44. The Trouble With Tribbles. Perhaps the most famous TOS episode, and worth the hype.  Simply a great episode on numerous levels.  It’s funny, has a good story, and is utterly memorable. The Enterprise is summoned to space station K-7 on a Priority One call, the most Super Serious Important Call there is in space, only to find that the local administrator, Nilz Baris, is just extra concerned about some grain intended for nearby Sherman’s Planet, disputed between the Federation and the Klingons.  Although Baris has the authority to issue a Priority One call, Kirk is incredibly miffed about it and spends the rest of the episode being snotty towards Baris.  Some Klingons arrive to stir up some things and Kirk is forced to deal with the grain and the Klingons per Baris’ wishes and despite his general irritation.  Meanwhile a local shyster has sold some pleasing little creatures called Tribbles to various Enterprise crew members and K-7 folks.  Problem is that the Tribbles are multiplying rapidly and have soon found their way into every system on both the Enterprise and K-7.  Kirk and Spock spend the episode frantically running around trying to deal with all the problems until things actually manage to resolve themselves in a way that cleverly sews up everything.  Essentially this episode comes down to which of the many goofy scenes you like best.  I like the bar brawl incited by the Klingons’ insults of the Enterprise, particularly fun given that Scotty throws the first punch, only after letting the Klingons’ insults of Kirk slide first.  Killer Spock line: “Its trilling seems to have a tranquilizing effect on the human nervous system. Fortunately, of course…I am immune…to its effect.” A classic episode with great humor.  I’ve watched it twice recently and it’s totally re-watchable. 5 out of 5.

Trek tropes (number of instances encountered in series so far in parentheses):

• Lighthearted banter to close episode (3).  Actually most of the episode is lighthearted banter.

45. The Gamesters of Triskelion. This is the kind of episode people have in mind when they write off TOS as a swashbuckling adventure series, only set in space, rather than an intellectual sci-fi show.  They’re totally right.  Nonetheless, it’s still a fun episode, if a little predictable and basically a stage for some fightin’.  Kirk, Chekhov, and Uhura are plucked from the Enterprise by an alien species that wants to train them to be gladiators for their wagering games.  Eventually the trio’s continued irascible urge to rebel and escape convinces the Providers that humans are just too darn plucky to make effective slave gladiators, and Kirk sets up a final mega-fight with winner-take-all stakes.  Spoiler!  He wins.  Meanwhile Spock uses scant clues to trace their disappearance, despite the continued doubts of McCoy and Scotty, even though Spock is always right about these kinds of things.  Anyway, there’s a whole lot of stuff about how humans will always reject any form of slavery, and that love is good, especially when the alien babe involved is hot and not weird and yellow.  There’s some misfired humor with Chekov’s alien companion, partially ineffective because Uhura is being terrorized by hers.  Ha-ha!  I mean, whuh?  But really none of it matters.  Kirk passionately argues for a big fight and gets it.  Ho hum.  Spock’s killer line: “I presume you mean they vanished in a manner not consistent with the usual working of the transporter, Mr. Scott.”  Overall it’s more like a western or a modern reality show but has interesting stories going.  Initially I gave it only 3 but after a few days’ consideration, I’ll make it 4 out of 5.  It’s stuck with me and actually makes for a pretty memorable episode.

Trek tropes (number of instances encountered in series so far in parentheses):

• Kirk hits it off with alien babe (1)
• Even in interstellar space, the best way to resolve problems is with your fists (1)
• The indomitable human spirit conquers all (1)

42. Obsession. Sometimes I think the show’s writers challenged themselves to steer William Shatner through as many different extreme emotional states as possible over the course of an episode.  The plot can be straightforward, you just let Shatner go and stand back.  Here, a landing party is victimized by a killer cloud-like creature Kirk has encountered before, early in his career.  In fact, Kirk blames himself for a failure to act in time to have stopped the creature from killing much of his fellow crew.  With another chance to face it and set things right, Kirk becomes obsessed with figuring out its weakness and destroying it once and for all.  This one is a Shatner showcase, no doubt, as the story is really about some of what drives Kirk and his occasional overflowing humanity.  Lots of emoting: guilt, anger, frustration.  The delicate command path that Kirk follows to feed his obsession while other pressures are put on him (setting a good example for a young officer; dealing with an approaching deadline to meet another ship) is mostly well-done.  (There is one plot hole: the Enterprise needs to rendezvous with another ship to pick up some perishable medical supplies, but then they don’t, and it ultimately doesn’t matter.  And it even takes a while to establish that there is any reason they can’t just come back for the creature after dealing with the other problem.  Anyway.)  Like “The Deadly Years” this episode gives the crew a forum to be concerned about Kirk’s fitness for command, only this time it’s much more delicate and believable.  Killer Spock line: (after he manages to retrieve Kirk and another officer from a dicey transporter situation, and Scotty exclaims, “Thank God!”) “Mr. Scott, there was no deity involved.  It was my cross-circuiting to B that recovered them.”  This was a strong episode with a lot going for it: good ideas and suspense. 4 out of 5.

