Five positives for "The Way to Eden":
1. Skip Homeier's performance as Dr. Sevrin. Homeier He does a really good job portraying a man who is mostly stoical but who is also driven by deep emotions and passions.
2. One of the best episodes for Chekov in terms of his character. The relationship between him and Irrina is really very well-handled. Walter Koenig has said that Chekov is out of character for this episode, I disagree, I think he's perfectly in character. In spite of his sense of humor, Chekov has always been a pretty straitlaced, uptight dude.
3. One of the ideas underpinning Star Trek is that future society, as represented by the United Federation of Planets, is supposed to be a Utopian society, or at least as close to one as human beings can achieve. Presenting the idea that there are malcontents even within such a society is an intriguing one, however campily or stereotypically the idea may have been handled.
4. The whole thing with Spock relating to the Hippies is cool and makes perfect sense to me. It's also neat the contrast with Kirk and the other non-Vulcan members total rejection of them and their ideals.
5. The sitar solo Spock does with the blonde chick is a nifty little instrumental.
I agree with all of these points. It is one my favorite episodes and I don't think it deserves the bad reputation it has.
Plus, the blonde, is super hot to my eyes.


