Episodes you once disliked and now love (or vice versa)

I'm sure at some point everyone has had an episode of The Original Series that they weren't fond of, but came to enjoy with repeat viewings. Or just the opposite.
For myself, I'd have to say "Spock's Brain" and "Elaan of Troyius". Considering season two's opener was "Amok Time", "Spock's Brain" is pretty ridiculous. Especially because it's never willing to wink at the viewer. However, I've come to appreciate this episode a lot and it is not nearly as bad as history has made it out to be. I think it's seen a bit of a renaissance these past few years. "Elann of Troyius" is just really good. Great performances.

As for one story I really enjoyed but have come to like less is "Requiem for Methuselah". I still enjoy it and I think James Daly is really good but it's inconceivable to think that Kirk, Spock and McCoy would be drinking, playing piano, dancing, and shooting billiards when there's a raging epidemic killing Enterprise crewmembers. They're just chillin' on the planet and Kirk still has time to fall in love. All within 4 hours!

What about you guys? Any episodes you've come to appreciate a lot more or a lot less?

 

When I was a kid, I found Metamorphosis slow and boring with littĺe action. Now it's one of my top favourites.

 

Excellent choice! That's a top 10 for me!

 

The comedic episodes: “The Trouble With Tribbles,” “A Piece Of The Action” and “I, Mudd.” To say I loved them back in the day is a stretch. I liked them and they were okay. But time has not been kind to them in my view particularly “A Piece Of The Action” and “I, Mudd.” Now I find them near unbearably absurd and out of place.

 

'The Way to Eden'. A bad counterculture episode that took on a different feel after Jim Jones, David Koresh and the like. Still a lot of third season cheese in it but not as hated by me as it once was.
Plus there's been a lot of actual RL music since that's worse than what is offered in that ep.

 

Most improved: Metamorphosis. I found it mushy and cringy as a kid, it was girl stuff, but now as an older man, I find the episode very moving.

The worst hasn't budged: I always disliked "And the Children Shall Lead." And I still love all the episodes I loved from the start, some for the action and conflict, and even some for the music.

 

Amen.

 

My assessment of Requiem has moved in the opposite direction in the past few years. I never thought it was very good, but now I think it's very poignant. And, considering the limited budget in season 3, the set direction and props made it look more lush.

 

For me, I hated "Miri" when I was a kid and it was one of the only Trek episodes I would miss. Now, I think it is great (even though the kids are still somewhat annoying), the story of a virus getting out of control seems very plausible.

 

Improved later in life - "METAMORPHOSIS". When I was a kid, I thought this was rather dull. As I got older, and rewatched more, I found this to be a great story. Not just a great love story, but an exploration story.

Became worse in life - "AND THE CHILDREN SHALL LEAD". To be perfectly honest, it was never that good to begin with. But when I was younger, I tolerated it more. But on more rewatches and as I got older, it steadily became worse and worse until it ended up as the very worst episode of TOS for me. Five kids taking over the ship by looking at the crew and jacking off the air? Jack Ruby's defense lawyer as the main villain? That annoying chant the kids did? That was all bad enough, but then I realized that this episode made Kirk and Spock look incompetant and, even worse, uncaring: not only did they beam two security guards into space without even seeing if they were still in orbit (transporter guy could have easily said something along the lines of 'there's nothing at these coordinates' before trying to beam them down), but the two guards that were on Triacus are still there because Kirk never bothered to go back to the planet after he got control back. He ordered the Enterprise to go to a starbase. This made Kirk look truly bad.

 

If anything one-fiftieth that bad happened in the Navy, the Captain and XO would be relieved. Kirk and Scotty would be gone after the TMP transporter accident, too. They didn't tell the Transporter Room that the crucial anti-death device had been pulled for replacement. The Navy fires officers for a lot less.

 

I always assumed the transport officer was already under the control of the kids, and so it wasn't until they attempted to beam up the other two guards, that they realised they weren't in orbit. But I agree, no on-screen evidence suggests he was.

As a side note, I think that scene of beaming the guards into space, is probably one of the grimmest in TOS.

 

Typical third-year writing moment. But I wouldn't boo-hoo too much about those two. They're getting off lightly, given their occupational history. They're alive. What more do they want?

Pluck 'em both. It's not like they even had names.

