Star Trek (TOS): Episode By Episode Thread

Some "Miri" trivia:

Most of the kids were related to cast and crew. One was the son of fellow Desilu actor Greg Morris ("Barney Collier") of MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE. It was Phil Morris' first acting job.



Phil Morris later played in STAR TREK III: THE SEARCH FOR SPOCK as well as episodes of VOYAGER and DEEP SPACE NINE. He's most famous for his portrayal of Jackie Chiles in SEINFELD. Phil's sister, Iona also appeared in "Miri."

Harry

 

#9: Dagger of the MInd

Original Air Date: 11/3/66

Stardate: 2715.1

When a psychologically disturbed member of the staff of the Tantalus penal colony, Dr. Marcus Van Gelder, manages to escape on to the Enterprise, Captain Kirk and Dr. Helen Noel beam down to the planet to see exactly what is going on there. The head of the prison is a renowned penologist, Dr. Tristan Adams, greatly admired for the advances he has made in treating criminals. While Dr. Noel can find no fault with Dr. Adams or the practices at the colony, Kirk isn't so sure. Mr. Spock must use the Vulcan mind meld on Van Gelder to get too the truth.

I find this episode to be emotionally unsettling (in a good way). Van Gelder is played brilliantly by Morgan Woodward, and you really feel his pain and frustration. James Gregory is also fantastic as the Mengele like Dr. Adams. I also find the Captain's finishing comments to be very affecting. This episode also contains the first Vulcan mind meld.

Personal Rating: 4 stars

 

Trivia:

Lethe (Susanne Wasson) was named after the river in Hades in Greek myth. Those condemned souls who drank from it, forgot their past lives. Explaining her blank, vegetative stare from neutralizer "treatment"

The "Vulcan mind meld", introduced in this episode, was originally a way of working around a warning from NBC's "Standards and Practices" department. In an earlier draft of the script, the plan had been to have Spock hypnotize Van Gelder, but writers were told that they must have hypnotism performed "by DOCTOR McCoy rather than MISTER Spock" unless they could establish that Spock had been specially trained to do this.

When Captain Kirk and Doctor Helen Noel are beamed down to the Tantalus Penal Colony, the planet's terrain/background is the lithium cracking station on Delta Vega from Star Trek: Where No Man Has Gone Before. This was changed in the remastered version.

The title is a line from William Shakespeare's Macbeth. It is in the title character's soliloquy in Act 2 Scene 1.

 

This is another of the episodes that NBC did not rerun in the summer of 1967, so I had to wait for syndication reruns to see it. For some reason, it didn't impress me all that much on first viewing, but I've warmed up to it a lot over the years.

The remastered version has a couple of nice additions: the planet on which the Tantalus Penal Colony resides is show to be a ringed planet in a couple of shots, and the entrance to the colony on the surface is quite different (and welcome) from the lithium cracking station re-use.

Much of the fanboy discussion of this episode centers around actress Marianna Hill. She did some acting on the other Desilu shows too:

MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE:


MANNIX:



And of course, this episode of STAR TREK:


I agree that the episode is unsettling, from the get-go too. The ominous opening with the wide-eyed Morgan Woodward lets the viewer know they're in for quite a ride. Then the whole McCoy forcing Kirk's actions was rather different. The mind-meld scene gave viewers a little piece of the Vulcan puzzle at this early stage of the game.

And then the whole planet scenes were very unnerving. First we meet Lethe, the blank-staring former inmate. A spookier face I've never seen. The dynamic between Kirk and Noel is played for lightness early on, but then even that turns dark in this episode. And this has to be one of the few episodes of STAR TREK to have basically a guest star be the hero and rescue Kirk.

Quite an interesting hour of television, all the way around.

Harry

 

The most I remember from this episode is the goofy light on the ceiling. Like most of the season 1 eps, something left an impact but not necessarily what the writers intended.

 

I wonder if the one-night stand referenced in this episode was risque for 1966?

It was pretty mild, but still.

 

Noooooooooooooo. I love anything with Punk Anderson in it.

 

#10: The Corbomite Maneuver

Original Air Date: 11/10/66

Stardate: 1512.2

In a section of unexplored space, the Enterprise comes across a marker of sorts that will not let it pass. They destroy the marker and move on but soon find themselves in conflict with an unknown alien who accuses them of trespassing and tells them they have only 10 minutes to live. Kirk decides it's time to play a little poker and literally bluff his way out of the situation by telling the alien that the Enterprise has a device on board that will destroy the alien as well as the Enterprise. The bluff works but the alien turns out to be something quite unexpected.

