Series: The Original Series – Season One Episode: “A Taste of Armageddon” Trek Installment # 117 Grade: C+ Viewing Date: December 28, 2009 The idea of a simulated war resulting in real deaths is interesting, but doesn’t make a lot of sense. How can people handle this? I can’t imagine a society being able to withstand over five centuries of it. It pushes my suspension of disbelief quite a bit. I imagine that the Eminar brain is just wired differently. Eminar VII is a beautiful planet - very retro. This is going to sound strange, but I really liked hearing “United Federation of Planets.” I also liked Robert Fox, even if he was kind of a prick. See, this is the kind of episode where I’m okay with Kirk’s actions. They’re similar to “Return of the Archons,” but we have a species that’s space-faring, that has endangered the ship and the crew, and could potentially ignite war with the Federation itself. It just turned out that this was much more thought-out installment, one that really seemed to know what it was trying to say and do.
What I didn't get was why the population was okay with this? Why no one was no up in arms about having to volunteer to die like that, just because a computer said that statistically, they had to? It just lacked logic and realism to me.
Because they feared real war. They went along with it because the alternative terrified them. I really liked A Taste Of Armageddon; it's one of my favourites from season 1.
Aye, but what was the difference between real war and what was happening to them anyways? Property damage?
The alternative was that they would start using REAL bombs. Then, they'd still be dead - possibly a slow lingering death - and there would also be the added problems of destruction of infrastructure.
And the pain and suffering of real weapons. Their society had made 'war' a nice and comfortable thing - precisely why they kept it going for so long! As a concept, it's not completely immune to scrutiny but I think it works.
Sorry there's been such a delay. It took a while to switch Internet providers. So, here's our next installment . . . Series: The Original Series – Season One Episode: “Space Seed” Trek Installment # 118 Grade: B- Viewing Date: December 28, 2009 I’m a little torn about this episode, even though I did enjoy it. Despite Kahn giving them his name, it seemed to take Kirk and company forever to figure out “oh hey, it’s that famous tyrant from the nineties who was part of that huge infamous war.” The other Augments were also fairly weak, as I saw Scotty take one down pretty quickly. The Kirk/Kahn fight in Engineering was pretty cool. I liked it when Kahn crushed the phaser. The Botany Bay also looked fantastic. Great job on the re-master. Probably one of my favorite effects shots. Not a fan of McGivers. Kahn’s treatment of her is rather disturbing, most especially the “open your heart” scene. There’s no feelings there, except for hers, and Kahn is a bastard to her. And then she just throws herself into exile after him after (what?) a day – two – of being with him. Gah. Overall, it was a decent episode and played well into the overall tapestry of the Star Trek universe. I thought a lot about the Augment arc from “Enterprise,” as well as “Wrath of Kahn.” Actually, that whole scene at the end, in the conference room during the hearing, really seemed to foreshadow the second Star Trek movie.
Series: The Original Series – Season One Episode: “This Side of Paradise” Trek Installment # 119 Grade: B+ Viewing Date: December 28, 2009 I loved this episode. While the way to defeat the spores was kinda lame (everyone beating the crap out of everyone else), this episode had some great character moments. Kirk was really emoting when he was left all alone on the ship and his eventual determination not to leave was well done. His fight with Spock was great and I had flashbacks from ST11. Spock was fantastic in this episode. What really got it for me was right after the spores in his system were rendered inert, the look of shock and – almost – betrayal at the hands of Kirk. His stunned expression as he realized that Jim did it on purpose was a homerun for me. And then, again, with his self-made purgatory speech, man . . . it was great. McCoy wanting to sit around and either 1) drink or 2) be a doctor was pretty funny. He was determined, damn it!
