TOS S03E06, S03E07

In this installment:
(viewed Thursday, March 28th)

Star Trek: The Original Series, S03E06 - "Spectre of the Gun"
Star Trek: The Original Series, S03E07 - "Day of the Dove"

"Spectre of the Gun"

• Not heeding the Melkotians' request to leave their space and proceeding to land on their planet against their wishes?  Kind of a douche move.
• Here we learn that Kirk's ancestors "pioneered the American Frontier". 
• Need more Val Kilmer.
• This episode sucks.  However, there are a couple of funnies:  Chekov and the girl in the saloon, Scotty enjoying some bourbon, "testing" the tranquilizer grenades, etc.

"Day of the Dove"

• Great CGI in the remaster of the Klingon D-7 swooping in and losing power.
• Kang!
• We learn here that Chekov (thinks he) had a brother killed by Klingons on a research outpost.
• DOES NO ONE NOTICE THE GIANT SPARKLING GLOBE OF LIGHT FOLLOWING YOU EVERWHERE?!?
• And again, here we go headed out of the Galaxy...
• A hand-to-hand fight with edged weapons would seem to heavily favor the Klingons O_o
• But Chekov never had a brother!  BUM BUM BUM!
• What Scotty refers to as a "claymore" is actually the Scottish basket-hilted broadsword.  That said, the use of the word "claymore" to apply to this type of weapon (in addition to the correct, larger two-handed variety) is very common and has been for quite some time in our own history.  It makes sense that the misnomer would persist into the 23rd Century.
• The scene were Kirk finally realizes that they're being screwed with?  Funny.
• "Captain's Log, Stardate...Armageddon."  How has some nerd not used Stardate Armageddon as the name of their bad fan film yet?

TOS S03E05

In this installment:
(viewed Wednesday, March 27th)

Star Trek: The Original Series, S03E05 - "Is There In Truth No Beauty?"

"Is There In Truth No Beauty?"

• PULASKI!
• "I can't understand why they let you go with Kollos."
  "They, Captain?"
  "The male population of the Federation.  Didn't someone try to talk you out of it?"
  "Now that you mention it, yes."
  "Well I'm glad they didn't succeed, or I wouldn't have met you."
  
  Two days later, Captain Kirk is ordered by HR to attend mandatory sexual harassment training.
• This is the first explicit mention of the Vulcan IDIC, the appearance of which apparently annoyed Leonard Nimoy because it was designed and introduced explicitly for the purpose of merchandizing by Gene Roddenberry's Lincoln Enterprises.
• McCoy is kind of a jerk in this episode.
• Scotty in a kilt!  Although, disappointingly if not surprisingly, it's not of the actual tartan material for the real-life Clan Scott.  It's always possible that Mr. Scott belongs to an off-shoot or "sept" of the clan that wears a different "sett".  It's worth noting that we believe Scotty to be from Aberdeen, although the primary area for Clan Scott is the Lowlands.  That said, Scottish clans--especially those with very old names like "Scott"--can be spread around quite liberally.  Plus even in our 20th/21st Centuries, it was no longer a reality that Scottish people with a clan-based surname would always live in a traditional "home range" of that clan.  I'm sure this is even more the case in the 23rd Century.
• Again with the Galactic Barrier.  They just hop back and forth across that bastard, don't they?  And every time, it's because someone makes them do it and it's all dangerous and stuff...but then they survive just fine every time.   You'd think that after the third or fourth time, Starfleet would just be like "Well, it seems safe enough.  Let's send ships out there on purpose now!"
• Stop hitting on the lady, Kirk.  We've got bigger problems.
• Wait, she's blind?  How did I forget that?
• This episode is pretty well-produced and well-written*, but the whole jealousy angle is a bit boring for me.  It may be a classic motivation, but in this context I don't find it particularly compelling.
  
  * - For an old episode of Star Trek, at least.
• The remastered version of this episode features a new design for the Medusan vessel, which closely resembles a Federation vessel.  The thinking in its design, reportedly, is that non-corporeal beings wouldn't necessarily have their own design aesthetic.  Rather, they would utilize technology available to them from corporeal allies (e.g. the Federation).

TOS S03E04

In this installment:

(viewed Tuesday, March 26th)

Star Trek: The Original Series, S03E04 - "And the Children Shall Lead"

"And the Children Shall Lead"

• The rest of this episode sucks, but opening the show with a mass suicide and then creepy kids singing "Ring Around the Rosy"? Solid, solid opening. A++, would watch again.
• If I'm remembering correctly, this is the first time we see the now-familiar UFP Pennant (and apparently the only time, according to Memory-Alpha.
• Captain Kirk having ice cream with the little children is actually kind of adorable.
• HAIL HAIL FIRE AND SMOKE. CALL THE ANGEL, WE WILL GO. FAR AWAY, FOR TO SEE. FRIENDLY ANGEL, COME TO ME.
• Spock:  "We should totally get rid of these kids."

