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If you haven't read the introduction to see how and why I went about creating the episode guide for The Original Series, you may wish to do so now.

Spock's Brain -- Air date: 9/20/1968. Written by Lee Cronin. Directed by Marc Daniels.

A woman steals Spock's brain for use as a utilities regulator on her home planet, leading Kirk and crew to go on a mission to retrieve it. How or why she came about choosing Spock's brain is as unknown as why this episode was ever produced in the first place. Possibly the dumbest episode in the entire Trek canon, "Spock's Brain's" sole saving grace is the fact that it's so bad it's downright funny. The unintentional hilarity of this episode almost makes it worth experiencing, simply so you can shake your head and laugh in disbelief. What on Earth was Gene Coon (entering this under his pen name) thinking? The plot is beyond hopeless and utterly nonsensical; the performances are beaming in from another galaxy; and the jokes fail to be funny while the (apparently) serious moments cause unrestrained laughter. My snickering continued throughout the episode, occasionally peaking at the many moments when Kirk demands in desperation, "What have you done with Spock's brain?!" Before long, the very words "Spock's brain" become laughable. Perhaps even Marc Daniels couldn't take this remotely seriously, having seemed to direct it with all the cheesiness the story is worthy of. The epitome of bad science fiction.

Rating:

The Enterprise Incident -- Air date: 9/27/1968. Written by D.C. Fontana. Directed by John Meredyth Lucas.

An undercover mission to steal a Romulan cloaking device takes the Enterprise into the Romulan neutral zone, upon which Kirk and Spock beam over to a Romulan ship under the guise of Kirk being insane and commanding the Enterprise into the neutral zone on his own personal accord. Subsequently, Kirk is imprisoned while Spock catches the interest of the Romulan commander (Joanne Linville). Given the broadcast sequence, one wonders how this episode can even be the same series that supplied "Spock's Brain," but never mind. "The Enterprise Incident" is an exceptionally skillfully executed spy mission that manages to keep the audience guessing every bit as much as the enemy. Featuring a tight, compelling plot with adept twists and turns and logical action, the story also pushes Spock's character into new territory. Spock's manipulative liaison with the Romulan commander benefits from an intriguing eroticism that exists outside the human expectations and instead shows a Vulcan form of subdued, cautious, and very mind-oriented sexuality. The fact that Spock got more than he bargained for brings forth a touch of fascinating sentiment where the emotion behind the encounter is evident but never spelled out in performance. All in all, one of the series' best outings.

Rating:

The Paradise Syndrome -- Air date: 10/4/1968. Written by Margaret Armen. Directed by Jud Taylor.

An attempt to divert an asteroid from crashing into a populated planet brings Kirk and the landing party to investigate a planet of paradise where the planet's American Indian-like tribes live in simplistic peace. But when Kirk goes missing after falling into the trap door of a mysterious obelisk, Spock and the Enterprise are forced to leave him behind in order to divert the asteroid before it's too late. Kirk wakes up with amnesia, and upon climbing from the obelisk is taken in by the nearby tribe, where he falls in love with the beautiful Miramanee (Sabrina Scharf). Meanwhile, the story's subplot follows Spock's failed attempt to deflect the asteroid. Both stories, which take place over a period of several months, are fairly palatable, but neither turns out to be captivating. Kirk's story benefits from the enlightening idea that, although he can't remember who he is, he realizes that being in love and living a simple life has made him "truly happy" for the first time in his life. Not of much interest, however, are Kirk's confrontations with a rival tribe member who, unlike the rest of the tribe, doubts Kirk is a god. Just why does Kirk subtly allow the others to think he is a god in the first place? Is he taking advantage of a situation? The story, unfortunately, never stops to ask what Kirk thinks about this aspect of his problem. Meanwhile, the romance angle is sweet at first, but goes overboard into tiring sappiness. Miramanee's subsequent injury results in a melodramatic deathbed scene that I couldn't help but resist. Tragedies work better when they have a greater purpose for existing other than for the sake of closing lamentable dialog.

