My Top 10 Best Star Trek Original Series Episodes (5 thru 1)

Welcome to the top 5 of my top 10 list of favorite Star Trek original series episodes!  I'm going to jump right in with #5 and work my way to #1.

 

Uhura gets her tribble

#5. "The Trouble with Tribbles"  --  Uhura: "Oh, it's adorable!  What is it?" Cyrano Jones: "What is it?  Why, lovely lady, it's a tribble."  Thus begins the descent into furry madness.  Having been "removed from their predator filled environment and placed in an environment where their natural multiplicative proclivities have no restraining factors", the "harmless little beasties begin to reproduce and spread like the old shampoo commercial where the pitch girl tells two friends and they tell two friends and so on and so on and . . . you get the picture.  One of the dangers of doing comedy on a show like Star Trek is if the characters become caricatures.  If they appear to be spoofing themselves and acting in ways outside the established norms (one of my major problems with the movie Star Trek V), then the audience will not stand behind the story for too long.  I think one of the reasons this episode works is because it hits all the right notes with the characters and the situation.

For instance, when the Klingon battle cruiser  appears, we, gear up for another confrontation between the Enterprise crew and the militaristic aliens. We think they will be the main antagonists in the story, but this episode throws that premise on its head.  Yes, the Klingons show up at K7 to make mischief and disrupt Federation plans for Sherman's planet, but in this episode, they are only a minor annoyance--the tribbles are the real antagonists for both our intrepid Federation friends and the Klingons.  In the bar, we learn tribbles don't like Klingons and the feeling is mutual.  Nevertheless, while the Klingons aren't the antagonists, the bar fight between them and the Enterprise crew members is satisfying.  When Scotty punches the first officer of the Klingon ship, the resulting brawl is great because it's something we've wanted to see for a while.  It is a conflict confined to K7, but speaks volumes as to the antagonism both sides feel for one another.

The tribbles are taking over (note Scotty's missing middle finger)

Another reason this episode works so well is it utilizes all of the main bridge characters, allowing them to remain true to themselves while placing them into the comedic situations arising from the story. Kirk is actually able to vent his frustration with Mr. Barris, a glorified paper pusher, throughout the episode; ridiculing him every chance his gets (don't we all wish we could do that sometimes).  Spock is attracted to the trilling of a tribble affects him in a way in which he claims to be immune.  Later, Spock and McCoy have another of their bickering moments over what makes tribbles tick.  Scotty is reluctantly prevailed upon to accompany a shore leave party to make sure no problems arise with visiting Klingons and he's the man who loses his decorum (moments after stopping Chekov from starting a fight for insults against the captain) and starts a fight with the aliens as "a matter of pride" when the Klingon's insult the Enterprise.


"Really, guys, in the back of the head again?"

In the end, however, the tribbles rule the story.  As a furry, Noah-like flood engulfs the Enterprise, Kirk loses his patience when he stops in the rec room to get lunch and finds tribbles in his "chicken sandwich and coffee."  Scotty enters the rec room with an armful to warn Kirk that the tribbles have gotten into the food processors "through the air vents."  Realizing similar air vents exist on K7, Kirk and Spock beam over to the station to see if the tribbles are in the grain storage compartments.  This sets up the biggest gag of the show: the moment when Kirk is deluged in tribbles pouring out of the upper compartment.  One of the reasons I've always liked the scene with Kirk chest deep in tribbles, getting a bit of a comeuppance from Mr. Barris, is because of the tribbles falling out of the open upper compartment door.  Several times a tribble whacks Kirk in the back of the head (here he is glancing up in annoyance at the latest occurrence).  I picture production people up in the compartment area using William Shatner's head as their target.  I can't help but wonder if special compensation was given to any production member who could bean the good captain in the melon with a tribble since it happens several times (another time a flying tribble knocks a smaller tribble out of Kirk's hands).  The "head hunting" cracks me up every time.


"There be no tribble at all."

