Which single TOS episode was most thought provoking to you, as in its message made you think, "That's the way I should think or act!"
The Most Influential TOS Episode...
- Thread starter Spock's Barber
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Die, 
thread, die!
thread, die!I'll go with "The Devil in the Dark" because it shows us that our perspective may not be the correct one. The monstrous Horta was just a mother protecting her children from the monstrous humans. "Arena" had a similar idea with the Gorn protecting their territory from the invading Federation but "Devil in the Dark" made the point better.
I guess the difference is that in Arena the conflict is interrupted by Gods, so never really worked out man-to-Gorn, whereas in Devil the problem is discussed and settled between them after they pause to talk.
"Obsession" teaches us that some enemies can't be reasoned with, and we just have to blow them to Hell.
"Obsession" teaches us that some enemies can't be reasoned with, and we just have to blow them to Hell.
That's right! Sometimes it's kill or be killed. As long as we have the perspective of when to kill and not to kill as shown in "Devil in the Dark," "Arena," "A Taste of Armageddon," and "Spectre of the Gun."
"Obsession" teaches us that some enemies can't be reasoned with, and we just have to blow them to Hell.
Damn right. If I ever see a vampire cloud heading my way, I won't waste time trying to communicate with that blood sucker. As Kirk said "Energize and detonate!"
Let That Be Your Last Battlefield and Plato's Stepchildren. The stands both took against racial prejudice were not only crucially important in the sixties, but they still are 50 years later.
Okay. I'll get serious. 'Errand of Mercy' for showing that war is not a viable solution to our problems. Kirk realizes this at the end of the episode when he says, "I'm embarrassed. I was furious with the Organians for stopping a war I didn't want."
"A Piece of the Action" could be interpreted as a parable about basing your whole society on a sacred text, limiting your moral grasp to its contents, and feeling justified in killing anyone who's not on the same page.
The episode dramatizes the need for a Reformation or an Enlightenment in such societies.
The episode dramatizes the need for a Reformation or an Enlightenment in such societies.
Agree, that is why I would say "Balance Of Terror".
And "Day of the Dove."
Good thread I was thinking about something similar myself.
Taste of Armageddon, I use it as a way to try to diet by paraphrasing Kirk's speech near the end of the episode.
That is something like 'We do want to eat cake , we're cake eaters but we're not going to eat cake TODAY that's all it takes'
Also Enemy Within ,Devil in the Dark ,Corbomite M and Galileo 7 have had the biggest effect on my general way of thinking about the world but I Aim to get back to those later.
For thought provoking, City on the Edge of Forever
For influential- Plato's Stepchildren (whether it really was the first TV interracial kiss, people think it was.)
For influential- Plato's Stepchildren (whether it really was the first TV interracial kiss, people think it was.)
The weakness with Errand of Mercy is I don't see the Federation and The Klingons as morally equivalent (at least not at that time maybe they become so in TNG) The Klingons are massacring hundreds of hostages and it's only the Organians' Super powers which save them. The message seems to be that you can live in peace and broker truces - if you have superpowers. Though I do like the Organians happiness with an apparently simple lifestyle.
But Kang, in 'Day of the Dove', said "For three years the Federation and the Klingon Empire have been at peace. A treaty we have honored to the letter." So the Klingons appeared to be suppressing their aggressiveness, maybe due to the continuing influence of the Organians. I don't know. The Organians never appeared again in TOS.
Kang is not a completely reliable narrator in general, and certainly not while the Evil Pinwheel was influencing his thoughts. Three years of peace, yes, because the Organians insisted. While we didn't see the Organians again, they may have been making their influence felt other places than the Enterprise.
Man, could we use the Organians now to stop all the violence on our own little blue marble.
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