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The Original Series (TOS) Season 2

Season 1 - Season 2 - Season 3

The episode descriptions are given in normal text, my comments in small text. Rating: 0=worst, 10=best

Catspaw Stardate 3018.2: Two alien beings with apparently superior power hold the Enterprise captive and create a castle of horrors to scare the human crew members. When their matter transmuter is destroyed, they turn out to be two tiny creatures not able to survive in the planet's atmosphere.

"Catspaw" is mostly composed of pointless and stereotypical horror obviously supposed to serve as Star Trek's contribution to Halloween. Moreover, after the still mostly original first season the episode marks the beginning of a series of plot pillaging. Its whole plot is essentially a rehash of "The Squire of Gothos" where Trelane played the same kind of childish games with the crew in a similar castle and didn't know anything about their technology and their motivation and feelings likewise. The "cat woman" motive is shamelessly taken from "Assignment Earth". And crew members as mindless servants already appeared in "Return of the Archons". Focusing on the superficial effects (although they were not very good anyway), any kind of science fiction element is missing. The transmuter's broken, the Voodoo magic over, the creatures dead, that's it. No intention behind the aliens' actions, no explanations, no surprising turning-point. I only liked that, for once, a dead member was commemorated in the end instead of the usual inappropriate humorous remarks from Kirk, Spock and McCoy.
Remarkable fact: Chekov appears for the first time, and he gets at least a few lines while most of his superiors are trapped on the planet.
Crew losses: 1
Rating: 1

Metamorphosis Stardate 3219.4: Kirk, Spock, McCoy and the ill Federation official Nancy Hedford are forced to land on a planet where they surprisingly meet Zefram Cochrane, the inventor of the warp drive who should have died a long time ago. The other inhabitant of the planet is the "Companion", a strange energy being who lives in a sort of symbiosis with Cochrane. With Hedford being about to die, the Companion takes over her body and stays with Cochrane.

Although the story is delightful in essence, I don't like several details of "Metamorphosis". Firstly, Cochrane (who should be an old man, but has been rejuvenated) is incredibly naive, like a little boy. He seems to have lost his sense of reality during the over one hundred years with the Companion, which is no surprise, since he didn't have anything useful to do. The Companion provided him with everything he needed, but obviously nothing more, nothing that could have extended his mind. I wonder if he is acting on his own will anyway. Secondly, it is odd how the Companion, an energy being, can be female and, furthermore, the universal translator eventually finds it out. Thirdly, Nancy Hedford is just another stubborn Federation bureaucrat, but it is ethically problematic to let her die and let the Companion assume her body. If I have understood it correctly, it is Hedford's body and not her consciousness that is dying. The Companion allegedly can't help her, but the Companion is able to take over the dead body. This should make McCoy suspicious.
Remarkable quote: "Our species can only survive if we have obstacles to overcome. You remove those obstacles. Without them to strengthen us, we will weaken and die." (Kirk)
Remarkable fact: Kirk's line "Zefram Cochrane, of Alpha Centauri" made Trek fans believe for decades that the latter was Cochrane's home planet.
Remarkable prop: the universal translator, seen for the first and only time
Rating: 4

Friday's Child Stardate 3497.2: In an attempt to prevent a Klingon intrusion into the antiquated warrior civilization of Capella IV, Kirk intervenes himself when he saves a pregnant woman from a ritual execution, whereupon they have to take refuge in the mountains. The new-born baby, Leonard James Akaar, finally becomes the designated ruler of the planet.

Although meant seriously, this episode is much like a drollery, if there were not the threat to the pregnant woman's and the three heroes' lives. Unfortunately this episode also features more stereotypical Klingons and a redshirt who unwisely pulls his phaser and is killed himself, as usual.
Remarkable quote: "We Klingons believe as you do - the sick should die. Only the strong should live." (Kras)
Crew losses: 1
Rating: 2

Who Mourns for Adonais? Stardate 3468.1: The Enterprise is held hostage by a powerful being claiming to be the Greek god Apollo. The "god" expects to be worshipped and feels attracted to Lt. Palamas, and the crew takes advantage of this weakness to defeat him.