TOS S03E03

In this installment:

(viewed Monday, March 25th)

Star Trek: The Original Series, S03E03 - "The Paradise Syndrome"

"The Paradise Syndrome"

• "It's unbelievable. Growth exactly like that on Earth, half a galaxy away. What are the the odds on such duplication?"  Directly proportional to your shooting budget this week, Captain. Why say, we've got these leftover Native American village sets...
• In which Spock gives McCoy a physics lesson using rocks.
• Pretty sure this "medicine chief" dude is Gene Simmons.
• The remastered edition of this episode features the first on-screen use (to my knowledge) of the navigational deflector to project a beam of energy into space--used to try and deflect the asteroid headed for the planet Amerind.  This becomes, of course, a mainstay of Treknology in future incarnations of the franchise.
• It took me 20 minutes of this episode to remember that Kirk is supposed to have amnesia. I was just all "Why is he acting like such a toolbag?"
• Whoah. 58-day fast-forward.

TOS S03E01, S03E02

In this installment:

(viewed Sunday, March 24th)

Star Trek: The Original Series, S03E01 - "Spock's Brain"
Star Trek: The Original Series, S03E02 - "The Enterprise Incident"

"Spock's Brain"

• This episode may be notoriously terrible, but that doesn't stop me from wanting a cool surfboard-looking wristband that goes "BOOOOOOIIIINNNNG" and makes people double over in pain when I hit a button.
• The clockwork noises Spock's remote-controlled body make as they move it around are hilarious.  HI-LAR-I-OUS.
• You know what?  I hadn't seen this episode in a really long time.  Owing to its reputation, I was expecting a real horror show.  And yeah, it's pretty bad.  But it's not as bad as I remembered!  The story itself is actually pretty serviceable.  It's just that all of the parts of "Spock's Brain" that have anything to do with...Spock's brain?  Those are terribad.

"The Enterprise Incident"

• Cranky Kirk is cranky.
• Any episode that starts with the Captain inexplicably ordering the ship into the Neutral Zone is bound to be a good one.
• This episode is notable for its suggestion of a brief alliance or at least a technological exchange between the Klingon Empire and the Romulan Star Empire.  The most obvious evidence of this is the Romulans' use of the D7 class battle cruiser, although it will go on to explain several other things (including the Klingon possession of the cloaking device and the aesthetic qualities of the Klingon Bird-of-Prey--although the latter is actually explained in the real world by the original script for The Search for Spock).
• In the original version of this episode, all three Romulan ships are of the D7 type.  However, the remastered edition replaces one of them with a Romulan Bird-of-Prey (as well as giving the D7s a makeover that includes the ventral "bird of prey" motif).
• This episode is the second to acknowledge the relationship between the Vulcan and Romulan species, the first being at the introduction of the Romulans in the first season's "Balance of Terror".
• "I'll kill you!  You filthy traitor!  I'LL...KILL YOU!"
• "Are the guards also invited?"  Sneaky Spock.  Very sneaky.
• As part of their elaborate ruse to trick the Romulans, we get to see Spock deploy the fictitious "Vulcan death grip".
• This episode also marks the first appearance of a blue beverage we assume to be Romulan ale, although it's not explicitly stated to be such.
• Another unique thing about this episode?  Spock distracts the beautiful alien woman while Kirk makes with the scheme-hatchery.
• "Commander, your attire is not only more appropriate, it should actually stimulate our conversation."  Pick-up lines, according to Spock.
• This will not be the last time that a Federation starship temporarily installs a cloaking device in order to escape an enemy.

TOS Season 2: Complete; Overall progress: 7%

One more season under my belt!

I've just finished watching the last episode of the second season of Star Trek: The Original Series.  Lots of ups and downs in this season, and some pretty consistent themes.

It took me a bit longer to get through the second season, owing to a busier schedule at work, my need to re-watch S2 of Game of Thrones before its third season premieres next week, and other factors.  But with a couple of weekend sprints, I wrapped it up.  In about five weeks, I've watched two full seasons of Star Trek, and am now somewhere between 7%-8% of the way finished with my mission to watch ALL THE STAR TREK.

Here's another brief video in which I discuss the progress of my "mission".

TOS S02E23, S02E24, S02E25, S02E26

In this installment:
(viewed Saturday, March 23rd)

Star Trek: The Original Series, S02E23 - "The Omega Glory"
Star Trek: The Original Series, S02E24 - "The Ultimate Computer"
Star Trek: The Original Series, S02E25 - "Bread and Circuses"
Star Trek: The Original Series, S02E26 - "Assignment: Earth"

"The Omega Glory"

• This episode features another Constitution-class starship, USS Exeter.
• This might just be my perception, but Season 2 seems to be big on the Prime Directive.  Contamination of native cultures features prominently in several episodes, including this one.
• "Pity you can't teach me that."
  "I have tried, Captain."
  (Kirk & Spock discussing the latter's use of the Vulcan nerve pinch)
• Oh, Yangs and Kohms.  I get it.
• In seriousness, the "parallel" in cultures here is absolutely pants-on-head.  Every once in a while, there's a Trek episode that's just egregiously stupid.  This is one of them.
• HAHA SPOCK LOOKS LIKE THE DEVIL.
• "Spock, I've found that evil usual triumphs...unless good is very, very careful."

