Season 3 is a great season
- Thread starter evangelist6589
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Yes, I get you didn't like the "mushy" stuff. But if you were writing the episode, how would you have killed Chekov? It's not enough to say "Earp gunning him down was fine." What would Earp's motive be, if not for his objection to Chekov talking to the girl?You seem to be misunderstanding my objection. I don't object to the death. Earp gunning him down before the big Gunfight at OK Corral was fine. I just didn't like the love triangle they set up to achieve it. A romance subplot was unnecessary to the story.How would you have preferred he die in that episode?
Season 1 and Season 2 was much better overall.
It also calls into question why the Melkotians would have included that bit in the first place. Remember, it was she who instigated things, not Chekov.
Other than that, fine episode. It's amazing that in those days, what with westerns being so popular on tv, that it took Trek three years to use a western motif in a story!
Shatner seemed to be unusually good in this episode. Many subtle things, such as the look in his eyes during the "Why here? Why now?" scene was great. You could just see Kirk searching vainly for an answer which wasn't coming. I even like the way he played the "Beautiful specimen." scene regarding the antique gun. And of course his pleading with the Sheriff was among my favorite Kirk scenes ever!
Earp wouldn't have needed much motivation, he's a Melkotian puppet. He already doesn't like the Clantons, so his motivation could have been as simple as Chekov accidentally bumping into him on the street or looking at him the wrong way. An experienced television writer would have had dozens of ways to bump him off without making them romantic rivals.
I'm not a writer, I've never claimed to be a writer, so it doesn't matter how I would have written a different scene.
I like a lot of the third season episodes. Two of my top five favorite TOS episodes are from the third season - "The Enterprise Incident" and "The Tholian Web" It would have been interesting to see how many of the third season episodes and the overall look of the show would have been different if there had been a bigger budget.
You should visit my workplace sometime. The caste system is alive and well in the U.S. tech industry, trust me.
Yes. The point was that I like some episodes that most people hate, and I don't like some that I never in my wildest imaginations thought could be fan favorites.Season 3 might not be as "critically acclaimed" as the previous seasons, but I like it.
One of my favorites is Spock's Brain (gasp). Another is Turnabout Intruder (double gasp). As bad as they are, they are full of Trekness.
My list of unwatchable episodes includes "Children" (Melvin Belli and the little girl who cries in everything she's in), "Battlefield" (really, it's just ridiculous), "Doomsday" (William Windom's 'Don't you think I know that?!'). "The Enterprise Incident" is only saved by the tension between Spock and the Romulan babe. There are others, but I get tired of typing.
Seriously though, I love TOS. All of it. Even the stuff I don't like is still better than a ton of other stuff that I like even less.
It's all good.
Doomsday? Is that a season 2 episode?
Hmmm. Well, to borrow a phrase, I'm of two minds about that.
My introduction to William Windom was in "My World and Welcome To It." I did not see "Doomsday" until well after the sitcom was canceled. Seeing Windom's portrayal of Decker didn't set right, and I've never been able to get past it. It ruined "Doomsday" for me.
Lucy van Pelt never cried.
Season 3 isn't that bad.
There are some clunkers, but Seasons 1 and 2 had some clunkers as well.
'The Enterprise Incident' has to be my favorite. And, yes it's because of Joanne Linville.
She oozes sexiness, toughness, and respect.
Commander Tal is one of those Romulan characters that add to the mystique of said race. Just the way his character is lit, the way he's filmed, and the mannerisms adds to the mystery and exoticness(?). Hell, even the curly hair seems to be something applicable to Romulan males, like the bowl hairstyle is to Vulcan males.
Overall, what 'Amok Time' and 'Journey to Babel' did for Vulcans, 'Enterprise Incident' and 'Balance of Terror' did for Romulans.
I hated how they - the Romulans, and even the Vulcans - were changed during the Berman era. Giving props to J.J. Abrams, his Romulans were a bit more 'alive' (especially after the depictions in the Berman era) and we even saw a long-haired, blonde Romulan woman (e.g. Nero's wife, albeit a small recreation). The Romulans actually looked and were mysterious and sexy...rather than weird, stiff, boring.
I'm digressing...
I'm sure there are others from Season 3 I like. For instance:
*For the World is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky. (A good McCoy episode, and great music for that particular episode).
There are some clunkers, but Seasons 1 and 2 had some clunkers as well.
'The Enterprise Incident' has to be my favorite. And, yes it's because of Joanne Linville.
She oozes sexiness, toughness, and respect.
Commander Tal is one of those Romulan characters that add to the mystique of said race. Just the way his character is lit, the way he's filmed, and the mannerisms adds to the mystery and exoticness(?). Hell, even the curly hair seems to be something applicable to Romulan males, like the bowl hairstyle is to Vulcan males.
Overall, what 'Amok Time' and 'Journey to Babel' did for Vulcans, 'Enterprise Incident' and 'Balance of Terror' did for Romulans.
I hated how they - the Romulans, and even the Vulcans - were changed during the Berman era. Giving props to J.J. Abrams, his Romulans were a bit more 'alive' (especially after the depictions in the Berman era) and we even saw a long-haired, blonde Romulan woman (e.g. Nero's wife, albeit a small recreation). The Romulans actually looked and were mysterious and sexy...rather than weird, stiff, boring.
I'm digressing...
I'm sure there are others from Season 3 I like. For instance:
*For the World is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky. (A good McCoy episode, and great music for that particular episode).
