The Enterprise

Hulu has all of their Star Trek episodes available for free between now and March 31st. In a slight deviation from what’s usually on this blog, I’m going to post about what episodes I watch and add some notes if I have something to say. Probably won’t delve too deeply into Voyager or Enterprise, but I might give them a fresh try.

Star Trek: The Original Series

S1:E03 “Where No Man Has Gone Before” – The one with Gary Mitchell, who might have made a good reboot villain. I’ve really been pulling for Benedict Cumberbatch’s Into Darkness character to be Mitchell.
S1:E07 “What Are Little Girls Made Of?” – The one where Nurse Chapel is engaged to an android-creating nutjob. Quote: “Mind your own business, Mr. Spock. I’m sick of your half-breed interference! Do you hear?” Written by Robert Bloch.
S1:E16 “The Galileo Seven” – The one where Spock, Bones, Scotty, and four red shirts crash land on random class M world in the middle of nebula-like phenomenon. Who will survive, and what will be left of them? This entire episode is logic versus emotion as Kirk is pulled between searching for his crew members and a mercy mission to a plague-ridden planet. The emotional crew members marooned with Spock strike me as very annoying while Commissioner Farris’s rational arguments aboard the Enterprise are grating.
S1:E22 “Space Seed” – The one with Khan. Also Kirk at maybe his most Picard-like. When faced with a superior foe, Kirk resorts to talking. Until he beats the crap out of Khan. (Kirk *is* Kirk after all…)
S2:E01 “Amok Time” – The one with TMI about vulcan relationships. Quote: “It would be illogical for us to protest against our natures, don’t you think?” Written by Theodore Sturgeon.
S2:E7 “Catspaw” – The one where Kirk, Spock. and McCoy meet three weird sisters and a black cat. I’ve always enjoyed the Hammer horror feel of this episode. Written by Robert Bloch.
S2:E9 “Metamorphosis” – The first one with Zefram Cochrane.
S2:E10 “Journey to Babel” – The one with Spock’s parents. Quote: “On Vulcan the ‘teddy bears’ are alive, and they have 6-inch fangs.” Written by D.C. Fontana
S2:E14 “Wolf in the Fold” – The one where Scotty might be Jack the Ripper. Written by Robert Bloch.

Really enjoying the “remastered” original series episodes. The effect tweaks are nice. I have no particular method for picking episodes. These are just the ones I feel like watching. Some, like “The City on the Edge of Forever,” are good, but I’ve watched them too many times.

S2:E26 “Assignment: Earth”
Me: You know, the one with time travel.
Me2: “Tomorrow is Yesterday”?
Me: No, not *that* one with time travel, the other one.
Me2: “City on the Edge of Forever”?
Me: No, not that one either. You know, the one where they time travel on purpose.
Me2: Star Trek IV?
Me: No. The one with time travel and a futuristic spy and his black cat.
Me2: Oh. That one.
According to Wikipedia, this episode was supposed to be a “back-door” pilot for another Gene Roddenberry show, but considering that Gary Seven uses a sonic screwdriver to escape from the Enterprise, I will instead think of this as a Star Trek/Doctor Who crossover event. Though the motivations for many character actions are muddled, Teri Garr is pretty great in this episode. Her character would have made a great companion for the Doctor.
S3:E02 “The Enterprise Incident” – The one where the captain is crafty and the first officer seduces the woman. And isn’t a Next Gen episode. Quote: “Commander, your attire is not only more appropriate, it should actually stimulate our conversation.” Written by D.C. Fontana.
S3:E05 “Is There in Truth No Beauty?” – The one with a being so ugly that a glimpse of it would drive a human insane. He’s generally kept in a box. Diana Muldaur, who later plays Dr. Pulaski in the second season of Star Trek: The Next Generation, guest stars.
S3:E05 “Spectre of the Gun” – The one at the O.K. Corral. With its surreal, half-formed Tombstone landscape and fairly good turns by the actors, this episode avoids being cheesy. Quote: “Good old Virgil. We can always count on him.”
S3:E11 “Wink of an Eye” – The one that I completely don’t remember. Even after watching it, I don’t really recall having seen it in the past.
S3:E23 “All Our Yesterdays” – The one with the library of time portals. I didn’t watch many McCoy-heavy episodes, but it was nice to see the good doctor solving a puzzle or two. It’s also interesting that Zarabeth, as a political exile, is not the main plot point. The portal that are allowing the Sarpeidonites to escape their doomed world had other applications in the past. That’s a nice little attempt at world-building. Quote: “I have eaten animal flesh and I’ve enjoyed it. What is wrong with me?”

I should have picked episodes based on Spock wearing ear-hiding hats.

Star Trek: The Next Generation

S1:E05 “Where No One Has Gone Before” – The one with The Traveler. Life would be much easier if people just listened to Wesley. He’s never wrong. Plus, Kosinski pretty much violates Wheaton’s Law.
S2:E13 “Time Squared” – The one with the two Picards. It’s an interesting piece of suspense. When Picard is unease so are we. It also includes the tried and true time travel question: Is this the thing I do that dooms me? Or is changing my mind the thing that dooms me?
S3:E01 “Evolution” – The one with Wesley’s science project on the loose. They never do hold Wesley particularly responsible for the accident.
S3:E13 “Deja Q” – The one where Q loses his powers. Quote: (Q, after appearing naked on the bridge of the Enterprise) “Red alert.”
S3:E14 “A Matter of Perspective” – The one where Riker is on trial for murder. The holodeck is used to present testimony and Picard later uses it to piece together what really might have happened. It’s a courtroom drama with a twist.
S3:E15 “Yesterday’s Enterprise” – The one with Enterprise-C. This episode is trippier and better than I remember. Forget, Wesley. Listen to Guinan. She is always right. Quote: (Worf, after trying prune juice for the first time) “A warrior’s drink!”
S3:E21 “Hollow Pursuits” – The one where we meet Reginald Barclay, holodeck addict. Amid Starfleet perfection, I’ve always kind of identified with Barclay. Plus, his psych profile says he has a history of seclusive tendencies. Horror! And, Dwight Schultz is just fun to watch.
S3:E23 “Sarek” – The one with Spock’s dad. Also, the one with the bar brawl in Ten-Forward. Written by Peter S. Beagle

If I would have known that season 3 had so many good episodes, I wouldn’t have bothered with “Evolution.”

S4:E09 “Final Mission” – The one that is Wesley’s final episode. Wes is really putz-y in this episode.
S4:E14 “Clues” – The one with Gloria from Cleveland. Okay, not really. After being teased with the possibility of Guinan participating in a Dixon Hill mystery, this episode offers up a different mystery.
S4:E19 “The Nth Degree” – The one where Barclay gets some confidence. And intelligence and, of course, arrogance. He has a pretty nice HAL moment. Quote: “He did make a pass at me last night. A good one.”
S5:E07 “Unification, Part I” – The one where Spock defects.