Star Trek: The Original Series is truly a tale of three seasons.

Season one is often considered one of the finest examples of science fiction television ever produced.

Season two built off of the success of season one, but it also failed to capitalize on a growing Star Trek universe and following.

Season three. Well, what can you say. This is clearly the weakest season of the series' short run. There are some standout episodes like "The Enterprise Incident", but they are diminished by such klunkers as "Spock's Brain" and "The Way to Eden"

Only Star Trek purists will plunk down $100 for this box set as I did, and they'll enjoy the remastered quality of the video and new 5.1 surround sound offering. Further, the extras and bonus features are on par with the Season 1 & 2 DVD Box sets, with one added, special bonus.

The original un-aired pilot, "The Cage" is offered on this final DVD set; no doubt an added insentive to get people to purchase this compilation. It's worth it, I'll admit, but may not be enough to sway those into purchasing this final "Original Series" offering.

As I did in my reviews of the first two season, I'll give a little commentary on each of the episodes that appear in this final Star Trek: The Original Series DVD Box set.

Spock's Brain
Talk about a headache. Wait. Sorry. Bad pun. Spock's Brain is famous (infamous) for three things.

1. It's considered one of the worst episodes of the original series' run.
2. It's the first episode in the third and ultimately final season of Star Trek.
3. It's a technological mish-mash from the laughable brain transplants segments to the applaudable reference of Ion power from the Eymorgs' ship.

You know, one … no, make that two simple changes to this episode would have saved it from its infamy. First, change the name from Spock's Brain to almost ANYthing else. Second, instead of 'stealing' Spock's brain, kidnap him altogether.

The rest of the episode would work. The story line would be believable and even interesting. It could have been - there I go again, with my could have's - should have been a better episode. But in the end you have sexy, dominating women in flashy outfits who are as dumb as the day is long stealing a Vulcan's brain.

I just don't get how this episode ever made it past the producers. A bad sign for the beginning of the third season.

A bad sign indeed.


The Enterprise Incident
Ok, let's just pretend that Spock's Brain didn't start off the third season. Let's just move right past that, assume it was a joke and get to the heart of the final season of Star Trek. That heart and soul is perfectly reflected in episodes such as The Enterprise Incident where, finally, the Romulans return.

This is a great episode worthy on inclusion on anyone's top ten TOS list. You have no idea whether or not Kirk has really lost it. You have no idea what the Romulans are up to or capable of. You're confused - purposely - about Spock's apparently disloyal actions.

All of this ending up in a secret mission that only Kirk and Spock are privy to until it all blows up in the face of the Romulans with the Enterprise using the Cloaking device to escape their would-be captors.

Great fun. Great action. Great suspense. Ah, Spock's Brain, you had me worried there for a minute.


The Paradise Syndrome
Don't ask me why. Really, don't. But Paradise Syndrome has always been one of my favorite TOS episodes. I always felt that the story line was exceptional, the acting spot-on, the sets beautiful and the cast of characters perfectly selected.

The heroic Kirk loses his mind - literally - and has the burden of his captaincy simply melt away as he takes on a new burden, one of a Native American healer. Not being a historian of Native Americans, I can't comment to the accuracy of the tribe portrayed, but I always felt that they were reflected accurately and honorably.

Perhaps that's why I like this episode so much. It feels 'right'. Now, granted, many people point out that Shatner's over-acting comes to the surface in spades in Paradise but I feel just the opposite. I think his portrayal of Kurok, and the building love he shows for Miramanee is beautiful.

The element of suspense, with the impending asteroid on a collision course with this planet plays a perfect backdrop to the overall episode, but it never detracts from the love-story that holds Paradise together. The tragic ending may feel a bit like City on the Edge of Forever but the fact that Miramanee dies with Kirk's unborn child clearly sets it apart.

Despite all their technology, McCoy couldn't save Miramanee and the episode ends with the beautiful score that haunts and highlights this episode from beginning to end.

I told you not to ask. But it really is a nicely told story.


And The Children Shall Lead
I don't know. I just don't know. You've have impressive episodes starting off the third season like The Enterprise Incident and The Paradise Syndrome which seem to be completely offset by clunkers like the aforementioned Spock's Brain and now this mess: And the Children Shall Leave.

Smack the kids already, snap them out of their childish, brat-filled behavior and move on to a more rewarding and befitting episode for Star Trek.