Trek tropes (number of instances encountered in series so far in parentheses):

• Anonymous redshirt killed (five times!) (2)
• Shatner showcase (2)
• Highly experimental plan with low probability of success somehow works anyway (3)

43. Wolf in the Fold. The Next Generation had a lot of solid mystery episodes, but TOS tends to focus on other things (like diplomacy, or fistfights).  Here though, we get a good one (and since it’s a mystery my discussing it will naturally be extra spoiler-y).  Kirk and McCoy take Scotty to some sort of cabaret planet to relax him after a recent accident.  We get some sort of backstory about how Scotty has no respect for women, so maybe if he sleeps with one anonymously that will help.  I guess?  I’m actually not sure, there’s a lot of double entendre and saying just enough to make a point without being too explicit for 1960s TV.  Anyway, Scotty leaves with a woman and shortly afterward is found with a bloody knife in his hands and his companion murdered.  Scotty doesn’t remember anything.  Local law enforcement corrals him, but while trying to wrangle the story out of him through mystical and technological means, two more girls are killed and Scotty again seems guilty.  But the facts don’t add up so they return to the Enterprise to subject Scotty to a futuristic lie detector, and his innocent story checks out.  Through some brilliant computer queries Spock and Kirk deduce what has happened, and the planetary administrator helps them out by acting way too weird and giving away the truth: that he is possessed by the evil spirit of Jack the Ripper!  Things get a little crazy at this point as the entity jumps from person to person to computer.  It’s genuinely scary, actually, as it inhabits the ship and tries to freak everyone out.  Knowing that it feeds on fear, Kirk, McCoy, and Spock have everyone on the ship take a mild tranquilizer to keep things mellow.  So we get a fair stretch of goofy ’60s style drug humor, too, until Kirk and Spock are able to get the thing back into the killer’s body and transport him out into deep space.  Spock’s killer line: no great lines but I like when he shoves the drugged-up transporter officer out of the way to get the killer beamed out. Overall it ends up being an interesting science-fictional turn on a traditional mystery, if you can forgive some sketchy computer magic (e.g., that future computers can make brilliant deductions AND be inhabited by killer entities).  2 out of 5.

Trek tropes (number of instances encountered in series so far in parentheses):

• Recent Earth history will always be relevant (1)
• In the future, computers are magic, but still make teletype sounds (1)
• Only Kirk can truly make command decisions (2)

40. Friday’s Child. Trek is pretty good at showing alternative societies and using an episode’s framework as a discussion of such a society’s good and bad points.  In this case, the Enterprise crew visits the Capellans, a warlike tribe with ownership of some valuable mining commodities. Complicating matters is the involvement of the Klingons (Klingons!) who also want in on the mine.  The episode centers on the internal politics of the Capellans, whose violent nature gives them some affinity for the Klingon lifestyle.  The show takes an interesting turn when a coup results in a new tribal leader.  The former leader’s pregnant wife is sentenced to death rather than carry the ousted leader’s offspring.  The Prime Directive would say: sorry, lady.  In true Kirk fashion, Kirk decides otherwise and rescues her, mucking up things for the new leader.  Mostly this ends up being a character episode.  We see Kirk’s excellent negotiating skills in action in turning the tables on the Klingons and their Capellan stooge, including plenty of fistfights and running around. We see McCoy’s skill as an old country doctor in handling the pregnant woman who’d rather not have any help.  Spock’s killer line: “Fortunately this bark has suitable tensile cohesion.” Kirk: “You mean it makes good bowstring.” Spock: “I believe I said that.” A thing McCoy is not: an escalator. Overall, a good episode, important to the canon and characters, but not too worried about plot in favor of a lot of action. 3 out of 5.

