Watch Star Trek the original series

[brionl]

I now feel compelled to try and find Twilight Zone episodes with Sulu, Spock, McCoy, and Scottie.

There's a Man from U.N.C.L.E. episode with Shatner & Nimoy as the guest stars. Bill is the "good guy" accomplice, and Leonard is the "bad guy" second in command.

[TheThan]

Spoiler: S1E4: the Naked time

Show

This episode opens with the Enterprise in orbit around site 2000. An ancient frozen planet that’s about to implode. Spock, and a redshirt beam down and investigate the goings on. Everything is frozen and everyone is dead; all in bizarre conditions. The redshirt, in an act of colossal stupidity, removes his glove and takes a reading, which infects him with red stuff. Then he puts his glove back on. Spock walks in seconds later and says not to expose themselves to anything, oh the irony of that statement cannot be underplayed. He says it’s not like anything they have experienced before.

Roll opening credits.

Spock and our redshirt beam up to the enterprise and are decontaminated. (Hey I didn’t think they could do that in this era of the show cool!). But unfortunately for them, the alien disease is already in the suit and doesn’t get removed by that decon procedures. McCoy gives them a clean bill of health and releases them. Although the redshirt “Joe” is pretty shaken up by the event.

They check the recordings Spock and Joe brought back. it appears they are irrational, drugged. They speculate about what happens and they basically have no clue. Apparently orbiting this planet is difficult since it’s shrinking.

Joe, goes into a reck-room and gets himself a meal out of the wall. I think that’s supposed to be a replicator or some sort of heat-and-serve unit. Anyway Sulu and Lt. Riley come in and Sulu is talking about fencing. They sit by Joe and he’s angry then begins to get depressed. He grabs a criminally dull knife and turns it on himself. Then Sulu and Riley take him to the ground and he gets stabbed accidentally. Riley jumps up and calls for a medic.

Unfortunately Sulu and Riley are infected in the confrontation. The first symptom of this disease is the incredible itching on their hands. This is bad since they’re at the controls of the ship. Bones fixes Lt. Joe up but unfortunately he dies anyway. Apparently just willing himself to die.

The planet continues to shrink; and Sulu decides to go down to the gym while he’s on duty. And some reason nobody notices except for Riley; who tries to convince him it’s a bad idea. Spock finally notices that Sulu is gone. Now suddenly Lt. Riley starts acting quite bombastic… swaggering about like he’s really pleased with himself. Spock sends him down to the sickbay and Riley hits on Nurse Chapel and she becomes infected as well.

Sulu, now shirtless (OOOH MY) and wielding a rapier jumps some guys in the corridor and chases them off. Spock and Kirk start piecing the puzzle together about what’s going on. But they have lost control of the ship and it’s spiraling out of control. Sulu charges onto the bridge sword in hand Kirk tackles him while Spock neck pinches him. They carry him off to the sick bay.

Lt. Riley has taken over the engine room and is irritating everyone by singing “Cathleen” over the intercom repeatedly. Scotty and his team have to cut through part of the bulkhead with a phaser to open the door. Uhura starts to report on more bizarre occurrences.

They only have a few minutes left before the ship, now out of control hits the atmosphere and burns up. Spock heads down to where Scotty is working to assist and stumbles across more infected crewmen. Spock shows up in sickbay looking for Bones, and just misses him. Nurse Chapel expresses her love for Spock and infects him. Spock almost immediately loses control and breaks down crying.

Scotty gets the door to engineering open and they apprehend Lt. Riley. In engineering Scotty learns that Riley turned the engines completely off. They’re in a bigger pickle than they were before. Scotty needs 30 minutes and they have six minutes. While Scotty works out a solution; Bones manages to figure out what is causing the symptoms and comes up with a cure. (Its water, on that planet water acts like alcohol… weird)

Kirk finds Spock and tries to get his help; but Spock slaps him across the room. But Kirk gets the disease and he starts talking about love and what sort of toll being the captain of a ship has. Kirk gets to the bridge and bones gives him the antidote. He gives the order and they perform the procedure to start the engines. They manage to restart the engines and pull out in time.

However there is a problem. They’ve entered time warp. They’re now going backwards in time. Oops. They slow down and we learn they’ve regressed in time 3 days. They file that information away for later use and we roll credits.

____________

Fist fights : 3
space babes : 1
God like beings : 4
Engine trouble :4
Vulcan Neck Pinches 2
Redshirts killed : 15
Total body count : 39


This one is actually really good. I thought about doing a counter gag for space diseases but I don’t think I will. The method of the disease spreading not just by touch but by perspiration is interesting. I really like how they show the effects symptoms of the disease as it spreads. It gives you a visual que as to what’s happening.

The drunken hysteria is kinda silly but shows what happens when everyone starts losing self control and just acts on what they want to do, only amplified and how discipline on a ship is really important. I like how not everyone is affected, McCoy, Uhura and Scotty don’t come down with it and are able to deal with it. The time warp at the end of the episode comes out of nowhere but I’m fairly certain it will come into play later in the series. The best part of this episode is that it’s just so darn enjoyable. Everything from Sulu running around shirtless to Scotty cutting into the bulkhead keeps your attention. We get to see some of the inner thinking’s of the characters as they reveal their deepest thoughts in a drunken haze.

I give this episode 5 out of 5 shirtless Sulus.

Next episode: The Enemy Within

[hamlet]

On the Kirk/McCoy/Spock ego/id/superego thing: I love Dr. McCoy. There's some episode where they're for some reason visiting a psychiatric prison or something and Kirk goes on about how it's all humane and enlightened now, but McCoy says, "If you've seen one cage, you've seen them all" and 12 year old me loved so much that older-than-that me loves him still.

On Where No Man Has Gone Before episode recap: Sulu is a physicist?! I mean, I know they basically retconned him into the helmsman or navigator or whatever he is most of the time, but man, that'd make him even more awesome. Also it'd be awesomely ridiculous; "What can we do with a physisicist?" "I don't know, maybe he could drive the ship."

As I recall, actually, most of the crew are also scientists in addition to their particular ranks. That was, really, kind of a serious point for Roddenberry, that these weren't soldiers but a bunch of organized scientists exploring and just tooling about the universe. It's something that's kept up in the other series' as well. Picard has a degree in archaology (and apparant badassery) and Janeway has it seems 7 or 8 doctorates that are never pinned down.

[McStabbington]

Is that the first Vulcan Nerve Pinch? For this early stuff, we need to keep track of the tropes as they come up.

[TheThan]

Spoiler: S1E5: The Enemy Within

Show

Kirk, Sulu and an away team are down on a planet. Sulu is holding a poodle, they’ve glued a horn to its head and they dyed the poor dog pink. One of the redshirts falls off an embankment and hurts himself. Kirk sends him back to the ship. Scotty beams him up and there’s a problem; although he’s able to get the redshirt up alright. Scotty orders the guy to decontaminate his uniform and runs a diagnostic on the transporter. Everything checks out.