There's a reason why this episode falls to everyone's worst list. It's poorly written. Wait. Strike that. The writing is fine. The story itself is atrocious. (There is a difference). The acting is stale. The suspense is non-existent (does anyone ever really think that the crew of the Enterprise is in danger?). And this is one of those episodes that you just can't wait to end.

Which I rarely do. I move on to the next episode or change the channel whenever it comes on.

Just a mess.


Is There in Truth No Beauty?
Why would a race name themselves after Medusa? A Greek God known for turning men into stone when they look upon her wretched face?

Ok, the Medusans are a race of 'ugly' creatures. They've established that. But can't the writers be a little more creative? I mean, come on.

Ok, that slight gripe aside, this is an interesting episode with some nice twists to it. Ms. Muldaur's performance is exceptional, as usual (though I disliked just about all of her performances during her second-season stint on The Next Generation) and Nimoy's reluctance-filled acting is nicely portrayed.

But in the end, this epside feels forced in many ways and just doesn't hold water to some of the finer episodes the original series put out. It's not among the worst, just kind of middle ground.

Nothing special. Just 'okay'.


Spectre Of The Gun
Since the beginning, Gene Roddenberry advertised Star Trek to be akin to a 'Wagon Train to the Stars' type of television show, hoping to build off the success of TV Westerns. Here, in the third and final season, Star Trek actually becomes a western as it nicely manages to recreate the infamous shoot-out at the O.K. Coral in Tombstone, Arizona.

What makes this episode so interesting is the surreal portrayal of Tombstone and the characters within. The 'incomplete' sets are in such direct contrast to the very 'complete' Tombstone residents that you're always kept a little off-center when watching this episode - which adds to the appeal.

I also always like how Kirk dismisses Spock's logic time and time again in this episode, almost frustrated by it until he realizes - as he should have all along - that his Vulcan friend and science officer ultimately has the answer to their situation.

It's true that this episode borrows themes from others (e.g. Arena, Gamesters of Triskelion, etc.) but it does manage to hold its own and will always be consider among the better episodes from season number three.


Day Of The Dove
The first episode to showcase the Klingon species was Errand of Mercy where the Organians, through their peaceful existence, forcibly stopped the war between the Federation and their ruthless enemies.

The Day of the Dove is essentially the antithesis of that episode in that another entity/species, one of a malevolent nature, attempts to spur on the Federation and Klingons into war for its own amusement.

We are introduced to Kang in this episode, perhaps one of the most genuine and well-portrayed Klingons in the original series - a credit to Michael Ansara's ruthless performance.

All in all, Day of the Dove offers some interesting conflicts between the crew of the Enterprise and the Klingons. At first, you see the hatred that the two species have for one another, but by the episode's end, you realize that despite that hatred, they choose not to fight JUST to fight. Enemies or not, they will not be the pawns to someone else's motives.

A sign that despite their long-going feud, the Klingons, as the Organians stated back on season one, would one day be fast friends with the Federation.

Kor may have argued Never! to that claim, but Kang clearly reveals the truth to that eventual direction.


For The World Is Hollow, And I Have Touched The Sky
While DeForest Kelley was clearly one of the most popular and beloved characters not only in the original series, but all of Star Trek, its surprising that it took until the third season for him to be really showcased in an episode. Sure, he was a key figure in most of the other episodes from the original series, but it wasn't until For the World is Hollow… that the story line truly centered around him.

It's a shame, though, that his time in the spotlight had to be dimmed by a lackluster story line with almost no suspense and an all-to-obvious ending.

Ok, so the episode begins with the discovery that McCoy is dying. And, naturally, he now wants to stay with Natira - his new love from the asteroid-planet Yonada. It's just not convincing enough to believe that 1) he would die and/or 2) he would stay on Yonada.

Were this impacting a lesser character, it would have worked out better. But, obviousness aside, this episode does have some merit and interesting aspects to it - especially the entire notion of a world inside of an asteroid. While I can buy - and appreciate - that concept, it's a little less believable that the inhabitants would have no idea concerning their true situation.

I guess the builders of Yonada didn't have the foresight to think about what might happen during the 10,000 year journey. Either that or I'm just being too picky.


The Tholian Web
Contrary to popular belief, there are quite a number of gems during the third season (no, I'm not referring Gem from to The Empath) and The Tholian Web is clearly among the top entries of that list. This episode has all the components that make for an exceptional ride. The action, the drama, the tense situation and, yes, the exceptional special effects all lend a favorable hand to this award-winning episode.