Two because I've been lazy . . . Series: The Original Series – Season One Episode: “The Devil in the Dark” Trek Installment # 120 Grade: B+ Viewing Date: December 28, 2009 Man, another great episode. This one was took the idea of a space monster and turned it on its head. I really liked Kirk’s willingness to learn more about this thing and to understand what exactly it was before killing it right off the bat. I also liked McCoy’s skepticism and later, his astonishment at not only being asked to save the Horta, but actually being able to do it! Spock was little over the top with his mind meld, though. Also, the miners attitude towards Kirk reminds me a lot of the cargo guys from Enterprise. I think what really impressed me about this episode was that it really dealt with some of the core values of Trek -- the exploration, contant, and understanding of alien species. This was most certainly one of the best examples of that. --------------- Series: The Original Series – Season One Episode: “Errand of Mercy” Trek Installment # 121 Grade: B+ Viewing Date: December 28, 2009 KLINGONS! So now we’re at war with the Klingons. The initial battle was pretty cool; I like how hard the Klingon disrupters hit. It really seemed to have a real impact. Seeing the glimpse of the fleet was cool too, though I would have liked to have seen an actual fleet battle . . . but I know that would have been impossible. As much as I liked the antics of Kirk and Spock in this episode, it was Kor that stole the spotlight. It’s kinda neat to see them go from being thugs and bullies in Enterprise to being an interstellar empire here. Kor just kinda waltzes in, says that he’s the Organian’s new leader and boom, he is. He’s surprisingly aristocratic for a Klingon, too. (something about the way he says “vegetable”) His attitude towards Kirk and the Organians gives us a solid, three-dimensional character. This guy wants the glory of battle, but understands the nature of war. He’s confident, but not brash. He’s probably the best Klingon I’ve seen since I’ve started this marathon. I liked the Organians, though they were a little different than the ones we’d seen before. However, we have the added weight of continuity now. Seeing them, I recalled their actions back on the NX-01 and took note of the similarities. I also liked the “fast friends” comment. I can’t tell you how refreshing it was to have such a good Klingon episode . . .
Series: The Original Series – Season One Episode: “City of the Edge of Forever” Trek Installment # 122 Grade: A+ Viewing Date: December 29, 2009 I absolutely loved this episode. This has been the best of the season. I know that’s not surprising, considering just how popular it is, but it’s that way for a reason. The alternate reality usage had a minimal aspect to it; it was present, but we didn’t go exploring this alternate timeline, we just leapt into the past to prevent it. Just Uhura being unable to call up to the Enterprise was good enough for me. The time traveling aspect was great as well, as it didn’t play around too much with temporal mechanics – it was simply a dive into the past. The Guardian of Forever was such an interesting concept and his mysteriousness adds so much to the atmosphere of the episode. Kirk and Spock had some great moments, such as when Edith states that Spock belonged at Kirk’s side and when Kirk put all that trust and confidence into Spock to get the tricorder running. Even when Spock delivered the news about Edith and cautioned him, it was more heartfelt than the normal “IT IS ILLOGICAL.” The whole senior staff had some nice moments. Scotty leaping at the conn when Sulu was blown away; Sulu’s fast recovery. Bones going crazy, his scenes with Edith, and his reunion with Jim and Spock. Uhura’s fear at the alternate reality (though it was a bit overblown). The scene when Kirk almost gets run down by the car had me wondering why he didn’t shout “DOUBLE DUMBASS ON YOU!” All in all, this episode earned its reputation. It’s an emotional time traveling epic that really captured the human heart of Star Trek.
Hello, great thread. Thought i would say i have started to do something similair to yourself and decided to write a blog on it. The blog is not so much a break down on episodes like you have but more of my journey. The url is in my link if you fancy a look.
Not just property damage and suffering. One big problem with war now is environmental impact. Poison, radiation, etc... It last long past the end of the war and spreads across bounderies. Of course, lack of this type of damage is why their war continued for so long.
Hmmm. I can certainly your point of view, but I can not wrap my head around it that it was never mentioned of a protest against this or someone demanding not to be killed. ------ Series: The Original Series – Season One Episode: “Operation – Annihilate!” Trek Installment # 123 Grade: B- Viewing Date: December 29, 2009 This episode was a particular blow to Kirk. I’m sure he was feeling awfully crappy after the last episode and all he wanted to do was spend some time hanging out with his brother. And then it turns out his mustachioed brother is dead. And why have Shatner play his brother? Why not a stunt-double? I hate how Kirk just hugs his hysterical sister-in-law, as though it would calm her down. Her death was awfully rough. I wish we had also learned a little more about Peter’s fate, too. In fact, a single line of dialogue would have sufficed. The whole “Spock’s blindness” sub-plot was really unnecessary. I just found it to be an add-on, like it didn’t matter. And it didn’t matter! He was fine! Deneva was beautifully done. I liked that planet a lot. Overall, however, the episode just wasn’t as good as some of the others. There parasites were fine, but there seemed to be more unneeded elements than needed. Season One is done. The review will be here tomorrow or late tonight. Depends on what's going on.
Later, in DS9, it was established that Kor was an aristocrat, a descendant of the Imperial Family (in contrast to General Martok, who was of a lower class). I would have given This Side of Paradise and The Devil in the Dark A. Maybe A-, because of the former's inherently silly premise (which goes for a few other TOS episodes as well, including some of my favorites), which I am willing to overlook because I love it so much for the Spock's story, and of the latter's 1960s problem of presenting a convincing non-humanoid alien (in a visual sense, there was nothing wrong with the writing). Yes, it was obvious that it was a guy in a rug, but the rest of the episode makes up for it. And I am going to go on a record here: I had absolutely no problem with Spock's mind meld scene, I didn't find it overdone, and I never had any problem with Nimoy's acting in this or any other scene in the entire series, he was always great IMO. These later episodes (at least production-wise) of season 1 really form a strong streak. I remember how impressed I was with season 1, despite a few bad episodes like Mudd's Women, but I really felt that the quality dropped in season 2, which also has some awesome episodes, but has more average and bad ones, and it also had the problem that the episodes started to look very formulaic and repetitive, with the trio always going off to wacky adventures on various planets, and the comic endings with everyone on the bridge started to feel tiresome.
