"The Alternative Factor" (4/10)A thing happens and the Enterprise is out of fuel. Said thing involves an MPD psycho or something. Cue near incomprehensibility.
-- Takes its time and slogs its way through patented late 60's sci-fi trippiness to get to its plot, which is actually kinda cool and the ending is totally neato. A good example of how a show's aesthetic can ruin a script.
"Tomorrow is Yesterday" (4/10)The Enterprise is (presumably) unlucky enough to get thrown back in time to one that can be conveniently emulated with previously built sets and stock footage.
-- I'm a sucker for a fish out of water given a tour of a magical place, their eyes sparkling with bespeckled wonder, so there's that. This is one of those times when the time travel rules in this make no goddamned sense! Enough so you can't reconcile what the hell happens in the end. Phuck.
"The Return of the Archons" (3/10)Planetwide contentment and sketchy behavior fail to spread into the real world, where I'm watching it. Zombies don't quite happen. Kirk annoys a computer to death.
-- It would be "The Man Trap" or this one that takes Worst Episode So Far. Stupid VS Boring: A Never Ending Battle.
"A Taste of Armageddon" (5/10)Two computers from the movie WarGames decide the fate of their respective nations' citizens. Man, WarGames was awesome!
-- The sorta classic sci-fi concept I like, and there's enough action to keep the pace from being another 'I wonder if a supercomputer is behind all this' episode. Kirk really is shirking the set-theory shortcut. Impressive, I guess?
"Space Seed" (5/10)The Crew comes across a ship adrift and filled to the brim with evil motherfuckers, and they don't blow it up. Women succumb to their horniness way too easily.
-- Khan's origins! Although, after his match with Kirk, he seems rather content to remain on the harsh planet. Something has to happen between here and the second movie to warrant two hours worth of revenge. More later, nigg'h!
"This Side of Paradise" (4/10)Flowers cause a buncharuckus and things once again get really close to the wire, to the point where the solution seems a little farfetched.
-- It's hard for me to determine how bad I think this one is, especially when I liked certain things about the ending and the part where Kirk is thinking about being alone and it's a poignant moment and all... and then a flower spurts on him. Damn these things being almost almost good sometimes!
"The Devil in the Dark" (4/10)Kirk and Spock are misappropriated for a job involving dead miners. They then can't escape a lesson on tolerance and forgiveness.
-- Completely goes off the rails near the end. The mind meld scene reminded me way too much of the Cookie Wizard. And fuck that fiery blob thing, it killed my workers!
"Errand of Mercy" (4/10)The Klingon Empire and the Federation lock heads (sorta) in a battle (sorta) to end all battles (ssssssssorta). Okay, fuck it, it's supposed to be Vietnam.
-- Ugh, another "Balance of Terror" plot ruined by an all-powerful mediator. Fuck off you assholes! Let us fight! Tryin to wage some warfare here! Additionally, there's the constant "does not compute" going on in my brain because of the fu-manchu Klingons. I hear tell that it gets explained later... or earlier, depending on your viewpoint... I can't see how the explanation is going to be satisfying.
"The City on the Edge of Forever" (6/10)The most sue-happy person in the world gets fucked over, I hear tell, and a generally well-liked, critically acclaimed episode is born. Time travel makes more sense here!
-- I wonder what happened to this strange stargate after the Enterprise left. Do we ever come back to it? Did Kirk tell anybody about his wonderful and not at all depressing adventure? Bunch of fun dialogue and an interesting problem our heroes need to fix. Plus, pacifism is the problem! Intriguing! "My friend is obviously Chinese..." Oop, don't tell Jeremy Lin! There, is that more current for you?
"Operation -- Annihilate!" (5/10)Tiny gross things try to take over. Spock puts on his cowboy pants and saves the goddammned day.
-- Not a bad one, I suppose. It's one of those that's simple plotwise, interesting enough and paced well, and besides the "inner eyelid" explanation out of left field at the end, nothing too offensive. Vulcans are cats now, it's canon!
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