 

Same here. I stumbled across this piece that offers way more info on that episode than most would care to know. Interesting read, though. (And I love that he trashes the episode but good).

 

Interesting read, and thanks for sharing it.

That episode was plagued with problems, but that article mentions something that I don't necessarily agree with. I need to brace myself, because I might be inadvertantly giving "AND THE CHILDREN SHALL LEAD" a positive notation. (A small one, but still... surprising.)

The article mentions Uhura's nightmare scenario... growing old. While I definitely agree that it was odd for her console to have a mirror in the first place, I don't completely agree with their assessment that her fear is about losing her beauty. Though I admit that this is an easy conclusion to draw, based solely on the visuals we saw.

Growing old is a big fear for many people, and not simply because of the loss of beauty or vitality. Our general health declines, Alzheimer's being a very real possibility, arthritis sets in, vision usually worsens, hearing can go, and the list goes on and on... getting old is a legitimate thing for people to worry about. Especially if you have been a caretaker for a grandparent or parent and you are right there watching it happen before your eyes... you actually see your potential future. And that can be scary.

I can see this as why that is Uhura's fear. And here comes my potential compliment to the episode... this bit is actually consistent with Uhura from a previous episode. In "I, MUDD", she was amazed at the prospect of having an android body where she doesn't grow old... there were a couple scenes that show her really loving the idea. Granted, this is likely a pretty general wish for a vast majority of people, but it was only Uhura that we saw enamored with this idea. "AND THE CHILDREN SHALL LEAD" actually kept character consistency with Uhura here, and it never even occured to me until I saw this article.

Now, I know this sounded like really stretching to find some good about this abysmal episode, but I felt it was worth saying. (The only other positive I can give this one is it gave us an extraordinarily rare scene... Chapel being rather motherly with the kids.) This episode is still the worst of TOS, and definitely a strong contender for worst in the franchise. And that little positive nugget is nowhere near enough to help the episode overall.

 

As a linguist and communicator, she fears growing old and losing her ability to think, speak, and hear. Elderly features are a quick shorthand for this.

 

My nitpick with the blogger's comment on Uhura was that he thinks she has an actual mirror at her station. Note that it was never seen before or after. Also, there's a plain white background in it, rather than a reflection of the bridge as you'd expect in a literal mirror:
https://tos.trekcore.com/gallery/al...ren-shall-lead/children-shall-lead-br-541.jpg

Notice the mirror is not there when Spock tries to signal Starfleet a few moments later:
https://tos.trekcore.com/gallery/al...ren-shall-lead/children-shall-lead-br-581.jpg

It's not supposed to be a physical mirror, it's a hallucination. And as with Sulu's tunnel of swords, you don't question the surreal when your mind is in a dream state. Whatever you see, just is. Fist-pump delusions are the same way.

Incidentally, I notice the production did use an actual mirror on the set (with a white backdrop) for Uhura's young reflection, because she was right there and the bridge was lit anyway. But her elderly reflection is a matte shot. This allowed the hours of make-up to be done at any available time, without then having to light the bridge set, or even necessarily be on Stage 9. She just needed the white backdrop behind her for the aged shot.

This also would have allowed a shot where her young self can see an old "reflection," all in the same frame. But they didn't do that (unless TrekCore missed it).

 

Yes, I always assumed the mirror was an illusion. Never thought it was real.

Are you saying that they had a white backdrop behind Uhura for the bridge scenes when she looks at her normal self?

 

That's what I'm seeing, yes.
https://tos.trekcore.com/gallery/al...ren-shall-lead/children-shall-lead-br-541.jpg

It simplified getting the young shot considerably, as to getting the bridge behind her looking right, but also, the plain backdrop freed up the old lady shot such that it could be done at any time, without having to assemble and light the bridge at all.

 

The episode is indeed abysmal (I absolutely despise it), but three things elevated it for me slightly back in the day:

* The ship's new recreation room set -- maybe not as cool as I once thought, but at least it's something different.

* Parts (notice I said "parts") of George Duning's music score. When re-used later in episodes like "All Our Yesterdays," the music is actually very good.

* And the fact that my local UHF station banned this episode from its syndication run, fearing it might inspire child viewers to try to conjure up evil spirits. That I didn't even get to see this episode until I was nearly out of high school made it unique, for me. (In hindsight of course I wish the episode had stayed banned -- everywhere.)