Rating:

And the Children Shall Lead -- Air date: 10/11/1968. Written by Edward J. Lakso. Directed by Marvin Chomsky.

The crew discovers that the members of a research colony have been killed by an unknown force, the only survivors being their children, who are remarkably devoid of grief over their parents' deaths. Once beamed aboard the Enterprise, these children exhibit a bizarre power over the crew, inducing hallucination and mental incapacitation in their victims. It turns out that an alien entity named Gorgan (Melvin Belii) is using the children to hijack the starship so he can consume more worlds and cause more death for his own evil purposes. Bwahahaha. "And the Children Shall Lead"--that is, lead this episode straight into the gutter. A dismally frustrating, repetitive, and bland hour, we're forced to watch five children take over the ship in extremely uninteresting ways, making the crew look helpless (who wants to see that, anyway?). The "magic pump-fist action" gets really, really goofy, becoming what feels like a lame parlor trick. Melvin Belii is terrible as the completely uninteresting Gorgan, reciting his lines like a robot. Meanwhile, Bones has the thankless role of telling Kirk every five or ten minutes that these children have to be treated with kid gloves in order to prevent psychological damage. Funny, you'd think their helping an evil alien that murdered their parents might already have done that. The one potentially promising aspect of the episode--playing off the crew's fears--is not utilized the least bit effectively. This is an episode created on autopilot, lacking any and all sense of inspiration. At least "Spock's Brain's" level of badness made it somewhat amusing. This episode is simply dull to the point of being unwatchable.

Rating:

Is There In Truth No Beauty? -- Air date: 10/18/1968. Written by Jean Lisette Aroeste. Directed by Ralph Senensky.

It's at about this point that the reduced quality of TOS's infamous third season becomes increasingly clear, as what initially appears to be a substantive Spock episode can't even find the right notes. This one focuses on an ambassador named Kollos (performed by a box with lots of blinding light inside) from a race "so ugly as to drive a man mad." Sort of weird, but, okay, I'll grant the story that detail. Diana Muldaur returns as a guest character named Dr. Jones (that's Miranda, not Indiana), whose life as a human telepath took her to Vulcan, where she learned to control the powers that brought everyone's thoughts into her head. Now she plans to spend her life accompanying Kollos, whom she has come to greatly respect and understand. The problem with the episode is that it's all over the map and never figures out what it wants to say. First the story seems preoccupied with the situation surrounding a character's unrequited love for Miranda, and then his attempt to murder Kollos in a jealous rage and the resulting madness in him that ensues. Then the story shifts when the ship goes wildly off course and only Kollos knows how to get it back on track. This leads Spock to mind meld with Kollos to obtain the information, which leads him to madness. Subsequently, only Miranda can save Spock's sanity with her mental abilities. The character analysis lies within Jones getting past the fact Spock has communicated with Kollos, with whom she previously shared exclusive mental intimacy. Some of the dialog works, but there's no clear train of thought, resulting in a ponderous mess.

Rating:

Spectre of the Gun -- Air date: 10/25/1968. Written by Lee Cronin. Directed by Vincent McEveety.

Members of the Enterprise crew beam down to investigate a planet, contrary to the warnings of the Melkot, who subsequently place Kirk and his men into a surreal recreation of the American Old West, where they must avoid the showdown with Wyatt Earp (Ron Soble), Doc Holliday (Sam Gilman), and crew at the OK Corral. More intriguing than it probably has any right to be, "Spectre of the Gun" benefits from its bizarre surrealism, and has a Twilight Zone-esque atmosphere and aesthetic feel. Still, the story is sometimes stiffly executed, with dialog that has a tendency to repeat itself. At times it feels like the episode simply didn't have enough scenes to fill an hour, resulting in inefficient dialog being tacked on. There's dialog where characters make statements that are nothing short of obvious. The ending revolves around the fact that mental discipline controls the unreality, so Spock mind melds with Kirk, Bones, and Scotty so they'll believe that unreal bullets can't really hurt them. Chekov? He dies. But he comes back to life--always a nice side effect of dying in non-reality.