Kirk beams up and Scotty continues to have problems but he manages to get Kirk up intact. I noticed he’s missing the star fleet insignia on his uniform. They both leave because kirk is disoriented. While they’re gone, another Kirk beams up. This one is clearly evil judging by the look on his face and the music.

Roll opening credits.

Good Kirk heads to his quarters and lies down. Evil Kirk shows up in sickbay while Bones is attending to the redshirt. Evil Kirk demands Saurian brandy (is that brandy made from Saurians, brandy made by Saurians, or brandy made for saurians?). McCoy keeps some handy… for medical purposes only I’m sure. Evil Kirk, now chugging the stuff straight from the bottle, heads to Yeoman Rand’s quarters but she’s not home. Meanwhile Spock shows up at good Kirk’s quarters and Kirk seems fine.

Scotty, has beamed up the little dog thing; and they find out that that transporter is malfunctioning and that it’s split the dog into two separate entities, one docile the other vicious. Evil Kirk is still in Yeoman Rand’s quarters when she arrives. He tries to seduce her and then force himself upon her but Yeoman Rand, being awesome fights him off, scratching his face and then gets help. But Evil Kirk beats up this redshirt.

Spock and Good Kirk go to sickbay to figure out what’s happening. He’s denying he did anything wrong, which is true. Yeoman Rand tells good Kirk what happened and that she scratched him. Oh and the redshirt that got jumped by Kirk isn’t dead, somehow I’m disappointed.

Spock figures out there’s an imposter onboard. The landing party is stuck on the planet and it gets lethally cold at night. They have to fix the transporter before they risk beaming them up. Kirk puts Scotty on the project. They make a plan and good Kirk seems to be having a hard time trying to give orders. Spock tries to fill him with confidence which doesn’t seem to work.

Kirk realizes he has lost his Strength of will and is having a hard time trying to give orders. He makes the announcement to the crew about the imposter and orders them to apprehend him with minimal force. Meanwhile Evil kirk hears the announcement and goes on a rampage. Yelling “I’m captain Kirk!”. He finds some makup and hides the scratches on his face that Yeoman Rand caused.

He stops a crewman and takes his phaser, phaser whipping him in the head. Meanwhile on the planet Sulu and Company and freezing their tits off in the cold. They tried to beam down some supplies but that didn’t work they were duplicated and the tech didn’t work (try some warm clothes next time idiots). Meanwhile good Kirk and Spock learn that Evil Kirk is now armed. They figure out that Evil Kirk would probably go the engineering decks to hide. They begin searching the lower decks.

Evil Kirk and Good Kirk come face to face in a really cleverly shot scene. Spock gets evil Kirk from behind and Vulcan neck pinches him. They get evil Kirk to sickbay and they bind him. Spock explains the psychology behind this whole situation. Evil Kirk shot at good kirk previously and that apparently shot out the transporter mechanics.

Meanwhile the away team is slowly freezing to death. And they’re huddling together for warmth (OOH MY). Kirk is having a hard time trying to cope without his evil half. Sulu warms up a rock with his phaser and talks to Kirk about their situation. Spock tells him to fall into survival procedures (OOOH MY). McCoy gives Kirk his version of the psychology behind this situation. They’re both right. Evil Kirk is grinning… he’s got an idea.

Meanwhile Scotty and Spock think they find a solution and they run the animal through the transporter and it works there’s only one dog remaining. However the dog is dead. Crapbaskets.

Kirk can’t make the decision to go through with it or not. Spock’s argument is much stronger IMHO. He finally decides to have the transporter readied and orders Bones to continue the autopsy of the animal. Good Kirk lets the evil Kirk out of his restrains and then he jumps him, knocking him out. He then comes across yeoman Rand exiting a turoblift.

Evil Kirk heads to the bridge and orders the ship to leave orbit. However good Kirk arrives and they have it out again. But nobody is convinced that he is the real captain. They go through the transporter and come out all right. Then they beam the away team up and warm them up. Amazingly they all survive.

Bones asks Kirk if he’s ok and he says he will be. He saw a side of himself no man should ever see. yeoman Rand tries to apologies to him about what she had said earlier and Captain Kirk accepts her apology and they leave orbit.

Roll end credits.

Fist fights : 3
space babes : 1
God like beings : 4
Engine trouble :4
Vulcan Neck Pinches 2
Redshirts killed : 15
Total body count : 39

This one must have been a really fun episode for William Shatener to act in. he got to play a character that’s totally aggressive and a nut; seriously he looks like he’s really enjoying himself. Then switch back to playing someone very docile. The psychological aspects of this show are delivered with a blunt instrument but they are fairly right on. I like the speech Spock gives about having two different sides and forcing them to sit down, shut up and behave. It’s nice and surprisingly impassioned for Spock.

The scene where Evil Kirk tries to force himself onto Yeoman Rand is really difficult to watch. Especially since Grace Lee Whitney was allegedly sexually assaulted by an unnamed studio exec (which is probably the real reason why she was let go). This scene is surprisingly violent for 1966.

I’m amazed nobody died in this episode especially since Evil Kirk jumped like three people, knocking them out instead of killing them.
One thing that doesn’t make sense is why good Kirk didn’t lock himself up in the brig or somewhere until they can capture Evil Kirk. That would have cut down on any chance of the search parties mistaking Good Kirk for Evil Kirk. Not that it happened, but the potential to happen is easily there. I should keep track of how many times the transporter malfunctions or breaks down, but I’ve already up to 10 counters and I don't think I can handle keeping track of much more.


This one is alright. I give it a 3 out of 5 pink horned poodles

Up Next: Mudd’s Women.

[BannedInSchool]

Spoiler: S1E5: The Enemy Within

Show

Meanwhile on the planet Sulu and Company and freezing their tits off in the cold. They tried to beam down some supplies but that didn’t work they were duplicated and the tech didn’t work (try some warm clothes next time idiots).

But you'd have a 50% chance of getting the evil clothes!

Heh, on one hand my initial reaction is "Another transporter malfunction?!?", but there is more philosophically to the story than it just being inconvenient, which later Treks didn't always manage, I think.

[McStabbington]

But you'd have a 50% chance of getting the evil clothes!

Heh, on one hand my initial reaction is "Another transporter malfunction?!?", but there is more philosophically to the story than it just being inconvenient, which later Treks didn't always manage, I think.

Another? This is the first one. You're watching history be made, another Trek trope created!

[DigoDragon]

I should keep track of how many times the transporter malfunctions or breaks down, but I’ve already up to 10 counters and I don't think I can handle keeping track of much more.

I'm surprised you expanded the counters to that many. Body count, engine trouble, and space babes seems like the core three I'd pick. ...maybe fist fights as a 4th.

[BannedInSchool]

Another? This is the first one. You're watching history be made, another Trek trope created!

Therefore the "Heh". It's the very first one[1] but produces the reaction of "Oh, god. A transporter malfunction again".