"The Ultimate Computer"

• This episode has loads of remastered CGI eye-candy, including a starbase, multiple Constitution-class starships and automated cargo ships.  It also features the appearance of Dr. Richard Daystrom, the namesake of the oft-referenced Daystrom Institute.  So...it's pretty awesome.  I don't know that I'll need to make a lot of other comments about this episode, other than that it's a nice break after having watched "Patterns of Force" and "The Omega Glory" within a 24-hour span :P

"Bread and Circuses"

• "Exactly like Earth," meaning that we'll be working on NBC's backlots for this episode to save some money.
• HAHA SPOCK LOOKS LIKE THE DEVIL.
• "Hodgkin's Law of Parallel Planetary Development" :rolleyes:

"Assignment: Earth"

• In his opening log at the beginning of the episode, Kirk implies that the Enterprise was ordered to achieve time warp and travel to 1968, intentionally, for the purpose of "historical research."  This is contrary to almost every other time travel incident in Star Trek, which are almost exclusively either:  1) Accidental; or 2) Unauthorized.
• Gary Seven's cat sounds like a parrot.
• Terri Garr!
• I kind of want to buy a Selectric--not that I'd have any place to put it or anything to do with it, but it'd be neat to have.  I totally learned to type on a Selectric II.
• The orbital nuclear weapons depicted as a threat in this episode would've actually been prohibited by the 1967 Outer Space Treaty.

TOS S02E21, S02E22

In this installment:
(viewed Friday, March 22nd)

Star Trek: The Original Series, S02E21 - "Patterns of Force"
Star Trek: The Original Series, S02E22 - "By Any Other Name"

"Patterns of Force"

• There isn't anything to say about this episode, except SPACE NAZIS. 

"By Any Other Name"

• I change my mind.  I need a paralysis field for the kids; it's a much more elegant solution than the agonizer.  I promise not to turn them into cuboctahedron solids, though.
• This episode marks NCC-1701's second trip through the galactic barrier at the edge of the Milky Way.
• I'm pretty sure that the Enterprise's food synthesizers are only capable of producing brightly-colored marshmellons.
• "You mean I'm going to have to drink this alien under the table to get us out of this mess?  Well, if I must..."
• "You mean I'm going to have to make out with this beautiful alien to get us out of this mess?  Well, if I must..."
• When asked about the next-to-last bottle of liquor he shares with Tomar, Scotty pauses for a moment before saying "It's green."  This scene is echoed in Scotty's appearance in TNG, "Relics", when Data tells him the same thing about a mysterious green beverage that Guinan keeps behind the bar in Ten Forward.

STID International Trailer

There's a new "international" trailer floating around for Star Trek Into Darkness which, as you might expect, shows us a bit more as we get closer to the film's release.  (i.e. there may be minor spoilers within if you're trying to go into the experience with zero previous knowledge).

You've probably seen it in a million other places, but if not here it is...

TOS S02E18, S02E19, S02E20

In this installment:
(viewed March 19-21)

Star Trek: The Original Series, S02E18 - "The Immunity Syndrome"
Star Trek: The Original Series, S02E19 - "A Private Little War"
Star Trek: The Original Series, S02E20 - "Return to Tomorrow"

"The Immunity Syndrome"

• We learn that USS Intrepid is "manned by Vulcans", and moments later Spock experiences a, uh...disturbance in the force.  In their defense, this episode was written and produced before the death of Alderaan was a gleam in George Lucas' eye ;)
• This episode features Spock's statement that Vulcan has never been conquered in living memory, and that living memory goes so far back that "no Vulcan can conceive of a conqueror".
• There's an interesting dynamic between Kirk, Spock and McCoy in this episode--Kirk must choose between Spock and McCoy for a dangerous mission, and each man struggles to understand the other's motivations.
• "Brace yourselves, the area of penetration will no doubt be sensitive".  Uh...

"A Private Little War"

• ...in which Spock gets shot with a flintlock musket.  That's gotta smart.  But least his heart's where his liver should be!
• The next time I'm critically wounded, I'm going to enlist the help of a crazy woman in a hunter orange halter-top, rubber poop, and a hippie playing a bongo.  Works every time!
• I've changed my mind.  I think the next Star Trek movie should be a flashback film in which we see what Qo'noS looked like when the Klingons were all running around with muzzle-loading firearms.  ♫ Davy, Davy Martok...king of the wild Ketha Lowlands! ♪
• This is why we put our tricorder on "vibrate" before spying on an indigenous village that might be getting help from the Klingons, McCoy.
• How much fun did Dr. M'Benga have slapping the bejeesus out of Spock?  I bet McCoy was mad that he wasn't there for that.
• Sometimes I forget what a peacenik Bones could be.  When you don't fight, the terrorists Klingons win, man!
• If we've learned anything from Star Trek, it's that the flora on alien planets represents a bigger danger to manned space exploration than hostile aliens, spacial anomalies, or brilliantly snide douchebags with limitless powers.