And why not? You've got an entire starship that simply winks out of existence, swallowing Captain Kirk along with it. You have a new alien spices that's slowly building a photonic filament based 'web' to capture the Enterprise. You have the crew slowly losing their minds because of the odd influence that the area of space is exerting on them. Uhura sees Kirk. No one believes her. The Spock sees Kirk. Everyone believes him.

People screaming. Kirk pleading in interphased space. Scotty worrying. Spock pushing his logic and all of McCoy's buttons. Ah, this just has it all.

It all clicks in this episode. It highlights the crew, their emotions and overwhelming dedication to Kirk. And it does real justice to the genre by injecting the episode with genuine scientific oddities that aren't silly and dismissible.

Great entertainment. Great TV. Great Star Trek.


Plato's Stepchildren
There are remnants of other episodes that clearly fed into Plato's Stepchildren. Perhaps most notably Who Mourns for Adonais? and Gamesters of Triskelion. But regardless of what borrowed themes Plato.. may have taken from earlier episodes, this third season offering will forever be famous for apparently displaying the first inter-racial kiss on American TV.

As most of us know today, the kiss never really happened (at least in the version that was released) but just 'appeared' to have happened due to some clever camera angles. Amazing how something so insignificant today would create some a quandary a few decades ago.

But Kirk/Uhura kiss aside, this episode offers little else than a bunch of spoiled, arrogant brats who have nothing better to do that use their minds to move objects, exert their will on others and essentially degrade the human condition. It's especially painful to see what they force Spock to do, and it's so perfectly portrayed by Nimoy as he clearly didn't seem to enjoy the dance routine - exactly how you'd expect Spock to react.

However, in the end, it's nice to see Kirk & Spock beat the Platonians at their own game, but ultimately the story feels worn out and tired.

Barbara Babcock, who shined in the first season episode A Taste of Armageddon comes off a little stale in this offering, but still is pleasant to behold.


Wink Of An Eye
Wink of an Eye is the type of episode and story line that probably would have benefited had it been made into a movie or 2-hour episode. Consider this: A technologically and sociologically advanced civilization is on the brink of extinction. That society has been 'accelerated' to the point where people in 'normal' space can not see or hear them, save for a whining, buzzing sound. In order to perpetuate the society, then must kidnapped people, accelerate them to their 'speed' and force them into essentially sexual labor.

Not a bad premise for an episode, but there's so much to cover, so much background information to explore - like the nature of the planet and what led it to its near-extinction. Ultimately, in its episodic format, Star Trek 'accelerates' the story line, skipping over key points to delivery the ultimate punch-line solution.

The secondary story that covers the love interest of Kirk and Deela with the jealousy of Rael thrown in for good measure is also a nice addition to the episode - and perhaps just a bit of an obvious one. Kathie Browne as Deela does a wonderful and sexy job of portraying the Scalosian queen, with Jason Evers as Rael putting forth a believable performance as the jealousy-crazed leader.

All in all, Wink.. is a good episode that could have been great had it had a little more room to develop the characters and story line. But I guess you could probably say that about any episode.


The Empath
The philosophical issues of The Empath are the driving force behind its storyline and success. This is an episode of friendship, self-sacrifice and God-like abilities.

Stranded on the planet, Kirk, Spock and McCoy's friendship deepens as they are faced with possibly torture and death at the hands of the Vians. But instead of being concerned about their own individual well-being, they are all drawn to 'Gem' and feel a need to protect this seemingly week and helpless creature.

The idea that the Vians, who ultimately come off as the 'good guys', are testing Gem to see if she alone can justify the safety of her entire planet is a bit overboard. As advanced as the Vians appear to be, it seems odd that they would judge an entire race based on a single individual.

But judge they do, Gem proves her worthiness (and her species worthiness) and the Vians leave to save a world while Kirk, Spock and McCoy - who nearly lost one another, return to the Enterprise.

This isn't an action-packed adventure-filled episode. This is a more cerebral view of Star Trek, one that was likely dismissed during its original run but is now considered one of the better episodes.

Kudos to Kathryn Hays who beautifully portrays Gem without uttering a word. Her facial expressions spoke volumes.


Elaan Of Troyius
Elaan of Troyius is one of those episodes that you either hate or just kind of like. I doubt many find this episode one of the best, despite a partially interesting story line.