I completely forgot about that! Man, it's been so long since I've seen DS9. Nimoy is the man. "Devil in the Dark" was a close one for me, but I think I just wasn't completely won over by it altogether. It's also been several months since I've seen it, so maybe I'm just forgetting what I didn't like about it. I agree 100%. ----------- Season One Overview Overall Season Rating: A- Best Episode: City on the Edge of Forever Best Episode Runner-Up: The Galileo Seven Worst Episode: What Are Little Girls Made Of? Star Trek season one is the pinnacle of all Star Trek. It is inarguable. It is the true beginning of the massive franchise we all love. It’s well, Star Trek. It’s hard to sit and judge it when it’s been judged for 40 years by critics with more creditials and more, er, Trekkie-er than I. But I’m going to give it a shot. First and foremost, as this is a chronological viewing of all Trek, I think it’s important to take the time to talk about the big transition from “Enterprise” to TOS. When last saw the Star Trek universe, Earth was a fledging power, only just able to put its demons behind it and move forward into interstellar diplomacy. The Coalition of Planets was just beginning to blossom and Earth and its allies were enjoying a taste of peace. Two starships had been commissioned at this time – the USS Enterprise NX-01 and then USS Columbia NX-02. What happens between then and now? The Romulan Wars, the foundation of the United Federation of Planets, and launch of more warp vessels, including the USS Enterprise NCC-1701 under the command (originally) of Captain Robert April, and then captained by Christopher Pike. TOS is, of course, taking a step back. Going into it, I had to change my expectations. The early days of TOS, no one really seemed to know who they were working for – Earth Space Probe Agency, Earth Star Central, etc etc. Actually, it took me a while to get into TOS. The show takes about three episodes to really establish its chemistry. Making the transition from ENT to TOS was a little odd, but it works if you don’t question everything. Like I mentioned, Star Trek takes its time establishing itself. It doesn’t really seem to settle its details until the middle of the season. This is something that ultimately confounds me and is actually part of my major critism with TOS. For all the bitching and moaning that some Trekkies have about continuity, it’s important to point out that TOS has barely any. I raised this issue in “Charlie X.” Kirk watched his best friend rise up to a god-like state – to the point where he could do anything – and was forced to kill him when the power drove him mad. And yet, when Charlie starts to exhibit the same power levels, Kirk doesn’t try and steer him right. He acts like its no big deal and we don’t see any attempt to reign it in. Further, we don’t deal much with the emotional considerations of having someone die in almost every episode. It’s maddening – it’s okay to be angsty, y’know? Kirk normally pushes this to the back of his mind, focuses on the problem, solves it, and has a good hardy laugh at the end. You’d think, at some point, someone at Starfleet has to sit up and say “Kirk’s on a killing spree!” But nope . . . Anyways, those are my two biggest problems with season one. This doesn’t improve much by season two, but let’s focus on season one right now. I’m a little torn about Kirk. On the one hand, he’s the freaking man. He’ll work his way out of just about every situation – by either talking a computer to death or beating someone or bluffing or simply by outthinking his opponent. This is present in most of his episodes – except one: “City on the Edge of Forever,” which is the one of the few episodes that exposes the more emotional side of Jim Kirk and takes the time to show the ramifications of his actions. Which is something he needed more of, because Kirk was just fine messing with cultures and wiping out computer-gods and trying to establish a “true” “human” way of developing. Ah yes, nice to see that that good ol’ human superiority hasn’t washed out yet. Remember my problems with “Rogue Planet” and the like, when Archer argued and talked-down to the aliens for not following human standards? Yep, still fairly present in the 23rd century. Ugh. But Kirk is still the man and his sheer loyalty to his ship and her crew remains his best quality. His adversaries this season are among the best of all Trek. The Romulan Commander, Trelane, Kor, and Kahn – Kirk takes them all on and fights them until they’re beaten or until a more powerful entity steps in. So for all his pompous and arrogance, Kirk is the man. Let’s shift over to Spock – but I’m only going to go over him a little bit because his character experiences more development in season two. Spock’s the one character we see graduate from Pike’s tenure and he remains the sound voice of rational logic throughout. Like the rest of the show, it takes a while to really place him. But challenges like “This Side of Paradise,” “Galileo Seven” and “The Naked Time” help develop him and allow him to deal with his human half. These episodes help us connect to him and cause his character to develop in very subtle ways. The rest of the crew – Bones, Uhura, Scotty, and Sulu – don’t develop much here. I plan on covering them more in the next two season reviews. Story-wise, we have some of the finest Star Trek has ever offered. Aside from the milestone episodes, even the most average episodes are better than what has come after. The sci-fi is a little strange at times, but it works in the right context. Ultimately, season one would have only been better with the added dose of drama/angst and continuity. It is an episodic show, yes, but when taken in the modern context, it suffers in those places. However, the stories are, for the most part, great. And that’s what makes this season the best (thus far). *** Trek species: Klingons: The Klingons have grown from a “bully” mentality to a massive empire now, despite the corruption inside the government and their genetic affliction. After a break-down in negotiations, the Klingons and the Federation go to war – only to be stopped by the powerful Organians. Romulans: After nearly a century of non-contact, the Romulans and Federation engage in a battle near the Neutral Zone. The Enterprise achieves a strong victory over the Romulans and it’s revealed the Romulans are the offshoot of the Vulcan people.