[1] In real world production order. Enterprise surely established transporter malfunctions in-universe before in the chronological narrative order.

[TheThan]

Yeah this is probably too many for me to keep track of. It’s just that classic trek produced so many troupes for scifi and star trek in general that it’s hard to pass them up.

I’ve decided to cut some of them for my own sanity. Sorry guys.

Enterprise came after these tropes were already solidly established.

[TheThan]

Spoiler: S1E6: Mudd’s women

Show

The Enterprise is perusing an unidentified vessel. Uhura is wearing a green uniform? Ooookay. The ship they’re perusing is heading to an asteroid belt. They prepare to beam up the crew of the ship and we cut to opening credits.

They beam over Harry Mudd, although he’s giving his name as Captain Leo Walsh. An asteroid hits the freighter but they managed to beam the other members of the crew aboard. They are all women. Two blondes and a brunette. Scotty and McCoy are immediately smitten. Spock is unaffected because green blood.

Mudd, Spock and the women walk through the corridors and turn everyone’s head, even the ladies. Haha. Anyway in the turbolift Mudd explains not to bother trying to seduce Spock, he won’t be affected by them. They enter the cabin’s office and Spock introduces them with a slight grin on his face. He knows Kirk well enough to guess his reaction ahaha.

Mudd explains to Kirk why he tried to evade the enterprise and Kirk is throwing the book at him.. Mudd gives his lovely ladies directions, answer questions honestly and don’t submit to a medical exam. Scotty is NOT happy. In perusing Mudd’s ship they burnt out several lithium crystals which are used for something or other. But the point is that they have one left and everything is being channeled through it. Basically they have engine trouble. They realize that they can make it to a planet called Rigel XII where they can get replacement lithium crystals since it’s a place where they mine them.

They hold a trial for Harry Mudd aka Harry Mudd. They soon learn that Leo Walsh isn’t his real name. Harry here is quite the rogue. While Mudd tries to lie his way through the proceedings the women turn their charm powers on (apparently they can turn it on and off) start distracting everyone.

We then learn that the women are mail order brides and that the ship’s databanks have no information on them. As soon as they end the hearing the ship’s last lithium crystal breaks down. Mudd gets the idea to sell the women to the lithium miners.

The women start seducing the crew… starting with McCoy. The brunette, Ruth walks by the medical scanner and it goes off. McCoy wonders what’s up with the scanner, but he’s distracted enough not to figure it out. He asks about any strange perfume or anything that would interact with his contact.

Another, one Eve, tries to seduce Captain Kirk, meeting him in his cabin. Kirk is easily seduced… naturally. She however pulls out and refuses to be part of it any longer. Meanwhile the third Magda manages to gather some information on the Lithium miners. Mudd reveals that lithium crystals are very, valuable, 300 x their weight in diamonds, and 1000s of times their weight in gold. Harry works out a plan. But Eve doesn’t like Mudd and actually doesn’t feel good. Something is wrong with her.

The girls manage to get a communicator while Kirk and McCoy try to figure out why everyone is having such a strong reaction to the women. They arrive in orbit to Rigel XII. We then see the girls and they, have aged and become ugly. Eve explains that whatever it is, is a cheat. He searches his room for something and finally finds it, it’s some sort of pill. The women take it and become beautiful again. it’s some sort of drug.

Kirk meets with the miners and they discuss payment for the lithium crystals. They want the women for the crystals, a straight across swap. They have also agreed to have the charges on Harry dropped. Harry bursts in with the women and they take over the situation.

Kirk Spock and Mudd Beam down to the planet and find that the women are already down there. Kirk gives in but they won’t deliver the crystals because they’re too busy with the women. One of the women Eve is having a hard time with trying to seduce them. A fist fight breaks out over the women between the miners. Eve rushes out into the extreme climate of the planet, harsh winds and a magnetic storm. Kirk follows. One of the miners also follows.

Kirk beams back up and uses the ship’s scanners to find the girl. They’re running dangerously low on power. The miner manages to find the girl and bring her back to safety Eve cooks some food for the miner and has done some chores for helping her. Eventually The Enterprise finds them.

The miner notices that Eve is changing back. Then Kirk and Mudd bursts in and Mudd spills the beans about the drugs. They’re called Venus drugs and they make people more beautiful. The miner is rightfully pissed about being deceived. Eve demonstrates how the drug works, more out of anger than anything.

However Kirk swapped the drugs for colored Jell-O and proved that there’s no need for the drug at all. the miner gives them the crystals and Eve agrees to stay with the miner. Back on the enterprise they get the crystals in place. There’s some banter and they leave orbit.

Roll end credits.

Fist fights: 3
space babes: 4
God like beings: 4
Engine trouble: 5
Vulcan neck pinches 2
Redshirts killed: 15
Total body count: 39


Harry Mudd is a great character, a lying, thieving, conniving crook. He’s a rogue and a knave and he’s amazingly fun to watch. He’s got enough charm to make a convincing con artist and is unlike anyone else we've met before.

I began to feel for Eve, she just wants to find a man and feels that she needs a drug to attract one, but she begins to doubt that and feels the drug is nothing more than a cheat. That a love created by a lie is not really love. She’s right of course and its nice to see the miner realize it as well. as for the others. Well we don’t quite know their fate. I think they stayed with the other miners.

Despite the lack of combat, this episode is fun and easy to watch, I give it 4 out of 5 little red jell-o cubes.

Next episode: what are little girls made of?

[DigoDragon]

It can be a neat balance for the Enterprise to go between exploring the edges of Federation space and then playing sheriff around these frontier locales.

[TheThan]

It's interesting and it's also a bit funny. They recognize he's a criminal but they don't really understand why he chooses to do the things he does. It's like the concept of a criminal is almost completely foreign to them. in fact, they played this up in TNG with the idea being COMPLETELY foreign to them.

Spoiler: S1E7: what are little girls made of?

Show

The enterprise just enters standard orbit around a planet named Exo III. Nurse Chapel is on the bridge. She’s worried about someone named Rodger on the planet below and has not been heard from in five years. The planet is an ice planet, with temperatures ranging 100 degrees below zero.

This person they’re searching for is named Rodger Corby. And he’s a noted biologist, having deciphered medical information from some Orion ruins that lead to a revolution in space medicine. They receive a message from the good doctor and we cut to the opening credits.

They prepare to beam down but Dr. Corby requests only Kirk beam down. Nurse Chapel was once engaged to him. They decide Nurse Chapel and kirk should beam down. They do and arrive in at the location inside a cave with a glass wall giving them a view to the frozen world. Dr. Corby is not there and Kirk orders two redshirts beamed down to accompany them. they leave one at the beaming location and one goes with Kirk and Chapel.

They wonder around and eventually come across the doctor’s assistant; his name is brown. Suddenly the redshirt falls into a chasm and is gone. It seems a big alien pushed him. Kirk gives orders to the other redshirt but the alien gets him from behind and kills him. The assistant gives them the lowdown on what they’ve been doing. They meet a beautiful young woman named Andrea. Then we meet Dr. Corby and he’s still smitten by Chapel. They kiss and Andrea has absolutely zero reaction. odd. Huh.

