to rewrites. For all intents and purposes, this was a truly awful episode, but it was at least fun to watch at times. 

The City On The Edge Of Forever: This is easily the most iconic episode of the series, and I totally get why. It holds up so well in so many ways! Seeing Kirk and Spock try to live in 1930s New York City is compelling, the main conflict of a drugged Bones nearly destroying history is both hilarious and tense, Edith is a very well-realized character, the fact that the episode takes place on Earth means the set design and effects still hold up, and of course, that tragic ending between Kirk and Edith is fantastic, and shows some of Shatner's best acting in the whole show. It all adds up to the season's most well-crafted episode, and a definite high point in the series.

Operation: Annihilate!: Coming after the best episode in the season, Operation Annihilate feels like an odd note to end the series's first season on. It's not bad, per se, but it's a fairly standard episode about the crew fighting insanity-inducing parasites. There are some finale-ish elements here, though. Kirk goes through the winger, losing some family members, but the episode rarely spends time on this subplot and let him mourn. Spock's subplot fares a bit better, as we at least get to learn a bit more about Vulcans. But otherwise, this is just such an unambitious note to end the season on.

Overall, the first season of Star Trek's first series was a lot better than I expected, as I ended up enjoying way more episodes than I expected. It has a bit of a slow start and definitely aged poorly at points, but the characters, creativity, and second half are all great.

4/5 Stars