In what should be a long-term project, I plan to watch and review every Star Trek television show and movie in the order that they were released.
Title: Star Trek
Release Date: September 15, 1967 – March 29, 1968
Production Company: Desilu Productions
Episodes: 26
Summary/Review:
Inspired by Enterprise Incidents with Scott and Steve I’m going to watch and review this season in the order that the episodes were aired instead of the order they were produced, and will do so for season 3 as well. The second season of Star Trek picks up where the second half of season one left off with the show hitting its stride. The period between midway of the season one and midway in season two coincides with Gene Coon’s time as showrunner and I concur with many others who believe that Star Trek was at it’s peak. That being said I feel that in season two, the highs are higher and the lows are lowers and there are some lower quality episodes even before Coon’s departure. Watching all of Star Trek in bulk, you also really begin to see how plots and tropes are repeated. That being said, the repetition usually explores a different perspective on the same idea and even the worst Trek episodes generally have something to offer.
A reminder that the PowerPop blog also offers excellent reviews of each episode of the original series.
My five favorite episodes in Season 2:
- Journey to Babel
- The Doomsday Machine
- The Trouble With Tribbles
- Mirror, Mirror
- Amok Time
And the biggest stinker: A Private Little War
Related Posts:
- Star Trek: The Original Series season one
- Star Trek: Discovery season one
- Star Trek: Discovery season two
- Star Trek: Picard season one
- Star Trek: Lower Decks season one
- Star Trek: Discovery season three
Episode #: 7
Title: Catspaw
Director: Joseph Pevney
Writer: Robert Bloch
Thoughts:
This episode was broadcast on October 27, 1967 and was Star Trek‘s first and only Halloween special. In a plot reminiscent of “The Squire of Gothos,” beings with omnipotent powers create illusions and take control of Enterprise crew members. But this time it’s spooooky! Witches! Castles! and a black cat! It doesn’t make a lot of sense but maybe it scared the kids? This was also the first episode produced to feature Walter Koenig as Ensign Chekhov and with the exception of the stiff performance of Michael Barrier as DeSalle, all of the crew members with dialogue are the Big 7 regular cast members. The episode is kind of a dud, but it’s nice to see the Star Trek core coming together!
Grade: C+
Episode #: 9
Title: Metamorphosis
Director: Ralph Senensky
Writer: Gene L. Coon
Thoughts: Kirk, Spock, and McCoy are on a shuttlecraft with the gravely ill Federation Commissioner Nancy Hedford (Elinor Donahue) when they are diverted by an unknown entity to a barren planetoid. There they meet the legendary Zefram Cochrane (Glenn Corbett), inventor of the warp drive. The only problem is that Cochrane is believed to have been dead for 150 years! It turns out that the entity, which Cochrance calls The Companion saved his life, restored his youth, and has been keeping him alive all these years. What at first looks like a threat turns out to be romance.
A couple of things date this episode. For one, Kirk is insistent that the male/female binary is universal which even in the 1960s was something that wasn’t consisted consistent across species even if you believed it to be true of humans. Second, Commissioner Hedford is depicted as a “career girl” whose last thoughts before dying are grief over never having a man. Those cringey moments aside the conclusion of this episode when Cochrance and the Companion make O’Henry-like sacrifices for one another is very sweet. And there are some more great Kirk-Spock-McCoy moments, especially when McCoy convinces Kirk to take a more diplomatic approach to the problem.
Grade: B
Episode #: 11
Title: Friday’s Child
Director: Joseph Pevney
Writer: D. C. Fontana
Thoughts:
Attempting to secure a mining agreement for the Federation, the crew of the Enterprise are drawn into the middle of a power struggle among the warlike Capellans. To make things worse, there’s a Klingon (Tige Andrews) also making an offer to the Capellans. Kirk, Spock, and McCoy end up fleeing with the pregnant widow of the Capellans’ murdered leader, Eleen (Julie Newmar). It’s a good episode for McCoy as he ends up delivering the baby and bonding with Eleen. But overall it’s kind of corny and forgettable.
Grade: B-
Episode #: 2
Title: Who Mourns for Adonais?