Elaan herself, as the powerful Dohlman is beyond arrogant, beyond tolerable and a sight to behold. I'm not sure if this was a wonderful acting job by France Nuyen or a marvelous casting job. She's that believable as a brat that I suspect fantasy mirrors reality.

But Ms. Nuyen's actual personality aside, this diplomatic episode smacks of the far better Journey to Babel with a silly love-potion story line thrown in for good measure.

There are suspenseful moments in the episode worthy of Star Trek. There's mystery and intrigue worthy of good episodic television. And there's seemingly good acting although…well, let's just leave it at that.

But for some reason, the sum of all those plus lead to an overall mediocre offering that's fun to watch a couple times, but grows old soon after.


Whom Gods Destroy
Some find Whom Gods Destroy a silly and dismissible episode. I actually find it intriguing and interesting. The dementia that Garth, expertly played by the late Steve Ihnat, exhibits with bouts of clarity and genius is amazing and frightening to behold. Silly shape-shifting abilities aside, this is a look inside the troubled mind of a one-time galactic hero.

One could say that Kirk may have been looking at a future version of himself, and you can almost see that possibility crossing Kirk's mind during the episode. Yes, aspects of Whom Gods Destroy border of the extreme, but as is often the case, you have to look beyond the histrionics to get to the core message of an episode.

Absolute power corrupts absolutely - a notion touched upon before in Trek - is one that seems to hold true here as well.

As for the ending of the episode, with the unfortunate loss of Marta and the personality castration of Garth, one has to wonder if this truly is a better way to treat the apparently criminally insane. Was Garth insane, or just so far ahead of his time that he couldn't relate to 'ordinary people'? Just one of the questions we're left with at the close of this episode.


Let That Be Your Last Battlefield
Messages. Star Trek's all about messages and morality. But in the 1960's, censorship was a tough entity to fight with, but this didn't stop Roddenberry from finding loopholes around the stranglehold of censorship.

Roddenberry wanted to showcase an episode about the nonsense of racial prejudice, but that wouldn't fly. So, instead of black vs. white, he came up with white/black vs. black/white.

Sure, on the surface, this almost immediately looks like a corny episode. I mean, come on, how/why would a species evolve where they were perfectly black on one side and right on the other. And not just any type of black or white. Vibrant, glossy black and white. Clearly make-up based colorization.

But therein lies the genius of Roddenberry for he knew the censors would only look at the surface of this sci-fi episode and leave it at that. The topical and heart-wrenching story line, however, would be left to the audience to absorb and enjoy.

It doesn't get any more real that this. Two men from opposing races chasing after each other, to the bitter end. Their blind hatred for each other setting aside all else, and all others… including their home world which ultimately was destroyed.

Yet even that destruction doesn't lessen their hatred. It intensifies it.

Strong message. Strong episode. Excellent Star Trek.


The Mark Of Gideon
Where Let That Be Your Last Battlefield dealt with the damaging issues of prejudice, The Mark of Gideon takes a Star Trek spin on the problem of over-population, though the overall approach towards the issue doesn't quite work.

Imagine, a world so over populated that its nearly impossible to find any appreciable amount of space to stretch in. Yet, with all of their problems, all of their worries, the leaders of Gideon manage to perfectly reproduce the entire Starship Enterprise in order to trick Captain Kirk. They want a sample of his blood to help infect some of their population so as to wean it.

Why the charade? Why the cover up? Why deal with an off-world disease to control your own population. As Kirk even argues at the end, there are so many alternatives to the problem that it seems almost laughable that the Gideons chose the course of action that they did.

So, is this a silly episode about a serious problem, or an interesting twist reflecting a desperate race dealing with a serious problem?

I guess that's left to the viewer to decide…


That Which Survives
I am for Adama.

Don't ask. Just a warped melding of Trek and Battlestar Galactica.

So, That Which Survives is about as typical a third-season episode as there is. Weak story line, limited set production, mediocre acting, little, if any, action or sense of peril and a plethora of scientific inaccuracies.

When the Enterprise is thrown nearly 1,000 light years away it should have taken them roughly a year to get back to the Class-M planet, not 11.33 hours at Warp 8.4. And, while we're at it, consider the incredible power it would take to fling a starship that distance. All that power, and they can't create a sentry that can destroy multiple would-be invaders?

I am for Adama.

Please.

Beautiful computer image or not, this is more of a piece-meal episode that borrows situations from other story lines in hopes that something cohesive may stick in the end.

Guess what - nothing sticks.