Finally, the tribbles actually help save Sherman's planet by exposing Mr. Barris' aide (Arne Darvin) as a Klingon spy ("I wonder what Star Fleet command will have to say about that.") who has poisoned the quadrotriticale with a virus.  Kirk also uses the tribbles to send Captain Koloth scurrying back to his ship as fast as his Klingon legs will take him.  Scotty's final engineering feat in transporting the tribbles off the Enterprise and onto the Klingon ship is a satisfying ending (and also a last bit of payback for the insults leveled at his beloved ship) :)





The Constellation after its battle.

#4.  "The Doomsday Machine"  --  Honestly, if I had put a top 10 list together back in my grade school days, this would have been my number one episode.  I was really taken by the story of "the big, blue thing" (as I called it back then; I didn't know what else to name it), because of its action!  There are space battles in Star Trek, but nothing quite like the one that takes place in this episode.  The desperate fight of the two star ships (one damaged, the Constellation, and the other intact, the Enterprise) is very exciting.  Now with some life experience behind me and having read Moby Dick, I see the episode has a lot more depth than just a desperate space battle against a mechanical foe.

 

The Enterprise strafes the Doomsday Machine

"Aye, aye! and I’ll chase him round Good Hope, and round the Horn, and round the Norway Maelstrom, and round perdition’s flames before I give him up” (Moby Dick, [1987], 261).  A variant of Captain Ahab's quote is used by Khan in Star Trek II.  Four instances of the "Ahab syndrome" immediately come to my mind when I consider this episode: Decker vs. Doomsday Machine; Kirk vs. blood sucking cloud creature; Khan vs. Kirk; and Picard vs. the Borg.  In each instance, the first character is willing to sacrifice everything (up to and including their own lives) in order to achieve their desired vengeance against the second character (machine, entity or person) unless snapped out of their emotional state in time.  This episode was the first to use the plot device and it does so very well.

 



The Enterprise caught in a tractor beam

"They say there's no devil, Jim, but there is. Right out of hell, I saw it!"    A distraught Matt Decker declares to Captain Kirk when attempting to describe the cause of his extreme distress.  In a sense, that statement and the emotion behind it, sets the stage for the lengths Decker will go to have his revenge upon the Doomsday Machine.  Instead of leaving him with a peg leg, the device killed Decker's entire crew, crippled his ship, and, in a final indignity, relieves him of command ("I've never lost a command before," he admits to Kirk before beaming to the Enterprise with McCoy).  He wants revenge and will do anything he can to achieve it.  Once aboard the Enterprise, with Kirk unable to contact his ship from the Constellation, Decker seizes his chance by taking over command from Spock.  The confrontation between Vulcan and human crackles with tension.  To McCoy's dismay, regulations force Spock to surrender control of the ship to the higher ranking commodore.  Spock (or should I call him Starbuck) attempts to dissuade Decker from attacking the machine, but with no success.  Despite the machine's impenetrable hull, Decker is convinced his can "kill" it if he uses different tactics then before.  When Kirk is finally able to contact his ship and finds out what is happening, he personally orders Spock to take back command.  Disregarding regulations, Spock doesn't hesitate to remove Decker.  This moment shows the confidence the captain and his first officer have in one another.  Spock is willing to give Decker the heave-ho because he knows Kirk will have his back.  Even though Decker can no longer attack the machine with the Enterprise, he cannot let go of his guilt or his anger.  He takes a shuttle craft and drives it into the center of the device in a last ditch effort to destroy it and to join his crew in death; a sad ending to a very good guest character.  The result of Decker's suicide is enough to give Kirk the idea of sending the Constellation down the machine's "throat" to finally destroy it.