Trek tropes (number of instances encountered in series so far in parentheses):

• Anonymous redshirt killed (1)
• Violation of Prime Directive (1)
• Lighthearted banter to close episode (2)

41. The Deadly Years. I think this will be the kind of episode that seems more memorable than it actually is.  Checking out a planetary research station, the crew discovers everyone on the surface has unnaturally aged and the few remaining survivors are close to death.  Returning to the ship to figure out what’s going on, all the members of the landing party save for Chekov start showing signs of rapid aging as well.  Over the course of the show, Spock, Scotty, McCoy, and Kirk all grow painfully old and hope to figure out the cause before it’s too late!  (They do.  Whew!)  So here was my problem with this episode: all the drama is mis-aimed.  Most of the time is devoted to Kirk’s waning ability to command, and the hearing that is held to determine his competency.  For some reason there is a totally ineffectual Starfleet administrator on board who, even though he outranks Kirk and is healthy, cannot assume command, and convinces Spock to hold this hearing.  Of course Old Kirk steadfastly argues he’s fine and there is an earnest attempt to derive some drama out of this.  But what was the point?  Of course he’s not competent.  He’s suffering from an aging disease!  As are several other principals.  All sorts of time is wasted on this procedure instead of trying to figure out what’s causing it.  Then at the end they are hanging out in sick bay with time running out, and suddenly it occurs to them why Chekov wasn’t afflicted and they are, and it’s frankly a little sketchy, but OK.  So they are cured, and Kirk boots the Starfleet dude out of his chair and does some serious commanding.  Spock’s killer line: not really anything.  He spent most of the episode moping around being old and tired. Overall, a disappointment.  Memorable in the sense that it will be “the one where they all get old” but the episode itself is largely a misfire.  It’s fun to see them get old, true, but there is a lot of misdirected time here. 2 out of 5.

Trek tropes (number of instances encountered in series so far in parentheses):

• Kirk meets up with an old flame (1)
• Highly experimental plan with low probability of success somehow works anyway (2)
• Only Kirk can truly make command decisions (1)
• Shatner showcase (1)

OK, classic Trek.  I’m going to start right in the middle of the thing because I’ve seen most of the early episodes recently.  I’ll circle around and catch them later.  Also I’ll go by disc order, which is the same as episode airdate order.  I’m not going to worry to much about spoilers since these shows are, you know, over 40 years old.

Set phasers to minimum kill and let’s roll.

38. Metamorphosis. Pretty standard Trek fare to start us out.  An Enterprise shuttle encounters a weird probe in space, which disables it and strands it on the surface of a nearby planet.  The only person here is Zefram Cochrane, famous known as the inventor of warp drive, only that’s sorta weird because Zefram Cochrane had been lost in space 150 years before.  Also he was 87 at the time, and is now a young man.  Events are further complicated (aren’t they always!) by the presence of diplomat Nancy Hedford, whose rare and fatal disease chooses this precise moment to cause her serious health issues.  Kirk spends most of episode slowly figuring out Cochrane’s relationship to “The Companion,” an alien entity that restored Cochrane’s health and keeps him company.  The Companion won’t let them leave or help Hedford in any way, but eventually they figure out a way to make it happen and all is well.  Episodes like this usually bore me a bit: there is a stubborn alien preventing people from doing something.  They talk to it for a while, and then they get it to do what they want and wrap things up.  Usually you just hope the themes are interesting.  In this case, a yes: considering their interaction, the Companion can really only be considered to have a sort of intimate relationship to Cochrane.  The thought instantly disgusts him, which highly amuses the progressive Enterprise crew, themselves frequent intimates with a variety of species.  Spock’s killer line: “Fascinating.  A totally parochial attitude.”  All told, a decent episode with some interesting ideas.  4 out of 5.

Trek tropes (number of instances encountered in series so far in parentheses):

• Strange probe encountered in space (1)
• Badger alien until you get what you want (1)
• Guest star abandons life for new existence (1)

39. Journey to Babel. Escorting a shipful of diplomats to political talks, the Enterprise picks up Vulcan Ambassador Sarek and his wife Amanda.  If you have never watched any Trek before or it’s November 1967 where you are, it will come as a surprise to you to learn that these are Spock’s parents.  We learn that Spock and his father aren’t on speaking terms, dating back to when Spock joined Starfleet against his father’s wishes.  Some of the workings of Spock’s familial relations are covered here, along with an assassination plot, mysterious space probe, and the health problems of Sarek.  A lot happens and it makes for a highly suspenseful, terrific episode.  A great quandary comes from Spock’s refusal to leave command while Kirk is injured, despite Spock being needed for a blood transfusion for his father.  Lots of gem scenes about duty, logic versus emotion, and whether you should give up a dangerous amount of your blood in a highly risky surgery for someone that doesn’t like you.  Spock’s killer line: “Worry is a human emotion, Captain.  I accept what has happened.”  Great ending with McCoy hopelessely trying to keep Spock and Kirk in Sick Bay while both recover. Everything good about Star Trek on display here: 5 out of 5.

Trek tropes (number of instances encountered in series so far in parentheses):

• Strange probe encountered in space (2)
• Highly experimental plan with low probability of success somehow works anyway (1)
• Lighthearted banter to close episode (1)