The Lights Of Zetar
As a Scotty-centric episode, The Lights of Zetar really can't hold a candle (pardon the pun) to Wolf in the Fold. The story is weaker, the suspense is minimal, but as usual, James Doohan puts forth a believable performance to lift this episode out of the mundane.

Actually, I like the premise of the episode on a simpler level. A bunch of bodiless aliens invade the body of a crewman/woman in an attempt to take over the ship. Nothing new here, and certainly a direction we've seen in later-day Trek series, but one that warrants some attention.

The problem with Zetar is that the Zetarians - like all non-corporeal entities hell-bent on domination are malevolent to a tee. Every time we see some type of being that has the ability to take over another body, that being is, ultimately and almost unconditionally evil. The only exception seems to have been Sargon and Thalassa from Return to Tomorrow.

So, along the lines of 'what if', it would have been ultimately more satisfying had the episode utilized the obvious vast amount of knowledge and experience that the Zetarians possessed and someone parlayed it into the building of the Memory Alpha Library.

Another missed opportunity to show more good from the 23rd century? Perhaps. But instead the Zetarians are killed, Romaine is saved and Scotty is happy in the end.

I guess it isn't all bad…but it could have been better.


Requiem for Methuselah
There is a very basic flaw in this episode. One that, for me at least, ruins it on some level. But more on that in a moment.

Requiem for Methuselah is part mystery, part love story, part suspense story.

The suspense story; the need for medical supplies (Ryetalyn) to help combat an outbreak of Rigellian Fever onboard the Enterprise is a valid one, but only serves as a foundation for getting Kirk and company down to the planet. You never feel any real suspense or sense of urgency with this particular story line, and you know in the end that McCoy will get the required drugs to treat the Enterprise crew.

The mystery, of course, centers around Rayna for the most part and Flint to a lesser, but no less important degree. Who are these two people? How did they come to be? The answer to Flint's true identity (or identities as it were) is less of a shock that Rayna's. This is the best aspect of the episode, but still not what was really at the forefront of the story line.

That would be the love story, and here's where it goes south for me. Clearly, we are asked to believe that Kirk falls helplessly in love with Rayna, even after discovering her secret. The problem is there's just not enough history between them in this short time for us to accept this.

When you look at City on the Edge of Forever, the love that builds between Kirk and Edith is tangible, it's perfectly laid out, and the viewer can see it form. With Requiem… it almost catches you by surprise, which makes it less believable.

In the end, Kirk losses the girl and must be consoled by Spock in an admittedly touching scene, but I still can't believe that Kirk would have fallen so hard, so quickly - especially for an android.


The Way To Eden
I've been rubbing my temples for 10 minutes in an attempt to come up with something meaningful to write about this episode.

I can't.

I absolutely LOVE the episodes Spock's Brain and And the Children Shall Lead in comparison to The Way to Eden.

This is just plain awful on so many levels that I don't even know where to begin.

Ok, let's look at it this way. Unfortunately, there are a lot of similarities of this episode to Star Trek V: The Final Frontier. The reason that movie worked (despite it's critical panning) and this episode failed miserably is not in the story telling, but in the woefully dated representation of those seeking Eden.

Obviously I know that Star Trek was written in the 60's, where hippies ran free. But to think that hippies - and let's not mince words, here…Sevrin and his followers are hippies (not that there's anything wrong with that) - would still be around and dressing the same way in the 23rd century is absurd. Plain and simple. STV:The Final Frontier didn't have Sybok running around in a dated outfit. The sets and production was consistent with the Star Trek universe. Eden in every way was not.

It was as close to blasphemy against the Star Trek mantra as I've ever witnessed. I may have this episode on VHS and DVD, but I will never consciously watch it again.

Pretty rough, eh? You know I'm right…


The Cloud Minders
Usually when Trek attempts to be topical, it works. It almost works here in 'The Cloud Minders' where slavery and separation of classes is the moral of the story. The problem is it is all to obvious a problem for Stratos and it's hard to believe a society so advanced wouldn't be able to see it until forced to by Kirk & Company.

Still, there are positive aspects of this episode. Diana Ewing as Droxine plays the perfect, naïve daughter of the high Advisor who ultimately understands the issue at hand better than any other Stratos dwellers.

Or at least I think she does. It's hard to figure out when looking at, er, watching her performance.

Yea, that’s it.

Is it any wonder that Spock was taken aback by her beauty?

A good story, not a great one, that throws you some curves, but not enough to keep you interested (especially when Droxine isn't in the scene).