Rating:

Day of the Dove -- Air date: 11/1/1968. Written by Jerome Bixby. Directed by Marvin Chomsky.

The mutual distrust between the Klingons and the Federation becomes the center of attention for Kirk when he takes Klingon prisoners aboard the Enterprise for trespassing in Federation space and attacking a Federation outpost. Once aboard the ship, an alien entity that thrives on hostility allows the opposing forces to lock into a repetitive cycle of combat--allowing an equal number of Kirk's men for every Klingon on board to fight above decks in a sort of arena of violence. "Day of the Dove" isn't great, but it's good--showing more promise than many third-season offerings. Michael Ansara as Kang provides a good adversary for Kirk, as the distrust between the two sides elevates into an all-out battle of swordplay, courtesy of the animosity-inducing alien presence. The "violence is bad" message is pretty obvious, but it manages to work fairly well in the story's context. I particularly liked the scene where Kirk and his crew come to realize that they're feeding off racially motivated hatred, even if it was a little overplayed. The end provides a classic Trek solution, where the two sides end hostilities to be rid of the alien entity's cycle of pointless bloodshed. Not groundbreaking, but respectable.

Rating:

For the World Is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky -- Air date: 11/8/1968. Written by Rik Vollaerts. Directed by Tony Leader.

The Enterprise encounters an asteroid that actually turns out to be a huge alien bio-dome-like spaceship--carrying passengers who think they're living on an actual world. This spaceship, navigation having malfunctioned, is on a collision course with another populated world. Meanwhile, McCoy learns that he has a terminal illness that leaves him with a maximum of one year to live. Upon beaming to the spaceship to investigate, Kirk, Spock, and Bones find that the inhabitants are at the mercy of an apparently computerized oracle that dictates thought and speech--speak the forbidden words and it kills you. Bones is elected to keep Natira (Kate Woodville), the landing party's host who finds herself enamored with McCoy, busy while Kirk and Spock try to figure out how to gain navigational control of the planet-ship. The "spaceship planet" idea and some of the social implications are genuinely intriguing. There's an implicit analysis of a society built on censored thought, but the story doesn't dig as deep as it could've. Also unfortunate is that Bones' romance with Natira--a key emotional focus point in the story and a good idea--is a major letdown, severely lacking punch and devoid of passion or sweetness, thereby reduced to a plot element. It's a real shame, because I like Bones and would've liked to see this side of him more believably brought to the surface.

Rating:

The Tholian Web -- Air date: 11/15/1968. Written by Judy Burns and Chet Richards. Directed by Herb Wallerstein.

An Enterprise away party beams over to the USS Defiant, found dead in space, to assess why its crew had gone mad and apparently mutinied itself to death. When the Defiant begins dissolving and enters an "interphase realm," the party hastily returns to the Enterprise, except Kirk, who is left stranded on the Defiant when a lack of power causes his transport to be delayed. Spock plans to retrieve the captain when the Defiant returns to normal space from its interphase cycle, provided Kirk's atmosphere suit can keep him alive long enough. The situation grows more complicated when the Tholians intervene, ordering Spock to leave the area, which they claim as their own. Whether it's Spock's interphasic theories, the Tholians' energy webs, or McCoy's medical research to cure the insanity that has spread from the Defiant to the Enterprise, "The Tholian Web" provides a good example of Trekkian tech plots being juggled in relatively interesting fashion. And although the "interphase" plotting rules are conjured at will, they're somehow still believable on the story's terms. What gives this episode its lasting power, however, is the way Spock and McCoy work with and challenge each other--as McCoy questions Spock's dangerous plan to retrieve the captain at the expense of the ship's safety. Eventually, it is Kirk's final recorded message that reveals the way Spock and Bones require each other for guidance, nicely highlighting the cemented relationships within the Big Three.

Rating:

Plato's Stepchildren -- Air date: 11/22/1968. Written by Meyer Dolinsky. Directed by David Alexander.

