Hey Kids,
I gotta be honest, it’s been quite a while since I’ve watched an entire original Star Trek Episode. I’ve seen bits and pieces in YouTube mash-ups and occasional documentaries. Once in a while I get an urge to watch an oldie (This Side of Paradise and Mirror, Mirror come to mind), but in the shuffle of real life, I had forgotten about how much insightful writing was done on the show, and this is well evidenced in this great collection of Spock quotes. Many of the quotes are about his annoyance with humans, but ironically these quotes bring out his human side too! (Not to mention how wonderful it is to hear Nimoy’s silky baritone delivery). Thanks to “Becky the Trekky” for creating this, nice job!
I have ideas for some videos on my own whenever I get around to it! Enjoy!
He does have a lovely voice, yes, and he can do so much with it.
I re-watched all 79 episodes during the past six months, for the first time in a long while. I see no need to see “The Alternative Factor” ever again :-), but many of the TOS episodes are well worth re-watching. I think I could see “Amok Time” and “Journey to Babel” once a month for the rest of my life and not be bored, but perhaps I am easily amused. 🙂
Hey, good writing is always worth another view! Yeah, Alternative Factor is not one of my favorites (nor Obsession) yet whenever I do occasionally watch them, they’re kind of like ‘new’ to me because I don’t now every line of dialogue!
A friend and I watched all the movies (1 to 6, that is), and then took the plunge into the 79 episodes. The rule is that we’re not allowed to skip. So we did watch Alternative Factor. It’s been a surprise in parts; some episodes were better than we remembered (I, Mudd, Man Trap) and some far worse than we remembered (I was looking forward to Catspaw and it was SO sluggish and boring). And it’s lovely to be reminded of just how good it was when it was good, and why it’s lasted 48 years.
Yes indeed! Sooner or later I want to review all 79 here, in shooting order, even if it means watching the duds! I should post a vote to survey everyone’s 5 best and worst episodes.
Oh, I hope you will review them all; that would be fun!
I actually like the TV episodes much better than the movies, but that might be partly because I started there. None of the movies really felt like Star Trek to me, though 2, 3, and 4 came closest.
And yes, re-watching the episodes as an adult can cause one to re-evaluate them. Boy, can it. 😀 I find the humorous episodes work less well for me at 55 than they did at 13, which I suppose is not surprising.
But even the fan-favorite “The City on the Edge of Forever” hit me differently now than it did when I was a teen. I looked at the set-up to that episode and thought, “So, Kirk and Spock are alone hundreds of years in the past, and the fates of everyone they’ve ever known and everyone they’ve ever loved depend on their salvaging the timeline. Kirk is in the past with someone who’s NOTICEABLY ALIEN, who could be lynched or dissected or taken by the government for questioning if he’s ever discovered. They’re in a place where they don’t know the rules and don’t understand the culture, but they have to adapt FAST so that they can find McCoy and prevent the disruption of the timeline. All of that is going on, and Kirk FALLS IN LOVE? Okay, yeah, Edith is a nice woman and gorgeous and tremendously progressive for her time, but it seems to me that Kirk just wouldn’t have the emotional ROOM to fall in love, what with everything that’s going on.” And if you don’t believe in the love story, the episode … doesn’t work nearly as well.
It’s funny how we feel as if we’re the same person throughout our lives, but really, we change SO much.
You’re not the first to doubt the love interest in the context of that situation. And Catspaw was, strangely, the episode in which I fell in love with Spock, so maybe the impact couldn’t be expected to have lasted after decades of adoration! Therese, I so hope you find the time to review the episodes. I’d love that. I’ve read three series of reviews recently. One was really good. One was specifically written to point out the anti-women aspects of every episode. And one was specifically written to point out the absolute proof of K/S in every episode. Please write some nice straightforward non-axe-grinding reviews!
And Corylea, that’s such an interesting point you raise, about how we can suddenly come across a gauge which unexpectedly measures how we’ve actually changed over the decades, despite our still infantile feelings!
Hey, Winston!
I think I know about two of the reviews you talk about. PlaidAdder wrote reviews pointing out the sexism of TOS at http://archiveofourown.org/works/856342/chapters/1639186
Brittany Diamond wrote the K/S “proof” reviews at fanfiction.net, though she only made it halfway through Season 2.
Where were the ones you liked?
I’ve seen some okay reviews at http://jphalt-startrekindex.blogspot.com/2010/11/star-trek-season-one-1966-1967.html
There are good reviews of Season 1 at http://them0vieblog.com/2013/05/31/star-trek-season-1-review/ but they’re only for Season 1.
I’d love to see some good reviews of TOS for Seasons 2 and 3.
I’m glad to hear that I’m not the only one who didn’t quite buy the love story in “The City on the Edge of Forever.” I’ve never heard anyone say that before, and I always see this episode cited as the greatest episode EVER, and it makes me feel like I’m out of step, even among Star Trek fans, which feels kind of lonely.
It’s interesting to hear that “Catspaw” was the episode in which you fell in love with Spock, since I didn’t find Spock to be as noteworthy in that episode as he is in some others. Do you remember what it was about that episode that did it for you?
I fall more in love with Spock every time I see “Journey to Babel.” The scene with him and his mother in his quarters, where he insists on doing what he thinks is his duty, no matter how much that will cost him … it blows me away. I’m not even certain that he’s making the right decision there, but that doesn’t really matter. HE thinks he’s making the right decision, and he makes it and sticks to it in spite of what it will take out of him … he’s a man and a half.
It’s nice to have someone to swoon over Spock with. 🙂 My husband likes him and thinks he’s a good character, but he doesn’t quite understand why I feel so deeply for our favorite Vulcan.