The Savage Curtain
When Star Trek originally aired, I was between 3 and 5 years old. While I know my father watched the show from time to time, I can't quite remember - or confirm - whether I ever saw an original run of an episode.

Pity, really. But when I think back to the first taste of Trek that I received, it invariably falls upon The Savage Curtain. I don't know why, but I'm relatively certain that this is the first piece of Trek I was introduced to. I'd like to think it was when I was 5 during the original run, but I'll never know.

So, now that I've wasted your time on that little useless bit of information, let's talk about one of the more underrated episodes of the Original Series.

The Savage Curtain is simply a galactic and time-spanning battle of good and evil. What a clever idea it was to bring characters out of time renowned for their ruthlessness or kindness to do batter with one another.

Will good prevail or evil? That's the simple question. Of course Kirk objects to the fight until the fate and future of the Enterprise is put in the mix, but this is still a fun episode to watch.

Yes, on a high level, this is just a retread of Arena but because it deals with fictitious and actual icons from Earth history, it does provide for solid entertainment.


All Our Yesterdays
By this point in the Original Series' run, some of the story lines were getting stale so reusing or rehashing older, successful story ideas was common place. So it's refreshing to see a genuinely unique idea pop up as the second to last episode of the third and final season.

All Our Yesterdays uses time travel, of a sort, as the technological background of the story, perhaps akin to the Guardian from City on the Edge of Forever. However the idea that an entire planet, upon the knowledge that their sun would soon go Nova, escaping to their own past is truly intriguing.

First, the technology to accomplish such a feat should have garnered more attention, especially since the atavachron had to prepare all travelers for their journey. But that aside, it was interesting to see how Kirk, Spock and McCoy reacted to the environments - and time - that they all accidentally fell into.

The Kirk story line was interesting at best, but the real meat and potatoes fell upon the struggles of Spock and McCoy in their ice-age setting with the stunning Mariette Hartley as Zarabeth as their only companion.

Without the 'atavachron' situation, it would have been far less believable to see Spock slowly lose control and battle McCoy for Zarabeth, but that's what makes this an interesting story.

And, while it didn't have the impact of Kirk losing Editing in City… it was still touching to see Spock struggling to leave Zarabeth once he and McCoy found a passage back to their own time.

A strong episode on many fronts and another example of the quality that did show itself during the final season.


Turnabout Intruder
So, here we are. The end of an era. And yet, a beginning of sorts. But before I go philosophical on you regarding the final episode of The Original Series, let us focus on the episode itself, hmm?

We've seen a plethora of other episodes dealing with the hostile take over of a body from another entity, but despite that overused plot, Turnabout Intruder puts a new spin on it due to the aggressive and hateful behavior of Dr. Janice Lester.

Kudos, by the way, to Sandra Smith who did a fantastic job not only as Lester, but more so as Kirk. She nailed Kirk to a tee which made this story even more believable and enjoyable. Shatner as well should be credited for playing the appropriately insane Lester who slowly loses control of her/him/whatever self as he/she/it loses control and the faith of the crew.

Sure, we know how this is going to eventually end, but it doesn't take away from the suspense we experience and the ultimate pity we feel for Lester and the man who loves her, Dr. Coleman.

On a side note, it is hard to believe that Kirk would have ever gotten involved with her, but hey, that's just me.

So, with the final line of If only…, the original run of Star Trek draws to a close but begins a journey that would last for decades more.



The Cage
The first.

The original.

The first episode of Star Trek ever made, and never officially aired. This was the quintessential pilot that truly started it all. And for my money, this was a fine, thought-provoking episode. Witness the all too human Captain Christopher Pike who was contemplating retirement (at an early age) instead of having to deal with making decisions on Who lives, and who dies…

And experience a young Mr. Spock, emotions not fully in check, he Vulcan mysticisms that were later explored, clearly not well defined here.

And the mysterious 'Number One' played by Majel Barrett, who would later go on to play Nurse Chapel in the original series as well as Lwaxana Troi in The Next Generation.

The cast, consider they were together for this single project, worked well together. The story line, while cerebral in nature, packed enough punch to show that Star Trek wasn't just another kiddie space show. This was a drama will real-life issues set in a futuristic tone.

This was the beginning that set the stage for what Star Trek was all about. Even though it was used as the official pilot, the mold was set for what Star Trek would be about.

Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Good for a Rainy Day
Suitability For Children: Suitable for Children Age 13 and Older