As we all know, "Plato's Stepchildren" is most commonly remembered for providing television's first interracial kiss. All well and good, but how does the story stand up? Actually, I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this fairly nondescript premise, in which Parmen (Liam Sullivan), a tyrannical leader of a small community of people with telekinetic abilities, decides he wants McCoy to stay against his will on this planet as their doctor. Story execution here is key. After Kirk's initial defiance of Parmen comes a telekinetically induced humiliation brought to Kirk and Spock that is surprisingly well played. The degree of Parmen's villain factor is multiplied by tenfold when Uhura and Chapel are beamed down as players in a degrading entertainment spectacle alongside Kirk and Spock. What's particularly nice about this episode is that the plot falls together logically, and the characters' reactions to their predicament shows sensible thinking and quiet ingenuity. McCoy's way of fighting back makes sense and is applied with a cool head. Meanwhile, Alexander (Michael Dunn), the community's most often abused, turns out to be a deeper-than-expected source of sympathy--someone with a great deal of moral integrity. The problem is that the episode lets its villain off way too easily. As Kirk says, Parmen is very good at making speeches, and given the extent of his cruelty, letting it all slide at the end lacks justice. A more satisfying ending would've found a way to strip Parmen of his telekinetic powers, thereby administering, without turning to vengeance or violence, a rational comeuppance.

Rating:

Wink of an Eye -- Air date: 11/29/1968. Teleplay by Arthur Heinemann. Story by Lee Cronin. Directed by Jud Taylor.

Responding to a distress call from the Scalosians, the Enterprise landing party beams down to a planet to find ... nothing. Or apparently nothing. When one of Kirk's men vanishes in front of McCoy's eyes, a search for the mystery's solution becomes the new focus of the mission. Kirk suddenly finds himself pulled into another dimension of existence, where the Scalosians exist in a hyper-accelerated pace, faster than any human being can see. Deela (Kathie Brown), the leader of the remaining dying Scalosians, needs Kirk and his crew's men to repopulate a world that has sterile men. "Wink of an Eye" has an interest-piquing concept involving the perspective of a race who lives in this accelerated state; the Enterprise crew appears frozen from their perspective. Unfortunately, this episode suffers from a crucial flaw in logic: the fact that the action of two extremely different rates of time are allowed in story terms to unfold alongside each other at the same rate. Spock is able to discover what has happened (in a nice scene where he uncovers the mystery without any dialog but rather with logical visuals) and send himself into the Scalosians' time rate ... but in the time it takes Spock to uncover this mystery in normal time, Deela's plan should've been carried out 1,000 times over. "Wink of an Eye" works best if you don't try to use reasoning or logic and just go with the flow. The way the Scalosians' dimension is always photographed in canted angle proves effectively surreal without being distracting.

Rating:

The Empath -- Air date: 12/6/1968. Written by Joyce Muskat. Directed by John Erman.

A little money can go a long way, which is proved by "The Empath," an episode made on an obvious shoestring budget, but having the style and story strength to pull off something quite moving. Kirk, Spock, and McCoy beam down to a research outpost, but soon find themselves the captives of alien experimenters (Willard Sage and Alan Bergmann) who had killed the missing research scientists. Also captive is a mute alien woman whom Bones names "Gem" (Kathryn Hays), and who possesses the ability to cure another's injuries by absorbing them into herself. The episode becomes a classic Trekkian test of human qualities when it's revealed that the landing party has been made captive (and is to be subjected to life-threatening injuries) as a way of testing Gem's ability of self-sacrifice. Kirk, Spock, and McCoy each show a selflessness that is respectable, and the two aliens hope Gem will, also. The money-saving all-black staging and minimized props actually enhance the eerieness of the situation. And without saying a single word, Kathryn Hays brings a powerful empathy to Gem through skillfully exaggerated gestures and facial expressions--an approach that brings a great deal of poignancy to the material. It's a refreshing hour of nice ideas.

Rating:

Elaan of Troyius -- Air date: 12/20/1968. Written and directed by John Meredyth Lucas.