Kirk tries to contact the Enterprise and Corby’s assistant pulls a gun on him. He orders Andrea to take Kirk away. He then grabs her and uses her as a shield before taking cover. Kirk fires his phaser and blows a massive hole through him. He’s a robot. The big alien dude enters and lifts kirk up with one hand and throws him against the wall.

On the enterprise Spock receives a message from Kirk, which is actually the alien mimicking his voice. Brock the android, the big guy, has been left there to maintain the machinery left behind by the aliens on the planet. He’s totally played by the actor that plays Lurch on the Adam’s family.

Andrea and Chapel have brief discussion and then Corby and the others arrive. Dr. Corby keeps trying to convince them that he needs to explain it to them. Andrea is an android like the assistant and Lurch. Chapel immediately suspects kinky stuff has been going on. Corby explains that it’s not like that and there is no emotion in them. Chapel isn’t convinced.

They show Chapel how they create an android, from Kirk. They place him on a table with a foam cut out of him and spin it around rapidly. Soon there are two of them. Kirk awakes and hears their plans to replace Kirk with the android and comes up with a plan. He fills his mind hatred towards his best friend, Spock, hoping that this will tip them off that the android is an imposter.

Kirk and chapel eat and have a conversation and it’s reviewed that Kirk is an android. They then have a really cleverly shot scene where the android and Kirk sit and talk, both of them on the screen at the same time.

Corby tries to convince that he can transfer the consciousness of a person into the body of a machine and grant them immortality and keep people safe from the dangers of space. Kirk isn’t buying it. Corby suggests that they infiltrate modern society with androids; replacing people. Kirk then takes a rope from his chair and strangles Corby, just long enough to escape. Corby sends Brock after him. Then Chapel goes off in search of them both giving Lurch the order not to harm him. I doubt that’s going to work.

Kirk goes after Brock with an unintentionally phallic looking club but that doesn’t work. He’s thrust off a cliff but catches himself on the leg, lurch helps him up.

Back on the enterprise, android Kirk takes the information about their next destination, and gives Spock the suspicion that he’s not who he is. Meanwhile the original Kirk is trying to seduce Andrea. Kirk suggests that the androids do have feelings. Brock interrupts them and he confronts brock about not having emotion; and asks him about the original builders of the machines, the “old ones’.

Kirk manages to turn Brock against Corby. Revealing that they turned against their creator and destroyed them all. Corby comes in and Brock prepares to attack him but he shoots Brock and disintegrates him. Kirk and Dr. Corby have a brief scuffle and it’s reveled that he’s an android himself. He transferred his mind into the mind of the machine.

They have intruders and Corby orders Andrea to find them and destroy them. She finds the android Kirk and shoots him, mistaking him for the real Kirk. Andrea can’t seem to handle that she made a mistake. Kirk points out that they are not perfect. Andrea kisses Dr. Corby, professing her love for Corby and shoots the both of them, killing them both. Classic murder/suicide.

With all the androids dead they go back to the enterprise and leave. Roll end credits.

Fist fights: 4
space babes: 5
God like beings: 4
Engine trouble: 5
Vulcan neck pinches:2
Redshirts killed: 17
Total body count: 46

This episode is mostly ok. Bones isn’t in it at all, and Spock only briefly. It’s primarily about Kirk and Nurse Chapel. Which honestly doesn’t quite work; Kirk really needs someone like Spock or McCoy to play off of and Majel Barret, at least at this stage in her career, is pretty awful. It also has the most onscreen deaths yet at seven. The guy that plays Brock, err lurch, is really impressive physically, he’s incredibly athletic; he lifts Kirk up and throws him against the wall, later he hurls him across the room and it looks like Shatner weighs nothing and he moves very well, smooth and fast. So either there’s some camera trickery mixed with good physical acting to make him look super strong, or this guy is beastly. I'm primarily familiar with his work as Lurch from The Addam's Family, in which he he doesn't get o do much in that show aside from play a harpsichord and answer the door. They padded out his costume to make him look even more huge than he was; hah.

I like how the Dr. wants to subtly replace people with androids, its diabolical. Also that outfit Andrea is wearing is rather risqué, even by today’s standards it would turn heads. Also get it, Andréa, android. Har har.

Anyway I give this one 2 out of 5 Lurches.

Next episode: Miri

[Gnoman]

S1E7: what are little girls made of?

This episode is one of the ones that wound up with a sequel novel, Double Double. The basic premise is revisited (due to an android that was stuck in a cave during the events of the episode deciding to proceed with Corby's plan), and handled better.

Spoiler: S1E6: Mudd’s women

Show

Scotty is NOT happy. In perusing Mudd’s ship they burnt out several lithium crystals which are used for something or other. But the point is that they have one left and everything is being channeled through it. Basically they have engine trouble. They realize that they can make it to a planet called Rigel XII where they can get replacement lithium crystals since it’s a place where they mine them.

This is the result of a retcon - what they call "lithium" in this episode and the second pilot (the core concept and parts of the script date back to Roddenberry's original sales pitch for the show) becomes the famous "dilithium crystals" in all subsequent references when the writers decided to replace a lot of the real-world terms used in fantastic devices to fictional equivalents (much in the way "Phasers" replaced "Lasers".

[Zaydos]

I will always have a fondness of What are Little Girls made of. Other than The Cage it and Miri are the first episodes I can remember seeing, and the first time I watched the Cage is very hazy in my mind and Miri I've grown to really not like.

[TheThan]

Yeah.
I immediately thought of Lithium Ion batteries when they mentioned the crystal.
Then I looked up Lithium to see if it was found in crystal form. I was disappointed.

But you never know when real world science creeps into a science fiction adventure show.

[DigoDragon]

I will always have a fondness of What are Little Girls made of. Other than The Cage it and Miri are the first episodes I can remember seeing

My first episode ever was Devil in the Dark. I remember it was Sunday morning and the family couldn't go to church because the family car broke down. So while my pops was fixing it, I turned on the TV because I didn't know what they played on Sunday mornings. Found Star Trek and instantly loved the concept, so I bought myself a VHS tape and started recording episodes when I could. :3

But you never know when real world science creeps into a science fiction adventure show.

Or the other way around! We now have hand-held communicators, pocket computers, and even limited-function tricorders (including the medical type). You could compare modern 3D printing as the forerunner to replicators.

[brionl]

I was 7 when TOS first aired, and I used to watch it as often as I could. Even getting to stay up late to watch it.

I also used to get to stay up late to watch Laugh In, and laughed a lot. Then I watched it on Nick at Nite when I was all growed up, and laughed even more at all the stuff I missed when I was a kid.

[Gnome Alone]

It can be a neat balance for the Enterprise to go between exploring the edges of Federation space and then playing sheriff around these frontier locales.

