Right so this is the second and last part of my look at my 10 of my favorite Star Trek episodes from the original 1960s series. So these five chosen episodes will be featured from the second series onward until the third and final season.
So with that let's take a look at em....
Mirror, Mirror (Episode 4, Series 2)
So to continue with the list next up is "Mirror, Mirror" which is similar in a way to the episode from the first series, "The Enemy Within" in that it involves another transporter malfunction onboard the Enterprise except this time part of the crew are transported into a parallel universe.
And to say a bit more about the story it begins with Kirk, McCoy, Chief Engineer Scotty (James Doohan) and Lt Uhura (Michelle Niccols) find themselves beamed onboard the Enterprise during an ion storm, which causes a malfunction. However as the crew step off the transporter platform they look around to see things are a bit different and they are soon met by Spock, who has a beard and the ship follows a more brutal totalitarian regime. And from here its up to Kirk and the others to try and find a way back into their own universe and escape the brutality of the alternative reality they face.
This episode again similar to "The Enemy Within" allows for some of the cast to play a different version of themselves, especially with Spock being a more ruthless logician with a neat beard no less! The other crew members also do well with their alternate roles particularly Walter Koenig as Chekov as he plays him as a traitorous officer who is willing to sell out Kirk when he disobeys the orders of the fascist Terran empire, which is the alternative to the Federation in the parallel universe.
But the story also has a good resolution (SPOILER!!) in which Kirk influences the bearded Spock to try and break the trend of the brutal empire and take control of the Enterprise once the alternative version of Kirk and the others are transported back onboard (as they for the episode were transported between realities onboard the Federation Enterprise).
And as I'm really intrigued by the whole concept of parallel worlds in sci-fi fantasy this is certainly one of my favourite episodes from the series.
The Deadly Years (Episode 12, Series 2)
Next is "The Deadly Years" which is another favourite of mine which sees the Enterprise crew come up against a deadly virus that causes whoever is exposed to it to rapidly age.
And to sum up the plot a bit more it starts with Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Scotty and Chekov beam down to Gamma Hydra IV to resupply a research station there. The crew however find the planet deserted and on investigation, Chekov discovers the dead body of an old man and terrified, he goes to get the others who check the body and McCoy simply deduces the man died of old age. The crew are soon met by an old couple, Robert and Elaine Johnson who actually much to the surprise of the crew tell them they are only in their 20s. Kirk soon has the couple beamed onboard the Enterprise where McCoy examines them but they soon die of old age. And unfortunately for Kirk and the others who had been exposed to the planet's surface, they too soon begin to age rapidly and together they must try and find a cure to the disease before they too would die....
I really like this episode as it again it sees the crew battle against a dangerous situation and its a race against time for Kirk and the others who have become infected by the disease to try and find a way to save themselves. And again the episode makes good use of Spock's Vulcan physiology as although he is affected by the disease, he ages less rapidly than the others do.
The episode also does a good job at showing Kirk's foibles and how his being subjected to the disease not only ages him physically but it also affects his memory and his ability to command the ship and he is soon removed of his command by Commodre Stocker (Charles Drake) who the Enterprise is set to ferry to a new base. And with Kirk out of the picture and subject to aging, Stocker takes charge of the ship but he has no actual real command experience which sees the ship come into danger as they come under attack by Romulans, leaving everyone at risk.
And the episode ends with a good line from Kirk, once everything has been righted as he says to the crew "Well, gentlemen, all and all, an experience we'll
remember in our old age. Which won't be for some while, I hope!".
So that's it for The Deadly Years, which for me is again one of the best episodes and one of my clear favourites.
The Trouble with Tribbles (Episode 15, Series 2)
And then we have what is easily the most popular episode of the original series, "The Trouble with Tribbles" which is remains one of the most accessible episodes of the show and one of few that was intentionally funny and that in itself make this one a breath of fresh air.