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"And the Children Shall Lead" and "The Savage Curtain" do not work for me, or they've worn out their welcome after decades of settling for them, but otherwise I find almost the whole third year highly watchable.
My favorite third season eps (in production order):
- "Spock's Brain"
- "The Paradise Syndrome"
- "Elaan of Troyius"
- "The Lights of Zetar"
- "Requiem for Methuselah"
They all happen to have female guest stars I find highly attractive. Also, they all benefit greatly from their music scores. The first three have their own original scores and the final two are tracked, but they're all a pleasure for me.
My favorite third season eps (in production order):
- "Spock's Brain"
- "The Paradise Syndrome"
- "Elaan of Troyius"
- "The Lights of Zetar"
- "Requiem for Methuselah"
They all happen to have female guest stars I find highly attractive. Also, they all benefit greatly from their music scores. The first three have their own original scores and the final two are tracked, but they're all a pleasure for me.
Which shows how well the series was scored and spotted. Episodes like "For the World is Hollow," "Lights of Zetar" and "Requiem" (with the exception of the new Brahms pieces) were all tracked with library music and scores from other episodes. Yet very often the tracked music works insanely well in episodes it wasn't specifically written for. The third season has a much more somber feel because of the music. "Spock's Brain," for example, has a very dark score and is tracked a great deal throughout the season.
Speaking of "Spock's Brain," I wish Fred Steiner had recorded an unused, expanded version of "Spock's Fugue." How amazing would that be?
Agreed. Bob Justman said they were almost reduced to doing radio shows due to the impacts of the vastly reduced budget.
Still there were a handful of very good episodes (The Tholien Web, Elaan of Troyus, The Enterprise Incident, Day Of the Dove) and a bunch of stinkers (Spock's Brain, And The Children Shall Lead, Plato's Stepchildren, The Way To Eden). But mostly, the third season episodes were BORING.
TOS could be bad, but it was never boring. Disappointing, yeah. Boring, no.
***** Excellent = 4 episodes = 16.6%
“Elaan Of Troyius”
“The Enterprise Incident”
“Is There In Truth No Beauty?”
“The Tholian Web”
**** Good = 8 episodes = 33.3%
“Spectre Of The Gun”
“The Empath”
“Day Of The Dove”
“Plato’s Stepchildren”
“That Which Survives”
“The Cloud Minders”
“The Way To Eden”
“Requiem For Methuselah”
*** Fair = 6 episodes = 25%
“The Paradise Syndrome”
“For The World Is Hollow And I Have Touched The Sky”
“Let That Be Your Last Battlefield”
“The Lights Of Zetar”
“The Savage Curtain”
“All Our Yesterdays”
** Poor = 3 episodes = 12.5%
“Spock’s Brain”
“The Mark Of Gideon”
“Turnabout Intruder”
* Bad = 3 episodes = 12.5%
“And The Children Shall Lead”
“Wink Of An Eye”
“Whom Gods Destroy”
In the end Season 3 isn't as bad as what seems to be the generally held perspective. At least half of the episodes are respectable and if you include the watchable ones as well that's three quarters of the season is at least acceptable. That is still a damned good batting average. And while I don't have the hard numbers compared yet no TNG season did much better than that.
It's also interesting that Season 3's budget constraints didn't really make itself apparent as often as might be believed. Even under budgetary constraints quite a few episodes still put on a good show. And there was sufficiently abundant creativity and resourcefulness apparent throughout much of the season.
Where Season 3 fell down was in terms of careless thinking and careless execution. Things went south when ideas weren't thought through enough and the general execution felt rushed just to get the show in the can. A little more attention and overall polish could have gone a long way.
***** Excellent = 4 episodes = 16.6%
“Elaan Of Troyius”
“The Enterprise Incident”
“Is There In Truth No Beauty?”
“The Tholian Web”
**** Good = 8 episodes = 33.3%
“Spectre Of The Gun”
“The Empath”
“Day Of The Dove”
“Plato’s Stepchildren”
“That Which Survives”
“The Cloud Minders”
“The Way To Eden”
“Requiem For Methuselah”
*** Fair = 6 episodes = 25%
“The Paradise Syndrome”
“For The World Is Hollow And I Have Touched The Sky”
“Let That Be Your Last Battlefield”
“The Lights Of Zetar”
“The Savage Curtain”
“All Our Yesterdays”
** Poor = 3 episodes = 12.5%
“Spock’s Brain”
“The Mark Of Gideon”
“Turnabout Intruder”
* Bad = 3 episodes = 12.5%
“And The Children Shall Lead”
“Wink Of An Eye”
“Whom Gods Destroy”
In the end Season 3 isn't as bad as what seems to be the generally held perspective. At least half of the episodes are respectable and if you include the watchable ones as well that's three quarters of the season is at least acceptable. That is still a damned good batting average. And while I don't have the hard numbers compared yet no TNG season did much better than that.
It's also interesting that Season 3's budget constraints didn't really make itself apparent as often as might be believed. Even under budgetary constraints quite a few episodes still put on a good show. And there was sufficiently abundant creativity and resourcefulness apparent throughout much of the season.
Where Season 3 fell down was in terms of careless thinking and careless execution. Things went south when ideas weren't thought through enough and the general execution felt rushed just to get the show in the can. A little more attention and overall polish could have gone a long way.
I think you hit the nail on the head here. The reason we still talk about TOS after all this time is because the show was never boring. The various spin-offs could be very entertaining but bad episodes were simply bad and have little to no rewatch value.
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