I feel like the element missing from most iterations of Star Trek that TOS has in spades is the whole "space western" thing. Though DS9 does have elements of it; Sisko's kind of a Wild West frontier sheriff.

[TheThan]

Spoiler: S1E8: Miri

Show

The Enterprise picks up an old style SOS and they investigate. Where is Uhura? Spock gives the stats on the plant and Yeoman Rand points out that it’s earth. Looking at the screen you can clearly see Africa.

Roll opening credits.

Now orbiting around this earth. They decide to beam down near the distress signal. Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Yeoman Rand and two redshirts beam down and they find themselves in ruins with 40s era technology. Spock states the obvious but suggests that the era is in 1960 or so. A redshirt, wanders off we see a door close behind him.

Someone bursts out of nowhere and tackles McCoy. Kirk and Spock pull him off and they fight him. This guy is upset over the tricycle they were looking at. He goes into some sort of seizure and then dies. McCoy says its metabolic rate is sky high like he aged a century in a few minutes.

They hear a noise and go investigating. Why doesn’t yeoman rand have a gun, everyone else seems to? Anyway they find a girl, and yeoman rand calms her. Meanwhile Spock and the redshirts leave to go gather samples; so they can figure out what has happened (never split the party). They get the girl, Miri talking. She says the thing that attacked Bones is called a “grup” (Grown Ups”), and that there was a plague of some sort; or somesuch and everyone died except for the “onlies” (the only people left).

Meanwhile Spock and the redshirts do some more looking around. Spock hears a noise from above and starts up a fire escape to find out what it was. Then they hear the sound of children and they continue onward. Someone drops balls on their head and they hear children teasing them. They realize that they can’t catch them, they know the area too well.

Spock reports back to the captain. Kirk asks miri if she knows where the buildings where the doctors were and she says it’s a bad place. But Kirk insists and it’s clear that Miri is totally smitten with him. Great. Miri, sees that Kirk has a mark on his hand; it’s part of the disease that makes people into the grumps.

They find the building and McCoy is on the job figuring it out. The only one that isn’t affected is Mr. Spock. McCoy asks the enterprise to beam down some more equipment and Kirk tells them not to beam down any more personnel to prevent further contamination. Spock and McCoy give each other some verbal jabs.

They figure out that the disease infects people when they enter puberty. But that doesn’t track, since they are only children around, how could they sustain a population. They figure out that the Miri has a crush on Kirk. Spock figures out their plan was to create a life prolongation plan. A person would only 1 month for every 1 hundred years. However something went horribly wrong and they wiped themselves out in short order instead. However they think that the children are all very ancient, being stuck in eternal childhood. Kirk thinks that despite being ancient, they are still children.

Kirk convinces Miri to go with him to find the other children. We finally meet the kids, and yeah they’re all children. Their leader, John plans to take their communicators. Kirk and Miri get close and they hide. They go in the building but Kirk is attacked by a Grup. He throws her off and phasers her. his phaser is on stun but it still killed the grup. Her name was Lisa and she was just a little bit older than Miri.

Spock figures out how much time they have before they go mad and start killing each other. They figure out that the disease affects them when they enter puberty and that Spock is still a carrier despite not being affected by it. They have 170 hours (seven days).

McCoy figures out that they created a series of diseases, a chain reaction of viruses essential to prolong the life of the human cell. The children begin chanting and lure them out of the research facility, while John steals their communicators. They don’t realize that Kirk and company are trying to help them but without their communicators they will have a much harder time coming up with a cure.

They figure out that the children only have a few weeks worth of food and that their tempers are getting out of control because of the disease. Yeoman Rand starts cracking under the strain; the disease ruining her looks; she even admits that she has feelings for Kirk. Even though she can’t act on her feelings. Bones finds the actual disease on a slide so at least they have a chance to figure it out. Miri however has other plans, she’s suddenly very jealous of Janice Rand and plots to get rid of her with the other children.

Spock and bones think they have the cure, but they don’t know about the proper dosage. Yeoman Rand is captured off screen. Kirk asks Miri about yeoman Rand and gets no answer. They need the communicators to run the cure through the ships computers so they know if it works or not. Kirk convinces Miri to help him.

Miri takes Kirk to the onlies and he lays it down for them in such a way that they can understand it. but they attack Kirk. However Kirk convinces them that they’re going to all die since they don’t have any more food.

Spock loads a Hypospray and then leaves to go check on Kirk. After he leaves McCoy tests their serum on himself, like an idiot. McCoy yells out and then collapses. the others charge in and find the collapsed doctor; the blemishes on his face are fading and he’s apparently cured. Hurray.

Kirk walks off and John asks if it’s a good thing. All cured the crew of the enterprise are back on the ship and are flying away. Roll end credits.

Fist fights: 5
space babes: 4
God like beings: 4
Engine trouble: 5
Vulcan neck pinches 2
Redshirts killed : 17
Total body count : 48


I get it, I get it. I’ve read Lord of the Flies; Children are monsters when left unattended. It’s no different here. They’re perfectly capable of killing people when provoked and don’t quit understand the significance of what that is. Anyway there’s some weird things going on, this planet looks exactly like Earth, with Earth tech, and even human children on it. How? why? was this place terraformed to resemble earth? is it naturally an exact copy? how did the human population get on it hundreds of years ago? This show takes place in the 2260s, these kids are more than 300 years old, so they were around 100 years before today... and we get no explanation as to why. it's just this huge mystery they totally sweep under the rug.

Shockingly no redshirts seem to have died despite them putting themselves into the prime redshirt death territory of wondering off away from the main cast.

The idea that nobody lives past puberty is kinda frightening because that means eventually everyone dies and nobody is able to create more babies. Another horrible thing is that these children are stuck as children, in adolescence; as soon as they enter puberty they start dieing . That sucks when you think about it. The other interesting thing is that the people that accidentally created the disease did indeed succeed, at least in a bizarre way since the children do live for a very long time.

But I wonder how they manage to supply themselves. Anything made by the grownups, like clothing would have rotted away or worn out long ago. There is plenty of shelter and they mentioned food and they can sort of build. Kids aren’t stupid but there’s a big difference between kids and adults. How come there are no infants. the youngest only we see is about 6. if they only age a month for every hundred years then there should be infants around. Now if they've all died from lack of care, then well, that's the greatest tragedy I could ever conceive.
wow talk about ending on downer.

I give this episode 3 out of 5 purple blemishes

Next up: Dagger of the mind’s eye

[Gnome Alone]

I wish the crew would act exasperated upon encountering yet another suspiciously Earth-like planet. "God, another one? *angry sigh*" Though I guess this is the first one. Pretty lame how often they show up though.

[Kislath]

A little trivia tidbit for you- the little girl who played Miri was William Shatner's daughter.

[TheThan]

A little trivia tidbit for you- the little girl who played Miri was William Shatner's daughter.

that's pretty cool tibit of trivia, didn't know that.