A mission of diplomacy brings the Enterprise to Elas to transport warrior leader Elaan (France Nuyen) to Troyius, where she is to marry into their society as the first step of bridging the two peoples and ending the long-lasting hostilities between them. The problem (or, more specifically, the running gag)--Elaan is a terrible-mannered woman from a society short on manners. She must be taught in the ways of etiquette. Her teacher (after she stabs the first one) is James T. Kirk, naturally. Watchable, mostly brainless, middle-of-the-road fare, "Elaan of Troyius" is at its best when it shows Kirk balancing the approaches of diplomacy and forceful wording when dealing with the brat that Elaan is. Of course, the frustrating and repetitive joke of Elaan being so appalled at having to behave in a civilized manner is something that gets old quite fast, and it's not very wittily developed. The episode turns into a mild muddle when it begins juggling mystical "love potion" (Elaan's tears) notions, Klingon battleship attacks, and mysteriously tensionless spy missions and sabotage, without really knowing which of the plots is important, or if any of it means anything when rolled into one. Still, seeing Kirk on the bridge while under the influence of uncontrollable love urges is somewhat amusing.

Rating:

Whom Gods Destroy -- Air date: 1/3/1969. Teleplay by Lee Erwin. Story by Lee Erwin and Jerry Sohl. Directed by Herb Wallerstein.

Kirk and Spock beam down to the Elba II penal colony to deliver a new medicine that may cure the insane patients who are imprisoned there. Unfortunately, the megalomaniacal Garth (Steve Ihnat), one of the insane who was once a starship captain, has other plans and takes them prisoner. Garth subsequently uses his ability to change his physical form and masquerade as Kirk, planning to take Kirk's place as the Enterprise captain. If you accept the magical plot concept of a human who has acquired the ability to shapeshift (complete with the proper clothes, etc.), you might find this episode somewhat entertaining. The Dual Kirk Plot is a cliche, but Garth nevertheless makes a good villain, torturing the colony administrator and launching into fury after his plan is halted via Kirk's "chess game" security. Some of this is hopelessly corny and overplayed, especially Shatner's take on the Garth-as-Kirk tantrum. But I did at times enjoy Ihnat's character, as he pronounces himself "Lord of the Universe" and, in one particularly cruel scene, blows up Marta (Yvonne Craig), his own partner in crime. But, insane or not, Garth gets off too easy. It all bears very little scrutiny, but the lively glib entertainment level keeps the show afloat.

Rating:

Let That Be Your Last Battlefield -- Air date: 1/10/1969. Teleplay by Oliver Crawford. Story by Lee Cronin. Directed by Jud Taylor.

The Enterprise becomes the newest battlefield for two bitter enemies, Lokai (Lou Antonio) and Bele (Frank Gorshin), who have been at each other's throats for millennia--a microcosm of the schism based on racial hatred that divides their world. Determined to take Lokai back to his home world for punishment, Bele seizes control of the Enterprise navigation as the ship's crew is helpless. About the only thing "Last Battlefield" has going for it are some good intentions. The story is way too unfocused and meandering to work as reasonable allegory. Reducing racism to absurdity is certainly something that provides the opportunity to be pointed by conveying the sheer stupidity of the ideas behind pointless hatred. Unfortunately, the allegory is too preachy and pretentious and fails to say anything except in the very broadest of terms. (Prejudice has many troubling shades of grey that this story fails to acknowledge.) Only one scene stands out among the mayhem--a scene where Bele is appalled that no one recognizes the reasons for his hatred. An extended sequence involving the Enterprise self-destruct sequence only manages to draw the story further off course. And while the director of photography's choices here exhibit an ambitious need to be atypical, the results are mixed--too often distracting rather than enhancing. Morality plays are well and good, but not when they're as haphazardly assembled as this one, which is a waste of a perfectly good opportunity.

Rating:

The Mark of Gideon -- Air date: 1/17/1969. Written by George F. Slavin and Stanley Adams. Directed by Jud Taylor.