"Return to Tomorrow"

• When Kirk dispatches a message to Starfleet informing them of his decision to continue contact with the alien intelligence on Arret, Uhura informs him that it will take "three weeks" for the message to reach Starfleet due to their distance.  The precise limitations of Starfleet's interstellar communications, be they traditional radio or subspace radio, took quite some time to get ironed out (just as with the specifics of most Treknology).  This dialog is a good example of that.
• PULASKI!
• "A simple transference.  Their minds and ours."
  "Quite simple.  Happens every day."
• "Risk! Risk is our business. It's why this starship was built. It's why we're aboard her."
• Enough with the groping, kids. We've got robot bodies to build.
• Spock is just, like...the king of transferring out of his body, and dying, and coming back, and all that jazz.

TOS S02E16, S02E17

In this installment:

Star Trek: The Original Series, S02E16 - "The Gamesters of Triskelion"
Star Trek: The Original Series, S02E17 - "A Piece of the Action"

"The Gamesters of Triskelion"

• "Doctor, I am chasing the Captain, Lt. Uhura and Ensign Chekov, not some wild aquatic fowl."
• Hey Chekov...that's a man, baby.
• When in doubt, hit on the girl in the aluminum foil halter top.
• I bet Kirk gets really tired of constantly having to teach alien women about love.

"A Piece of the Action"

• That reminds me, I need to get my first edition 1992 copy of Chicago Mobs of the Twenties re-bound.
• Fizzbin needs to be a real thing.
• Captain Kirk is McGyver in space.  He can escape from captivity using only some copper wire and a suit jacket.
• "Concrete golashes."

Winter is coming

For anyone who's curious (all three of you), this right here is the reason why I've taken a brief time-out from watching ALL OF THE STAR TREK.

The third season of Game of Thrones premieres in two weeks, so I've been re-watching the second season.

My considerable nerdery shall be directed once more at Star Trek shortly.

That is all.

TOS S02E15

In this installment:
(viewed Thursday, Mar. 14th)

Star Trek: The Original Series, S02E15 - "The Trouble With Tribbles"

"The Trouble With Tribbles"

• Despite my earlier claim (later corrected), in this episode we have the Organian Peace Treaty referenced again.  In this context, the treaty stipulates that the Federation and the Klingon Empire must each prove that they can best develop Sherman's Planet in order to solidify their claim on that region of space.
• "Federation Undersecretary of Agricultural Affairs" -- another beaurocrat, another douchebag.
• "I have never questioned the orders or intelligence of a representative of the Federation...until now."
• Yay, Koloth!
• "I was not aware, Mr. Baris, that twelve Klingons constitutes a 'swarm'."
• First he kills gets accused of killing a hooker belly dancer, now he's getting into bar fights.  I've always loved Scotty.
• I can't get over the pronunciation of "Klingon" as "CLING-uhn" by some characters instead of "CLING-awn", as we're used to.  It's something I've noticed before in TOS, but it's especially noticeable in this episode.

TOS S02E13, S02E14

In this installment:
(viewed Wednesday, Mar. 13)

Star Trek: The Original Series, S02E13 - "Obsession"
Star Trek: The Original Series, S02E14 - "Wolf In The Fold"

"Obsession"

• Three redshirts at once at the beginning of this episode!
• I believe this is the first episode I've watched on Netflix that isn't remastered.
• Two more redshits!  I wonder if this episode has the highest redshirt body count.
  
  (Note:  It doesn't seem that all five of these redshirts have died, but the ones that survived the attacks of the cloud seem to be mortally wounded.)
• We get a bit more background on Kirk in this episode, namely that as a young lieutenant he went on his first deep space assignment aboard USS Farragut.
• Nurse Chapel is tricksy.  <3 Majel Barrett.
• "Captain, request permission to return to my post!"
  "Uh, we're a little busy here fella.  See all the phasering and photon torpedo-ing?"
• THIS IS WHY WE DON'T LEAVE THE NO. 2 IMPULSE VENT OPEN, PEOPLE.
• I enjoyed watching "logical" Mr. Spock put is hands over the vent to try and block the cloud.
• I believe this is the first time we get an explanation for Spock's green blood (hemoglobin based on copper rather than iron).
• "Just think, Captain.  Less than one ounce of antimatter here...is as powerful as ten thousand cobalt bombs."
• Ensign Garrovick has cojones.
• "A crazy way to travel, spreading a man's molecules all over the Universe."  We get it Bones, you don't like the transporter :-P

"Wolf In The Fold"

• Captain Kirk:  What better wingman could a chief engineer want?
• Scotty is established as being from--or at least having lived in--Aberdeen, Scotland.
• Star Trek needs more "crew member gets drunk and kills hooker belly dancer" episodes.
• Argelius II:  Just as popular a vacation planet for pleasure-seekers as Risa, before Scotty screwed it all up.
• ♪ Psycho tricorder / Qu'est Que C'est / Fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa fa far better ♫
• "Since she was a little girl, she danced for me.  She was my daughter."  Uh...creepy, dude D:
• Hey Scotty...if people keep finding you standing over women's corpses, they're going to start suspecting something.
• Jack the Ripper:  I'm not saying it was aliens, but it was aliens.
• "And I suspect preys on women because women are more easily and more deeply terrified, generating more sheer horror than the male of the species." :rolleyes:
• "The computer will not respond to these controls.  The entity is undoubtedly controlling it."
  