The episode's story itself starts with the Enterprise responding to a distress call sent by Nilz Baris (William Schallert) from a space station, K7, who is an under-secretary for agriculture and he wants Kirk and his crew to protect a consignment of grain headed for Sherman's planet. Things however become more complicated as a group of Klingons arrive onboard K7 to request shore leave lead by Captain Koloth (William Campbell) and Kirk allows the request but insists the Klingons be kept under guard.
Meanwhile this is going on an independent trader, Cyrano Jones (Stanley Adams) arrives on the station aswell as he is selling tribbles, which are furry small creatures and Uhura, while on the station, purchases one and takes it back onboard the Enterprise. And its from here things get even more complicated as the tribbles starts to multiply all over the ship and to top this off, Kirk also has to try and keep Koloth's firey Klingons under control too....
Well there isn't much doubt this episode is alot of fun and it remains one of the most light hearted episodes of the show and it even more rare is the fact its one of the few episodes where no actual main or supporting characters die (well OK except for some of the tribbles who are killed by poisoned grain).
It also features quite a few highlights for the regular cast particularly the scenes that involve Scotty and Chekov fighting the Klingons on the Enterprise as one of the Klingons badmouths Kirk and the Enterprise. And not to mention there is the scene where Kirk onboard the Enterprise opens up a compartment only to be covered up to his chest with thousands of tribbles. And in the scene Kirk says to his crew members "I want two things done. First, find Cyrano Jones, and two (a tribble comes out the door and hits him on the head) close that door!".
And this brings up one of the funniest scenes in the episode where Kirk get's Scotty to admit who started the fight (i.e it was Scotty!) and why he started it. And Scotty awkwardly says to Kirk that the Klingons said of Kirk "They also compared you with a Denebian slime devil".
And Kirk then asks "After they said all this, that's when you hit the
Klingons?" and Scotty, further embarrassed then says "No, sir. You told us to avoid trouble. And I didn't see that it was worth fighting about. After
all, we're big enough to take a few insults. Aren't we?" and this leaves Kirk looking rather surprised. And Kirk then asks "What was it they said that started the fight?" and Scotty finally says "They called the Enterprise a garbage scow, sir!". And Kirk who is rather taken aback at Scotty's reasons to fight, says "You hit the Klingons because they insulted the
Enterprise, not because they...." and Scotty says "Well, sir, this was a matter of pride!". And Kirk dismisses Scotty and restricts him to his quarters, which prompts Scotty to cheerily say "Yes, sir. Thank you, sir. That'll give me a chance to
catch up on my technical journals!".
And later on after the whole trouble WITH the troubles is finally revealed (SPOILER!!) to be at the hands of a traitorous Klingon, who poisoned the grain. And in the scene, Kirk uses one of the tribbles to reel out the traitor as he goes over to the Klingons, it screeches at them disagreeably and he goes over to Baris and it doesn't react badly. And Kirk says to Baris "Obviously. Mister Baris, they like you. Well, there's no
accounting for taste!".
And it ends (SPOILER!!) with Scotty revealing that he had beamed onboard the millions of tribbles that swamed the Enterprise, to the Klingons ship and he says that "They will be no tribble at all!".
So, The trouble with tribbles remains a classic episode and one of my favourites of the show.
The Enterprise Incident (Episode 2, Series 3)
So next is "The Enterprise Incident" which is also an excellent episode that sees Spock and Kirk try to fight against the Romulans in order to steal a cloaking device from one of their ships.
And the story starts with Kirk apparently taking the Enterprise into the neutral zone between the Federation and Romulan space without any direct orders. And Romulan ships soon appear and decloak and order the Enterprise to surrender to which Kirk agrees and he and Spock are beamed onboard one of the Romulan ships. Kirk and Spock are soon met by a female Romulan commander (Joanne Linville) who takes a liking to Spock, who appears to betray Kirk to the Romulans and Kirk becomes furious at Spock and is placed in the ship's brig. From here Kirk tries to attack Spock who uses the "Vulcan death grip" on him, apparently rendering Kirk as dead, he is taken back onboard the Enterprise.