Another "supernatural-being-holds-crew-hostage-for-his-pleasure" cookie-cutter plot, with not much special about it. Unfortunately, the theme will be picked up again and again in later episodes. Only the successful attempts to make Apollo jealous, taking advantage of the fact he has the same kind of emotions as humans, are remarkable here. The resolution, however, is the usual one, when Apollo's temple turns out his energy source and just has to be destroyed to defeat him. Too simple and predictable. I also don't like that Lt. Palomas almost becomes a second Marla McGiver ("Space Seed") who falls for the next best macho guy she encounters. It gives the episode an unpleasant sexist undertone. The reference to Earth's history, that Apollo's people once ruled as Gods over ancient Greece, is not that bad, but unnecessary. It hardly plays a role whether it's really Apollo, someone who pretends to be Apollo or just any other supernatural being, perhaps one related to Trelane.
Remarkable quote: "...but do not bring that one - the one with the pointed ears. He is much like Pan, and Pan always bored me." (Apollo)
Rating: 3

Amok Time Stardate 3372.7: Spock experiences pon farr, a state of irrational sexual desire, and returns to Vulcan for his mating ceremony. His fiancée T'Pring, however, demands that Spock fight for her to the death in an old ritual - against Kirk. The dilemma is solved by McCoy who feigns Kirk's death with the injection of a drug. Correctly assuming that Spock wouldn't want her now that Kirk is dead, T'Pring is free to marry her new love, Stonn. Spock returns to the Enterprise and is more than lucky to see Kirk alive.

"Amok Time" provides profound insight into Spock's character and Vulcan culture, and this alone makes it an episode to remember. The combination of logic on one hand and the completely irrational pon farr and koon-ut-kal-if-fee on the other hand, is hard to understand, but after all Vulcan is supposed to be an alien civilization, and exactly this is what is impressively demonstrated here. The events on Vulcan should have a political or personal consequence for Spock, after all Vulcan is a Federation member planet. Alas, this pivotal episode which would have required a follow-up will never even be alluded to again.
Remarkable gesture: The famous Vulcan greeting shows up for the first time.
Remarkable quote: "Live long and prosper", of course (also for the first time)
Remarkable scene: We see Spock grin for about half a second when he learns Jim is alive.
Remarkable planet: Vulcan is established as a hot red world with thin air. This will remain more or less consistent throughout the movies and other series.
Remarkable foreign language adaptation: The incentive for the complete adulteration of the German version is not clear, it could have been to avoid the sexually related topic because Star Trek has always been regarded as a children's series in Germany and was aired in the afternoon. Anyway, in the dubbed version Spock is "space sick" and has terrible nightmares in one of which he is on Vulcan and kills Kirk in the fight. There is no pon farr, no actual stay on Vulcan, no actual fight. No need to mention this version is awful. Interestingly, I first saw the original and then the German version, and I was thinking I was simply stupid to completely misunderstand the original for some time until I discovered what had been done to it.
Rating: 7

The Doomsday Machine Stardate 4202.9: Obsessed to take revenge on an enormous machine destroying whole planets and having killed his whole crew, Commodore Decker takes command of the Enterprise, leaving Kirk on the crippled U.S.S. Constellation, Decker's ship. When Decker is relieved of his command by Spock, the commodore takes a shuttle and approaches the machine on a suicide mission, but the explosion of the shuttle is not sufficient to destroy it. This eventually succeeds by steering the Constellation into the machine and overloading its engines.

Wow! This is still one of the most exciting thrillers in Star Trek history. In particular the scene when Kirk waits for his beam-out from the Constellation that is about to explode is breath-taking. It is also good to see a real space battle after far too many boxing matches in the previous episodes because of which Star Trek was on the verge of becoming some sort of Western. Only one negative note: Matt Decker is not exactly affected by the typical "Federation insanity" cliché of TOS. Still, his highly irrational and unpredictable obsession that is obviously supposed to make Kirk look even better, is a bit annoying. He didn't even seem to feel remorse that he unintentionally killed his crew by leaving them on a planet that was destroyed by the machine. Star Trek should not resort to letting the heroes appear brighter by giving all other characters, not only enemies, a really bad side. Decker would have been better prortzrayed as someone who is eager to fulfill his duty and accept the ultimate consequences.
Remarkable quote: "He gave his life in an attempt to save others. Not the worst way to go." (Kirk, about Decker)
Remarkable ship: the U.S.S. Constellation, actually an AMT plastic model kit maltreated with a soldering iron
Rating: 9

Wolf in the Fold Stardate 3614.9: On the hedonistic world of Argelius, Scotty is accused of a series of brutal murders of women. The trial includes an empathic ceremony, in the course of which another woman is slain. The actual murderer turns out to be the alien being "Redjac" aka "Jack the Ripper", an alien entity traveling from planet to planet. It seeks refuge in different individuals until it can be finally killed.