  "And the computer controls the ship."
  
  Well, that's not good news.
• "Bones, what's the sedative situation?"  I bet that's not the first time Kirk's asked McCoy that question ;)
• Stoned Sulu rules.
• "Remember the time Captain Kirk got us all high and we just flew around space laughing at everything?"

TOS S02E12

 

In this installment:

(viewed Tuesday, Mar. 12)

Star Trek: The Original Series, S02E12 - "The Deadly Years"

"The Deadly Years"

• USS Enterprise enters orbit around Gamma Hydra IV.  Many years later, Lt. Saavik will take a simulated Enterprise on a routine training mission to this same (simulated) system.
• Commissioners, Commodores of all stripes and varieties...there never seems to be an end to impatient bureaucrats trying to push Kirk around.
• Being "married to your ship" seems to be a really good way to have a decades-long string of one-night stands and one-hit wonders.
• It's a shame that 23rd Century Captain Kirk didn't know 21st Century Bill Shatner's botox guy :P
• "What a stupid place to hang a mirror."
• It's established that, at the time of this episode, Kirk is 34 years old.
• Commodore Stocker, who is apparently in the engineering or security field, has apparently risen to his rank without ever having held a field command.
• "Lt. Uhura, let me know if we contact any Romulans."
  [BOOM]
  "I think we just made contact, sir."
• This remastered version of the episode features the new CGI of the Romulan Bird-of-Prey, but if I remember correctly the original version either didn't show the Romulan ships at all or was one of the first to re-use the Klingon D7 model as a stand-in for the Romulans.
• This episode features a re-use of the Corbomite bluff.

New teaser for STID

I don't imagine many of you few who follow this blog don't also follow other Trek news, but if you haven't seen it yet there's a new teaser out there for Star Trek Into Darkness:

TOS S02E10, S02E11

 In this installment:
(viewed Monday, Mar. 11)

Star Trek: The Original Series, S02E10 - "Journey To Babel"
Star Trek: The Original Series, S02E11 - "Friday's Child"

"Journey To Babel"

• McCoy trying to do the Vulcan salute.  Lollerskates.
• The most notable thing about this episode is that we're introduced to Spock's parents, Sarek and Amanda Grayson.  It's also somewhat amusing to me that Kirk doesn't know until this episode that his first officer's father is one of the most prominent diplomats in the Federation.
• The second most-notable thing is that we get to see representatives from the other two founding planets of the UFP:  Andorians and Tellarites.
• "On Vulcan, the teddy bears are alive...and have six-inch fangs."

"Friday's Child"

• Although at this point in the series, we've heard several references to a "non-interference directive", what governs the interactions between Starfleet exploratory missions and the native inhabitants of the worlds they visit clearly isn't the fully-evolved Prime Directive--at least not yet.  They seem to prefer not to literally interfere with the development of a civilization, but they don't seem to interpret mere contact with a civilization which has not yet attained warp capability as "interference".  We see multiple examples of the Federation negotiating with non-warp societies for mineral rights, etc.
• "Captain, I'm going to fix that woman's arm.  They can only kill me once for touching her."  Sometimes McCoy has brass ones.
• [Spock walks up while McCoy is "examining" Eleen and she's holding his hand.]
  [McCoy sees Spock, pulls his hand away quickly and shoots him the "This isn't what it looks like!" face.]
  [Spock gives him the "Whatever man, it's none of my business" face.]
• I love how Kirk essentially tricks both Spock and McCoy into doing different tasks while they're hiding from the Capellans. 
  
  When he pitches his idea bout using the communicators to cause sympathetic vibrations in the rocks (and thus bring an avalanche down on their attackers), Spock's like "Uh, I don't think that'll work, bro."  And then Kirk's all "Well, if you don't even think we should try, man..."  And then Spock's like "Hey, dude.  I didn't say that.  Let's give it a shot."  And then it totally works.
  
  And then McCoy's explaining to him the difficulty of attending to Eleen's labor, and Kirk's like "If you don't think you can do it, whatever."  And then McCoy shoots him this look like "Screw you buddy, I'll do it and it'll be awesome."
• Way to accidentally adopt an alien baby, dude.
• The Klingon in this episode is disappointingly small and frail.
• "Oochee-woochee-coochee-coo," Captain?

TOS S02E07, S02E08, S02E09

 

In this installment:

(viewed Sunday, Mar. 10)

Star Trek: The Original Series, S02E07 - "Catspaw"

Star Trek: The Original Series, S02E08 - "I, Mudd"
Star Trek: The Original Series, S02E09 - "Metamorphosis"

"Catspaw"

• If you need to put your assistant chief engineer in charge, something has gone terribly awry.
• Speaking of which, Lt. DeSalle is kind of a jerk.
• Falling through the floor is what happens when you explore the dungeon without your rogue up front to look for traps, gentlemen.  Take 1d6 falling damage.
• Tiny Enterprise, giant kitty.
• "Don't let her touch the wand, Captain".  Probably not the only time someone should have given Kirk this particular piece of advice.

