Author: robert

This is one of those fairly rare episodes where I have no vestigal memory at all of what happens. I think that adds to the enjoyment of any given episode, although I think this episode was pretty good to start with. Firstly, on the plot side it had an interesting concept (aliens from another galaxy!),…

Nazis in Space! Every now and then I think there’s a Star Trek episode where someone in accounting said “Why can’t you just use these old sets and costumes we have lying around instead of buying new ones”. 1920s Chicago, 1960s LA, and here we are with the Nazis. Still, whatever the origin this was…

An episode that fell very flat for me. As it turns out, taking both Spock and Kirk off the board for well over half the episode (by having them possessed by aliens) just wasn’t very interesting. It was probably fun for Nimoy and Shatner to try something a little different, but they just didn’t have…

The Vietnam war analogy here could not be clearer. Mainly because Kirk takes the little time out two-thirds of the way through the mission to make it painfully clear through a direct reference. But that said it’s a pretty sophisticated analogy for the time (1968 in this case). Kirk is pretty clearly stuck with no…

Another slow developing episode, which turns out to really be about McCoy and Spock’s relationship. This is the first time that the real complexities have been clear, and it seems like this is an important building block in the relationship that can be seen in the Star Trek films. The competition between McCoy and Spock…

So here’s my problem with this episode – there couldn’t be a clearer example of the importance of strictly adhering to the non-interference Prime Directive. The damage that can be done to a culture by even relatively innocuous material (OK, fine, maybe the extent of the mimicry is a little unbelievable) is extensive. But does…

Whoops, that was a little bit of a hiatus. Sorry! Between holidays, work and weddings (OK, and Mass Effect 2) no time for Star Trek until today. So I’m now 18 episodes behind. Better get a move on… *Gamesters* is a nice episode a little bit undermined by not really having enough content to fill…

A beloved Star Trek classic. Does it hold up? I think so. It’s mainly an episode played for laughs, but the laughs are pretty good ones. The story rolls along nice and quickly, and there are some nice character moments for Mr Scott. (One of he surprising things from watching all this Star Trek is…

The inevitable ‘Jack the Ripper’ episode. I thought it all went pretty well, really. The usual problems with mystery episodes like this is that you know the regular cast member is innocent. But they did a good job here in making Scotty look not just plausible as a suspect, but positively guilty. Things went off…

Captain Ahab, ahem, I mean Kirk, chases after a creature that once nearly killed him to the point of endangering his ship and crew. Gee, I wonder where they got the idea for that plot? Moby Dick plagiarism accusations aside this is a clever episode. The part when McCoy and Spock have to ask Kirk…