I loved and still love this iconic show, but there are some duds.
For me, although the bad choices are competitive, it's that one with the fucking hippies in space.
Yes it was the 60's, the lingo and styles(?), but hippies are so cringey and hypocritical. Many were posh little brats that needed a slap. Even George Harrison hated them.
Worst episodes? Anything in Season 3, of course.
Honestly, the first season's episode quality is up there with the best genre TV of all time, but as the three seasons went on, the quality dipped drastically. It's like Season 3 was all the leftover ideas that would've been too barmy for the first two seasons.
Elaan of Troyus was in Season 3.
I think that is where I developed an interest in Asian woman. The Vietnamese France Nguyen's tears infected me! ;-)
Just the first few episodes of Season 3:
*Spock's Brain - A camp mess, but high camp.
*The Enterprise Incident - Good by any standard.
*The Paradise Syndrome - People criticize the depiction of Native Americans, and I see the problems but otherwise it is a great episode. Kirk falls in love but it is over a period of weeks and months not hours (I'm thinking of Requiem for Methuselah, a less stellar 3rd season episode) and we have The Preservers, a great explanation for humans spread all over every habitable planet. And I like the fact that the episode does cover months of time.
*And the Children Shall Lead - Absolute crap.
*Is There in Truth No Beauty? - Another decent episode.
So, out of those 5, I claim 3 good ones and one that is worth laughing at.
The problems with The Paradise Syndrome are :
1. No search party left for a very possibly injured Kirk while the Enterprise intercepts the asteroid.
2. It's like warp drive is not warp drive. Spock could have taken the time to explain the problem to Ralph Wiggum and had time to spare in terms of reaching the deflection point. It would have not even taken an hour to reach the deflection given the asteroid's reasonable proximity to the planet. Far enough out a deflection of a percentage of a degree would divert the asteroid.
3. Impulse power as shown is not much better. 58 days to return to the planet?
4. No safety feature to protect warp engines from overload? I'll cut this issue a little slack as the ship's power systems changed to fit the plot of a given episode as it was.
5. Salish. Is Kirk a god or not? Why did he not speak up from the get go as his father went into the pylon and never saw any gods.
I could go on but will not. In general a good idea to have Kirk go native for a bit but the concept needed more time in the oven.
I think most of those points break through the surface when viewed several times - scrutiny scripts at that time never had to endure before Star Trek.
1. No search party left for a very possibly injured Kirk while the Enterprise intercepts the asteroid. - Yep, it seems wrong, but maybe the additional danger of contact with the native people was considered. This is a case where I will assume the best.
2. It's like warp drive is not warp drive.
3. Impulse power as shown is not much better. 58 days to return to the planet? - Both of these points are technically correct. No conceivable asteroid could be far enough away to be more than seconds away at what we understand warp speed to be nor more than a short hop at impulse speed as we understand it. BUT. This is a rare example of an episode that suggests the difference between the two drives (A quick hop vs months of travel). If this is too much of a problem for you, then you better write off episodes like The Doomsday Machine and Balance of Terror. I am willing to consider the problem as of the writers not thinking of a made-up "space anomaly" to use in place of an asteroid.
4. No safety feature to protect warp engines from overload? I'll cut this issue a little slack as the ship's power systems changed to fit the plot of a given episode as it was. - OK, like I accept point 1.
5. Salish. Is Kirk a god or not? Why did he not speak up from the get go as his father went into the pylon and never saw any gods. - I'm not sure I understand the question. "Kirok" came from within the holy place that NOBODY else could enter, wearing alien garments. I suspect that made his status pretty believable. Religion can be like that, particularly a religion with a holy place that actually, periodically, emits a burst of energy at the sky, warding off earthquakes and windstorms (which apparently occur when an "asteroid" approaches).
Look, I am always willing to make up excuses for halfway decent SF on TV or the movies. Star Trek was good enough to treat like real SF, so I understand the problems... I just find it sufficiently worthwhile to apply the odd patch.
More than once the value of Kirk is pointed out on the show. I would think a search could be conducted without contact with the inhabitants. Finding Kirk is imperative and the impact would be minimal at best. This is not like A Private Little War where it was critical for the crew to stay out of sight so as not to upset galactic peace.
What about The Doomsday Machine and Balance of Terror? The movement of craft in both episodes is logical given what we are told about warp drive and impulse power. The whole sequence involving the Planet Killer plays out with everything moving at sub light speed hence a crippled Constellation can be of help to the Enterprise in short order. About the only nitpick is the rather rapid restart of the Constellation but then again Scotty is the miracle worker and is allowed some literary license. Most of BOT is the Enterprise shadowing the Romulan ship per Kirk's order. The Romulan's motive power is impulse based per Scotty. When called upon the Enterprise readily overtakes the Romulan ship using warp drive. The logic is not there in The Paradise Syndrome.
