Star Trek Anniversary Top #20 - Ampersand's List

[John's Note: friend and blog reader Ampersand returns with a great contribution, below.]

Hey, John. Ampersand here. Been a while since I've contributed, but I couldn't resist a Star Trek challenge!

But before I present my picks, I'd like to comment: I recently re-watched all 79 episodes of The Original Series, in production order, and what struck me was that the first 20 or so episodes ranged from excellent to pretty good. (The first real turkey was "The Alternative Factor.") 

That's, like, 15 hours of great space opera! And in that genre, what had come before? Forbidden Planet, of course, and maybe a couple episodes of Twilight Zone and Outer Limits, but I can't think of anything else. It made me really appreciate what Roddenberry and his team had accomplished way back when I was but a lad.

Anyway, here's my picks:

20) "Whom Gods Destroy:" An Andorian, a Tellarite, and an Orion slave girl walk into a bar ... Not a great episode, but builds on continuity and features one of the great Trek villains. Bonus: Gets referenced in "Buffy" years later. Also: Yvonne Craig!

19) "I, Mudd:" Kind of dumb, but pure comedy if you know and love the characters. Shut up, Stella!

18) "Assignment: Earth": What could have been... Kirk & co. don't actually get much to do in this backdoor pilot, but hey, Terri Garr! Also a very cute cat.

17) "A Piece of the Action:" Another comedy episode with a cute concept, kinda stupid but fun. Right, Spocko? Check.

16) "Requiem for Methuselah:" Okay, really just a sci-fi soap opera, but maybe I'm just a sucker for "secret history" stories.

15) "The Squire of Gothos:" Trelane's a baby Q, right? Whatever, it sets the template, and it's fun.

14) "Day of the Dove:" Not necessarily the first time the Klingons were treated like equals, but maybe the first time they were truly sympathetic. Yet another variation on the classic Trek theme: Those who you think of as enemies may well turn out to be your allies.

13) "Mirror, Mirror:" High concept, great execution. Now everyone's evil twin has to have a goatee.

12) "The Menagerie (I & II --yes, I'm cheating):" Clever re-use of existing footage, but so much more; the Enterprise had a Captain before Kirk, there's a history here, and Trek mythology begins ...

11) "The Doomsday Machine:" Damn good story with a damn good guest star, 'nuff said.

10) "Tomorrow is Yesterday:" Sure, the time travel mechanics are a bit muddy, but the dual fish-out-of-water scenarios (Capt. Christopher on the Enterprise, Capt. Kirk on "present-day" Earth) are great. Funny, thrilling, and a more than a little bit touching.

9) "Journey to Babel:" One of only two (!) TOS episodes to feature a Vulcan other than Spock*, this fine ep not only introduces us to Spock's parents, but fills us in a bit on the politics of the UFP. And, it's a great story.

 .... *Pedantic footnote: "Surak" appears in the (pretty terrible) Robo-Abraham Lincoln episode, but he's a simulation, not a Vulcan.

8) "Amok Time:" The other TOS ep that has Vulcans, but more importantly, a terrific exploration of the relationship between Kirk and Spock (and, to a slightly lesser extent, McCoy).

7) "The Devil in the Dark:" Another really great "Your enemy isn't really your enemy" episode.

6) "Balance of Terror:" One of the outstanding space battle episodes, but with a bold statement about prejudice included. Bold for the time, sadly still relevant now.

5)"Arena" The one that made James T. Kirk my hero. He had a chance to kill the Gorn, but he didn't because that's not what heroes do. Classic. 

4): "The Enemy Within:" Hey, have I mentioned the classic TOS trope, "Your worst enemy is actually your best friend"? This has got to be the ultimate expression of that. Too bad the dog has to die, though.

3) "The Trouble with Tribbles:" Just pure joy from start to finish. Funny, yes, but with a good story behind it. And  annoyed-but-amused-in-spite-of-himself Kirk is one of the best Kirks.

2) "The Corbomite Maneuver:" "Not chess, Mr. Spock. Poker!" Our introduction to Kirk the trickster. Some call this the "real" TOS pilot, and I can't really disagree.

1) "Spock's Brain:" An elegant exploration of the philosophical ramifications of ... no, just kidding. 

Not Kidding :

1) "The City on the Edge of Forever:" This one's got it all: action, humour and a romance for the ages. In fact, in my biased opinion I would say that this episode on its own is one of the best sci-fi films of the 60's, and maybe all time.

Thanks for listening!