Director: Marc Daniels
Writer: Gilbert Ralston
Thoughts:
There are just a lot of omnipotent beings in these Star Trek episodes. This time it’s Apollo (Michael Forest) who claims that he was once the god of the same name on Earth and needs people to worship him. Kirk theorizes that Apollo and other beings like him actually did pass themselves off as gods to the Greeks, which stinks too much of Ancient Aliens ideology to me. Lieutenant Carolyn Palamas (Leslie Parrish), the crew’s anthropologist, becomes the latest female crew member who specializes in humanities to swoon over a powerful man. The conclusion of the show tries to make a case of sympathy for Apollo and the other lost “gods” but it rings hollow to me. There are some good dramatic moments in this episode, but overall it’s meh.
Grade: B-
Episode #: 1
Title: Amok Time
Director: Joseph Pevney
Writer: Theodore Sturgeon
Thoughts:
Spock is extremely horny and its affecting his work. A trip to Vulcan for a pon farr ceremony, which involves both a marriage and a challenge is the only solution. This episode contains many firsts: the first time seeing other Vulcans, the first use of the Vulcan salute, and the first utterance of “Live long and prosper.” It’s a bizarre concept and one that seems risque for 1960s television. The fight between Spock and Kirk would prompt a million slashfics. While it feels like it could be a trainwreck at any moment, the writing is so strong and the acting of Nimoy, Shatner, and Kelley never let that happen. Instead, it’s one of the all time classic episodes. And best of all, McCoy gets to be the hero with some clever trickery. I do wonder how T’Pau reacts to finding out that Kirk lives, though.
Grade: A
Episode #: 6
Title: The Doomsday Machine
Director: Marc Daniels
Writer: Norman Spinrad
Thoughts:
This is quite the action thriller, filling all 50 minutes with tense drama! A ginormous planet eating device has destroyed two solar systems. The Enterprise finds the heavily-damaged USS Constellation among the planetary debris, with only one survivor on board, its captain Commodore Matt Decker (William Windom). Decker is transported to the Enterprise where he goes full Ahab in attacking the doomsday machine. Meanwhile, Kirk and Scotty bring the Constellation back online. It’s a terrific episode with some great performances by Windom, Shatner, Doohan, and Nimoy.
Grade: A+
Episode #: 14
Title: Wolf in the Fold
Director: Joseph Pevney
Writer: Robert Bloch
Thoughts:
This episode is all over the place from act to act functioning as a mystery, courtroom drama, horror, and ultimately a comedy. The tonal shifts actually help make a strange story entertaining and maybe just a better show over all. Kirk and McCoy determine that the perfect therapy for Scotty’s head injury is to take him to a planet where he can hook up with a beautiful dancer. But the dancer, and two other women, are brutally murdered with Scotty implicated as the killer. The Enterprise crew come up with an elaborate hypothesis that the killer was really a noncorporeal entity that feeds on fear. Only one person objects to any of this, the local police administrator Hengist (John Fiedler), which seems odd. Odder still, is to hear Jack the Ripper shouting in the voice of Piglet from Winnie the Pooh. The episode ends with the entire crew getting drugged and loopy and George Takei earns his pay in a just a couple of lines.
Grade: B+
Episode #: 3
Title: The Changeling
Director: Marc Daniels
Writer: John Meredyth Lucas
Thoughts:
The Enterprise find a space probe called Nomad that was launched from Earth in the 2000s. Along the way it collided with another probe gaining great power and intelligence but getting corrupted so it believed its duty was to “sterilize” imperfect biological units. Fortunately for the Enterprise, it mistakenly believes that Kirk is its creator. Seems unfortunate that this episode and “The Doomsday Machine were produced and aired so close to one another since the are based on a very similar premise. But this is another good thriller with Kirk showing the power of logic to save the day. In fact, this story is so good you could probably make it into a movie. Nah, no one would ever do that.
Grade: A-
Episode #: 5
Title: The Apple
Director: Joseph Pevney
Writer: Story by : Max Ehrlich, Teleplay by : Max Ehrlich and Gene L. Coon
Thoughts:
Like Return of the Archons, the Enterprise crew come to a planet where the inhabitants serve a computer. In this case, they live in a bucolic paradise where most of their needs are met even if they lack freedom. That’s offensive to Kirk though as he determines that Vaal must be destroyed so that the villagers have their free will. Celeste Yarnall has a good guest starring role as yeoman of the week and Chekov’s love interest, Martha Landon.