The Constellation enters the machine

Of all the original episodes, this one benefits the most from the re-mastering and the updated special effects.  Although writer Norman Spinrad originally envisioned the doomsday machine with all sorts of gadgets and attachments, the FX team couldn't alter the overall cornucopia look of the device.  They did manage, however, to make it look more fluid in its motions and much more menacing inside and outside.  The strafing runs made by the Enterprise against the machine are amazing!  The new effects increase the sense of jeopardy when the Enterprise is caught in the tractor beam, being pulled toward the machine.  As can be seen from the first posted picture, the look of the devastated Constellation is also much improved.  Instead of the right nacelle looking like a crushed piece of silly putty, the ship truly looks as though it has sustained heavy damage in a desperate battle against a superior foe.  All in all, I will always have a soft spot in my heart for this episode.  The Kirk in jeopardy scene is probably the most contrived moment in the entire show, but I have to admit it's great to hear Scotty muttering under his breath as he climbs back into the Jefferies Tube. :)



The Guardian of Forever

#3. "The City on the Edge of Forever" --  Back in 1981, I was an intern (of sorts) for six weeks at the Aspen Grove Family Camp Center (near the Sundance Resort in Utah).  While I was there, I heard a BYU production (presented as if it was an old style radio show) of the Ray Bradbury short story "A Sound of Thunder."  The story is about a company that uses a time machine to take people back into the past to hunt dinosaurs who are going to die.  They only allow hunters to kill animals that are supposed to die because of the potential risk one small alteration in the past could have in the present.  During the course of the story, one of the hunters kills a butterfly that was not meant to die.  This "butterfly effect" alters the present in ways noticeable to the time travelers when they return.  For me, this episode offers a similar premise when McCoy, crazed from an accidental shot of the drug cordrazine, leaps through a time portal (the Guardian of Forever) into Earth's past and alters the future to the point where the Enterprise no longer exists (which, by implication, means everything else has no longer exists).

Kirk and Edith contemplate the stars

I can only surmise that the proximity of the  landing party (Kirk, Spock, Scotty, Uhura, and two security officers) to the Guardian protects them from the alteration.  Spock, who had been examining the passing time line his tricorder at the moment of McCoy's entry, determines (in general terms) when he and Kirk should jump through to stop Bones.  The captain and first officer arrive in America in 1930 (the midst of the Great Depression) and meet Edith Keeler, a social worker who runs a mission.  While Kirk begins to fall for this "uncommon" woman, Spock builds a primitive memory circuit in order to view his tricorder to find determine who or what might be the "focal point" that drew him, the captain, and, eventually, McCoy to this time period.  The moral dilemma comes when Spock discovers Edith to be that focal point.  Spock sees her obituary on the tricorder screen, but when he attempts to show Kirk, a different future is revealed.  Kirk is amazed; Edith is leading a peace movement and meeting with FDR!  Spock throws the cold water of reality on his friend, explaining that Edith Keeler may need to die to set the timeline aright.

Reviewing the time line

I suppose there are all sorts of existential arguments that could be made at this point.  Someone might ask: Is the life of one person that important?  My answer is "yes" (and not just because I like watching It's a Wonderful Life every Christmas Eve).  Whether the influence be small or great, for good or ill, each of us can impact the life of others.  Edith Keeler is on the verge of expanding her influence from a local to a national level.  While the ideas she champions in the alternate future are good, the results are catastrophic.  The argument could turn to "what if" this person never lived or that event never happened (or vice versa), but it would be best to just stick to this particular story.  If Edith Keeler lives beyond a certain point, the ramifications will be deadly.  Just like in the Bradbury story, one might think the death of one butterfly back in the age of the dinosaurs is not a big deal, but it sets off a terrible chain of events.  The dramatic ramifications on Captain Kirk are gut wrenching.  When the tricorder evidence proves to Kirk how Edith Keeler's extended life causes Germany to win WWII, the captain knows in his head that he cannot save her, but is faced with the fact that his heart may not let him make that decision.

Kirk can't save Edith

One of the interesting aspects of the Kirk, Spock and McCoy relationship is how the latter two men serve as the dueling halves of Kirk's decision making process.  In order for the captain to make his decisions, he needs to weigh the logical practicality of each given situation against the compassionate side of himself.  Instead of showing Kirk having an internal argument each time he needs to make a decision, Spock and McCoy embody logic and compassion and give the internal conflict a voice.  In this episode, Spock is put in the unenviable position of being the captain's conscience.  As a Vulcan, he can look unemotionally at the situation; he cannot allow Kirk to think with his heart.  When Edith trips on the stairs and the captain catches her, Spock reminds him later that she needs to die.  Kirk tries to justify his actions: "McCoy's not here."  Spock reminds his friend McCoy may very well be there, they do not know (and by that point, McCoy is there, sleeping off the cordrazine in a back room of the mission).