The plot of this episode has too many weak points and coincidences to be only half-way credible. Scotty has recently had problems with women, so he is a suited suspect. Women are frequently murdered, even during the trial. The dim séance is not what I expect from science fiction (and is too much like human-made mumbo-jumbo to pass as an alien ceremony). Some more of a detective story and less of mystery would have served the episode better. The revelation, finally, that "Jack the Ripper" is the actual murderer, is just another absolutely unnecessary reference to human history.
Crew losses: 1
Rating: 3

The Changeling Stardate 3451.9: The Terran space probe Nomad has gained enormous power after merging with an alien robot, Tan Ru, and now strives to "sterilize" everyone and everything that is not perfect. The probe eradicates all life in the Malurian system. Under the assumption that James T. Kirk is actually Jackson Roykirk, Nomad's creator, Nomad agrees to be beamed aboard where it becomes clear that the probe will exterminate everyone sooner or later. Kirk, telling Nomad that he is not Roykirk, convinces Nomad of not being perfect itself, and the probe commits suicide.

Two probes collide and instead of being destroyed they form a new, much more powerful device. While a more credible basis of the plot would have been desirable, the episode - quite unlike "Catspaw" at the beginning of this season which was meant to be scary - manages to create an uneasy atmosphere that already fascinated me as a child. Actually, this episode is my first definite memory of Star Trek. This time the Enterprise has the "Doomsday Machine" on board, about to find out about his alleged creator's "imperfection" any time. This alone is frightening enough, but the suspense is gradually increased even after the preliminary culmination point when Scott is killed by Nomad and Uhura's memory is wiped out. BTW, while it was shown how Uhura, with Chapel's help, tried to regain it, I would have expected to have at least one more scene with Uhura that would explain her quick recovery until the next episode.
One might object that Kirk discusses a computer to death once again, but this time it makes really sense, as Nomad fails to fulfill its own criterion of perfection, unlike the computer's implausible "death" scene in "Return of the Archons", for instance. One point of criticism is that Kirk is way too careless when he leaves Nomad to redshirts who are easily killed by the machine. Also, there are two rather awkward puns that Nomad thinks that Kirk is its creator only because of a coincidence of name fragments, and that the missions to find new life (Nomad) and to sterilize samples (Tan Ru) merge literally to a new task to "sterilize imperfect life".
Remarkable quote: "... primitive structure. Insufficient safeguards built in. Breakdown can occur from many causes. Self-maintenance systems low reliability." (Nomad, about the "Unit Scott")
Remarkable scene: Nomad kills the "Unit Scott", only to "repair" it a few moments later. A fantastic twist.
Remarkable fact: A very similar plot will be created for "Star Trek: The Motion Picture".
Crew losses: 4
Rating: 7

The Apple Stardate 3715.0: Any technological or social progress on a planet is inhibited by a powerful computer worshipped by the primitive inhabitants as Vaal. When Vaal threatens to crush the Enterprise, Kirk decides the machine has to be destroyed with the side effect that the society of the planet is given a chance of a free development.

Star Trek gets terribly boring with "The Apple" whose plot is essentially "The Return of the Archons" and "This Side of the Paradise" combined. There is some merit in the discussions between Spock and McCoy whether Vaal's people should be conceded the right to develop or not. But since this decision is ultimately governed by the attempt to save the Enterprise, it remains largely pointless. The outcome is overly rushed and simplified, as all doubts are suddenly wiped away. The impression is created that primitive cultures are only waiting to be granted the benefits of Federation lifestyle whereas, on the other hand, computers and machines are evil things that always need to be destroyed. It is also made clear in Kirk's glorifying phrases that freedom is the highest good which may have to do with the time when Star Trek was produced. In many TNG episodes the interference into other cultures will entail bad side effects as well as, aside from the violation of the Prime Directive, a bad conscience for the crew. In contrast, everything seems fine at the end of this TOS episode, although a paradise has been destroyed and its inhabitants will have a hard time coping with the consequences.
I'm not sure if I should be really glad for the natives, but honestly I really don't care that much about them. The dumb na(t)ive people are merely used by both Vaal and the Enterprise crew as instruments. They are running around in silly costumes, make-up and hair, not able to do anything but what they are told. Luckily the actors have white skin color underneath their thick make-up, otherwise the episode would have had a  racist undertone.
Remarkable quote: "You'll learn something about men and women - the way they're supposed to be. Caring for each other, being happy with each other, being good to each other. That's what we call love. You'll like that a lot." (Kirk)
Crew losses: 4
Rating: 1

Mirror, Mirror Stardate not given: Kirk, Uhura, Scotty and McCoy are accidentally transported into a parallel universe aboard the I.S.S. Enterprise, while their brutal counterparts of the parallel universe are beamed aboard the U.S.S. Enterprise in our universe. Reluctantly the four officers try to fit in their unusual roles on a ship where murder of superiors is an appropriate means to attain a promotion. When they attempt to return to their world, they get unexpected help from the parallel Spock who turns out to be a sincere person in both universes.