Grade: B-
Episode #: 4
Title: Mirror, Mirror
Director: Marc Daniels
Writer: Jerome Bixby
Thoughts:
In this classic episode, Kirk, McCoy, Uhura, and Scott find themselves transported into a mirror universe where their evil counterparts resort to all levels of skullduggery to advance themselves in the Terran empire. It’s a fun episode where George Takei, Walter Koenig, and others get to revel in playing more aggressive and conniving versions of their characters. Meanwhile, even the evil Spock (with a goatee) remains quite logical.
Grade: A
Episode #: 12
Title: The Deadly Years
Director: Joseph Pevney
Writer: David P. Harmon
Thoughts:
Exposure to radiation causes Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Scott, and Lieutenant Arlene Galway (Beverly Washburn) to age rapidly with the likelihood of death if their condition isn’t addressed quickly. The highlights of this episode are seeing Shatner’s great acting take on being older and senility setting in (which also leads to paranoia). The downside of this episode is that a long portion of it is dedicated to a hearing to determine Kirk’s fitness for campaign with Spock forced to make the case against him. It is repetitive and not as dramatic as the show’s creators intended. Chekov, who is mysteriously unaffected by the condition, provides some comic relief as he has to go through testing and prodding at the hands of McCoy.
Grade: B
Episode #: 8
Title: I, Mudd
Director: Marc Daniels
Writer:Stephen Kandel & David Gerrold
Thoughts:
I don’t know if anyone was hoping for a return of Harry Mudd, but he’s back in an episode which is much more entertaining that “Mudd’s Women.” This time he lures the Enterprise to a planet of androids in order to steal the ship while stranding the crew. Things go wrong. Kirk once again figures out that machines can be defeated with the mind and the crew perform a series of comic vignettes to confuse the androids with illogical behavior. This is the first of three comedy episodes in season two and it really shows the range of the talented Star Trek cast.
Grade: B
Episode #: 15
Title: The Trouble with Tribbles
Director: Joseph Pevney
Writer: David Gerrold
Thoughts:
This is an all-time Star Trek classic, of course. It holds up well over all these years. The Enterprise is summoned to Deep Space Station K7 by the imperious Nilz Baris (William Schallert) in order to guard grain, much to Kirk’s annoyance. Klingons also arrive for shore leave on the station leading to conflicts with the Enterprise crew (and one of Scott’s funniest moments ever). But worst of all, the adorable fuzzy creatures known as tribbles are multiplying at dangerous numbers. The script is really good at tying all the ends of the story together and while it is very funny, it also doesn’t let go of the fact that serious things are happening.
Grade: A+
Episode #: 25
Title: Bread and Circuses
Director: Ralph Senensky
Writer: Gene Roddenberry and Gene Coon
Thoughts:
In of several episodes this season to feature parallel development on other world’s, the Enterprise discover a planet where the Roman Empire continued to reign into the 20th century. The show anticipates reality television as it parodies the TV industry’s efforts to get good ratings by showing gladiatorial combat. A scene with Spock and McCoy discussing their differences and friendship is one of the best in the entire series. The show gets a little weird when a sect of worshipers of the sun rebelling against Rome are awkwardly revealed in the final moments to be that planet’s version of followers of Christ. While I don’t think that Star Trek needs to avoid discussing religion, the plug for Christianity here doesn’t fit the tone of the Trek universe.
Grade: B
Episode #: 10
Title: Journey to Babel
Director: Joseph Pevney
Writer: D. C. Fontana
Thoughts:
A key episode in Star Trek worldbuilding, this show introduces two new species, the Andorians and the Tellarites. It also marks the debut of Spock’s parents, Sarek (Mark Lenard) and Amanda (Jane Wyatt). They’re all aboard the Enterprise in order to transport to a Federation. Spock’s family drama plays out against the background of a murder mystery as someone is attempting to disrupt the conference. A really good script by Fontana and great performances all around, especially Lenard and Wyatt, the later who brings a Hollywood Golden Age feel to her performance.
