He’s surprisingly aristocratic for a Klingon, too. (something about the way he says “vegetable”)
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 completely forgot about that! Man, it's been so long since I've seen DS9.
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.
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.
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 agree 100%.
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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.
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