Although it is anything but plausible how almost the same ship with essentially the same people is at the same place in two completely different universes, this episode establishes a credible parallel world, quite unlike the effortless episode "The Alternative Factor" where this idea was utterly wasted. The minimal differences in the looks and technology on both sides are in a strong contrast to the characters and their behavior. Again, this is anything but plausible, but this is exactly what the thrill is about. It is familiar, and at the same time it's not. I can understand that our Mr. Spock finds the experience of meeting the savage Mirror Universe counterparts of the crew "fascinating". Considering how much potential the parallel universe has, I wonder why the idea has been continued as late as in DS9, where it will be revealed in "Crossover" that the Mirror Spock has indeed gained power as Kirk suggested, but not to the Earth Empire's advantage. This way, more than 25 years later "Mirror, Mirror" gains a new ironical twist.
Remarkable quotes: "I've been a Captain's woman and I like it. I'll be one again, if I have to go through every officer in the fleet." (Marlena), "In every revolution, there's one man with a vision." (Kirk, about the Mirror Spock)
Rating: 7

The Deadly Years Stardate 3478.2: After their return a landing party, including Kirk, Spock and McCoy, suffers from accelerated aging. One crew members dies. Commodore Stocker assumes command and endangers the ship by unwisely entering the Neutral Zone. Luckily a cure is found and Kirk resolves the situation repeating his "corbomite maneuver".

This is just one of the many "medical miracle" episodes, although I must concede that it is the original one. A cure is found after only a few hours of research, and the accelerated aging is not only stopped but even reversed. Then why do people still age at all in the 23rd and 24th centuries? It is one of the fundamental problems of Star Trek that there has to be a "reset button", that the characters have to return to their original state each time, and all "hope" that a change might be permanent is disappointed. In this respect the episode is much too predictable. Old Kirk's senile behavior was probably supposed to be make an important impact, but it was not really credible. Much less was it respectful of elderly people. Only the make-up was really good for its time. The fact that another Federation official utterly fails, and it's up to Kirk to save the ship doesn't make it very creative either, whilst it was not a bad idea to use the "corbomite maneuver" again which creates continuity even though corbomite probably doesn't exist.
Crew losses: 1
Rating: 4

I, Mudd Stardate 4513.3: The crew find themselves as prisoners of a civilization of androids led by the only human, Harry Mudd. However, when they learn the androids want to take over the galaxy, the humanoids work together to disable them, using their best weapon, absence of logic. After they have found out that one of the androids, Norman, is the control center, they focus their efforts on confusing him, playing absurd theater until he is finally disabled.

The foolish humor might be not to everyone's taste, but if one episode besides the unattainable "The Trouble with Tribbles" is funny, then it's this one. Try to take it less seriously if you don't like it. Agreed, Kirk does discuss a computer to death again, we see androids crave power once again, but who cares this time?
Remarkable quotes: "Logic is a wreath of pretty flowers...that smell bad." (Spock), "You say you are lying. But if everything you say is a lie, then you are telling the truth. You cannot tell the truth because everything you say is a lie. You lie, you tell the truth ... but you cannot, for you lie." (a confused Norman)
Remarkable androids: Stella #1 throughout #500, all replicas of his "charming" wife, especially created to "please" Harry
Rating: 6

The Trouble with Tribbles Stardate 4523.3: The Enterprise is summoned to Deep Space K-7 to protect a cargo of wheat, or more precisely, quadrotriticale. The grain, however, falls victim to the cute fast-breeding Tribbles. Eventually, the Tribbles save the day revealing the grain was poisoned and by unmasking the Klingon spy who did it.