Grade: A+
Episode #: 19
Title: A Private Little War
Director: Marc Daniels
Writer: Story by Jud Crucis and Teleplay by Gene Roddenberry
Thoughts:
A planet Kirk visited earlier in his career was noted for its peaceful, pre-industrial communities. Upon returning, Kirk discovers that one group of the inhabitants has been armed with flintlocks (which we were learn were provided by the Klingons, for … reasons). In a rare teaming, Kirk and McCoy work with the unarmed group whose leader Tyree (Michael Witney) is under the spell of his ambitious wife Nona (Nancy Kovack). Kirk’s uncharacteristic solution to the problem is to arm both sides equally for a balance of power. The obvious metaphor for the Vietnam War falls flat as much of what’s depicted here doesn’t make much sense in story, and is even less related to real world parallels.
Grade: C
Episode #: 16
Title: The Gamesters of Triskelion
Director: Gene Nelson
Writer: Margaret Armen
Thoughts:
Kirk, Uhura, and Chekov are abducted from the Enterprise and forced to fight in gladiatorial combat for the entertainment of the powerful beings known as The Providers. This episode is already drawing upon plot points from “Arena” and “Bread and Circuses” among other episodes. While not a particularly good episode, it is nevertheless mildly entertaining.
Grade:C+
Episode #: 13
Title: Obsession
Director: Ralph Senensky
Writer: Art Wallace
Thoughts:
A mysterious cloud kills several members of the Enterprise landing party, draining them completely of hemoglobin. Having encountered the same creature earlier in his career, Kirk goes full Ahab in trying to track it down and destroy it before it kills more people. It’s kind of an interesting parallel to Matt Decker as Kirk is pulled back from the edge in time to pull off a risky but logical plan to eliminate the creature. The Kirk-McCoy-Spock dynamic is strong in this episode as they deal with the captain’s irrational behavior.
Grade: A
Episode #: 18
Title: The Immunity Syndrome
Director: Joseph Pevney
Writer: Robert Sabaroff
Thoughts:
The Enterprise has to face down a giant space amoeba that is draining starships and planets of energy and also has the effect of causing the crew to fall ill. It’s your bog-standard Star Trek episode where Kirk, Spock, and McCoy must figure out a solution to destroying the creature before the starship is destroyed. The sense of urgency isn’t well-paced and the scale of deaths caused by the amoeba are only acknowledged superficially rather than being motivating factors. This episode feels a bit half-baked as if it could’ve used a few more passes in the writing process before going to production, but overall it’s entertaining.
Grade: B-
Episode #: 17
Title: A Piece of the Action
Director: James Komack
Writer: David P. Harmon and Gene L. Coon
Thoughts:
The planet of Sigma Iotia II was contaminated by an Earth ship a century earlier, and as a result the highly-imitative people of the planet develop an entire civilization based on a book about the history of 1920s Chicago gangsters. Kirk and Spock go undercover to try to undo the destructive behavior of the gangs with the bosses hoping to get more advanced weaponry from the Enterprise, a la “A Private Little War.” Shatner is obviously having a ball using the gangster lingo and improvising a game of “fizzbin.” Nimoy does him one better in showing Spock picking up the behavior of the locals, and casting shade at his captain. This is one of Star Trek‘s great comedic episodes and it’s so well-done that you almost don’t really notice that Kirk’s solution isn’t very good. Anthony Caruso and Vic Tayback are great in their guest roles as the mob bosses.
Grade: A-
Episode #: 22
Title: By Any Other Name
Director: Marc Daniels
Writer: D.C. Fontana and Jerome Bixby
Thoughts:
The Kelvans, yet another race of omnipotent beings, take human form so they can hijack the Enterprise for a return journey to their home planet in the Andromeda Galaxy where they will plot a conquest of the Milky Way Galaxy. Kirk, McCoy, Spock, and Scott determine that the only way to defeat the Kelvans is to force them to deal with extreme emotions and senses of their human forms. Naturally, Kirk does this with romance while Scott does it with alcohol. The successful shift in tone from very serious to comic is reminiscent of “Wolf in the Fold.” Warren Stevens guests as one of Star Trek‘s creepiest antagonists, Rojan.
Grade: B+
Episode #: 20
Title: Return to Tomorrow
Director: Ralph Senensky
Writer: John T. Dugan
Thoughts:
Stop me if you’ve heard this one before: A race of omnipotent beings need to take human form on the Enterprise to advance their future. This time they borrow the bodies of Kirk, Spock, and Dr. Ann Mulhall (Diana Muldaur) in order to create android replacements. But Henoch is not keen on giving up Spock’s body and throws a wrench in the works. This episode is lifted by Nimoy’s absolutely startling transformation into creepy villain, and it is a good episode for Christine Chapel too, especially the part she plays in the resolution. Otherwise it’s kind of your average Star Trek episode.