"Let's get the hell out of here."

In an ironic twist, McCoy's reunion with Kirk and Spock sets in motion the accident that kills Edith.  Even though Kirk repeatedly tells her to stay on the opposite side of the street, she is drawn to the reunion of the three men (how can she not; they have piqued her curiosity and now she learns they know each other--she has to find out what is going on).  As she crosses the street without noticing the oncoming truck, Kirk sees her danger, but as he makes a move toward her, Spock calls out, "No, Jim!"  In that instant, Kirk realizes he must let this happen and can only watch helplessly as the truck hurtles toward her.  When McCoy recognizes what is happening, his compassion--his oath to save life--takes over and he attempts to lunge into the street, but is grabbed by Kirk as the truck hits Edith.  The devastated look on Kirk's face reminds me of another moment in the engine room of the Enterprise when Spock succumbs to radiation poisoning.  When the three men return to the present, everything is "normal," but the tragedy Kirk has suffered is reflected in his final line, "Let's get the hell out of here."  A very good story. :)



Sarek and Amanda arrive

#2. "Journey to Babel"  --  In several instances in the first and second seasons, the duality of Spock or his "otherness" as a Vulcan has been the focus of the story (two of these I have previously discussed).  With this episode, that duality is personified by the introduction of his parents to the crew of the Enterprise.  The premise of this episode is a galactic conference of Federation members to consider the controversial question of accepting a new planetary member, Coridan, into the fold.  The Enterprise's mission is to deliver a plethora (I love that word) of ambassadors and their entourages to the code-named planet, Babel to debate and decide the matter.  The last stop of the Enterprise before it continues to Babel is the planet Vulcan.  Kirk, Spock and McCoy, attired in their full dress uniforms, await the shuttlecraft carrying the Vulcan delegation.  Once the party is aboard and ambassador Sarek and his wife Amanda are introduced (with Sarek's very cold reception to Spock's greeting), Kirk tells his first officer he can beam down to the planet to visit his parents if he would like.  Spock's reply: "Captain, Ambassador Sarek and his wife are my parents."  Good old Vulcan logical reticence.  It's never been relevant to talk specifically about his parents (except for a brief mention in "The Corbomite Maneuver" --which, by the way, is curiously made in the past tense), so Kirk and McCoy are hard pressed to not keep the surprise from their faces. :)

Gav confronts Sarek at the reception

I mentioned above how Spock and McCoy serve as the two halves of Kirk's decision making process.  One of the intriguing aspects of this episode is the personification of Spock's dueling personalities.  As a full-blooded Vulcan, Sarek is the epitome of logic--the role model Spock has sought to emulate throughout his life.  When the Tellarite ambassador, Gav, attempts to confront Sarek about the Coridan admission, the Vulcan ambassador first coolly side-steps the issue and later makes his government's feelings known when he realizes Gav will not stop pestering him until he reveals its position--perhaps also recognizing that his words may sway others.  Sarek's every action is calculated and logical.  When comparing Sarek against what "Amok Time" revealed about Vulcan society, we better understand those whom Spock has used as models throughout his life.  At the same time, we see where Amanda's human side fits into Spock's equation.  The first thing she does when she has a moment is to ask Spock why he hasn't learned how to smile after being around humans for so long.  He replies: "Humans smile with so little provocation," but it's interesting to note how much he did smile when the spores took over him during "The Paradise Syndrome."  There is a twinkle in her eye when she admits to Spock having a pet sehlat as a boy.  Although her husband chides her for embarrassing Spock in front of his peers, Amanda wants to highlight Spock's human traits to his crewmates.  She even looks for human traits within her husband.  She tells Sarek that he has "almost human pride" in Spock.  It may be that she is trying to mend the rift existing between father and son, but she appears to want to find emotional aspects in her alien husband and half-alien son that are familiar and comforting to her.  Even with her strong emotionalism, which baffles her husband and son at times, her influence, however subtle it might be, is a part of her family (Sarek admits he married her because "it seemed like the logical thing to do").   While Spock may desire to turn himself toward Vulcan characteristics, he cannot completely escape the human factor inside him and his mother is determined not to allow it.