This is the one TOS episode perfectly combining humor and suspense. For the first time there were sort of two plots (Tribbles on one hand and the Klingon conflict on the other hand) woven together, like it is customary in modern TV series. Although the episode is complex, the plot is largely free of inconsistencies, and this is one more thing Trek fans always appreciate. Finally, the cute Tribbles have become so immensely popular as no other non-humanoid lifeform.
Remarkable running joke: Kirk is the only one who does not know about quadrotriticale, but permanently confuses it with wheat.
Remarkable scene: the famous one with Kirk buried in a heap of Tribbles, among many other scenes
Remarkable facts: Sherman's Planet was discovered by Russians, quadrotriticale is a Russian invention and finally, Scotch Whisky was invented by a little old lady in Leningrad - at least if we believe Pavel Chekov.
Remarkable lifeform: the one that squeaks when next to a Klingon
Remarkable starbase: Deep Space K-7
Remarkable fact: As an homage to this episode on the occasion of Star Trek's 30th birthday, DS9: "Trials and Tribble-ations" will be based upon it.
Rating: 9

Bread and Circuses Stardate 4040.7: The civilization on the planet 892-IV is like a 20th century version of the Roman Empire. The landing crew are captured and have to participate in televised gladiator fights. Mericus aka Merik, a former Federation ship commander, has become the head of their regime. When Kirk, Spock and McCoy are about to be killed in gladiator matches, Mericus helps them escape, but is himself killed.

Alluding to the difficulties the TV show Star Trek is facing in the 60's, this episode answers the question why the TOS characters are permanently involved in duels: it's only for the Nielsen ratings. Apart from this ironical self-critical revelation, there is nothing very exciting about this episode. The only positive thing left to say about it is that the even worse (slight) variations of the same "mislead Federation official violates Prime Directive on a planet akin to Earth" plot are still to come in "Patterns of Force" and "The Omega Glory". The fact that the regime on the planet is exactly like the Roman Empire is not explained, athough an mysterious "Hodgkins' Theory of Parallel Development" is cited as the reason. The allusion to the first Christians who pray to the Sun/Son is another awkward reference to Earth's history that makes the episode even less credible.
Remarkable fact: The whole scenario is like the Roman Empire, but all writings on 892-IV are in English.
Rating: 2

Journey to Babel Stardate 3842.3: The Enterprise ferries delegates from several planets, including Spock's parents Sarek and Amanda, to a conference on the planet Babel that is supposed to decide about Coridan's admission to the Federation. Sarek suffers a heart attack just as an alien ship begins to assault the Enterprise. To make it worse, Kirk is stabbed by an assassin, and Spock must choose between donating blood for Sarek or taking command of the Enterprise in the emergency. Kirk, hardly able to command again, sends Spock to sickbay where he saves his father's life.

Here is a second episode that strongly focuses on Spock besides "Amok Time", featuring his parents who were missing in the latter episode for some unexplained reason. "Journey to Babel" was a rather good one, but could have been better if not so many plot elements had been mingled: Spock's family problems, the disagreement among the diplomats, the murder story, Sarek's heart attack, and finally the attack by the alien ship. It is a great enrichment of the Star Trek Universe though, because it gives Spock as well as the Federation as a whole a thorough background.
Remarkable races: This episode introduces the Andorians and the Tellarites as two of the most important member species of the Federation.
Remarkable quote: "On Vulcan, the 'teddy bears' are alive, and they have six-inch fangs." (Spock, about his sehlat)
Rating: 6

A Private Little War Stardate 4211.4: On a primitive planet Kirk visited years ago, he discovers that one faction of the population, the town people, are supplied with weapons by the Klingons. Kirk tries to convince his peaceful friend Tyree of the other faction in vain to use weapons as well, in order to keep the balance of power. However, when Tyree's wife, Nona, betrays their people, the situation escalates. Nona is killed by the town people, and Tyree is eager to take revenge.

The plot is too similar to the two previous episodes showing how ruthlessly Klingons use to deal with primitive races to become really appealing. Moreover, once again Kirk destroys a paradise. However, he previously did that without much deliberation and without remorse, like in "Return of the Archons", "This Side of the Paradise" or "The Apple". This time he hesitates. He may be reluctant to advance the society of this world because he knows it better and he has even found friends here. I think this is the key advantage of this episode, and it is good that the bad conscience continues until the tragical end of the episode, quite unlike the many cases where it was assumed or pretended that everything was fine in the end.
Remarkable quote: "We once were as you are. Spears and arrows. There came a time when our weapons grew faster than our wisdom, and we almost destroyed ourselves. We learned from this to make a rule during all our travels never to cause the same to happen to other worlds - just as a man must grow in his own way and his own time." (Kirk)
Rating: 3

The Gamesters of Triskelion Stardate 3211.7: Kirk, Uhura and Chekov are kidnapped using a long-range transporter. On the planet Triskelion, they are forced to fight against gladiators for the entertainment of the planet's rules, three brains connected to each other. Kirk eventually manages to convince the brains to release all slaves and engage in other activities.

