Day 59 : TOS:S3E3 The Paradise Syndrome

“I…AM….KIR….GOING TO DISNEY WORLD!”

 

Minus the “Yikes I have to respect the time frame when this came out but there’s white people dressed as Native Americans and dark face makeup,” The Paradise Syndrome is another good episode that I tend to like just because it’s not playing on any of the previously overused tropes and is it’s own unique story, with huge implications for Kirk.

I’ve also been waiting for this episode since I started this trek, though I had no idea which one it was or the episode number.  But there was always a running gag in my group of childhood friends where they would randomly yell, ” I AM KIROCK!”  I knew from what they told me that it was Shatner yelling that in a Trek episode, but never knew the context or saw the episode myself.  So here it is. And it does not disappoint.

Basically, the Trio beam down to a planet to do a last minute (and I mean REALLY last minute considering how quickly Spock has to ditch Kirk when they can’t find him) survey before heading out to deflect an incoming asteroid that will destroy the planet. It makes me wonder where the Prime Directive comes in on all this:  Should it be Starfleet’s prerogative to save planets from destruction just because they contain sentient life?  Shouldn’t they be letting the natural order of things take place?

There’s also another very interesting aspect of the episode that posits that there are Designers, who seeded planets million of years ago, which is why so many of them are humanoid-like Earthlings. I like it, and it works and suddenly helps explain why so many aliens are human (and helps save on the makeup budget as well).

Having said all that, yes there’s a love story here, and probably the best of the series yet.  Kirk gets amnesia and falls in love with a native, and they have a truly fulfilling, deep relationship, get married and conceive a child.  Of course, this can not work since everything has to go back to normal by the end of the episode (darn episodic television!) so his wife must die so he can return to the Enterprise.  But it is a touching moment and certainly one of the saddest endings of a Trek episode. (Ever notice how McCoy can never save anybody form dying?) For about 60 days Kirk was truly happy, it reminds me of the best TNG episode “The Inner Light.” Kirk has basically lived a different life, albeit for a much shorter time, but he is better for it in the end.

Day 58 : TOS:S3E2 The Enterprise Incident

“I learned this from watching my parents.”

The second episode rebounds from Spock’s Brain with a good episode involving the Romulans again. I love the opening, where no setup is given as to why Kirk orders the Enterprise into the Neutral Zone.  It makes you wonder if he’s gone a bit crazy or is plotting something. As the episode unfolds, we learn of course that Kirk is in his right mind and has planned out an elaborate plan to steal their cloaking device.

The one head scratcher of the episode is the willingness of the Romulans to suddenly just beam aboard some Enterprise crew members when they made it a point in their last appearance that they hadn’t even seen what they look like up until that point.  And then of course, Scotty hooking up the cloaking device in about 15 minutes to work with the Enterprise, I mean, really?

The Spock scenes in the episode are stellar, with the excellent Romulan Commander (no name?) played by Joanne Linville.  Her performance is exceptional and believable, as well as Nimoy toeing the line between his Vulcan logic and the mission at hand.  His playing of the Romulan Commander works very well, and I actually believed he was possibly being seduced by her, to the point that he was going to perhaps get some interstellar loving, Kirk style.

We get Kirk done up like a Romulan, an image I’ve never seen before!

Day 57 : TOS:S3E1 Spock’s Brain

When the set designer throws his hands up and says “Good enough!”

 

The home stretch is officially here as I delve into the final season of The Original Series. Unfortunately it kicks off with what is considered to be the worst episode of the series, Spock’s Brain.

In it’s defense, it’s not worse than some of the other episodes I’ve seen, even just recently.  The Omega Glory immediately springs to mind.  In that you have to gobble up a lot of breaks with reality, in Spock’s Brain, there’s really just two:  Why did a woman suddenly appear on the Enterprise to specifically steal Spock’s Brain,  and then of course, how can we believe that Spock’s body would survive let alone that it could be inserted back into his skull? Ok, I’ll throw in the third, controlling Spock’s body with a remote control, to the point that Kirk wrestles a female antagonist with it.

Spock himself is written more like a caricature of himself in this episode rather than the fleshed out character we know.  He’s used as a humorous device throughout and it just doesn’t work.

The side plot of the planet where the men and women are separated also falls flat, mostly by horrible performances from the guest stars.

But I’ve seen it finally, and I can be in the jokes now made about this one.  It could have been worse, but yeah…it’s not good.  Not even bad in a way that is funny, just bad.

Day 56 : TOS:S2E26 Assignment:Earth

“And just exactly who’s show is this, mister?”

 

It’s Dr. Who meets James Bond in this bizarre episode that I assumed was an attempt at a spin off and a wikipedia check confirmed it. Assignment: Earth is a pilot idea by Gene Roddenberry, crammed into a Star Trek episode, that just never gets off the ground and is mired in character development of “Gary Seven,” a black cat carrying secret agent man of an advanced civilization that trains people to protect their planets from bad “time” events.

Even the fact that the setup is horrible and makes no sense, that the Enterprise has traveled back in time to 1968 to do some “research,” in other words, Roddenberry wanted the show to take place in present day so, pop goes the Enterprise back in time.

It’s fun to see a young Teri Garr, but her character is grating and given the typical blonde, secretary stereotype to work with.

Kirk and Spock, basically just follow Gary Seven around as he saves the planet from some nuclear satellite missile thing.  I don’t know, I could barely pay attention.  Not a fun way to end Season 2 of Trek, for sure.

It obviously was not a success since the show never got picked up, and that’s probably a good thing.