Amanda confronts Spock

Spock's crisis in the story comes when Sarek collapses in his cabin from a Vulcan version of a heart attack (McCoy later finds a defective heart valve that needs corrective surgery). Afterward, Spock throws himself into his job and tries to logically side-step Kirk's compassion, but he has to be feeling some sort of emotional turmoil, how could he not (in Star Trek III, even Sarek admits: "My logic is uncertain where my son is concerned.")?  The political intrigue of the upcoming conference increases Spock's crisis when a third party operative, as part of his attempts to disrupt the conference, attacks Captain Kirk, critically stabbing him.  With Kirk injured, Spock, siting regulations, backs out of the plans for his being a blood donor for Sarek's operation.  Amanda can't understand why Spock would desert his father in his hour of need and appeals to his human side (saying also that if his inaction causes Sarek to die, she'll hate him for the rest of his life).  In trying to help his mother understand the reasons he cannot subject himself to the transfusion, Spock says: "Sarek understands my reason."  Earlier in this episode, we learned that Sarek and Spock have been at odds with each other over Spock's choice to join Star Fleet for 18 years--they've not spoken for the last 4.  Even so, Spock chooses the Vulcan path (his father's path) even though doing so could potentially kill his father.  Although he doesn't say it, Spock's ultimate explanation to Amanda is a form of: "The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few; or the one."  Spock has lived his whole life trying to show all the full-blooded Vulcans (most importantly, his father) he is one of them.  To throw all his efforts aside for personal rather than logical reasons, would be the most damning evidence against him.  Nevertheless, after his mother slaps him and leaves his quarters, Spock approaches the closed door and lays his hand against it.  The scene is very poignant and serves to show that no matter how hard Spock tries to suppress it, there is a part of his mother inside of him and it can be reached; just not entertained.

Thelev's plan is defeated

In the end, Kirk's human emotions assist Spock.  Although still weak from the stabbing, Kirk musters enough strength to convince his Vulcan friend that he can take part in the operation.  Before he can turn command over to Scotty, Kirk finds himself caught up in the end game of the third party (Orions who have their own designs on Coridan).  Though not at 100% physically, Kirk figures out the puzzle of the attacking, enemy ship and is able to stop the Orion ship and their operative.  With the delegates safe and Sarek's operation a success, McCoy forces Kirk back into his sick bay bed and doesn't allow Spock to leave his.  After shushing them both, McCoy proudly proclaims: "Well, what do you know.  I finally got the last word."  In a pig's eye! :)
 

Romulan warbird

#1. "Balance of Terror"  --  What do you do when you encounter an enemy who seems to be attempting to reopen hostilities years after a devastating war?  This is the dilemma the Captain Kirk and the crew of the Enterprise find themselves in when they are pitted against the Romulan race.  Kirk’s chess match of moves and counter moves against an opponent who is his equal is the subject of my favorite episode of the original series.  This episode was the front runner when I started purchasing the remastered shows. After watching all 79 episodes with my family, I find this one to still be at the top of my list.  Besides the chess-like moves throughout, another reason I like this episode is because both Captain Kirk and the Romulan Commander are humanized (if such a word can be used for a Romulan) and shown to be very much alike in the insecurities they feel as they try to be precise in their decision-making process to defeat their opponent.

