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.