Upon beaming down to the planet Gideon, Kirk finds himself on a duplicate of the Enterprise, where he meets a woman named Odona (Sharon Acker) who yearns for a chance to live far away from her vastly overpopulated world--a world where no one dies. The subject of the story is overpopulation and the need for extreme measures to combat the problem, as the Gideons hope to introduce into the population a rare disease carried by Kirk, allowing their people to age and die as they once did centuries ago. Unfortunately, the plot tackles its message in such a roundabout way that it's hard to swallow a lot of it. For one, I find it highly unlikely that the Gideons would build an exact duplicate of the Enterprise just to fool Kirk into helping them--an approach they should know is destined to fail. Then comes the idea of billions of people literally piled up together upon each other because of overpopulation, which strikes me as somehow implausible. (How does anything in society function given this sort of problem? The idea of urgent overpopulation is fine, but the absurdity of showing crowds of people unable to move is simply unnecessary.) There's also far too much time spent on the plots where Kirk ponders the nature of being on an empty Enterprise while Spock attempts to locate the captain ... although I somewhat enjoyed the contest of semantics between Spock and Gideon Prime Minister Hodin (David Hurst). It's a watchable episode, but there are too many dubious ideas, and the moral questions are not presented in a way that allows any realistic debate or analysis. There's a much better story lurking beneath some of the concepts inefficiently jammed together here.

Rating:

That Which Survives -- Air date: 1/24/1969. Teleplay by John Meredyth Lucas. Story by Michael Richards. Directed by Herb Wallerstein.

When a landing party beams down to investigate a planet, a mysterious woman named Losira (Lee Meriwether), armed with a deadly touch, begins attacking several members of Kirk's crew, both on board the ship and on the planet surface. The problem is magnified when the Enterprise is hurled far away from the planet and its engines are sabotaged, causing a countdown to the ship's destruction. "That Which Survives" is as close to nothing that you can have on the screen and still have some semblance of a Star Trek episode. The familiar two-tiered story structure does nothing here, failing on both counts. The landing party's lobotomized attempts to uncover the mystery of Losira have precisely zero urgency and thought put forward. Meanwhile, the technobabble-heavy Enterprise jeopardy plot is completely insipid; not one character on the ship seems to really believe that they're going to "blow up in 15 minutes." And on top of the uninteresting nature of the story, we have to put up with one of the most irritating utilizations of Spock ever conceived. Spock's sarcasm is entertaining when wittily and subtly developed, but here his quip one-liners are so needless, pervasive, and annoying that I simply wanted to strangle him. (Just how many times can we listen to him snidely telling Scotty to forego emotionalism and get to work?) The finale uncovers a mystery that is not remotely worth the effort required to get there.

Rating:

The Lights of Zetar -- Air date: 1/31/1969. Written by Jeremy Tarcher and Shari Lewis. Directed by Herb Kenwith.

Lt. Mira Romaine (Jan Shutan), whom Scotty has fallen for, takes an important role when she is somehow connected with the bizarre non-corporeal entities called the Zetarians, who were responsible for deaths on a Federation outpost. Romaine suddenly begins having visions of the future, including one in which Scotty is dead. While "Lights" is not an incredibly insulting episode, it is surprisingly devoid of substance. Really, there's not much that happens in the story. The lights appear, cause strange visions and take control of Romaine's body, and are destroyed when Kirk puts Romaine in a high-pressure chamber to expel them from her body. Much of the episode consists of lackluster scenes where the crew attempts to determine the nature of the Zetarians and their hold over Romaine, and a few scenes analyzing Romaine herself as a crew member having trouble adjusting her attitudes to her new assignment. There's simply not much here worthy of mention for good or ill (though the inability for an understanding to be reached between humanity and the Zetarians is perhaps a telling sign of the decline of the series' idealism). Overall, a tolerable but fairly pointless episode.

Rating:

Requiem for Methuselah -- Air date: 2/14/1969. Written by Jerome Bixby. Directed by Murray Golden.