[TheThan]

Spoiler: S1E9: Dagger of the mind’s eye

Show

This episode opens with the enterprise circling a ringed planet. They have some Infra-Sensory drugs to deliver to a doctor Tristan Adams, at the Tantalus Penal Colony. They can’t beam it down through their force field. And Kirk has to ask them to turn it off so they can beam it down. They then beam up some classified material. It looks like they have a stow away on board. He takes out a reshirt and then we roll opening credits.

Kirk and Bones talk, apparently penal colonies are swanky places nowadays. Uhura calls out that they are receiving a message, which notifies them about the stowaway. Meanwhile the stowaway switches uniforms in an attempt to hide amongst the crew. Kirk calls for a security alert. They corner the guy but he attacks a redshirt and manages to get a phaser.

There’s some great back and forth between Spock and McCoy then the stowaway rushes onto the bridge. He demands to see the captain and requests asylum. Kirk distracts him before Spock neck pinches him. They take him to sickbay and then head back to the prison colony. McCoy says this guy is really messed up.

This guy’s name is Simon VanGelder, he’s the director of the penal colony. He tries to explain what happened to him but he can’t quite get it out and bones has to give him a sedative. Apparently he’s a doctor and was assigned to the colony. Kirk asks Dr. Adams who is in charge of the facility but McCoy says he doesn’t buy it. Dr. Adams wants Kirk to beam down and look into the situation himself.

Kirk, a shrink named Dr. Noel beam down; Dr. Noel is a beautiful brunette and Kirk is caught off guard. But he quickly recovers. Down on the planet they enter the turbo lift and the thing drops them abruptly fast. They exit and they meet Dr. Adams.

We meet Miss Lethe, who seems to be somewhat off putting with little emotion. They conduct a tour and we see the device that supposedly drove Dr. VanGelder nuts. Back on the ship, VanGelder reveals that he’s been hit with something called a neural neutralizer. But they have to sedate him before they get any information out of him.

Dr. Adams explains what the neural neutralizer does and why they keep using it even though they think it doesn’t work. Dr. Noel seems to be convinced that nothing at all is wrong. We learn that this place a place of horrors. Dr. Adams excuses himself and Kirk and Spock can talk freely. Kirk and Dr. Noel don’t think they’re in any danger and decide to stay the night. Since Spock is in the sick bay with VanGelder and bones; VanGelder warns them not stay the night.

Spock mind melds with him. Meanwhile Kirk decides to investigate on his own and takes Dr. Noel along with him to check out the neural neutralizer. Spock finds out that the Neural neutralizer can erase memories and implant new thoughts. Kirk, stupidly, tests the beam out on himself (not one of his brightest moments). The machine does exactly what the good Dr. VanGelder says it does. Dr. Noel plants a false memory in Kirks mind as further proof that the machine works. However Dr. Adams inter-ups the experiment and Adams plants a false sensation, the sense that he’s madly and desperately in love with Dr. Noel and will do anything to be with her. He takes Kirks phaser an communicator.

He passes out but then wakes up in his quarters and he immediately starts to get romantic with Dr. Noel. But she tries to get him to remember and he does. Dr. Noel goes through the ductwork to find the power plant and shut it down. Meanwhile Kirk goes through another round of torture. Dr. Noel gets to the power plant and manages to shut the power down accidentally killing a guard via electrocution. While the power is out Kirk escapes and spock manages to beam down while the power is out. In the power plant he misses Dr. Noel but turns the power on and the force field off.

When the power comes on; the Neural Neutralizer hits Dr. Adams and since no-one is there to monitor him, it bakes his brain. Meanwhile Kirk and Dr. Noel meet back up, and share an embrace but Spock interrupts their embrace and they rush to check on good Dr. Adams and find him dead. The Neural neutralizer completely emptying his mind.

They dismantle the Neural Neutralizer; Kirk says something profound and they leave the planet.

Roll end credits.

Fist fights: 6
space babes: 6
God like beings: 4
Engine trouble: 5
Vulcan neck pinches 3
Redshirts killed: 17
Total body count: 49

We get some excellent examples of the Shatner school of acting. He acts as if he’s in tremendous pain in the chair. So much so that he stands up, turns around and then looks back into the light. He could have totally just walked out and been fine. But somehow this beam keeps you in the room. the chair doesn't even have any restraints and there's no door. Lousy torture chamber if you ask me.

The sub plot with the forced love between Kirk and Dr. Noel could have gone, it makes no sense for Dr. Adams to implant that particular thought into Kirk’s mind. Dr. Adams has no real motive and no real reason to experiment on perfectly healthy people so he’s an unconvincing villain; just moustache twirling evil, which I do like, but this guy was done poorly. Spock walking in on Kirk and Dr. Noel is quite funny however.

I give this one 2 out of 5 Spockblocks.

Next up :The Corbonite Maneuver

[Gnome Alone]

Hey, this is that one where McCoy says "a cage is a cage." Damn right. <3 McCoy 4eva

If memory serves, The Cormobite Maneuver is a fantastic episode.

[TheThan]

Since i missed posting one or two yesterday, i'm giving you three!

Spoiler: S1E10: the Corbonite Maneuver

Show

The Enterprise is flying along, creating star maps. Sulu spots something on the sensors and it’s approaching at light speed. Uhura is back in the gold uniform. This thing, a gigantic spinning cube stops in front of them. They try to fly around it but it keeps its pace and blocks the Enterprise’s efforts to get out of its way.

Roll credits.

The ship’s at full stop and Kirk is getting a physical because why not? He gets to be shirtless. Spock calls down to Sickbay and shows them what’s up and Kirk goes to the bridge. Kirk Strolls through the corridors shirtless and decides to go shower first.

Kirk finally gets to the bridge, and nobody knows what the cube really is. It can match them in speed and stays with them; holding right on their nose. Even Scotty doesn’t know what it is composed of. Spock thinks it’s either some kind of space buoy or some sort of fly paper. They decide to try to pull away from the cube.
However it doesn’t seem to yield or do anything else for that matter. It just sits there blocking their way. Then the thing starts spewing radiation. Kirk orders the ship into full reverse but it continues to stay with them, the radiation getting dangerously high. They shoot it with the main phasers which destroys the cube.

Kirk and Spock speculate about what could have sent out the cube. Then Kirk orders simulation test drills, and then Kirk and Bones share a drink; Bones is worried about some of the crew; specifically a guy named Bailey. Yeoman rand enters with dinner, a salad. Kirk complains that he doesn’t want woman yeoman and that he already has a woman to worry about, the Enterprise. Sulu interrupts them over the comm with a red alert signal. There’s another object approaching it’s much larger than the first cube.

Next a super sized golf ball flies towards them and captures them in a tractor beam. Kirk sends out hails and they get one back. It is Commander Balok, of the flagship Fesarius, of the "First Federation", the cube they destroyed was a warning buoy marking their territory.