Actually, it isn't, because I'm going to argue against it . When I was doing my chronological watching of all Trek (which has been paused after TUC for a few months now) I was rather looking forward to TOS. It was the only Trek show I hadn't completely watched at that point, and many people say TOS seasons 1 and 2 are really good. I was pretty disappointed when I actually watched it, though. Yes, it has some great episodes, but most of them are pretty poor. In that sense it's quite similar to Voyager, and also with the lack of continuity. However, I place Voyager higher in my ranking of the Trek shows, as there I really liked most of the characters, while here I only really like Spock (Bones, Scotty, and Chekov too, but more from a "they're funny" point of view than because I actually find them interesting characters). Because season 1 didn't really work for me, I decided to only watch the episodes that people generally recommend from seasons 2 and 3 (and Spock's Brain, simply because I wanted to know why people hate it). Overall, I'd rate TOS season 1 a 6/10.
There were little bits of continuity in TOS. The Organian-enforced peace treaty with the Klingons is mentioned at least once, Kirk's nephew is referred to again, and Spock becomes more open about his mating cycle in season 3. There's also the return of Harry Mudd, Romulans (again), etc.. Generally, you're right, though. They have an adventure then laugh about it at the end, and never mention it again or learn anything from it.
Ack, I had two really nice responses written out. And then I accidently deleted them and I'm too lazy to re-write them. Sorry. -------- Series: The Original Series – Season Two Episode: “Catspaw” Trek Installment # 124 Grade: D- Viewing Date: December 30, 2009 I really disliked this episode. There were witches, cats, giant cats, ghosts, a bald guy with a wand, and mind-control. It was really boring, redundant, and just plain disappointing. While I did like the idea of having different-looking aliens (and boy were they alien different), the story just seemed like an excuse to do a “Halloween” episode. Blah. I did, however, like that everyone was here. Kirk, Spock, and Bones – of course – but also Scotty, Uhura, Sulu, and Chekov. Chekov being the newbie, it was kinda cool to see him running things at the Science station. DeSalle, however, kinda came out of nowhere and I would have much rather seen Uhura running the bridge. That would have been cool.
Series: The Original Series – Season Two Episode: “Metamorphosis” Trek Installment # 125 Grade: C+ Viewing Date: December 30, 2009 This was a strange one. I liked have Cochrane around, as he definitely created a much needed connection with Enterprise. His interest in the shuttlecraft and his remarks about it brought about a mental comparison with the NX-01, which I know was built long after Cochrane, but he obviously played a role in the Warp Five program. But more than that – I liked Kirk’s words to Cochrane about the current state of space, as it also seemed to bring up comparisons with Enterprise. Further, the scene where Sulu, Uhura, and Scotty are searching for the shuttle was pretty good too. I also liked the Companion and its relationship with Cochrane. But that’s about where the episode lost me. Cochrane says to the guys right up in front “I’ve grown an affection for it” and shows them that he’s reluctant to even harm it; and yet, he is disgusted by the fact that it loves him. It doesn’t make any sense. And then we have the commissioner merging with the Companion and creating a new character and now Cochrane loves it. I know he’s man of contradictions, but . . . really? And I didn’t much care for the merging either. I also don’t understand how it can be female if it has nothing to make distinctly female. And what is this “maker of all things” reference? I thought Roddenberry was an atheist. As much as I liked Cochrane, this episode turned into something very strange for Star Trek and I ended up not liking as much as I had hoped.