Star Trek Anniversary - John's Top 20 - "Journey to Babel" (#8)

At #8 on my top 20 list is "Journey to Babel," the episode of Star Trek that introduces Spock's parents: Sarek and Amanda.  

On or both of these characters have appeared not only in Star Trek, but on the Animated Series, motion pictures, the re-boots, and even The Next Generation. Star Trek: Discovery will also revisit Sarek and Amanda. They are as much a part of the mythos as Kirk, or Spock.

The episode also introduces us to Andorians and Tellarites, alien species who also recur in the series.

But the big takeaway from this episode is Spock's frisson with his father, Sarek, and his history of dealing with a disapproving parent.  This is a very...human dilemma.

Stardate: 3842.3.

On the way to the Babel diplomatic conference, the Enterprise makes a stop at Vulcan to pick up Ambassador Sarek (Mark Lenard), and his wife, Amanda (Miss Jane Wyatt), Spock’s parents.

Other alien ambassadors are also traveling aboard the Enterprise, including Shras (Reggie Nalder), an Andorian), and Gav (John Wheeler), a Tellarite.  The issue at stake for the Federation is the admission of a non-aligned planet, Coridon.

Unaligned, the planet is under siege for its rich supply of Dilithium crystals. Orion pirates have been among those parties raiding the planet.

When Gav is murdered, apparently by use of a Vulcan technique, Tal-Shaya, Sarek is the prime suspect in the crime. But, as Sarek reveals: he is suffering from a grave cardiac condition, and was incapacitated at the time of the Tellarite’s death.

Soon, there is another assassination attempt. Kirk is attacked and stabbed by an Andorian, Thelev (William O’Connell).  Accordingly, Spock takes command of the Enterprise in the crisis, but his presence on the bridge means that he cannot be present in sickbay to give a blood transfusion to his dying father.

D.C. Fontana’s “Journey to Babel” is another superb,  absolutely top-drawer episode of Star Trek (1966-1969). It is probably one of the top ten episodes of the series, in whole, and one of the best of the second season (along with "Amok Time," "The Doomsday Machine" and "Metamorphosis".)

This episode not only establishes much about Spock’s youth and history, it introduces the characters of Sarek and Amanda, who have appeared in the franchise many times since. Sarek returned in the feature films Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984), Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home (1986), as a young-man at Spock’s birth in The Final Frontier (1989), and in The Undiscovered Country (1991). He also appeared in two episodes of The Next Generation, “Sarek,” and “Unification.” The latter depicted his death.

Jane Wyatt returned for Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home, and both characters were also re-booted in J.J. Abrams’ Star Trek (2009), played by Ben Cross and Winona Ryder. 

Recently, there was word that Amanda may play a role in the new Star Trek: Discovery (2017).

On a wider scale, “Journey to Babel” introduces to key alien races to the series: the Andorians and Tellarites.

In terms of narrative, Fontana’s story also serves as a kind of prototype for future tales. The idea of a starship shuttling ambassadors to a conference, with murder and intrigue aboard, recurs in the Star Trek franchise in stories such as Star Trek: The Next Generation’s (1987-1994) “Lonely Among Us” (with the Antican and Selay), and in Enterprise’s (2001-2005) “Babel One,” a key call-back to this installment.

Also, this episode cements some key concepts about Vulcans. One isthat they use the touching of the hands in ways that human don’t; namely to signify intimacy and connection.  Sarek and Amanda, in particular, embody this ideal.  We see it again in “The Enterprise Incident” (between Spock and the Romulan Commander), and during The Search for Spock’s Pon Farr sequence.

Additionally, many of Spock’s background details, name-checked here, are given further detail and coloring in D.C. Fontana’s “Yesteryear,” an episode of Star Trek: The Animated Series (1973). In particular, we learn that he had a pet sehlat.

Some fans have also identified “Journey to Babel” -- particularly the reception scene, with its colorful and diverse aliens and unique alien food and beverages -- as a possible influence for Star Wars’ (1977) much-beloved cantina sequence.

But the primary value of “Journey to Babel” arises not from the fact that it is so influential, but rather 

the interpersonal fire-works.  

In particular, the story diagrams a topic that was much-talked about in the late 1960s and early 1970s: the generation gap. This particular generation gap might be defined as a gulf between parents and children over everything from music, sexual mores and politics to religious belief and hair-styles.

Spock and Sarek embody that gap perfectly here. 

