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Series and Season: Star Trek: The Original Series, Season 3
Episode #, and Episode Name: 1 – “Spock’s Brain” and 2 – “The Enterprise Incident”
Setting the Stage: I started today at 4:00 pm, still watching via Netflix and using their viewing order. I watched the first episode alone while everyone was taking a nap, including the cats! As this was a new season, I watched credits. Was the text blue before? If it was, nothing has changed. I watched the second episode while I was watching one of my friends teach a kid’s karate class. I watched two other episodes with my friends, and had quite the tasty dinner, but I am exhausted and don’t have the heart to finish writing them up tonight, so you’ll get to read about them tomorrow.
I’m using my husband’s laptop, and there seem to be some different settings for some reason. I was having troubles uploading pictures, but it should be all fixed now. Sorry for the technical issues, everyone!
Quick Summary with my Impressions: “Spock’s Brain” starts off with Scotty being in love with the ship that is trailing them. Oh, there’s a brunette this time but she makes everyone pass out and steals Spock’s brain! Okay McCoy, I give, what’s worse than dead? Also, now that I’m looking more closely, what did Scotty and Kirk do to their hair?? McCoy is ridiculously dramatic. At first he won’t give Kirk a timeline, but then he says 24 hours, what changed? We use fuzzy logic to find where the intruder landed. Kirk beams down to a Hoth-like planet. Kirk uses the “I’m going to stun you, not here to harm you, just want to be friends” line. McCoy and brainless Spock beam down, this is ludicrous, they spring the trap, and stun the woman. This one doesn’t know about men, and the men up above don’t know about women, what is going on? All of a sudden, Spock’s voice comes out over the communicator. The women don’t know a lot of terms, but Kirk and McCoy think the women can’t be in charge, I mean maybe it’s because they don’t know shit, but women can totally run things.
Poor Nimoy is just sitting around because his character has no brain, but he plays it so well. Anyway, Spock’s brain is the “controller” and his voice is more robotic than usual, but not by much. I should have developed a drinking game for the number of times Spock says “fascinating”. Scotty comes through with the most ridiculous diversion, Kirk argues with the woman to no avail, and McCoy is willing to risk his brain for the medical knowledge. McCoy reinstates Spock’s brain, with some dramatics. Kirk believes men and women should live together and develop the way Earth did, le sigh.
I did not hate this episode, but there were a lot of strange things going on. I’m kind of over how Kirk has this very singular way of thinking, that men and women should get married and have babies and should all evolve as those on Earth did. Again, I get it’s the 1960’s. Their portrayal of the tribe on the planet wasn’t great, a lot of stereotypes and potentially some brown-face (it’s hard to find the background of some of the actors). One thing I really liked about this episode is it sort of explains why there are so many humanoids throughout the galaxy. In real life, it’s because of the (lack of) budget, but I thought their explanation was a plausible one. I give this episode fiiiiiiiiive golden rings.
“The Enterprise Incident” starts off with a cranky Kirk who purposefully goes into the neutral zone and then directly into Romulan space; Scotty and McCory are rightfully concerned. All of a sudden, the Enterprise is surrounded by three ships and has one hour to surrender to the Romulans. Now there are three options: fight and be destroyed, blow up the Enterprise, or surrender. Kirk and Spock go aboard to discuss with the Romulan commander, who is a woman, nice! Kirk lies about why they are there and the Commander spills the beans about the cloaking device being real. Spock is summoned and eventually tells the truth, so naturally Kirk threatens to kill Spock and calls him a traitor. Please read that naturally with a heavy sarcastic connotation. Scotty is not taking shit from the Romulans, I love when he is in command of this ship. Spock totally shows his Ravenclaw in this episode, or really his not Slytherin, as he doesn’t have the ambitious nature, but I’m sure there is going to be a very twisty plot device soon as it is not in Spock’s character to be disloyal. Wait, what’s with the Commander being all flirty with Spock? I don’t believe Kirk is dead, it’s only episode 2 after all, and my suspicion is confirmed. Scotty’s goofy grin with Kirk being alive and looking like a Romulan is everything. I have also now lived to see Spock talk a woman out of her clothes, oh my. It was all a ruse to get the cloaking device, figured as much but wasn’t sure who was in on it. Scotty presses the button and the Enterprise disappears, along with the Commander on board… a happy accident to be sure.
I think Nimoy has really figured out how to be even more emotionless than before, he really seems to have it down pat during Season 3 (so far). Yet at the end of the episode, he reveals he is intrigued by the commander. Maybe his very own Irene Adler. I hate that she was reduced to a puddle of goo, though, she started off as a badass commander and then was all of a sudden turned into a lovesick teenager who becomes obsessed with her first crush. If you take out the “top woman falls for man” trope, this is a pretty solid espionage episode, so I’ll give it 6-and-a-half feet of black duct tape.
Season 3 appears to be the season of the brunettes, and we’ll find more in episodes 3 and 4… but not until tomorrow!
TA out!
To Boldly Go Where Everyone Has Gone Before 