3rd Season Slow Motion Episode

Any 3rd season episode that moves in slooooooooow motion qualifies.

 

For me, Mark of Gideon is talky and the premise is ridiculous but it has very good dialogue and Shatner is good. Plus, plenty of the "Enterprise." So I like it.

I'm not sure which ep of S3 is my least favorite or the slowest but come to think of it Plato probably has to be my least favorite, although even it has redeeming qualities. Slowest overall probably goes to Whom Gods Destroy (planet scenes only; as usual Doohan sells the parts aboard the E). But frankly most people's fave The Enterprise Incident also has some verrrrrrrrrry slow scenes. So do Requiem, In Truth, and Elaan. The Empath is designed to be slow, much like All Our Yesterdays, and both work for me.

 

Yes, when Spock-o is keeping the Romulan commander entertained, I wanted to yell at her like Jerry Lewis, "HEY LADY!"

 

To me the most boring S3 episode is "That Which Survives".

 

Can't agree with you on TWS, but of course, I forgot about your username for a sec and naturally you'd be a fan of MOG. I try not to get into too many discussions about the attractive women of TOS here so as not to offend, but Sharon Acker also really sold what could have been a thankless part. She's also very underrated in terms of beauty - she's not usually mentioned in Kirk's top romances/gals. But I'm biased; I was doing a rewatch a few years ago, seeing MOG for the first time in a while, and I realized that my then-relatively new GF was pretty close to a dead ringer for Ms. Acker in the face (but shorter in height I think). We're still together and much more serious now, so I like MOG even more.

 

I've learned to appreciate most of the 3rd season episodes, except for the talky/preachy ones like Let That Be Your Last Battlefield. I know that race relations then and now are tense, but the half White, half Black makeup just irked me. One commentator said it was as subtle as a punch in the nose. And it was a boring episode.

 

Yup, good call. I should have included that one as slow. And not really very good. Way too much talking and some ridiculous things like Bele shorting out the self-destruct system with his mind or something, no one apparently being on board as the two guys run to the unattended transporter room at the end while Spock duly narrates what they're doing without anyone trying to stop them, and Spock listening to a conversation through a briefing room door with a convenient open crack (or was that in Way to Eden?). I did like Frank Gorshin's acting and some of the acting choices by the main cast, as well as the "Are you blind, Commander Spock?" line, but . . . yeah. I need to rewatch this one as it's been maybe 2-3 years but I have a strong feeling it will not hold up (unlike, say, Lights of Zetar, which I recently rewatched and thoroughly enjoyed).

I'm a big S3 fan/apologist but on this one, you're right on the money. I remember that Nimoy once complained during S3 that they were doing a radio play. I got the feeling that he was talking about The Empath but I wonder if he didn't have this episode in mind. Hardly anyone moves anywhere.

 

Thanks for reminding me about "Lights of Zetar".
So boring I'd forgotten about it.
I just couldn't find it in me to care about Scotty's latest girlfriend.
There's nothing particuarly wrong about the episode but its one of the ones I like least to rewatch,

 

Understandable. I had exactly the same anticipation going in to a planned rewatch, even though I knew I would be chilled by the Memory Alpha croaking technician "possession" scene - for my money the scariest moments in all of TOS - and was at least "looking forward" to that thrill.

BUT I was very surprised. I rewatched it about a month ago for the first time in maybe three years, and it wasn't boring at all. The threat was urgent, the action was fast-moving, and although there were some plotting issues (that could have all been solved by a rewrite IMO), I found it quite enjoyable and even exciting.

 

Well, in the scene itself - it's clearly 'not-Shatner' VS 'not-Khan' (and the not-Khan wig is ridiculous)

 

The worst episode of Trek's third season or in total is Plato's Stepchildren! I thought we all knew that?
JB

 

You mean, you don't like the Kirk and Spock disco dancing routine?

 

Well I preferred it to Shatner's horsing around my Lord!
JB

 

Of course! The world infamous Shatner is a horse's ass scene. What were the writer and director thinking (or not thinking....).

 

Yeah, those scenes render the ep effectively unwatchable.

Someday I want to do a full rewatch with my S.O., whom I've turned into quite the "genre" fan over the time we've known each other; I want to see what she thinks of every episode and how she ranks them. She has only ever seen The Ultimate Computer and The Naked Time. But I have no idea how to show her Plato without skipping those scenes and possibly Maiden Wine. I fear it will ruin the whole of TOS for her or something. Seriously.

 

Skip "And the Children Shall Lead" until and unless she becomes a Star Trek completist who can see everything, and yet have her love go undimmed. You could also postpone showing "The Alternative Factor" and "The Savage Curtain." Your call.

Prepare her for "Plato's" by saying the show's ratings were in trouble and they had to make an exploitation episode laced with prurient scenes for the trailer. That happens to be true. But tell her the thing to watch for is Kirk's budding friendship with Alexander.

 

I think Plato is great. The guys are meant to be humiliated. That's the point of it - to humiliate and torture Kirk and Spock. I got no probs with the Tweedledee scene because we then had the later Spock crushing urn scene. Maybe we could have lived without the horsey scene . But there were so many other great scenes. Those with Kirk and Alexander. McCoys willingness to sacrifice himself.
I agree I wouldn't show this episode to anyone who hadn't seen TOS before. Although TOS wasn't serialised this is definitely an episode you'd want to see after about a Season or so episodes. You'd have to know about Chapel's crush (sigh) for example.

 

They seem lively enough to me.

 

Even that episode *yawn* that talks *yawn* and talks *yawn* until it cures my insomnia and I fall aslee..........ZzzzZZzzzzZzzzzzzzzz

 

Good stuff, thanks. You're right; the Alexander stuff with Kirk is so touching that it's the most maddeningly inconsistent ep of the whole show. Your explanation about the prurience is great; thanks again for that. I like The Savage Curtain so all good there. And as far as ATCSL, I'm an apologist for it. I find the Triacus scenes minus Shatner's freakout to be very effective and actually don't mind Belli's performance. Now, you raise an excellent point about TAF. Unlike Plato it has zero redeeming qualities and is also boring. And what the heck does the title even mean? I just realized that in showing TOS to a newbie, it could be skipped entirely without any consequence whatsoever, which is the ultimate dismissal.