Sarek does not approve of Spock’s choice to enlist in Starfleet and serve among humans. Spock, meanwhile, has rejected his family’s tradition of attending the Vulcan Science Academy.  Poor Amanda stands trapped in the middle, attempting to mediate peace and understanding between two very stubborn men.  She is not in an enviable position.

The emotional highlight of the episode, at least as far as I’m concerned, involves the scene between Amanda and Spock. She begs him to exercise his “human” half, and go to his sick father, who will die without his assistance.  Spock -- still seeking Sarek’s approval in some way -- instead goes into ultra-Vulcan mode, besieging Amanda with all the logical reasons why he cannot do so.

Amanda then tells a story about Spock as a child. She discusses how he was victimized by the Vulcan children, and how he had to bear the bullying with Vulcan stoicism.  The moment is enormously affecting, both in terms of learning about Spock’s childhood (and isolation), and in establishing Amanda’s character too.  Living on Vulcan has been difficult for her too.

The scene ends with Spock refusing to budge from his stance, and Amanda having an emotional outburst; slapping him across the face.

It is such a powerful moment that the audience feels it has been slapped as well. 

The scene -- and the episode -- work so effectively because of the universality of such family experiences. 

In the life cycle of a family, parents move from establishment and developing of a family unit, to launching their children into independence. This launching of the children into the world is so difficult, so fraught with emotion, because children may, in adolescence and young adulthood, reject the teaching of the parents.  They must “find” themselves, and that finding that identity sometimes involves choosing a new path.  Parents see that choice as negative, because they are still invested in the children, and, for the first time in a decade, don’t have control over important choices.  But importantly, they often seem to have forgotten what it was like to be young; to be taking those first uncertain steps to adulthood.

In the best tradition of Star Trek, “Journey to Babel” is all about how families grow and evolve -- and sometimes become estranged -- because parents and grown children refuse to give up their polarized views, and come together. They refuse to accept one another as individuals, and as ones with great differences.  I love that the Vulcans are utilized here to demonstrate this generation gap.  They believe in IDIC (Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations), and yet still have trouble accepting the choices made by their children or parents.

How very…human.

If “Journey to Babel” boasts any weakness, it involves Spock’s refusal to turn over command to Scotty or Sulu, to help his father.  Previous episodes have proven that both officers are capable of taking command in difficult situations.  Sulu took the Enterprise to war, essentially, in “Errand of Mercy,” and Scotty was in command during the Eminiar VII events (“A Taste of Armageddon).  

Certainly, one can make the valid argument that Spock refuses to turn over command to these experienced officers because he has re-trenched into ultra-Vulcan, super-stubborn mode. To please Sarek, he must let Sarek die.  

If you see it that way, I guess it holds up.

And, a lot of good character material emerges from Spock’s decision to retrench. Kirk must pretend to be healthy, though he is in agony, to trick the Vulcan into helping his father.  Kirk’s physical weakness contributes to the high-level of suspense in the episode’s third act. And McCoy, surrounded on all sides by Vulcan stubbornness, becomes more cantankerous than ever.

Star Trek Anniversary - John's Top 20: "The Naked Time" (#9)

#9 on my top 20 list is "The Naked Time," a tense, emotional hour that strips raw the series' characters, and reveals their inner faces. 

This is the episode that lays bare Spock's guilt about never being able to tell his mother he loves her, and explores Kirk's obsession with the Enterprise. We also see Sulu as the mad, and dashing, swordsman.

More importantly, this episode -- which concerns a disease stripping away inhibition -- is "a standard" for Star Trek, meaning similar, or identical plots appear in the spin-offs. (See: "The Naked Now.")

The episode also introduces the possibility of time travel to the series.


Stardate 1704.2: 

The U.S.S. Enterprise (NCC-1701) orbits distant Psi 2000, an ancient world on the verge of breaking up. The crew's mission: to recover the planet-bound science team, and monitor the disintegration of the planet.

Unfortunately, the landing party (consisting of half-Vulcan science officer Spock [Leonard Nimoy] and Joe Tormolen) discovers that the entirety of the science team is dead...and dead under very odd conditions indeed. 

One woman has been strangled. An engineer is dead at his post, frozen to death because life support was de-activated, and another man died in the shower fully-clothed. 

Tormolen unwittingly brings this unique form of "space madness" back to the starship after removing a protective glove (to scratch his nose...), and coming into contact with a contaminated console.

This "disease" spreads rapidly aboard the Enterprise as Captain Kirk and the others see "hidden personality traits forced" into the open among their comrades. 