They give the Enterprise ten minutes to say their prayers before blasting them out of the stars. Not very friendly especially since they cut off Kirk’s explanation of their actions; not wanting to hear it. They wouldn’t even allow the Enterprise to fire off a recording of their conversation, to warn other star fleet vessels to stay away. jackasses.

They try to leave but they won’t let the enterprise leave. The navigator, Bailey, flips out in hysterics and Kirk relieves him of duty. Again Kirk tries to explain but they aren’t listening. Kirk, argues with Spock about Bailey and that gives Kirk the idea to try to bluff them.

He lets out a ship wide broadcast, Kirk says there is a substance called Corbonite onboard that will cause a reverse reaction against any ship that attacks the enterprise and destroy the attacker.

The bluff works, and the ship isn’t destroyed at the end of the countdown. They contact the enterprise and delay the destruction of the ship in order to see the corbonite for themselves. Kirk denies them. They decide to tow the enterprise to a planet where they wish to take Kirk as a prisoner and then destroy the enterprise. Clearly they want the corbonite.

The enterprise tries to break away from the smaller ship towing them and manage to break free although they nearly blow the engines doing it though. The towing ship has also blown out its engines and its life support is failing. Balok is on the ship. Kirk decides to rescue him and make their high sounding words mean something.

Kirk, McCoy and Bailey beam over and learn that the creature they thought was the commander of the ship is just a puppet; the real commander is a kid with a dubbed voice. Balok is very amenable for someone who threatened to destroy them. He suggests an exchange of information and Mr. Bailey volunteers to stay behind and act as an ambassador. He takes them on a tour of the ship and we roll end credits.

Fist fights: 4
space babes: 6
God like beings: 4
Engine trouble: 6
Vulcan neck pinches 2
Redshirts killed: 17
Total body count: 49

This one is pretty entertaining. For starters the remaster special effects really shine. I’m glad they’ve finally come across an alien species that isn’t’ a monster or god like. They’re only slightly more advanced than the Enterprise. Kirk’s bluff actually works and the big reveal at the end is almost comical but it makes sense; making everything on the smaller ship too short for them is a nice touch. Plus the puppet Balok uses looks like a puppet from the onset so yeah.

I give this one 4 out of five yellow golf balls.

Spoiler: S1E11: the Menagerie, part 1

Show

Kirk, McCoy and spock beam down to starbase 11. The woman that greets them looks a little drunk. They meet with the commander of the base Commodore Jose Mendez, has not ordered the Enterprise there despite Kirks insistence that he had. He takes them to meet captain pike who is in an electric wheelchair and can only speak with “yes” and “No” flashing lights. He took a hit by Delta rays and that is what crippled him.

Spock has a plan for Captain pike but pike does not want to go through with it. spock says he understands it treachery and mutiny but he feels he has no choice.

Roll opening credits.

Kirk is convinced that Spock did indeed receive orders to take the Enterprise to star base 11 while the good commodore insists no such order was ever given; which suggests the Spock falsified the orders. Commodore asks the computer technician to check again and make sure that they didn’t miss anything. Spock sneaks in and Vulcan neck pinches him and then starts messing with a computer.

Kirk, Commodore Mendez and a girl make small talk, it sounds like Kirk’s reputation as a skirt chaser precedes him. Captain Pike couldn’t send the message. Meanwhile Spock is sending the Enterprise a fake order that’s covertly punched into the computer.

Kirk is watching Pike and he keeps blinking No repeatedly. McCoy comes in and explains that Pike’s mind is just fine, he just can’t move. Kirk decides that someone falsified the orders and suspects Spock. McCoy reminds him that Spock, being a Vulcan is incapable of lying (false) but McCoy reminds him he’s half human. Kirk reminds Bones that Spock has completely repressed that part of him. Either way Kirk is bound and determined to find out who’s interfering with his command.

Bones is called back to the ship. Melendez gives Kirk a file on Talos IV. Apparently going to Talos IV is the only death sentence Starfleet still has. Kirk starts reading it. Spock steals Pike and makes off with the enterprise. On the enterprise Spock shows McCoy Pike and gives him fake orders from Kirk telling him to ask no questions and just take care of Pike.

Kirk and Mendez take a shuttle craft and try to catch him but they run out of fuel before they get back. Plus they only have a few hours of air left. They have no idea why Spock would be heading to Talos IV. McCoy figures out that the captain is in the shuttle. Spock orders Kirk to be beamed aboard and then has himself arrested for mutiny. McCoy orders him confined to quarters. They learn that Spock has locked everyone out of the computer. Scotty is on the case, and he’s a bit irritated with what Spock has done.They currently have no choice but to go to Talos IV.

They prepare a preliminary court-martial hearing. Spock waives counsel and rights to the hearing and just court martial him. Spock points out that they can do a court martial because of the presence of Captain pike (they require three command officers).


Spock proceeds to present his case before the court. From here we get a recap of the enterprise. Apparently the events of the Cage was 13 years ago. Spock has a recording with evidence that is difficult to believe because no in flight recorder takes such good quality recordings. But they watch it anyway. The evidence is the “the Cage”; seemingly uncondensed.

They cut back to the trial and the commodore accuses Spock of manufacturing evidence but Spock asks Pike if this is real, and he blinks yes. They decide to continue; Pikes vote breaking a deadlock and continues the evidence spock presents and we get to continue watching more of “The Cage”. Continuing viewing the evidence forces them to continue on to Talos IV as Spock won’t release the ship unless Pike says to.

They get interrupted by, apparently they are receiving a transmission from Talos IV. It’s the evidence that they are watching. Commodore Mendez is order to take command and orders Spock to relinquish the ship, he refuses. Spock is determined to force everyone to view the evidence. Commodore Mendez calls for a recess and we cut to credits.

Spoiler: S1E12: the Menagerie, part 2

Show

We get a brief recap of the previous episode. And then cut to opening credits.

They continue to view the footage from Talos IV despite the commodore’s complaints. Spock reveals that the Talosians are able to create illusions so real that they are essentially real. Someone caught in these illusions can see, taste, feel the same reality as someone not caught in the illusions. Back to the recap of the Cage.

Back to the episode, they take a break because Captain Pike is fatigued. When they reconvene we learn that they are only an hour out from Talos IV. After a bit we turn to the briefing and they realize that the talosisans initially want Pike for breading stock although they think it’s for their zoo. But Spock says it’s not for their zoo. And now back to the recap. We get to the famous Orion slave girl dance and we pull back to the trial. They talk about the Slave girl, and then explain that they wanted to breed human slaves. And we’re back to the recap.

They vote guilty as charged for Spock, unanimously. They however reach Talos IV. but the Talosians have control of the Enterprise and they have to watch the end of the Cage; however they don’t create an illusion of Pike to stay with Vina. Instead they cut that part. And we seen Pike beam up to the Enterprise. Back on the Enterprise, Commodore Mendez disappears. His presence has been an illusion. The whole court martial was a sham, an illusion created by the Talosians to make sure Kirk allows the Enterprise to reach Talos IV. Uhura recives a communications from the good commodore back at Starbase 11; temporarily suspending the standing orders about Talos IV. Captain Pike beeps that he is willing to beam down to Talos IV where he can live out the rest of his life in a fantasy. They show the illusion of Pike fully healed and The Talosians give Kirk a send off and we roll end credits.

