Trekathon 001: The Man Trap (TOS)

“Captain’s Log …”

And so it begins. *The Man Trap*, the first aired episode of TOS. I’m going to be doing this by original air date, which means that I’m not actually going to get to *The Cage* until after the first season of TNG.

Impressions? After a slow start it’s a good little SF tale, with the shape shifter used nicely. Captain Kirk is a bit of a dick throughout, it’s hard to see why Bones gets on with him based on this episode. There’s also a spectacularly sexist scene with Spock and Uhura on the bridge that really dates the episode badly. But there’s some glimmers here of what Trek would become.

(BTW, the Uhura/Spock thing is notable mainly because it stands out even next to the background level 60s sexism and objectification).

Best special effect: the plant that is absolutely in no way a frilly pink glove with a hand in it.

Red shirts: 4, not one of which was wearing a red shirt (2 blues, a yellow and an engineering smock).

“He’s Dead Jim”: 1 (well, 1/2 I suppose, he just says “Dead, Jim”. But close enough).

1 down, 736 to go.


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