This symptom means that Mr. Sulu (George Takei) becomes a swashbuckler. 

This means that Nurse Christine Chapel (Majel Barrett) confesses her undying love to Mr. Spock. 

Even the logical Mr. Spock is infected too, lamenting the fact that he could never tell his mother that he loved her. Kirk is not immune, either.  He admits the personal cost he's paid to serve as captain of the Enterprise, not the least of which is his isolation from the men and women he leads.

"No beach to walk on," Kirk muses wistfully.

Soon, events spiral out of control. A contaminated Lt. Kevin Riley commandeers Engineering  and shuts down the engines. This means that as the planet breaks up, the Enterprise can't escape orbit. Scotty (James Doohan) proclaims dramatically that he "can't change the laws of Physics" and re-start the engines cold.   

Things look grim until Kirk snaps Spock out of his crying jag.  Once rational again, Spock realizes that there is a formula for cold engine start up, one that has never been tested.  

In the end, Dr. McCoy (DeForest Kelley) finds a cure for the disease, and the Enterprise barely escapes Psi 2000 as it cracks up, utilizing a dangerous new intermix formula which generates a time warp. 

"The Naked Time" (By John D.F. Black and directed by Marc Daniels) is not just an exciting Star Trek story from early in the series' historic first season, but the prototype and creative wellspring for much of episodic science fiction television. 

In essence, "The Naked Time" finds a useful plot device -- here an alien molecule/disease that acts on the human blood stream like alcohol intoxication -- by which the writer can excavate the hidden, buried, or repressed facets of the lead characters. This is important because there are things that characters will never realistically reveal to others, all things being equal. 

All things aren't equal, here, however, and the characters reveal new, deeper shades.

Star Trek went back to this "Naked Time" well at least a few times over is three seasons, with variable results. "This Side of Paradise" employs alien spores to give Spock a love story, to great emotional effect. 

Oppositely, the third season's "And the Children Shall Lead" uses Gorgon-powered evil tykes to reveal that Uhura is afraid of aging, and expose Kirk's fear -- again --  of losing command. That episode is generally considered one of the worst of the series


Star Trek: The Next Generation went boldly where the original series had gone before in a story called "The Naked Now" in 1987, which revived the threat (alien disease) to vex the crew of the Enterprise-D.  Ironically, the disease there seemed to reveal less diverse behavior among the crew; basically that all the women on the ship (Crusher, Troi and Yar) were sexually-deprived.  The answer to this deprivation, amazingly, was more suppression.  Captain Picard opined in the episode's coda that they would make a fine crew "if" they could "avoid temptation."

Another facet of "The Naked Time" that bears repeating: technically, it's the first time travel episode on the classic series. 

Spock develops a formula that sends the Enterprise back in time three days, or seventy-one hours.. In the final scene, he says to Kirk that time travel is now longer a theory but a reality. Kirk opens up the door to a whole bunch of stories by replying "we may risk it some day." 

Ironically -- despite the overt set-up here -- follow-up Star Trek time travel stories utilized a different method of time travel all together: a slingshot around the sun at high warp velocities. This technique appeared in "Tomorrow is Yesterday," "Assignment: Earth" and Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home.

Focusing on the episode itself, "The Naked Time" expresses something unique and very individual about the series, and this may element prove the dividing line between adherents and detractors. 

Specifically, all the havoc in the episode commences when Tormolen takes off a glove to scratch his nose, and is contaminated by the infection. Some people will complain about this plot point. They'll ask: how did a man ascend to a position of authority on board the U.S.S. Enterprise, after presumably rigorous training in Starfleet, and then turn around and do something so stupid, so thoughtless, so reckless? I sympathize with those literal-thinkers who have a problem with this. 

However (and this is where I fall on the subject), the glory of the original Star Trek (and one largely sacrificed to catsuits and soap opera plotting in later generations), is the continuing recognition of mankind's foibles. 

Humans do make mistakes from time-to-time, and many stories in the original Star Trek canon are possible only because humans do something wrong, or reckless, or silly. I happen to appreciate this facet of "The Naked Time" and Star Trek. I believe that even when we reach the stars, we'll still be the same flawed creatures we are today. That doesn't make us bad. As Kirk would say, it just makes us human.

What else happens in "The Naked Time"?

Well, Nurse Chapel alludes to some kinky rumors about Vulcans. "The men from Vulcan treat their women...strangely," she muses with a look that suggests she wouldn't mind playing the willing victim if Spock were her victimizer. This is another reason I love the original Star Trek series: it can be downright perverse and kinky.