However we soon find out (SPOILER!!!) it was all a big ruse and that Kirk and Spock were in fact sent into the neutral zone under orders of the Federation to steal the Romulan's cloaking device. And its from here that Kirk, who is revealed to be still alive, undergoes a little "surgery" to transform him into a Romulan so he can infiltrate the Romulan ship again to carry out his mission.....
This episode again is something of a departure from the norm as we get to see Kirk take the guise of a Romulan in order to infiltrate the Romulan ship, which makes for a fun plot device in itself. Its also interesting to see Spock appear to become romantically attached to the Romulan commander but all the time, he's actually been playing with her under orders and its actually something that makes you even sympathise with the female commander as Spock appears to dupe her so successfully. Leonard Nimoy in fact insisted for the romantic scene between the Romulan commander and Spock, to not have kissing but instead use caressing with fingers, which actually lends to the scene and gives it a unique sexual charge of its own.
And the episode even ends on a fun note where Spock insists that Kirk remove his prosthetic Romulan ears and says to Kirk "Captain, please go. Somehow they do not look
aesthetically agreeable on humans!". And McCoy backs this up by saying to Jim "Well, are you coming, Jim? Or do you want to go through life looking like your first officer?!" and this prompts Jim to say "I'm on my way".
So "The Enterprise Incident" is certainly one of my favourite episodes from what is admittedly (for me anyway) the weakest series of the three, which had few classics stories in it.
Turnabout Intruder (Episode 24, Series 3)
And last but not least is the last episode of the original series run, "Turnabout Intruder" which takes another unique concept of mind transfer, which sees Kirk's mind being transferred to the body of a former female romantic acquantice of his as she is out to take control of his ship.
And the episode itself starts off with Kirk answering a distress call on the planet Carmus III, where he finds that an archaeological expedition that has been reduced to just three survivors that include Dr Coleman (Harry Landers) and Dr Janice Lester (Sandra Smith). Medical scans soon reveal that the crew were exposed to radiation which threatens their lives and as Spock and McCoy go off to attend to the other crew member, Kirk is left alone with Lester, who was once romantically involved with him. Lester however tricks Kirk and traps him in an alien device that enables her to transfer her mind into his body and Kirk's mind into her own. This now allows for the unbalanced Lester, who appears to be suffering from a self loathing complex, to pose as Kirk and take control of the Enterprise while leaving Kirk helpless in Lester's body....
This again is one of my favourites, as like most of the best episodes, it tries something different and the idea of mind transfer also makes for a very interesting concept in the show even though it isn't personally regarded as one of the better episodes of the series. William Shatner, also received some criticism for his performance as displaying the Lester controlled version of Kirk as it was deemed as being a bit too campy but I personally think he doesn't overdo it too much even though he does get a bit over the top with his shouty moments.
But what I do like about the episode is the role reversal and how it puts Kirk in real danger and in a position where at first no one is likely to believe until he eventually allies with Spock, who clearly realises there is something amiss with Kirk, who is under the influence of Lester. Spock also even mind melds with Kirk (in Lester's body) and from here he finds himself in a dangerous position as the Lester controlled Kirk, places him under arrest and on a court martial for trying to help.
And the episode also deserves credit for how Kirk's usual ship's log narration is reversed as Lester does the log thoughts of Kirk and Kirk does the log of Lester's thoughts as it allows the viewer to get into their minds in those moments too.
So while "Turnabout Intruder" wasn't consider one of the best episodes, I still really enjoyed it and its safe to say it remains one of the most underrated episodes of the show.
Right! So that's it for my list of 10 of my favourite Star Trek episodes and I will be back soon with yet another post on something maybe Star Trek related, which could possibly be a revisit of my Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home post, but we'll see.
Anyway till then its bye for now and live long and prosper!
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