"I, Mudd"

• Ugh.  I know some fans of TOS find Harcourt Fenton Mudd to be hilarious and awesome, but I don't.  While this episode itself does eventually work its way around to awfsome for other reasons (see below), Mudd gets tiresome after about three minutes of screen time.
• When they start trying to use confusion and illogical behavior to trip up the androids?  That is hilarious.  I wish I'd been taking the good cough syrup when I was watching this episode.  It's like the Star Trek equivalent of a Mr. Bungle song.
• "Logic is a little tweeting bird chirping in a meadow.  Logic is a wreath of pretty flowers, which smell bad.  Are you sure your circuits are registering correctly?  Your ears are green."

"Metamorphosis"

• Galactic/Federation Commissioners:  Can't live with 'em, can't jettison them into space.
• Kirk's recognition of Cochrane as "Zefram Cochrane of Alpha Centauri" doesn't jive with what we see of Cochrane in First Contact and later in Enterprise (or at least as far as I know; maybe they reference Cochrane leaving for Alpha Centauri in ENT and I missed it).  I think it's assumed that at some point after First Contact and working on the Warp 5 engine, he leaves Earth as an old man for Alpha Centauri, and shortly after leaves Alpha Centauri to die in space.
• Kirk tells Cochrane that "we" (presumably the Federation, but he may mean humanity, specifically) are "on a thousand planets, and spreading out."
• Yeah, touch the glow-y energy field Spock.  That'll work out grrrrrrrreat.
• "Judas Goat", the new single from Afro-Celtic-funk-lounge-industrial-metal band The Fissles of Häng.
• First appearance of the universal translator?  Kirk gives a fairly detailed, if somewhat fantastical, description of how it functions.
• I'd wager that this episode features the longest continuous on-screen dialog between an actor and a giant, sparkling Jell-O mold.

TOS S02E02, S02E03, S02E04, S02E05, S02E06

In this installment:
(viewed Thursday, Friday & Saturday; March 7-9)

Star Trek: The Original Series, S02E02 - "Who Mourns For Adonais?"
Star Trek: The Original Series, S02E03 - "The Changeling"
Star Trek: The Original Series, S02E04 - "Mirror, Mirror"
Star Trek: The Original Series, S02E05 - "The Apple"
Star Trek: The Original Series, S02E06 - "The Doomsday Machine"

"Who Mourns For Adonais?"

• Referring to the young Lt. Palamas, Dr. McCoy says something along the lines of "Someday she'll get herself a man, and then she'll be off...out of the service"--implying that once she gets a guy she'll naturally resign her Starfleet commission to go have babies or whatever.  Not to beat a dead horse here, but it's yet another example of how ill-used female characters were in the late 1960s.  I'm sorry if I keep pointing these out, but they stand out really sorely when I watch the episodes.
• "And I am the Czar of all the Russias!"
• "Stiff-necked thistle head" sounds like they were just reaching for some sort of pejorative for Scottish people.  I can only assume it came the same dictionary as "bottle-headed Bracegirdle from Hardbottle" :)
• Hey, for once Kirk didn't just let the crazy guy keep the love-struck female crewmember (e.g. Dr. Elizabeth Dehner, Lt. Marla McGivers).

"The Changeling"

• NON SEQUITUR.  YOUR FACTS ARE UNCOORDINATED.
• ♫ What's Uhura doin' out on a Tuesday night / Uhura can't read, Uhura can't write / Kids just don't understand ♪
• I'm beginning to think that Spock is a bit of a mind-meld slut.
• If I've learned anything from Star Trek, it's that we need to stop sending out space probes with vaguely-worded instructions.  They keep meeting up with crazy alien computers and then coming back to wipe out all life on Earth.  At the very least, we need to make sure we produce enough Kirks to take care of them all for us.
• ERROR ERROR ERROR ERROR
• "My son, the doctor." :trollface:

"Mirror, Mirror"

• They always say how safe the transporters are, and then they make like five million episodes where a transporter goes bananas because of whatever and hijinks ensue.
• I hate to propagate the very sexism of which I've accused The Original Series...but I don't hate Uhura's midriff-baring outfit in this episode ;)
• I wonder if the Agonizer is approved for use on unruly children, or coworkers? >:)
• Thanks a lot, Kirk.  You leave Mirror Universe Spock with a guilt trip, and he screws everything up for humanity.  Way to go, dude.

"The Apple"

•  "The Garden of Eden was just outside Moscow."
• GARDEN OF EDEN WITH LANDMINES should be a band name.
• Apparently space-Hawaiians cry when you hit them.
• Uh, sir? Your god appears to be a papier-mâché Godzilla.
• Spock gets his butt kicked in this episode.  Poison flowers, force fields, then all of the space-Hawaiians laugh at him, AND THEN LIGHTNING!  Poor bastard.
• I'm just going to put this out there:  That Vaal guy was a turbo-douche.
• "It does something for you."
  "Yes, it does indeed Captain. It makes me uncomfortable."
• I believe this is the first episode where they mention the capability of discarding the nacelles and secondary hull, using the primary hull as a lifeboat of sorts.  It's obviously not a maneuver intended to be performed more than once, a la the Galaxy class' saucer separation sequence.
• Between this episode and TWoK, I get the impression that Kirk likes to sit down and enjoy some local fruits when he's mulling over his impending doom.  I guess there are worse ways to be a stress-eater.  I tend to go for sausages and cheeses, not fruit :P
• Aww, look at Chekov.  Makin' kissy-face, corruptin' the natives.
• "I guess you'll have to fire me, sir."  <3 Scotty
• JAMES T. KIRK:  Killin' gods, spreading the word of sexy-times, all across the galaxy.