We already know this cookie-cutter plot well: Our heroes are kept like pets for the mere enjoyment of their kidnappers. And once again, they are supposed to fight in an arena. And once again, freedom is the highest gift. The only remarkable fact is that it isn't Kirk, Spock and McCoy this time who are captured, but Kirk and the two minor characters Uhura and "fresh face" Chekov. The development story is predictable, and the revelation that the planet is ruled by three brains is too familiar; they could have been computers as well, in which case Kirk would have discussed them to death. No need to mention that Kirk gets the pretty and Chekov the ugly female slave as sparring partners. ;-)
Remarkable quote: "A species that enslaves other beings is hardly superior - mentally or otherwise." (Kirk)
Rating: 3

Obsession Stardate 3619.2: Kirk hunts a cloud-like being. He is eager to destroy it, because he failed to do so years ago, costing the lives of many crew members of the Farragut. The young Garrovick seemingly makes the same mistake as once Kirk when he hesitates to fire. However, Kirk learns that even a phaser shot in time would have been futile, and only antimatter is a useful weapon. Together with Garrovick he places an antimatter bomb near the entity which eventually destroys it.

The story is fine in that it covers both Kirk's personal redemption and his care about the ship and his crew (or temporarily apparent lack thereof). He is just on the verge of becoming like Decker in "The Doomsday Machine"; that is, completely irrational. One weak point is that the redshirt ensigns appear to be incompetent again, and some of them are killed too easily which would not have been necessary. A possible yet insufficient excuse for their hesitation is that they are not simply frightened but rather stunned by the cloud, so they cannot pull the trigger in time. Furthermore the fact that Capt. Garrovick's son serves aboard the Enterprise in the same position as Kirk did under his father is another typical Trek coincidence that makes Kirk's actions a more personal matter but also appears quite contrived. Besides, like many of Kirk's crew members Garrovick is a bit too touchy compared to the overconfident Kirk. Why can't there ever be a tough guy (or girl) among the lower ranks?
Remarkable fact: The cloud couldn't harm Spock because of his green (copper- instead of iron-based) blood.
Remarkable scene: When Kirk and Garrovick hold the antimatter bomb, Garrovick fears that Kirk, obsessed as he is about the creature, is about to commit suicide. Kirk notices that and makes clear that it's not his intention to die. The best scene of the episode. 
Remarkable quote: "Monsters come in many forms. And do you know the greatest monster of them all? Guilt." (McCoy)
Crew losses: 5
Rating: 5

The Immunity Syndrome Stardate 4307.1: An enormous space-dwelling amoeba is consuming entire planets. The only way to destroy it would be from within. Kirk has to decide whether to send McCoy or Spock on a suicide mission on a shuttle inside the amoeba. He decides that Spock should do it. When the amoeba is about to be destroyed, the shuttle can be pulled out alongside the Enterprise, and Spock is saved.

A slight variation of "The Doomsday Machine" that doesn't show anything new but Kirk's tough decision whether to send Spock or McCoy on the suicide mission in the shuttlecraft. Moreover, after "Obsession", another chance is wasted to turn a conflict with a completely new lifeform into a bilateral agreement, which will almost always be the case in TNG, maybe even too often to the Federation's disadvantage. "The Immunity Syndrome" was sort of thrilling, though.
Remarkable fact: Spock senses the Intrepid's Vulcan crew has died before the ship's sensors can detect it.
Rating: 4

A Piece of the Action Stardate 4598.0: A book called "Chicago Mobs of the 20's" has influenced the society of a planet in a way that gangs are ruling and everyone is running around with machine guns. When diplomacy has turned out useless, Kirk & Co. try to repair the damage behaving just like the gang bosses. They impress the bosses with their superior technology and finally make a deal with them.

Despite all the obvious perpetuation of clichés (Federation incursion into an antiquated culture, "American" city on a strikingly Earth-like planet, heroes as prisoners of planet rulers, etc.), this is one of the episodes to remember. In particular the humor is successful. The question remains why the heroes stumble through the plot without any idea until they finally take control of the situation demonstrating their power. After all, the Prime Directive has been violated before and there is nothing to lose. A virtually identical plot will return in "Patterns of Force", however, devoid of fun there.
Remarkable scene: Kirk drives a car (his first and last time), or at least tries hard to.
Remarkable dialogue: "Waddaya think, we're stupid or somethin'?" - "No, no, I don't think you're stupid, Mister Krako. I just think your behavior is arrested." - "I ain't never been arrested in my whole life!" (Kirk and Krako)
Remarkable quote: "The most cooperative man in this world is a dead man." (Bela Oxmyx)
Remarkable card game: Fizz Bin, a game whose strange rules change with the day of the week that Kirk quickly makes up to confuse the mobsters
Rating: 6

By Any Other Name Stardate 4657.5: A small group of aliens hijack the Enterprise and head for their home in the Andromeda Galaxy. They reduce most of the crew to small mineral cubes, of which they crush one to demonstrate their power, thereby killing a female crew member. The aliens not being used to their human bodies and emotions, they can finally be overwhelmed by Kirk, Spock, McCoy and Scotty who skillfully exploit this weakness.