We learn from Kevin Riley that there's a bowling alley on the Enterprise. That's a little strange. So TV doesn't survive past 2020 in Star Trek, according to "The Big Goodbye," but bowling thrives into the 23rd century?

Nimoy is terrific in this episode. No surprise there. He has good writing on his side, of course, but he brings a lot to the table. I love how Mr. Spock attempts to hold himself together by quoting multiplication tables. There's something very right about that: the logic of Math/Order trying to hold down the chaos of emotional distress. It doesn't work, but it's a noble attempt.

Finally, "The Naked Time" reveals another element of Star Trek that disappeared after this generation: the captain's undying love for his ship. 

"Never lose you," Kirk says here, while under the influence. He's referring to the Enterprise, and talking about her like she's his lover.  His passion for the ship borders on obsession.  In the original series, the Enterprise was a main character, and a love for this particular ship by Kirk and others is an element that informed many of the best stories. 

One might contrast this mad obsession with Captain Picard's blase, rote response at the destruction of the Enterprise D (paraphrased) in Generations: "I'm sure this won't be the last ship to carry the name Enterprise..." 

Star Trek Anniversary Top #20 - Steve Kindernay's List

[John's note: Reader, friend, and Star Trek fan Steve Kindernay provides our next list, and offers some great choices for top 20 episodes.]

Steve Kindernay’s Top 20 Star Trek episodes

Choosing your top 20 Star Trek – The Original Series episodes is daunting, to say the least.  As you go through the list of the entire run of episodes, the choosing becomes even more harrowing, since there are so many classics or standouts which are worthy of any qualitative list.  

I’ve chosen my top 20 based on the episodes I always return to -- those I watch most when I pull the blu rays off of the shelves.  There may be nostalgia involved, and the First Season figures prominently, since that is the time when the show was striving for and achieving a level of greatness which is palpable, and Gene Rodenberry’s influence is keenly felt.  

I did not include “City on the Edge of Forever” because, although it is magnificent, I felt it would be well-represented by others, and it did not strike a chord with me the way that other episodes did.  That being said, here are my selections for the 20 best episodes of Star Trek.

20) “All Our Yesterdays” - Profound and poetic.  Zarabeth’s fate and the mystery of her story still haunt the viewer long after the conclusion.  The idea that time waits for none of us, and death is a part of life is woven throughout. Mr. Atoz’s name alone is proof that this episode is operating at a higher level.

19) “The Paradise Syndrome” - Always makes a grown man cry, that grown man being me.  Miramanee’s story ranks right up there with Juliet, Isolde, Eurydice and others as a tragic loss born out of unconditional love.  So amazing that the scope of this episode covers months, a daring thing for any series to attempt at the time.

18) “The Tholian Web” – A tour de force of special effects, atmosphere, and the idea that space holds many mysteries and life forms which are totally alien and unknowable.

17) “Day of the Dove” – Action-packed, the closest thing we ever got to a war with the Klingons.  Michael Ansara excels.  The idea of a life form that feeds on hatred has been copied ad infinitum, and rarely done better than here.

16) “Journey to Babel” – This episode has so many layers, quiet moments, action and suspense, and real jeopardy for our cast.  Mark Lenard and Jane Wyatt – is there really any more to say?

15) “Amok Time” – Seeing Spock’s home world for the first time was incredible.  A perfect start to the Second Season.  Action music so iconic, Eddie Murphy would add it to his stand-up act years later.  “In a pig’s eye,” indeed!

14) “The Doomsday Machine” – A classic science fiction trope made into a classic Star Trek episode.  There aren’t enough superlatives for William Windom’s performance.  Another episode which really makes you question if the Enterprise can escape with its hull intact.

13) “Mirror, Mirror” – Introduced the concept of the Multiverse to an entire generation of viewers.  “Mirror, Mirror” is a stunning achievement.  Something of a cautionary tale – a glimpse of what might happen if we allow darkness to overtake us, if we become the Empire.  This drives home the morality and higher aspirations of Kirk and the Federation.

12) “Metamorphosis” – A beautiful love story, well-told.  Wonderful music and performances throughout.  Poignant and powerful, yet so simple and straightforward.  A testament to the endurance of all forms of love.