Depth charge phasers

I have read several sources siting the movie The Enemy Below as the inspiration of this episode.  Since I didn't know much about the movie, I've looked it up and seen the movie trailer on YouTube.  The movie turns out to be a WWII story about an American destroyer and its battle with a German U-boat or submarine.  Put in this context, the parallels between the 2:30 minute trailer I saw and the episode make more sense to me.  The Enterprise is the navel destroyer: the Romulan warbird the U-boat.  The cloaking device on the warbird is the equivalent of a submarine submerged under the sea.  One of the special effects choices I thought would be "cleaned up" in the remastered version was when the Enterprise fires its phasers.  I have always wondered why the phaser fire looked more like photon torpedoes in this particular episode.  Now that I know more about the source material, I understand the phasers are supposed to look like depth charges.  When Spock gets a fix on the Romulans with the ship's sensors, like a destroyer tracking a U-boat with sonar, Kirk instructs Sulu to mirror the Romulan ship move for move.  The Romulan bridge crew interpret the strategy as a "reflection" possibly like a submarine might consider a following warship.

The Romulan Commander and Centurian

Eventually, the story shifts to the bridge of the Romulan ship to give a voice to the Romulan perspective.  Allowing for the antagonist's perspective, and, in a sense, making them the protagonist in those moments, increases my enjoyment of the episode and serves as another parallel of the movie.  From what I have read about the plot in the movie, the U-boat captain expresses thoughts showing him to not care much for the Nazi regime.  The characterization of the Romulan Commander as war weary and tired is an interesting parallel.  He is convinced the Earth vessel will prove to be weak and easily destroyed, but is less than thrilled about the Romulan praetor's desire to go to war against Earth again.  "If we are the strong, is this not the signal for war?" asks the Commander's friend the Centurion.  "Must it always be so?" the Commander retorts. "How many comrades have we lost in this way?"  The Commander admits he will do his duty and complete his mission, but the exchange between the two friends gives the Commander a depth he would not otherwise have had and changes the tenor of the overall story.  It is a brilliant move to switch perspectives from ship to ship.  In this way,  we better understand the motives and tactics of both sides of the conflict.

Stiles gives Spock the evil eye

An earlier recitation of the facts of the war reminded the crew that no one knows what a Romulan looks like.  The tension aboard the Enterprise increases mere moments after the navigator, Mr. Stiles, relates that members of his family died fighting in the previous war 75 years earlier and raises the possibility of Romulan spies on the Enterprise.  Spock is able to tie into a coded communication from the warbird to get a look at the bridge crew.  The picture shows . . . pointed ears on the antagonists.  Shock and surprise (consternation from Mr. Stiles) registers from the crew as they get a good look at the Commander of the Romulan ship; even Spock allows an eyebrow raise.  With this revelation, the specter of prejudice enters the story.  Mr. Stiles focuses years of pent up animosity onto his Vulcan colleague.  The emotional aspect of Stiles' bigotry takes the overall story of Earth vessel verses Romulan vessel and boils it down to an individual level.  Interestingly, when Kirk call a staff meeting to review his options, Spock agrees with Stiles' recommendation to attack the Romulan vessel.  If Romulans are related to Vulcans of the past, Spock reasons, the Enterprise's inaction will be looked upon as weakness, increasing the likelihood of another war (a correct deduction).  Later, although he passes it off as a logical action rather than an emotional response, Spock's rescue of Stiles helps the navigator to gain a greater respect for the person he had unnecessarily labeled his enemy.

"Don't destroy the one named Kirk."

Like the Romulan Commander, Kirk has his own soul-searching moment in his cabin during a conversation with McCoy.  When McCoy goes to Kirk's cabin.  "Why me?" Kirk wonders as he notes how the crew hangs on his every command, but what if he's wrong?   Bones reminds his friend of the countless people in the galaxy and how there is only one of each individual.  "Don't destroy the one named Kirk."  It is a nice scene, showing the emotional stability the doctor offers his captain.  Eventually, Kirk's tactics prove superior to the Romulan Commander's.  After the Enterprise has rendered the warbird inoperable and helpless, Kirk and the Commander have an exchange.  "I regret that we meet in this way," the Commander admits before he sets his ship to self-destruct. "In a different reality, I could have called you friend."  It's a moving moment between two adversaries who have come to admire one another through combat.  A great episode; one I am very satisfied to call my number one. :)
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So there you have it; my top 10 list of best Star Trek original series episodes.  This was fun.  Maybe I'll make a go at naming my 10 worst episodes in the near future.