The idea that hostile aliens are not used to human emotions bears a lot of comical potential, but the episode can never really take advantage of it. The whole situation is too grave for a fun episode. After all, the Kelvans did kill one crew member and would do it again any time. Star Trek shows once again that a conflict need not be solved with violence, however, it is not very credible that the aliens change their minds so quickly and so substantially. Understanding an opponent is the key to peace, but it is too much simplified here. On a side note, it is remarkable that back in the 60s no network official took offense by the naive and harmless depiction of Scotty's drinking orgy, something that may not have found the self-censors' blessing in more recent days.
Remarkable quote: "It's...it's green." (Scotty, about a bottle of unknown alcohol)
Remarkable foreign language adaptation: It should be noted that the first aired German version was shortened to exactly 45 minutes and didn't include the scene when the cube (the female crew member) was crushed. Maybe this was the more appropriate variant, considering the onslaught of humor to come.
Remarkable quote: "You thought I was taking your woman away from you. You're jealous. You tried to kill me with your bare hands. Would a Kelvan do that? Would he have to? You're reacting with the emotions of a human. You are human." (Kirk, to Rojan)
Crew losses: 1
Rating: 3

Return to Tomorrow Stardate 4768.3: The consciousnesses of Sargon, Thalassa and Henoch have survived the end of their civilization. In order to be able to construct android bodies, the three occupy the bodies of Kirk, Dr. Mulhall and Spock. Henoch, however, does not want to leave Spock's body. Spock's consciousness seems to be lost when the bulb in which it was stored is destroyed. While Sargon and Thalassa are hiding in the ship's computer, Henoch's consciousness is lost because he has no place to go to. Spock can be recovered, since his mind has been transferred to Nurse Chapel in time.

This episode was obviously seen as an opportunity to show unusual behavior of Spock, or more precisely, Spock's body. It is amusing to watch Henoch/Spock at first, but as soon as it becomes the usual "alien takeover" plot, the episode gets boring. In addition, the fact that the aliens cannot cope with their new bodies is too familiar. "Return to Tomorrow" was aired two weeks prior to "By Any Other Name". It was no good idea for Star Trek to devote itself to essentially the same topic twice in such a short period. The only positive thing left to say is that fortunately the tiresome "evil android/machine" issue did not rule the episode.
Remarkable quote: "We faced a crisis in our earlier nuclear age. We found the wisdom not to destroy ourselves." (Kirk)
Rating: 3

Patterns of Force Stardate 2534.0: The planet Ekos is ruled by a Nazi-like regime that oppresses the Zeon minority on the planet - the result of an obviously failed experiment by the Federation sociologist Gill. Kirk, Spock and McCoy manage to save the planet, but not before Gill, who is only a puppet of the actual ruler, is killed by them.

It's a bad tradition of many American TV series to have at least one Nazi story, no matter how unsuitable or even absurd it is in the overall setting. Unfortunately Star Trek is no exception. I can't reproduce the producers' intentions, but it seems a bit as if they wanted to distract the viewers from current US problems (Vietnam War at that time) by sort of blaming the inherently evil Nazis for everything bad on Earth or even in the universe. Anyway, they appealed to the low instincts of the viewers presenting them a really hateful enemy, or more precisely, with a really hateful masquerade, for the Ekosians were mostly nice guys in essence. Such superficiality is not the Star Trek way! To make it even worse, Kirk, Spock and McCoy can't help disguising themselves as Nazis which they seem to have a lot of fun with. I am sure those who have survived the horror of war and genocide wouldn't share their fun at all. No need to mention that the plot is almost exactly the same as in "A Piece of the Action" and "Bread and Circuses". The episode doesn't discuss the crimes of the Nazi regime in any way (except for the rather trivial conclusion that dictatorship is bad), nor does it present a sci-fi story.
Remarkable fact: This episode was never aired in Germany, but is only available on video tapes. The reason is probably not that Germans could feel offended by continuously being portrayed as Nazis, bearing in mind that similar Nazi trash as well as serious discussions of German history are frequently shown on TV. More likely the unsuitably humorous approach and the absurdity of "Nazis in space" were the decisive obstacles. Not that anyone over here would miss this episode!
Remarkable quote: "The problem with the Nazis wasn't simply that their leaders were the evil, psychotic men they were. But the main problem, I think was the leader principle. A man who holds that much power, even with the best intentions, just can resist the urge to play God." (Kirk and McCoy)
Rating: 0