Grade: B-
Episode #: 21
Title: Patterns of Force
Director: Vincent McEveety
Writer: John Meredyth Lucas
Thoughts: Following up on “The Planet of the Romans” and “The Planet of the Chicago Gangsters,” we visit “The Planet of the Nazis.” An Earth historian has contaminated the planet Ekos by introducing Nazi ideas and culture, and they are on the verge of carrying out the final solution on the people of the neighboring planet, Zeon. Much like “A Piece of the Action,” Kirk and Spock have to go undercover, but with the stakes so much higher, there’s very little room for comedy. There are some stark dramatic moments in this episode but overall I think it misses the mark by having the metaphors of the Zeons representing Jewish people and the horrors of the Nazi regime handled so casually. I’m also not buying that the historian was just trying to introduce “efficiency” with all the trappings of the Nazis and the hatred of the Zeons. I definitely don’t think that Kirk has resolved the conflict merely by taking about the fascist leader.
Grade: C+
Episode #: 24
Title: The Ultimate Computer
Director: John Meredyth Lucas
Writer: Laurence N. Wolfe
Thoughts:
Less than a month before the release of 2001: A Space Odyssey, Star Trek aired an episode in which the test of a new computer that can replace the crew of the Enterprise turns dangerous when it begins to defend itself by killing. William Marshall and his great bass voice guest as the computer designer Dr. Richard Daystrom. It’s a good episode but I think it would’ve been more interesting if Daystrom instead of being crazy was still defensive of his creation but nevertheless more a tragic figure who has to work with Kirk for a solution. Also, Star Trek needs to come up with a better solution than having Kirk talk to a machine and convince it that it’s gone against its programming. The delight in Kirk’s face when he realizes that the other Federation ships will not destroy the Enterprise is one of Shatner’s great acting moments. Also, seeing several starships flying at once in this episode is really cool!
Grade: B
Episode #: 23
Title: The Omega Glory
Director: Vincent McEveety
Writer: Gene Roddenberry
Thoughts:
This is a weird episode. It’s not the worst episode of the original series, as some people say, but it’s definitely not very good. There are essentially three stories in this episode but none of them are resolved particularly well or tied in with the others. At first it’s like “Miri” in that an infection of the crew of the the USS Exeter reduces them to a crystaline substance and soon Kirk, Spock, McCoy, and Lt. Galloway (David L. Ross) are infected. On the planet Omega IV, they discover that Exeter Captain Ron Tracey (Morgan Woodward) has gone mad with power and is arming the Asian-like Kohms against the “savage” Yangs, much like “A Private Little War.” Then things turn really strange when it’s revealed that this is yet another case of parrallel Earth development where the Yangs are “Yanks” and the Kohms are “communists.” The metaphors don’t really fit though, and the final act is bonkers where among other things Spock reveals a new Vulcan power and Kirk reads the U.S. Constitution. Got to say though that the savagely violent Yangs who revere the symbols of America without understanding their meaning are similar to the insurrectionist mob on 1/6/21.
Grade: C
Episode #: 26
Title: Assignment: Earth
Director: Marc Daniels
Writer: Art Wallace and Gene Roddenberry
Thoughts:
This is a strange but fun episode. Roddenberry planned the show as a backdoor pilot for a show about Gary Seven (Robert Lansing), a secret agent descended from humans brought from Earth to be trained by a mysterious alien race. The Enterprise, randomly time traveling to 1968, accidentally intercept Gary Seven while he’s on a mission to prevent the proliferation of nuclear weapons in space. The rest of the episode is basically a shaggy dog story to resolve that problem. I was stunned to see that Teri Garr was in this episode as Gary Seven’s secretary Roberta Lincoln, and she’s absolutely terrific. The Enterprise crew are basically guest characters in their own show, but Kirk and Spock get some more undercover work on contemporary Earth. The Gary Seven show never got off the ground but I would’ve loved to see more episodes of Garr as Roberta as well as Gary’s well-trained cat Isis who briefly turns into a woman at the end of the episode.
Grade: B+
Panorama of the Mountains 