In Defense of "Spock's Brain"

[KirksStuntMan]

TOS episode "Spock's Brain" draws a hefty amount of criticism from critics and fans, and usually ends up in the "Bottom 10 Worst ST Episode" polls.

**Gulp!**

Well, here goes nothing. It is not my all-time favorite TOS episode, but I happen to like watching it occasionally. It offers an interesting sci-fi story with action, adventure, and mystery, as the Enterprise crew spares no effort to rescue their missing Vulcan crew member. An advanced alien spacecraft, an advanced alien society, and advanced alien babes are all present in this episode. The story is original, the acting is good, the direction by Marc Daniels is superb, and who's to say that by the 23rd century that brain surgery of the magnitude shown will not be possible. Let me conclude by saying that I don't agree that "Spock's Brain" is the worst ST:TOS episode ever. I believe that distinction belongs to "And The Children Shall Lead". So give me a few seconds to run for cover before the rebuttals start coming in...

 

[MarsWeeps]

It's been years since I watched this one, but I was curious, after McCoy puts on the helmet thing and suddenly has knowledge of how to re-install Spock's brain, he says something like "Yes...yes...a child could do it!"

Then he starts forgetting things and has to rely on Spock to guide him through the rest of the procedure.

If a child could do it, why couldn't Kirk or someone else put the helmet on and finish things up?

 

[JB2005]

Few things I noticed when I watched it today:

The writing is inconsistent within a scene within about a minute, Bones tells Kirk that Spock isn't dying, but that he's going to die...huh

There's quite a lot of padding...I thought my speakers were broken when no one spoke for the first minute and a half...

For cavemen, they do have nice stitching on their tunics...

Given that, it's not the worst and it's not the best...it's fairly mindless entertainment (no pun intended!)

 

[A beaker full of death]

The writing is inconsistent within a scene

Space Seed is little better in that regard. Khan says "How little man himself has changed," and five minutes later says, "Nothing ever changes -- except man!"

 

[JB2005]

I'll still take it over technobabble though!

 

[scotpens]

It's been years since I watched this one, but I was curious, after McCoy puts on the helmet thing and suddenly has knowledge of how to re-install Spock's brain, he says something like "Yes...yes...a child could do it!"

Then he starts forgetting things and has to rely on Spock to guide him through the rest of the procedure.

If a child could do it, why couldn't Kirk or someone else put the helmet on and finish things up?

McCoy is a trained and experienced surgeon. The teaching device just gives him the extra knowledge he needs to reconnect Spock’s brain. The device would probably be useless for someone who didn’t already have ordinary surgical skills.

There's quite a lot of padding...

I don’t see any padding. Maybe some double-sided adhesive tape.

 

[JB2005]

It's been years since I watched this one, but I was curious, after McCoy puts on the helmet thing and suddenly has knowledge of how to re-install Spock's brain, he says something like "Yes...yes...a child could do it!"

Then he starts forgetting things and has to rely on Spock to guide him through the rest of the procedure.

If a child could do it, why couldn't Kirk or someone else put the helmet on and finish things up?

McCoy is a trained and experienced surgeon. The teaching device just gives him the extra knowledge he needs to reconnect Spock’s brain. The device would probably be useless for someone who didn’t already have ordinary surgical skills.

There's quite a lot of padding...

I don’t see any padding. Maybe some double-sided adhesive tape.

There's not enough padding? =p

 

[Christopher]

"Spock's Brain" is nowhere near the worst episode of TOS. It's conceptually silly, yes, but it's fun and entertaining to watch, which is more than can be said for dogs like "The Alternative Factor" or "And the Children Shall Lead." And it does have a lot going for it. Spock's absence gives the supporting cast a rare chance to shine; the bridge scene where Sulu, Uhura, and Chekov help Kirk deduce where Spock was taken is one of the best uses ever of those characters. And the production values are excellent. The use of rear-projected viewscreen graphics in the bridge scenes is exceptional and very impressive. And Fred Steiner's score for the episode is perhaps his finest Star Trek score of all time -- so rich and powerful and profound that it's like Steiner was trying extra-hard to compensate for the episode's shortfalls. The sequence where McCoy uses the Great Teacher is just fantastic stuff all around -- the music is magnificent, and DeForest Kelley's acting really sells it.

I think the reason the episode gets singled out is not because it's the worst episode, but because it's the most entertaining and memorable of the low-quality episodes.