11) “The Menagerie” – One of the most wonderful aspects of this two-parter is the revelation that the Star Trek universe has a history, and we get to see it and marvel at it. It was genius to utilize the footage of the original pilot as a cost-saving measure; however, if you have ever seen “The Cage,” the ending of “The Menagerie” is far more satisfying and proper.  It’s almost magical that this footage was used to craft a story about the chances we are willing to take for friendship and love.

10) “The Devil in the Dark” – Pure Star Trek; represents everything that the show was about.  Who doesn’t love the Horta?  Who else but Spock could talk to it?  Who but McCoy could heal it?  Who but Kirk could stare down a mob of angry miners?  To think that this episode was written for a costume which Janos Prohaska demonstrated to Gene L. Coon speaks volumes about a series that was firing on all cylinders.

9) “What Are Little Girls Made Of?” – There is so much more going on beneath the surface of this episode’s amazing visuals.  This is an existential rumination on what it means to be human.  Our actions, our words, our souls make us who we are, but if we take away our bodies and substitute something else, what are we?  Kirk’s last line is a gut punch.  Raw, courageous, and deep.

8) “Errand of Mercy” – Noteworthy for the first appearance of the Klingons, “Errand of Mercy” speaks to our need to wage war, to overcome our most base instincts, to fight for what we believe is right, only to discover that we’ve got a long way to go.  I’d also submit that, were it not for John Colicos, the Klingons would not have the longevity they have today.  He breathed life into an entire species.

7) “Balance of Terror” – Food for thought:  We, the viewers, see the Romulans before any human does, even before the events of this episode.  This is a fully realized story of a war fought with an invisible enemy which has attained the literal power of invisibility, and our attempts to fight that enemy, while overcoming our own internal enemies – bigotry, doubt, sadness.  Mark Lenard is terrific.

6) “Arena” – This is the episode which I feel would be the most appealing to a wider, movie-sized audience to represent Star Trek.  The ideas herein are literate and thoughtful, yet the action never relents and the suspense is palpable.  The Gorn should have been comical, but it is realized so well that we don’t doubt its stature as an alien race.  The Metrons, like the Organians, are something we don’t see in science fiction anymore – a higher, almost godlike intelligence, to which we aspire, but whose superiority reminds us that our humanity is our greatest asset.  Top-tier Trek.

5) “Mudd’s Women” – There is no logical reason why “Mudd’s Women” is in my top five.  I simply love it for what it is:  colorful to the point of painterly, entertaining as hell, a frontier story set in the future.  Spock’s “Vulcanian” emotions are delightful.  The music is some of the best in the series.  I have fond memories of watching this episode with my friend.  It was so offbeat, and we loved it then and we love it now.  “Don’t hate me because I’m beautiful” said the woman who just took the Venus drug.  Don’t hate me because I love “Mudd’s Women!”

4) “Where No Man Has Gone Before” – Proof positive that, without Kirk, there is no Star Trek as we know it today.  This is Kirk’s story, and his struggle to cope with forces beyond his control that have taken his best friend.  The Delta Vega matte painting is one of my favorites; so evocative of a faraway world on which humans have made their presence known.

3) “Charlie X” – Great lower decks action; great casting of Robert Walker, Jr.; great story with a twist ending that borders on deus ex machina but isn’t because it’s the only resolution which feels right.  Moreover, the fact that we feel sympathy for Charlie after his actions is a reminder that we’re still humans and not Thasians.  We love, we forgive.  We cannot survive without each other.

2) “The Naked Time” – A perfect way to introduce our new characters on our new favorite science fiction show: a disease which forces them to bare their souls and vulnerabilities.  Add in a no-win scenario (years before the Kobayashi Maru) and a unique solution which shows why the crew of the Enterprise is to be admired, and you have a great example of why Star Trek became a phenomenon with all the cool kids.

1) “The Corbomite Maneuver” – The penultimate, perfect episode of Star Trek.  Hits all the right notes, and remains the best example to show your friends why you watch this show.  “There's no such thing as the unknown - only things temporarily hidden, temporarily not understood.”  Kirk’s line represents the entire philosophy of the Federation, of Roddenberry, and of Star Trek itself.  The denouement of this episode is delightful, worth every ounce of the wait, and wraps up one of the finest hours of television ever broadcast.

Star Trek Anniversary - John's Top 20: "The Menagerie" (#10)

At number #10 on my list is this brilliant two-part story that consists of both new footage with our familiar crew, and previously unseen footage from Captain Pike's era, from the original series pilot, "The Cage."

"The Menagerie" also demonstrates Spock's loyalty to a friend, and features a powerful through-line about the seductive power of illusion (living in a dream world).