"The Doomsday Machine"

• The registry of USS Constellation (NCC-1017) was created to make use of existing decals for the Enterprise's registry (NCC-1701).
• The "auxiliary control center" seen here on the Constellation (and earlier on the Enterprise) could be considered a forerunner of the more-robust battle bridge seen on larger 24th Century starships (although some small starships not capable of saucer separation, like the Defiant class, still featured an auxiliary control room/center).
• Commodore Matt Decker is played by William Windom, who went on to reprise the role in the episode "In Harm's Way" of the fan production Star Trek: New Voyages (aka Star Trek: Phase II).
• The CGI work in the remastered version of this episode is superb.  You can only do so much with the inherently primitive design of the planet killer, but we get to see Enterprise do some actual maneuvering in this episode--especially when Decker orders the fly-by attacks on the aforementioned planet killer.  Even though the CGI model of the Enterprise used is more detailed and looks great, it's usually just inserted into the same sort of fairly-static shots from the original episodes.  It's nice to see the old girl bust a move and lay down some pain.

Warning: Don't blog when exhausted.

Eugh.  I've watched like six episodes of TOS over the past couple of days and had this all written up, the I did something stupid and Blogger ate my post.

So I'll be re-writing it, but it'll be tomorrow because it's closing in on 1:00AM here.

Stupid technology.

TOS S02E01

 All of the Trek I watched today:

Star Trek: The Original Series, S02E01: "Amok Time"

Things:

•  Another episode where Majel Barret's character is reduced to her crush on Spock.
• Once again, we see that Shouty Spock is the best Spock.
• "Your face is wet."
• Although we had some hints of it in S1, this episode marks something like a beginning for one of my favorite groupings of characters in all of fiction:  The "triumvirate" of Kirk, Spock and McCoy.  When Spock asks both of them to accompany him to Vulcan for his "wedding" because they're friends, you're all like "Yeah, I'd party with those three dudes."
• This episode features T'Pau, a leading Vulcan who will appear as a younger woman and leader of "Syrranite" movement in ENT.
• During the ceremony, T'Pau asks T'Pring if she is willing to become the "property" of the victor.  I know koon-ut-kal-if-fee (holy crap are Vulcan words idiotic-sounding) is supposed to be a throwback to a more primitive Vulcan society...but you don't think they might have amended the language slightly?
• I wonder if the people who wrote that fight music knew they were creating a pop culture phenomenon.
• Ah, McCoy and his hypospray.  He's a tricksy one.

TOS Season 1: Complete; Overall Progress: 4%

And here we are!

I've reached the end of the first season of Star Trek:  The Original Series.  By my calculations (note: I'm math-challenged), I'm something like 4%-5% of the way through my "mission".

The good news is that I finished in just a little over two weeks.  If I can keep up anything even close to this pace (and this hasn't exactly been a hardship), finishing everything within a year shouldn't be a problem.

To commemorate the end of my first season, I did another brief video commenting on my impressions so far.  Actually, it's not brief.  It's like...almost 15 minutes long.  Because apparently I don't have whatever thing tells people that something is off when they're talking to themselves for 15 minutes.  So if you want to hear me ramble extensively about Trek, here you go.  But I don't blame you for opting not to, either :P


(Oh, for those curious about the little Netflix-streamy box that I bought...it's the WD TV Play--which I think I linked to in an earlier post--and you can read all about it in this awesome Ars Technica review.  ARS 4 LIFE.)

TOS S01E25, S01E26, S01E27, S01E28, S01E29, S01E30

(my apologies to Dan the Automator) 

All of the Trek I watched today:

Star Trek: The Original Series, S01E25: "This Side Of Paradise"
Star Trek: The Original Series, S01E26: "The Devil In The Dark"
Star Trek: The Original Series, S01E27: "Errand Of Mercy"
Star Trek: The Original Series, S01E28: "The Alternative Factor"  
Star Trek: The Original Series, S01E29: "The City On The Edge Of Forever"
Star Trek: The Original Series, S01E30: "Operation -- Annihilate!"  