 

[MarsWeeps]

McCoy is a trained and experienced surgeon. The teaching device just gives him the extra knowledge he needs to reconnect Spock’s brain. The device would probably be useless for someone who didn’t already have ordinary surgical skills.

Except for the fact that McCoy says "A child could do it."

 

[JB2005]

McCoy is a trained and experienced surgeon. The teaching device just gives him the extra knowledge he needs to reconnect Spock’s brain. The device would probably be useless for someone who didn’t already have ordinary surgical skills.

Except for the fact that McCoy says "A child could do it."

He does say that quite a lot...he's probably overwhelmed at how simple it seems to him, rather than literally proposing to hand the scalpel to Naomi Wildman...

 

[Christopher]

Except for the fact that McCoy says "A child could do it."

"A child could do it" is a very common expression used to convey the opinion that something is easy. It isn't meant as a factual statement that a child actually could do it, it's meant to convey that it seems so easy to the speaker that it might as well be something a child could do. McCoy's knowledge was so greatly augmented that this complex procedure felt like child's play to him.

Anyway, to answer the original question, the reason they couldn't have Kirk don the Great Teacher and learn the skills for himself is that they didn't have time. Spock was on the table in the middle of surgery, and presumably once the procedure was underway, they couldn't just stop it and wait for Kirk or Scott or whoever to absorb and assimilate the knowledge, then scrub for surgery. The operation had to continue, and McCoy was the one with his hands in the patient's head, so he was the only one in a position to finish up.

 

[Saga]

I think the reason the episode gets singled out is not because it's the worst episode, but because it's the most entertaining and memorable of the low-quality episodes.

exactly. of all the 'lesser' episodes of TOS i enjoy 'Spock's Brain' the most. i has a B-Movie feel to it that i can appreciate.

 

[WRStone]

There are two quotes from the episode that are memorable:

"Brain, brain, what is brain?!"

and

Kirk: Is he dead?
McCoy: He's worse than dead -- his brain is gone!

Aside from that, this is ... well, just a bad episode. Not the worst, just bad.

The whole basis of the plot is just frakked-up. If I was a member of an idiot race like the Stupid Space Hotties, and if I got my hands on a magic helmet that made me into a brain-transplanting genius, I'd do the obvious thing and ...

Never take the helmet off.

Seriously, if you were artificially genius-level, would you ever give that up? It's like Billy Batson and Captain Marvel: once you've transformed into the World's Mightiest Mortal, why would you ever change back?

Any woman who put the thing on would run her world. Why would she ever take it off?

Dakota Smith

 

[KirksStuntMan]

I think the reason the episode gets singled out is not because it's the worst episode, but because it's the most entertaining and memorable of the low-quality episodes.

exactly. of all the 'lesser' episodes of TOS i enjoy 'Spock's Brain' the most. i has a B-Movie feel to it that i can appreciate.

Almost like that B-movie that Leonard Nimoy starred in, "The Brain Eaters".

 

[T'Bonz]

It's conceptually silly, yes, but it's fun and entertaining to watch, which is more than can be said for dogs like "The Alternative Factor" or "And the Children Shall Lead."

Eh. I'd *much* rather watch The Alternative Factor than Spock's Brain.

 

[KirksStuntMan]

Any woman who put the thing on would run her world. Why would she ever take it off?

This lady tried the Teacher out and now she's the new Federation ambassador to Uranus.

 

[Christopher]

The whole basis of the plot is just frakked-up. If I was a member of an idiot race like the Stupid Space Hotties, and if I got my hands on a magic helmet that made me into a brain-transplanting genius, I'd do the obvious thing and ...

Never take the helmet off.

...

Any woman who put the thing on would run her world. Why would she ever take it off?

Uhh, because it's attached to the wall console. Separating the helmet from the console would be as useless as separating the steering wheel from a car. It's just the user interface.

Besides, being subjected to that kind of neural stimulation on a continuing basis would probably be very damaging or lethal.

 

[Kelso]

I love "Spock's Brain." I don't care what anybody says, that episode is awesome.

 

[KirksStuntMan]

I love "Spock's Brain." I don't care what anybody says, that episode is awesome.

And for showing your loyalty to Spock's Brain, the green blooded Vulcan himself awards you the IDIC medallion to wear on your Starfleet dress uniform.

 

[Gojira]

This is another episode I have always liked. Sure it has its corny moments but it is very entertaining and fun...the way Star Trek should be. There are a quite a few episodes that are worse. Take "That Which Survives" for example. Its major fault is that it is a boring episode at least "Spock's Brain" is fun and entertaining.