The Corbomite Maneuver was the first episode produced after the two pilots. Now the show practically hits on all cylinders. DeForest Kelley is the perfect doctor, and was a major upgrade. His chemistry with Shatner is their from the beginning. It is also interesting, that while Spock's character took a while to evolve, Kirk and McCoy are pretty much established from the beginning. This episode also does an excellent job of establishing what life on a starship is like. What really struck me the first time I saw this episode was the size of the alien ship. You think the Enterprise is huge, and it is dwarfed by this craft. The problem-solving is excellent, and the subplot between Kirk and Bailey is fantastic. I did not like the "Wizard of Oz" ending. All around a very strong beginning.

Personal Rating: 4 stars

 

Trivia:

This episode contains one of the few instances in the series of Lt. Uhura wearing a gold "command" type uniform, instead of her usual red.

The antagonist's "real" form is played by Clint Howard. At the time, Clint's brother Ron Howard was starring in another hit Desilu series, The Andy Griffith Show.

The alien ship, Fesarius, was made of ping-pong balls glued to a Plaster-of-Paris shell.

Leaving sick bay after his physical, Captain Kirk passes several unnamed crew members. One red shirt, played by Jonathan Goldsmith, gained worldwide fame 40 years later as beer ad character "The Most Interesting Man in the World." Still no name.

 

"The Corbomite Maneuver" is one of the early greats in STAR TREK. Other than Spock shouting himself and then dressing down Mr. Bailey for slightly raising his voice, this episode is classic. Everyone gets something to do and we learn a little about each of the characters. Sulu gets his countdown, Uhura maintains her usual communications, Scotty gets to theorize about the buoy's propulsion, McCoy gets to do his cranky persona, Rand gets to productively zap some coffee, and Kirk and Spock get to trade some barbs about chess and poker. Classic stuff.

The remastered edition looks great, with some different views of the Enterprise, and alongside the giant Fesarius. The only weakness I noticed was a thumping sound in the soundtrack that seemed to occur on some bridge scenes. It was present in both the remastered soundtrack and the mono version as well. I was listening with headphones today which made it more noticeable.

Harry

 

That dummy alien freaked me out as a kid. So did the little guy at the end.

 

And now, the Tranya.

 

I kind of expected Gentle Ben to pop out while Kirk was walking around with the little guy.

 

I found the voice coming out of Clint Howard disconcerting.

 

Miri

Can't stand it. It'd take some doing to figure out where to start with the reasons the premise doesn't work for me. The execution is worse.

1 Tribble (just for the effort).

Dagger of the Mind

Strong episode, allowing for some expected vagueness and clunkiness. A little more information to give Kirk more to go on than spidey-sense and a little less vague staginess would've been nice, but probably too much to ask from the production end. As usual, concepts triumph over shortcomings and quibbles. Helen Noel is among my favorite 1-shot Trek characters (sorry Harry, but here's more fanboy discussion centering on her!). Taken in context of the times and TOS, a surprising female role that suggests a complex independent perspective and shows her engaging in action on her initiative which has substantial relevance to events. From my viewer's perspective, I would've liked to have seen her crop up from time to time but no doubt Kirk would have swept her off the ship pronto. I particularly enjoyed the version with the remade effects here because a) with higher quality image it was more visually engaging in general and b) as Harry points out, there is a setting change or rather, I feel in this case, a correction made with reasonable taste. I'm pretty sure they wouldn't have reused the setting from another episode had they the time and budget to do otherwise.

4 Tribbles.

The Corbomite Maneuver

Not much more to say about it at the moment, but:

3 furry Tribbles and 1 unfortunately bald Tribble for a 3 1/2 rating.

 

I found the Corbomite Maneuver to be fantastic the first time I watched it. The tension from the crew and the acting was great. But once you know the ending...not so much.

I just ordered the Blu-Ray set so give me a week and I'll do a re-watch. My memory from the DVD set (long since sold now) was that any of the first season episodes were excellent because the actors were so fresh and exciting; they really seemed to get into their roles.

But I've changed since then, so it will be interesting what my eyes will see this time. I've caught a few episodes in syndication and was blown away by the updated effects.

Looking forward to what people have to say about these episodes!

 

#11 & 12: The Menagerie Parts I & II

Original Air Date: 11/17/66 & 11/24/66

Stardate: 3012.4-3013.1

While visiting Starbase 11, the Enterprise is hijacked by Mr. Spock, leaving Captain Kirk behind while abducting the recently crippled Captain Christopher Pike, former commander of the Enterprise. The destination: Talos IV, off limits by Federation order since the Enterprise first visited the planet thirteen years earlier while then under the command of Captain Pike. After Kirk and Commodore Mendez, the Starbase commander, intercept the Enterprise, a court martial against Spock's apparent treachery is convened. Spock's only defense is a video feed showing Pike's capture and imprisonment by the inhabitants of Talos IV.

