What are your controversial Star Trek opinions?

"And The Children Shall Lead" is the worst piece of... (I'll let you guess what) of the whole franchise... I couldn't even watch it to the end the first time. I don't even care to know how it ends although it wasn't hard to guess. Plus the guy playing the ghost or whatever is one of the worst actors I've ever seen. I mean, what happened? He got something on the director or something?

 

Pretty close. Melvin Belli wasn't an actor — he was an attorney for celebrities and others (including Jack Ruby). I believe I heard his casting was a publicity stunt.

 

Jack Ruby? When you say celebrities, you mean mobsters, don't you?

 

They did say and others, as in other people, not just celebrities. But, as @Silvercrest notes, Melvin Bell was not an actor, so his performance is understandably terrible.

 

Yeah, I know, but the Mob has their own lawyers.

Plus I don't think it's understandable to cheat the audience with second-rate material.

 

It's completely understandable. I don't like it, and I avoid that episode for sure. But, I don't see it as not understandable.

 

Maybe Shatner was afraid that he'd find the head of one of his horses in his bed...

 

I'll have to reread his book to be sure. I don't recall any horse heads though...

…

 

Well, I disagree but let's leave it at that.

 

Ok...I don't see how people cheating other people isn't understandable. But, I'll respect the request to leave it at that.

 

I mean others.

 

I think it was because his kid was one of the kids in the episode.

 

It's not as bad as "Precious Cargo" or "TATV..." I'll give it that.

 

Ah, two episodes I can never defend. One because it's just so damn difficult, while the other incurs such hatred from me I simply can't. Easy to figure out which is which...

 

I’d say bottom 5 of TOS for me is:

Plato’s Stepchildren
Mudd’s Women
Turnabout Intruder
And The Children Shall Lead
Who Mourns for Adonais


I have episodes that are more commonly railed on, like
Way to Eden
Spock’s Brain
The Apple
The Alternative Factor

comfortably above those 5.

 

"And the Children Shall Lead" and "Catspaw" are much less entertaining and a far greater chore to sit through than "The Way to Eden."

 

I agree with Catspaw. That’s probably #6 for me...still below the others I’ve listed that are more commonly pooped on.

 

It tries to be a spooky Halloween episode for the series but even the Remastered cut of the episode could only do so much to make it better.

 

only redeeming stuff:

1. Cool USS Enterprise charm stuck in that acrylic cube
2. Kirk calling McCoy “Bones” and then quickly reverting to “Doc” when he realizes there is a skeleton right next to them.

 

Korob was kinda interesting but he had to play second fiddle to Sylvia and neither of them were as interesting as they could have been considering they were exotic aliens from another galaxy.