The Ultimate Computer Stardate 4729.4: Dr. Daystrom's revolutionary computer M-5 is given complete control of all systems of the Enterprise. The test battle against four other Starfleet ships, however, turns into a disaster because M-5 is programmed to be too human and takes the battle seriously. Just as the crippled fleet is going to make a last stand to destroy the apparent renegade ship Enterprise, Kirk can convince M-5 that its deeds were wrong, and M-5 disables itself.

A computer managed many functions of the Enterprise from the very beginning and was seen as an every-day tool used without much pondering about it. This was a very progressive vision in the 1960's when computers were only known as simple machines to read and write financial data on punch cards! Still, in this episode it is a pity that the computer M-5 is a mysterious box with unknown functions that can't even be switched off. Computers will never behave like that. The outstanding movie "2001: A Space Odyssey" which was coincidentally produced at about the same time is facing a similar problem, yet, HAL's functions and capabilities are more credible. While this technical issue is a minor flaw in the story itself, it is annoying that it's again up to Kirk to discuss the computer to death, for the fourth time or so and almost exactly as he already did with Nomad, and that Daystrom is yet another mad scientist. This idea behind this installment is so attractive and was so innovative at the time that it should have gone without the usual clichés. Aside from the above issues the story is one of the best TOS thrillers.
Crew losses: 1
Remarkable quote: "Did you see the love-light in Spock's eyes? The right computer finally came along." (Guess who said that!)
Rating: 6

The Omega Glory Stardate not given: The entire crew of the starship Exeter is found dead after visiting the planet Omega IV. Only Capt. Tracy survived by staying on the planet whose inhabitants are primitive, but become some 900 years old. He now strives to rise to power in the Khom civilization. Kirk, on the other hand, joins the suppressed, seemingly savage Yang faction. He finds out that the Yang are actually not that uncivilized, but only value their freedom above all.

Ouch. This episode hurts, even more so than "Patterns of Force". It is already bad enough to have a mad Federation officer change the development of a primitive planet for the umpteenth time, to see a divided society with a "wild" and a "town" faction like in "A Private Little War" and to proclaim freedom once again in an overly patriotic fashion. The latter, by the way, raises the question why the Khoms shouldn't be free, since for their allegedly badly developed society no real clue is provided. Anyway, the worst about the episode is that it is based on a terrible pun, turning the Khoms into "Communists" and the Yangs into "Yankees". This awry idea is visually corroborated by the racial composition of the Khoms who are obviously all of Asian descent, while the Yangs are Caucasian, which makes it also a politically highly incorrect matter of racism. The absolute climax of absurdity, however, is reached when Kirk quotes the "holy words" (=United States Constitution) and the Yang leader presents the American flag to him. It might be possible that at least some American viewers appreciate this kind of "patriotism", but I'm lacking the words to comment on this utter nonsense.
A curiosity: When Kirk is calling from the engine room through the comm system of the Exeter, several shots of different locations on the ship are shown, including an empty engine room!
Crew losses: 1
Rating: 0

Assignment: Earth Stardate not given: While the Enterprise is on a research mission to Earth's past, an alien named Gary Seven shows up who apparently ly tries to influence the planet's development. The question is whether his intention is to trigger a third world war, or rather to help the humans to avoid it. Anyway, the interference of the Enterprise crew with his plans causes a nuclear weapon to detonate 100 kilometers above the ground. To investigate this explosion was exactly the reason why the Enterprise traveled to the past in the first place.

The Temporal Prime Directive obviously doesn't exist in the 2260's, seeing how carelessly the crew behaves in Earth's past. The directive would obviously be devised for a good reason. The time travel aspect of "Assignment: Earth" is discussed here. The mutual mistrust between the Enterprise crew and Gary Seven makes it an interesting installment. It is worth mentioning that Gary Seven (Robert Lansing) was conceded much more dialogue time than any other TOS guest star, and that the story was partially told from his perspective - in some fashion the roles were even switched since his intentions were quite clear while the mission of the Enterprise remained a secret till the end. The reason was that a Star Trek spin-off series named "Assignment: Earth" was planned, but never produced. I think I would have liked to see it.
Remarkable fact: Gary's company, a cat/woman, is obviously a shapeshifter, but her real nature isn't explained.
Remarkable prop: Gary's multi-functional ball pen
Rating: 7

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