While scouting a planet's surface for the necessary medicine to combat a plague, Kirk, Spock, and McCoy encounter a social recluse named Flint (James Daly) who had long ago abandoned Earth and now lives alone with his enigmatic pupil and companion, an apparently young woman named Rayna Kapec (Louise Sorel). Flint subtly manufactures a series of situations that brings Kirk and Rayna together until a mutual attraction develops. Unfortunately for Kirk, Rayna's attraction to a third party was intended by Flint to awaken her senses beyond the intellectual patterns of thought--so that she and Flint could be united. The implications of the episode are interesting: Flint isn't seeking merely a lover for companionship; he's searching for one who is also intellectual equal. He has literally built Rayna--an android--using the sum of his experiences. The story asks how useful a person is once he has outlived his own sense of purpose--and for Flint, a life of hundreds of years has produced everything from music apparently written by Brahms to artwork apparently created by da Vinci. Admittedly, I couldn't quite understand how Kirk was so taken with Rayna so quickly (perhaps I should remind myself that this is Kirk we're talking about), but the triangular relationship that develops and ends in a tragedy (Rayna's inability to cope with her feelings causes a fatal shutdown) is best utilized in the show's final scene, where Spock uses a mind meld to relieve Kirk of his burden of grief. These are characters who feel for one another more than the plots often let on.

Rating:

The Way to Eden -- Air date: 2/21/1969. Teleplay by Arthur Heinemann. Story by Michael Richards and Arthur Heinemann. Directed by David Alexander.

"The Way to Eden" is an example of trying to fit an elephant into a birdcage, and it comes off looking about as silly as a visualization of the said analogy. For starters, whoever came up with the idea of "23rd-century hippies in space" was stretching the idea of allegory beyond even Trek's abilities. (Does this strike only me as a Federation oxymoron?) Maybe a new view of the Federation could've theoretically been revealed, but the episode is far too inept to come up with one. Instead, the "insanity" of Dr. Sevrin (Skip Homeier) becomes the driving force of the story's impenetrable plot involving the search for "Eden." And what about "Eden," anyway? Is it supposed to be a myth or a planet? The episode can't seem to decide. One wonders if the search becomes one for a charted planet that simply happens to be named "Eden." Characterization is also way off: Chekov as a stolid, conservative, by-the-books Voice of Starfleet doesn't make any sense given his character, and Spock being absorbed by the hippie cause lacks dramatic payoff, instead seeming like an excuse to warrant his presence in several annoying musical numbers. Honestly, I'd rather watch "Spock's Brain" again, because at least it's dumb enough to laugh at. "Eden" is not particularly laughable. But it is rambling, unenlightening, misconceived, mischaracterized, pointless, and requires sheer endurance to sit through--comprised of yet another plot where a group attempts to commandeer the ship for its own purposes. It's like "And the Children Shall Lead" with older children; the meanings behind the hippiedom aren't considered for a moment, resulting in zero digestible substance.

Rating: zero stars

The Cloud Minders -- Air date: 2/28/1969. Teleplay by Margaret Armen. Story by David Gerrold and Oliver Crawford. Directed by Jud Taylor.

When Kirk must obtain zenite to cure a deadly plague, the Enterprise stops at the planet Ardana, which is divided into two societal units--the Stratoses, artists and scholars who live in the city high in the clouds, and the Troglytes, who do all the hard labor in the mines below. Unfortunately, the political turmoil is making it difficult for Kirk and Spock to obtain the zenite. And Kirk draws the line when Plasus (Jeff Corey), the arrogant leader of Stratos, ops to employ torture on a Troglyte dissident named Vanna (Charlene Polite) as an attempt to get the zenite from her. "Cloud Minders" is a good realization of a classic TOS idea, in which Kirk's steadfast humanism leads him to intervene in a culture's governmental operations, whether they want his help or not. There's something satisfying about seeing the wrongs of a society set right ... even if we really don't have much business in interfering (though that issue itself is confusing because the episode doesn't seem sure whether Ardana is a Federation planet bound by its values). By making everyone else in the plot hard-headed adversaries, this episode does a good job of manipulating us into feeling that Kirk has every right to impose his beliefs on others. The resolution is idealistic to the point of shallowness (centuries of exploitation fixed within a few mere hours), but the story executes well enough that I don't care. After so many dismal third-season offerings, it's nice to see a conflict that has some fire and attitude injected into the confrontations.