Things:

• Our Treknobabble of the week is the "Berthold ray", which is mentioned again briefly in "Deja Q" (TNG S03E13).
• AMISH IN SPACE...
• "Our budget sucks again this week.  What do you want to shoot?"
  "How 'bout an episode where we can re-use all the farm and western sets on our backlot?"
  "Winner, winner, chicken dinner!"
• I love the fact that spore-ified Bones talks like Alvin York.
• "This Side Of Paradise" sees a re-use of the "If we throw violent emotions at this alien thing, it can't control us!" solution first seen in "The Cage". 
• "The Devil In The Dark" confirms what we've always known:  The Type I phaser (or "Phaser No. 1") is balls.  It's all about Type II (aka "Phaser No. 2").
• "The Devil In The Dark" is also our first encounter with a silicon-based lifeform.  Before there was Odo, there was the Horta.
• Least sexy mind-meld.  Ever. 
• "Devil In The Dark" contains the most famous iteration of "I'm a doctor, not a...".  Bones says, when Kirk demands that he treat the Horta, "I'm a doctor, not a bricklayer!"
• "Errand Of Mercy" marks the first appearance of the Klingons.
• When will these silly Federation people learn:  The primitives living on the unexplored planet are NEVER what they appear to be.
• The remastered D7, which we only see briefly as the Klingon vessels close with and fire on USS Enterprise, is awesome.   
• Most of these early Klingons don't even have goatees.  Lame.
• However...KOR!  My favorite Klingon >:)  
• It's supremely evident from this first encounter with the Klingons that they were intended to be a stand-in for the Soviet Union.  Kirk refers to them as a "military dictatorship" where citizens--and especially the populations of subjugated planets--live with very little or no freedoms.  State-established social order, the concept that everyone in the Empire (even Kor) is watched closely and the use of brutal interrogation techniques all jive with the US image of the USSR at the time.  It was some time--really until they started to flesh out Worf on TNG--before we saw the Klingon culture emerge instead as a much richer, warrior culture, steeped in tradition.  The Klingon society we know is much more focused on individual courage, honor and the Klingon government as we know it is much more like a plutocracy or aristocracy (with a nominal monarch as of 2369).
• The Organian Peace Treaty, established in "Errand Of Mercy", becomes established Trek canon despite never again appearing in canon material.  It is, however, referenced in a myriad of books, video games, etc.
  
  (Correction:  My pal "jbode" over in the Perpetual Star Trek Thread in the Ars Lounge have pointed out that the treaty is actually referenced as soon as the second season's "The Trouble With Tribbles", a fact that I had simply forgotten.)
  
• "The Alternative Factor" is an episode that I'd almost totally forgotten.  More importantly, it's actually a halfway-decent science fiction story--especially if you consider the time in which it was written.  Yes, the execution is a little sloppy and it's pure cheese in some places.  But the core story--the two halves of a man, each from opposite versions of the same universe, fighting each other in an eternal struggle--is among the better sci-fi scripts we get in TOS, in my opinion. 
• It's also, however, an episode where the entire audience figures out what's going on WAY before our intrepid (or should I say...enterprising) characters do. 
• "The City On The Edge Of Forever" is one of the most well-known TOS episodes, and is often included on "best of" lists--and for good reason.  Although I personally find the story to be pretty pedestrian, the execution of that story and the performances by the cast--especially Shatner, Kelley and guest star Joan Collins--make this a really special episode.
• Crazy McCoy is the best McCoy, by the way.
• The Guardian Of Forever, much like the aforementioned Organian Peace Treaty, is a prominent example of Trek lore than never again appears in a canon production.  Like the treaty though, it does make an appearance in multiple books, comics and fan productions (notably the episode "In Harm's Way" of the fan series Star Trek: New Voyages). 
  
  (Correction:  I'm also informed that the Guardian of Forever makes an appearance in the TAS episode "Yesteryear".  While TAS was considered non-canon for a long time, it's recently attained something like canon status with Paramount.  And regardless of it's official standing, I'm including it in canon for the purpose of this "mission".  I've only seen most TAS episodes once though, and a long time ago at that--so I didn't recall that there was an episode featuring the Guardian.)
  
• In "Operation -- Annihilate!", we discover a little something about Kirk's family, namely that he has (or rather, had) a brother named Sam Kirk who was married and had a young son.  I've decided that because my first name is James and my middle name is Samuel, my parents named me after the Kirk boys*.  Incidentally, the nephew that is able to be saved in this episode shows up in a recent fan production as the first openly-gay character in Star Trek (if you count fan productions, that is)--the two-part "Blood And Fire" episode of Star Trek: New Voyages.
  
  (* - Totally not true.  My parents are quite religious, and I'm actually named after one of the Twelve Apostles of Christ and the first of the major Old Testament prophets.)
•  I remember this episode grossing me out when I was younger.  I mean, giant space scabs the size of pancakes that shoot stingers into your body that take over your nervous system.  NO THANK YOU.
•  Worst.  Tanning bed.  EVER.
• The CGI of the UV satellites being deployed over Deneva is pretty cool.
• "Bones, it wasn't your fault".  Uh, it kind of totally was.  I mean, you're trying to kill these things with intense light and it doesn't occur to you to try different parts of the spectrum--in the hopes of avoiding blinding your patients?  I mean, you're usually so spot-on, McCoy.  But you kind of dropped the ball here.  Thank goodness for Spock's freaky second set of eyelids or whatever.
• Apparently this story was adapted/"re-imaged" as a comic set in the Abramsverse.