Salish could have entered had his father given him the correct phrase to open the slide door. Salish knew there was a way other than a god to come and go from there. Salish's father did not trust to give this "power" to Salish too soon as he probably sensed Salish being arrogant and power hungry. By the way given Salish's behavior to be sneaky and controlling why did he not once follow his father at a small distance to the obelisk to figure out how he got in?
Most importantly, the mission to divert the asteroid was intended to be a very short one. This could support your view - safe to leave a party behind for Kirk. Or, it could support mine - We will be right back, better to hasten and also minimize contact.
In The Doomsday Machine, the Planet Killer is apparently warp capable (no threat otherwise) but never uses the capability. Why is it creeping about?
In Balance of Terror we are asked to believe that an interstellar war happened with impulse-only ships. We are shown a 2 dimensional border of uncertain extent, which appears to be in deep space. Then a pursuit occurs at impulse speeds. And there is a comet with a tail... Where is the nearby star? Is this within a system that is unmentioned? Nobody bothered to define the limits of impulse speed except that it must be slower than light, so how could the Romulans present a threat to the warp capable?
In The Paradise Syndrome, the problem is purely one of real world astrophysics. The speed and distance of the asteroid are hard to make sense of. But. The basic premise of - short hop at warp speed equating to a months long crawl at impulse speed - is quite understandable. About the only case previous where this was brought up was Where No Man Has Gone Before - A line as I recall "Bases that were weeks away are now years in the distance." admirably explained the difference. Of course, that episode makes no sense anyway... There's an energy barrier around the galaxy nobody noticed before - but it is within a couple days of an automated production facility at sublight... I mean, we have to accept the barrier, but the location of Delta Vega is just a stones throw from it.
I do not find Salish's behavior to be a critical problem. He was suspicious of Kirok. He knew that nobody could enter the holy place without the password, though, so when everybody hailed Kirok a god, he had to be cautious.
I enjoyed the hippie episode. I reach /\
"Lookin' out for Eden. Yeah, Brother!"
Worst and cringiest episode for me was when Spock's brain was stolen.
"Spock's Brain" was the first one I thought to mention. It was awful, unless you choose to look upon it as a comedy or a parody of Trek.
The episode is bad enough but the worst part is the end when McCoy puts Spock's brain back in his head. Spock sits up with every hair in place. Who ever heard of brain surgery that doesn't even mess up your hairdo? ha!
I forgot about the hair. Barely watchable for me.
shareWell, hairspray is far advanced in the 23rd century.
share
Spock's Brain should never have left the story board. What's really cringeworthy to me is that McCoy was able to install a device to activate Spock's muscles and apparently his autonomic system (fair enough), but strangely had a mechanical ratcheting sound..
An episode involving several scantily clad women can't be all bad. Kudos to Bill Theiss for the costume ideas.
shareTurnabout Intruder
shareThe episodes I didn't like were "The Paradise Syndrome" (the only reason the producers killed off Kirk's Native American-style wife was she was pregnant) and "Requiem for Methuselah" (the idea of an android turning human do to love was more fantasy than science fiction). Surprisingly, I had no problems with "Turnabout Intruder". Shatner's acting saved the day!!!
share90's trek is real trek
shareThe Empath
That Which Survives
The Lights of Zetar
The Tholian Webb
The Apple
The Immunity Syndrome
Mostly because IIRC I thought they were boring, not because they had a ridiculous plot or other reason.
Duds ... I think this is in order of airing
Mudd's Women
Squire Of Gothos
The Alternative Factor
Catspaw
I, Mudd
Spock's Brain
Spectre Of The Gun
The Tholian Web
The Empath
That Which Survives
Some of these are maginally successful and I would watch them if I was in a good mood and there was nothing else to watch.
Most of the other series I can only find one, maybe two acceptable episodes, so they are all duds.
I liked the real hippies back in the 60's and 70's, so initially that episode annoyed me.
But over time it become a favorite since it showed masses of people are still manipulated
by charismatic leaders in the 23rd century.
Plus, it featured Spock jamming in a band, and some cool lingo, if you're cool you "reach"
and if you aren't you're a Herbet. LOL
Being a Herbert is bad enough, but adding "hard lip" really makes it insulting.
"The Savage Curtain", the one with Abraham Lincoln and Genghis Khan. I saw that one when it first aired in the sixties, and it's the only episode I've only seen once, as opposed to dozens of times for all the rest.
"Spectre of the Gun", the one where they were at the Okay corral with Wyatt Earp was pretty bad, too.
"The Tholian Web" is one of my favorites!