TOS: Season 3, Episodes 7 – 9 (Jan 29, 2020)

Series and Season: Star Trek: The Original Series, Season 3

Episode #,and Episode Name: 7 – “Day of the Dove”, 8 – “For the World is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky”, and 9 – “The Tholian Web”

Setting the Stage: I watched episodes 7 and 8 beginning at 7:30 pm on January 28, 2020, still watching Netflix and using their viewing order. I watched Episode 9 at 7:00 pm on January 29, 2020, also on Netflix. I had two long days at work, with lots of meetings, and coming home to eat dinner and watch one episode was enough for me tonight. Husband, Tempura, and Zoom were ever present, and everyone else was asleep. I might try to get way ahead this Saturday, though, if I’m going to watch the sportsball happening on Sunday, there won’t be time for Trek. Oh, and I’m listening to more Star Wars soundtracks this evening.

Quick Summary with my Impressions: “Day of the Dove” has Kirk and company beam down, apparently a settlement has been eliminated. There’s a shiny ball of energy following them, as well as the Klingons, and one just up and bitch slaps Kirk, whoa. They have the Klingons in horrible makeup that makes it look like blackface, and why do the bad guys have to be brown? Sigh. Also, how was the landing party taken over so easily? Chekov gets angry at the Klingons because they killed his brother, so he gets tortured first, but his screams are pretty terrible. Kirk “surrenders” but keeps the Klingons stranded in transit until security can get there. The ball of energy seemed to follow them while the Enterprise is going to assist those who were stranded on the Klingon ship and we meet female Klingons for the first time. Uhura is flummoxed by the lack of communications and the Enterprise is racing toward heading out of the galaxy, again. Didn’t we just do this? Um, why is everything turning into swords?!?! Chekov swears a vendetta and leaves his post, but apparently he’s an only child, curiouser and curiouser.

Everyone starts to get a little hot headed, McCoy and Scotty get a lot racist, and Spock stops gives into his human anger for just a few minutes. Kirk thinks something is staging a war for them. Chekov jumps Kang and his wife, and then WHAT THE HELL Chekov?! Kirk rightfully punches him out, and then carries him to sickbay showing off his manly man strength. They figure out the alien feeds off of their argumentative energy, and Kirk knows they need to be at peace in order to destroy it. Oh, another sword fight while a woman tries to talk sense into her husband… and now lets everyone get involved! Kang finally gets it and they all tell the alien to get out while laughing at it.

I have thoughts. Lots of thoughts, and a lot of questions too. This was an interesting story, but there were just too many things wrong. Why was Chekov the only one who had a made up backstory implanted? Why did they just send the alien away to torture some other group of innocents? How did it call them there to begin with? Of the three Klingon commanders we have seen so far, Kang is my favorite. He is what I expected the Klingons to be when I started watching the series. He just has this air of badassery surrounding him. Husband tells me I will see those three again in Deep Space Nine and keeps trying to convince me to watch that next, as it is his favorite. I’m also appalled by Chekov’s behavior towards women, even if he’s being mindfucked that’s no way to treat another person, ever. I did, however, enjoy the sword fights and eventually everyone decided to work together and diplomacy won the day. This episode gets 7 coconuts, some as big as your head, but none with a lime in them. Oh and when I heard “Kang”, this image popped into my head:

“For the World is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky” is, quite possibly, the longest title ever! McCoy and Chapel get into an argument, she storms away, and McCoy tells Kirk that he has one year to live with a terminal illness, whaaat?! There’s an asteroid that has a missile on it… that’s no moon, it’s a spaceship and it’s heading toward Darren V.

Our three heroes beam over to the ship that is registering no life forms, but totally has life forms, surprise! They are attacked by a strange voice and some electricity, and wake up in a room where Kirk divulges McCoy’s secret. Kirk treats McCoy like people treat pregnant women sometimes, and I’m already over that bullshit. At least Spock gives the kindest gesture he can, and it’s quite touching. The priestess has the hots for McCoy, so he stays behind while Spock and Kirk go exploring. McCoy has fun flirting until the “m” word is used (mate, not marriage – get your head out of the gutter!), so he lets her know he has one year to live and then they share a smooch. She would rather spend one year with him than spend a lifetime without him, it’s very Lord of the Rings.

Kirk and Spock break into the room that was supposedly off limits and are found out, while McCoy decides to stay with the priestess as long as she lets them live.  Kirk and Spock go back to the Enterprise alone, but then head back to the “asteroid” to try and read “the book” while the Oracle tries to kill them by heating the room. Of course the day is saved, and the ship just so happens to have had the medical advances necessary to cure McCoy, how convenient.

I absolutely thought this was a great episode, except for all of the damn plot holes or other things that just don’t make sense. Why does it matter that they are on a ship? Also the romance between the priestess and McCoy doesn’t make a lot of sense, there are no lead up and she’s all like “mate with me” and he agrees! I understand people make emotional decisions when they are terminal, but come on McCoy you just met this woman! I did like that the Fabrini tried to save their civilization (hello Kryptonians, don’t just send two children), but the way they went about it was too secretive and also a little stupid. I mean, if you knew they were going to be wandering space for thousands of years, wouldn’t you want SOMEONE to check on the engines? Also, for someone so in love McCoy leaves his new lady pretty quickly once he was healed, typical. This episode gets 6 slices of pepperoni.

“The Tholian Web” has Spock telling Kirk the sensors are working, but clearly they are not and why is the Defiant green? Ooooh, the landing party dons spacesuits, that’s new. Oh no, the crew is dead and they apparently killed each other. Chekov starts to get dizzy, and McCoy finds a body that is now starting to disappear… along with the rest of the ship. Of course the transporter isn’t working, so Kirk decides to stay behind while the other three beam back. The Defiant vanishes with Kirk on it. While on the bridge, Chekov freaks out… he really does have an awful scream, get it together Koenig! While waiting, the Enterprise runs into the Tholians, who claim the space. When they fail to retrieve Kirk the first time, the Tholians fire, the Enterprise fires back, and then the Tholians come back and build a web, I wonder where the idea came from, hmmmmm. Spock calls a briefing and declares Kirk dead, so he and McCoy listen to Kirk’s voice recording, his final orders. Uhura and Scotty see visions of Kirk floating through space, and the mystery murderous rage is spreading through the ship. McCoy figures out the antidote, the web is closed, and Kirk reappears. Once Kirk is back on the ship, Spock and McCoy lie about hearing the “final orders”, and away they go.

This episode had a strange medical mystery, interaction with reasonable alien lifeforms, drama, and no romance! There are some things I have to point out, like the “no mutiny in Starfleet history” thing? Didn’t Spock totally take over in “The Menagerie”, even if it was for a very good reason? Aren’t Vulcans unable to lie? Did Spock tap into his human side because he experienced, dare I say, embarrassment? Also, is Kirk just that good and knows that if he died that McCoy and Spock would be acting the way they were, or was that just a way to talk some sense into the two? Also, why do the Tholians look like luchadors – or is it just me? This episode gets 6 Stone Cold Stunners and a People’s Eyebrow for good measure.

TA Out!