Rating:

The Savage Curtain -- Air date: 3/7/1969. Teleplay by Gene Roddenberry and Arthur Heinemann. Story by Gene Roddenberry. Directed by Herschel Daugherty.

The Enterprise crew finds itself face to face with an entity that appears and claims to be Abraham Lincoln (Lee Berger). Lincoln invites Kirk and Spock down to the surface of a planet, where they all find themselves the pawns in a game of "good versus evil," courtesy of a rock-like creature that wants to learn the difference between the two powerful forces. Surak (Barry Atwater), the master who forged the peaceful Vulcan ideology milleniums ago, joins Kirk, Spock, and Lincoln to engage in a battle to the end against four nefarious figures from history. This poorly conceived episode might've been better titled "Arena VII: The Abe Lincoln Factor." Seriously, was it really in remotely good taste for this episode to use Abraham Lincoln as a character in such a silly adventure? I'm inclined to say no. Who really wants to see President Lincoln reduced to a hollow supporting character--especially considering that in the end he takes a spear in the back? "The Savage Curtain" is a routine, bland hour of TOS, with the same themes we've seen over and over again. It's another in a long line of Trekkian outings where the humanity of Kirk's crew is tested--but less enlightening than most.

Rating:

All Our Yesterdays -- Air date: 3/14/1969. Written by Jean Lisette Aroeste. Directed by Marvin Chomsky.

As the end of the rambling final season draws near, along comes "All Our Yesterdays" to rebuild some of the series' dignity. In a genuinely inspired story concept, the people of a planet whose sun is going supernova are escaping death by transporting themselves into the past. The site of the time jump is an intriguing "library" run by the pervasively indispensable Mr. Atoz (Ian Wolfe), who maintains an urgency that's as believable as it is humorous. Kirk ends up accidentally jumping into the past, where his attempts to return to the present land him in jail, accused as a witch. Upon trying to follow and locate Kirk, Spock and McCoy find themselves sent into the planet's ice age. Spock begins to undergo an emotional change, as being sent so far into the past has caused the ancient undisciplined side of Vulcan to emerge. Spock's situation allows him the rare opportunity to fall in love with the banished Zarabeth (Mariette Hartley), but also reveals the hidden darkness of Vulcans that is buried beneath the logic, intellect, and control. This episode is enjoyable as a character study and as an efficiently flowing story. It's entertaining, nicely crafted, and leaves one pondering the "what ifs" when it ends.

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Turnabout Intruder -- Air date: 6/3/1969. Teleplay by Herb Wallerstein. Story by Gene Roddenberry. Directed by Arthur H. Singer.

There's something to be said about watching characters toy with bizarrely impossible situations, as in "Turnabout Intruder," a perfect example of style over substance. This is little more than an excuse for Shatner to engage his overacting skills at full throttle. (Say what you will about his acting choices, but the bottom line is that he's entertaining.) Is the story remotely plausible? Probably not, even for Trek. But I can't help myself; this episode--in which Kirk's consciousness is swapped with that of the insanely jealous Janice Lester (Sandra Smith)--is just too entertaining to deny. The concept arises from Lester's former relationship with Kirk gone bad, combined with her deep-running rage over being rejected by Starfleet. She wants his command of the Enterprise, and then wants to stomp on Kirk until he dies. There's a mad zeal in Shatner's scenery chewing that's appealing, as the Lester-as-Kirk abuses of captaincy extend beyond any realm of sensibility, causing the entire crew to turn against "the captain" one by one. The most interesting aspect of the plot is watching the other officers try to deal with this mess, as they watch their captain descend into lunacy while Spock continues to claim that he isn't their captain. Eventually, Scotty and McCoy are whispering mutiny in the halls. Is this episode in good taste? Not likely. (Some sexist overtones are the most uneasy.) But good fun? I'm inclined to say yes.

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