Spock's court-martial board views the video stream from Talos IV of Captain Pike's imprisonment 13 years earlier and of the Enterprise's attempts to rescue him. The Talosians, using their powers of mind-reading and illusion, place Pike in worlds from both his memory and his imagination. The one constant is Vina, the beautiful blonde survivor of a crashed Earth ship (the other half of a Talosian plan for a captive Adam and Eve). Number One's attempts to liberate Pike result in her and Yeoman Colt's capture (additional breeding stock for the Talosian plan), but when the humans and Talosians learn more of each other, the situation takes a turn neither side expects. As the Enterprise approaches Talos IV once again, Kirk and the court watch the past unfold and learn the real reason for Spock's mutiny.

They really did a nice job crafting a story that could integrate the original pilot into the show. The injury to Pike, and the tension of Spock's apparent treachery are well done. Also, the original pilot was fantastic, so all of that material is strong. I would have made exactly one change. When they beam down, Spock gives a HUGE smile. I would have edited the smile out. It is really jarring to see him act so differently. By removing those 2 seconds, they could have removed that awkwardness. Overall, the episode is at the very top for the Cage footage and the way they tied it together.

Personal Rating: 4 stars

 

Trivia:

The events of Star Trek: The Cage occurred 13 years before "The Menagerie".

Robert H. Justman convinced Gene Roddenberry to write a two-part episode using footage from Star Trek: The Cage because they ran out of scripts and would have had to shut down production otherwise. The script was written quickly in three or four days because it mostly consists of scenes from the original pilot.

Although scenes from Star Trek: The Cage were used in this story that featured Jeffrey Hunter as Captain Christopher Pike, he was unavailable and unaffordable for the framing story into which the scene were inserted. Sean Kenney, an actor who resembled Hunter, was used instead. He plays the mute, crippled Captain Pike, now wheelchair-bound after an accident.

When Number One and Yeoman J.M Colt transport to the planet, Vina states that Capt. Pike would be better reproducing with a computer than Number One (Majel Barrett). Ironically, Majel Barrett provided the standard Federation computer voice throughout the various Star Trek series.

 

The Best Of The Best.Four Beeps.

 

If anyone has been following STAR TREK "TOS" on Me-TV. Last Saturday, they showed the final episode, 'The Turnabout Intruder." (A favorite of mine for some reason.) So this Saturday, I hope they continue and restart with the FIRST episiode. It would be cool if we can synch this thread up and have fresh, weekly showings to report on. (According to online listings Saturday, 9pm Me-Tv will show: CHARLIE X.)

 

According to the MeTV programming schedule ( http://metvnetwork.com/schedule.php?date=03/30/13 ), this Saturday is "The Man Trap", followed by "Charlie X" and "Where No Man Has Gone Before" on the 6th and 13th of April. They don't project any further out at this point.

Harry

 

The episode(s) "The Menagerie (I & II)" are among STAR TREK's best. I always loved the effective way that they tied the framing story to the old pilot, and they did so in such a way as to really make it a believable two-part story. What better way to end a first half than with the line, "You *must* see the rest of the transmission!"

If I have any complaints about the episode, they are minor. The worst of those minor offenses would be the very end of the second part, where Spock wheels Pike out of the briefing room and a split-second later he's on the planet, happily reentering the underground with Vina. Just a little more judicious filming/stalling/editing could have corrected that.

The other oddity about the episode is the very beginning of part 1. We see Miss Piper standing outside looking heavenward as if she was going to spot the Enterprise in space. It just seemed a little "off", kind-of strange. The strangeness is mirrored after Kirk, Spock, and McCoy beam in. After a brief conversation, Miss Piper says "This base sent no message" and the camera lingers on her with soft focus, the wind is blowing her hair and there's some rather wistful music playing in the score. I suppose Julie Parrish is attractive enough, and I don't really mind - I just found it a little odd in the editing department.

The use of Malachi Throne in the framing story forced Roddenberry and Co. to alter the voice of The Keeper, since Throne had also voiced that part. It was effectively done, though I can still hear remnants of Throne's vocal speaking style leaking through the pitch alteration. One wonders why they just didn't either hire a different actor for the framing story, or get another voice actor to re-loop The Keeper's part. Most of it wouldn't have to be lip-synced anyway.

Still, a great episode, whether self contained as the early pilot, or as the two-part story told here.

Harry

 

A bit off topic but I can't stop laughing...