Dramatic Fist fights: 4
space babes: 6
God like beings: 4
Engine trouble: 6
Vulcan neck pinches 3
Redshirts killed: 17
Total body count: 49

These two are hard to watch, not because it’s a recap episode of The Cage. But because of personal reasons. I have a beloved uncle that is dying from ALS (AkA Lou Gehrig’s Disease). In fact, he's in ICU right now and may not be long for the world. So seeing Captain Pike as an invalid reminds me a lot of him.

Anyway I’m not counting anything in this one since it’s nothing new.

I give this one 3 out of 5 court martials

Next episode: The conscience of the king

[janet]

Nice to see there's alot of interest.

[TheThan]

Spoiler: S1E13: The Conscience of the King

Show

We open with a Shakespearian play, MacBeth. The man next to Kirk is convinced the man playing MacBeth is someone named Kodos the executioner. Then we roll opening credits.

The enterprise has been diverted to some planet they don’t name. The reason, Dr.Tomas Leighton has discovered a new synthetic food that will totally end the threat of famine on sigma minor. The Dr. is convinced that the actor in the play is indeed Kodos. This guy is responsible for 4 thousand deaths. This guy has an eyepatch and a huge covering over half his face, he’s probably really scarred.

Anyway only a hand full of people have actually seen Kodos, including Kirk and the good doctor. Kirk leaves and looks up Governor Kodos of Tarsus IV. Also known as the executioner; as well as Anton Karidian, the Shakespearian actor Dr. Leighton thinks is Kodos, in the ships computer.

Kirk compares their photographs and they do look quite a bit alike. Boy facial recognition software in the 2360s is craptastic. Anyway, at the party Dr. Leighton mentioned, the band is playing the star trek TOS theme song and that tickles me hah. Kirk meets Karidian’s daughter, Lenore, and immediately hits on her. While taking the girl out on a midnight stroll they come across a body. This is Dr. Leighton.

Kirk decides to pick the acting troupe and Karidian’s daughter beams up and convinces Kirk to transport them, to their next place. Even though this is totally Kirk’s doing, since he called the ship that was going to pick them up and waived them off. Kirk barters a performance for the crew for their passage. She leaves the bridge and Yeoman Rand walks on board and gives her a dirty look, although she’s oblivious. Yeoman Rand is Savvy to Kirk’s ways.

Kirk gets a list of the nine people that are direct eye witness to the atrocities that Kodos committed. Turns out there is another one on board besides Kirk that is an eye witness. Apparently this is Kevin Riley whom I believe we last saw in ‘The Naked Now”, taking over Engineering and singing to the crew. Spock thinks he’s asking strangely and asks McCoy what he thinks. McCoy makes an interesting comment about Spock’s race being conquered… hrrm.

Anyway Kirk continues to seduce Lenore. Oh gosh she’s totally making innuendos and Kirk does not miss it at all. But he tries to pump her (get your mind out of the gutter) for information about her daddy. Spock, meanwhile, does his own digging and relays this information to Bones; and we learn what happens on Tarsus IV. Turns out that 9 of the eye witnesses to the genocide Kodos committed are dead except for Riley and Kirk.

We finally get to see Riley and he is the same guy from “The Nake Now” that took over engineering. He’s on duty down in engineering but he’s bored out of his skull down there (I guess they decided he liked it so much he could stay). He calls up to a reck-room and Uhura plays Spocks’ Lyre and sings for him since he’s so bored. Ooh a creeping shadow. There is a tray of snack food; someone sprays something into a glass of what looks like Chocolate milk. Riley takes a drink and immediately chokes and collapses. But they get him to sickbay and McCoy is trying to cure him.

Spock confronts Kirk, and they argue. Kirk defends his position but he’s not sure if he’s after justice or revenge. Spock surprisingly is already convinced that Kodos and Karidian are the same person. Kirk isn’t and must find sufficient proof. As they talk, a phaser begins to overload, they hear it and being searching for it. Kirk signals for everyone to evacuate the section if it blows, it’ll take out the whole section. Kirk finds it flushes it down the garbage shoot. Nice. Clearly an assassination attempt.

Kirk charges into Karidian’s quarters and straight up confronts him. He gives an ambiguous answer. Kirk has him read something into the comm. Unit on the wall and they plan on using that to compare to the voice of Kodos. I know what you thinking, but Kirk tells him that altering his voice won’t matter. Lenore comes into the room and they have a conversation. Kirk isn’t convinced yet. But the girl is upset that Kirk used her. Meanwhile Lt. Riley has recovered and learns the Kodos might be on board.

They play Hamlet for the crew. Meanwhile Kirk and Spock finds out that the recordings match but not perfectly. Bones is intentionally late for the play, some sort of tradition amongst doctors but he finds out that Riley is missing. Security reports that a phaser has been stolen, it’s probably Riley. A search begins. Kirk goes back stage searching for Riley. He finds Riley and orders him back. Riley says that he is the man that murdered his parents. Riley hands over his weapon and returns to the sickbay.

Karidian is Kodos, it turns out he is haunted over what he had done and hearing Riley makes him start to crack. However it’s also revealed that his daughter is the one that killed the seven witnesses. Kodos is upset about what she’s done. She’s a total nut. She grabs a phaser and shoots at kirk but Kodos leaps in front of him. the shot kills him. Lenore quotes some shakespear and then breaks down into tears quoting the famous line from MacBeth. The Haul her off to the loony bin and they have some quick banter before they leave orbit and credits roll.

Dramatic Fist fights: 4
space babes: 7
God like beings: 4
Engine trouble: 6
Vulcan neck pinches 3
Redshirts killed: 17
Total body count: 50

I’m not going to count the 4000 people that Kodos killed since that was 20 years before the episode nore am I counting the 6 people Lenore killed previous to the show I think it would skew our counter ridiculously.

Anyway this one is only ok. Everyone except Kirk is positive that Karidian and Kodos are the same person. It got a little old “I just have to be sure” guh. That being said, the girl being the real killer surprised me. This is also the first time Star Trek has mined Shakespeare, but hardly the last.


I give this one 2 out of 5 shakperian plays

[DigoDragon]

I’m not going to count the 4000 people that Kodos killed since that was 20 years before the episode nor am I counting the 6 people Lenore killed previous to the show I think it would skew our counter ridiculously.

That seems fair enough; Just count the deaths that occur during the episode. Too bad they didn't try Shakespeare in the original Klingon.

[comicshorse]

I'm currently watching the third season of Star trek and just watched 'Whom Gods Destroy' where Spock comments that there are now only about a dozen insane people in the whole Federation yet strangely enough the Enterprise keeps coming across these people who are a rarer than a interesting Vulcan