Stardate 3012.4

The U.S.S. Enterprise receives a message diverting the vessel to Starbase 11.  There, Commodore Mendez (Malachi Throne) insists that no such message was sent.

Mendez also reports some grave news. Fleet Captain Christopher Pike (Jeffrey Hunter/Sean Kenney) has been badly injured during a rescue attempt aboard a cadet vessel. Although Pike survived the incident, he was exposed to delta rays is now horribly scarred. He is also confined to a life-support chair, and is only able to answer “yes” or “no” through an indicator light. As Dr. McCoy (De Forest Kelley) points out, Pike is as alert as ever, but he is trapped in a convalescing body.

Pike is the former captain of the Enterprise, and was Spock’s (Leonard Nimoy) commanding officer for many years. Accordingly, Mendez suspects that Spock sent the phantom message so he could see his former friend.

The truth is somewhat different.

Spock abducts Pike and hijacks the Enterprise, stranding Captain Kirk (William Shatner) at Starbase 11.  Spock immediately sets a course for Talos IV, a mysterious planet that Starfleet officers are forbidden to have contact with.

Violation of this edit is punishable by the last death penalty on the books.

Kirk pursues the Enterprise in a shuttle-craft, and attempts to stop his apparently-mutinous first officer.  When Spock is held for court-martial, however, exonerating evidence is presented…straight from the mysterious Talos IV.

On a view-screen on the court room, images from nearly two-decades earlier play out. They reveal the details of Captain Pike’s visit to Talos IV, and his strange encounter with the beings there.

Star Trek’s only two-part episode -- the brilliant “The Menagerie” -- began as a production expedient. Because Star Trek was expensive -- not to mention complicated to produce -- there was the ubiquitous worry that deadlines would be missed, and an episode might not make it to air.

The result was a clever re-use of the original pilot, “The Cage,” with new wraparound or bridging material featuring the regular cast, standing sets, and so forth. Few would have imagined, no doubt, that a glorified “clips” story would become one of the most beloved episodes of the series, or for that matter, one of the best Star Treks ever made. Yet that is precisely what happened.

“The Cage” by itself is a clever, intelligent story about mankind’s indomitable nature, and humanity's refusal to give in to emotions or appetites (such as desire) in the face of, essentially slavery. 

But the bridging material included in "The Menagerie" adds so much to the story-line. It is the yin to “The Cage’s” yang.  

If “The Cage” is about the ways that illusions can be a trap (like an addictive “narcotic,” in the words of the teleplay,”) then “The Menagerie” is an even-handed, book-end opposite conclusion.  

Sometimes, perhaps, an illusion can be legitimately, life-saving. Sometimes, it can be a refuge from suffering.

In exploring that idea, “The Menagerie” deepens the character of Spock significantly. Not only because we meet a younger, apparently more impulsive version of him in the material from “The Cage,” but because we come to understand that beneath his cool, glacial exterior, he does feel. He does care.

And the bonds Spock forges with his friends are strong...even unbreakable. Here, he exposes himself to legal jeopardy and possibly death in order to save a friend, Christopher Pike. He acts against regulations, against orders, against prudence, even, to enact a positive outcome for a man whose life has been destroyed.  

The question, of course, is this: are Spock’s decisions based in emotion or in logic?   

I could very well our dispassionate friend explaining the utter illogic of Pike’s continued suffering, as well as the illogic of a zero tolerance policy towards visiting Talos IV.  In this one setting, in this one case, there is only one logical place for the injured Captain Pike -- Spock’s friend to live out the rest of his days. And that place happens to be Talos IV.

Uniquely, the Star Trek movies present a kind of mirror or reflection of this episode's ethos. In Star Trek III: The Search for Spock (1984), Kirk risks legal jeopardy and death, too, to visit a forbidden planet called Genesis. 

As is the case in “The Menagerie,” he does so to save his friends, both Spock and McCoy. He must alleviate their suffering.  

In both examples, one cannot escape the conclusion that Star Trek has made a judgment on “rules.”  

It is more important to achieve a good (such as saving a friend) than it is to adhere to a policy, rule, or hierarchy. 

When one considers all the occasions in which Kirk chooses “normal human development” over the dogma of General Order One, or the Prime Directive, this philosophical viewpoint becomes even more apparent.  

Rules are good. They give us all guidelines.

Helping people is better.

The original “The Cage” possesses a much more “cerebral” philosophy for certain. Pike’s adventure is not about helping friends, about succumbing to your feelings or even logic.  

Rather, it is about the opposite. It is about how a starship captain, Pike, must remain disciplined in the face of sexual fantasy. 

If Pike succumbs to his appetites, to his sexual desires, he will be responsible for fathering a race of human slaves. The Talosians keep tempting him with those fantasies. They are inventive and relentless in their attempts. For example, they set up a scenario in which he is a knight in a shining armor, protecting a virginal princess from a Kalar barbarian.  Here, he is asked to fulfill his biological male role of protector.

And then the  Talosians tempt Pike again with a scene of domestic bliss.  He is home, safe and well-established. His beautiful wife adores him, and he her. 

And finally, unforgettably, the Talosians tempt Pike with Vina’s (Susan Oliver) final appearance: as a seductive “animal-like” Orion Slave Girl.  Vina's dance is one of the great moments in Star Trek, the promise of alien contact that is dangerous, different and desirable.

I have written here before about the kinky aspects of the original Star Trek, and the way that the later generations prove far more conservative (as a whole) in their approach to sex, and sexual fantasies.  

“The Menagerie” is a prime example of Star Trek getting its kink on.  The ship’s captain is attacked, essentially, with sexual fantasy after sexual fantasy, but he must not crack; must not succumb. 

The underlying theme of “The Cage” aspect of this episode is that appetites and desires must be controlled, lest a negative future be wrought.  Pike can indulge in every fantasy, every kind of sex he can imagine. But in doing so, he risks focusing on the selfish; on the personal, and not seeing the big picture. He would fail to consider the welfare of the human race itself.  It's a classic conflict between desire and morality.

The provocative sexual aspects of "The Menagerie" might be today viewed as somehow sexist by some, especially since female crew-members are referred to at one point as “breeding stock.” 

And yet, at the same time, “The Cage” is amazingly progressive in one very remarkable regard. Number One (Majel Barrett), a competent, highly-accomplished female, is second in command of the Enterprise during Pike’s voyages. 

She is depicted leading a landing team, in command during a strategy briefing aboard ship, and in other situations that demonstrate well her skill, training and judgment.  So of course, the network axe Number One. Who does she think she is?

Alas, there would be no other female character of Number One's ilk in Star Trek until the age of Deep Space Nine. Crusher and Troi on Next Gen were always firmly ensconced in caretaker roles, and Tasha Yar was so underdeveloped that viewers rarely if ever got to see her in a leadership role.

“The Cage” is also forward-thinking in its presentation of Captain Pike.  Although he keeps horses, he is much, much less cowboy-like than is Captain Kirk.  Indeed, Pike seems a more direct antecedent of Jean Luc Picard than he is of James Kirk. Pike is introspective; he is moody. He is reserved…and private.  Thus Pike does not feel like a product of 1960s TV. He is very un-Bond-like and un-cowboy-like at the same time.

“The Cage” also features fewer Western tropes, in general, than we see in many Star Trek episodes of the regular series. It feels ahead of its time, and spectacularly so.

“The Menagerie” is also brilliant in a way that was certainly not intended. 

More than any other episode in the original series, it establishes the reality of the Star Trek universe by granting it…history.  

In this episode we see a future that is twenty-years earlier than Kirk’s time. It is a clunkier time in terms of technology, and appropriately so given the arc of history. There are Flash Gordon ray guns about, goose-neck monitors, and large communicators that have their circuitry visible under transparent materials.  

We see older uniforms, a younger Spock, and more.  We see a starship bridge that is recognizable as such, but clearly of an earlier design.

My point is basically this: Had Star Trek attempted to invent this “earlier” future, it would have cost the series a lot of money, and been been practically impossible to do so. 

But by importing an earlier production into its continuity -- in the form of “The Cage” -- “The Menagerie” presents a whole, incredibly believable, fully-realized three-dimensional “history” to the series we know and love. The differences and similarities in production design make the universe feel as though it is always developing, always in motion.  "The Cage" actually feels like it comes before Star Trek in history.

A critical flaw of Enterprise, I feel, is that it always looked like it came after Star Trek, and so didn't have the right vibe for a prequel.  It didn't feel like history. It looked and felt like something new.

When I finish blogging the first season of Star Trek, I’ll present my list for the ten best episodes of that span, but without giving too much away, “The Menagerie” will certainly make that list.

It dynamically expresses Spock’s under-the-surface humanity at the same time that it grows the universe dramatically, and transmits a message about discipline in the face of temptation.