Sam Cogley

I noticed that long ago, watching the series on satellite syndication feeds broadcast from worn-out film stock. Personally, I prefer the more natural look that was considered beautiful in the late 60s rather than the overly plasticized and emaciated look favored now. The Romulan Commander, while having a very attractive figure, looks like she had more than three sticks of celery for lunch.

In the context of the late 60s, cold war era, I can see how "peaceful contact at all costs" would make sense. The Federation wanted to make sure the Melkotians were in their camp, rather than falling under the sway of the Klingons or Romulans. Like the Organians, the Melkotians were just a bit underestimated by the Federation...

The rest of the episode, as you noted, is a fun psychedelic romp that allowed for some great character moments. Bones and Chekov really got a chance to shine.

Brikar

3x07 'Day of the Dove' - Another good entry, this episode features the crew locked in combat with a group of Klingons, their hatred feeding an energy-based alien. The conclusion is a little ridiculous, the crew breaks out laughing even though they still seem to be saying mean things. It's a little strange, but the episode overall works. Visually, it looks pretty good, except that again, it takes place almost entirely on the Enterprise, which has a lot of flat sets (aside from the bridge).

3x08 'For the World is Hollow and I Have Touched The Sky' - Excellent premise for an episode, though the execution is a bit lacking. A solid episode, but not as good as it should have been, given the weight of the idea surrounding McCoy's impending death. This episode looks pretty good, with good textures on costumes and sets.

3x09 'The Tholian Web' - One of the season's best entries, and a classic in the franchise. A confrontation with the Tholians leads to Kirk being left behind aboard a ship that's slowly dissolving into another dimension. With the Enterprise trapped, Kirk and McCoy must figure out how to get the ship free and deal with the grief over their Captain's death, and the effects of the other dimension driving hte crew insane. This episode is stuffed full of things happening, probably one of the most dense episodes of the season, but it's worth it. Even the cheesy bits with ghost-Kirk floating around the Enterprise scaring the crew. Visually, it looks great. The Tholian ships get a visual upgrade that brings them in line with the ones shown in 'Star Trek: Enterprise' four decades later.

__________________
"A million monkeys typing until the end of time will produce the complete works of William Shakespeare. Ten thousand monkeys typing for ten thousand years will write a Hemingway. Ten monkeys typing over Columbus Day weekend will give you a Dan Brown."

http://olympusmans.blogspot.com
http://benforrealz.blogspot.com

Brikar

3x10 "Plato's Stepchildren" - Friggin' bizarre episode, with midgets, psychics and a whole lot of silliness as the Enterprise crew is forced to act for the entertainment of sick space aliens. This episode looks (and is) pretty cheap, with minimal sets and costumes. Disappointing. Still, colors and what detail is visible looks excellent.

3x11 "Wink of an Eye" - The Enterprise is invaded by aliens with the ability to move so fast, normal motion seems almost frozen to them. When Kirk is dragged into their timeframe, he must stop their plan to use the crew for "genetic stock". This episode seems almost out of place here in TOS. It seems much more like an episode from the TNG-era. Again, it takes place entirely on the Enterprise, so there's little visual flair in the costumes or sets to speak of.

3x12 "The Empath" - Kirk, Spock and McCoy are captured by aliens who use them in an experiment to learn about human abilities for leadership, loyalty and sacrifice. The sets are minimal, since the crew is imprisoned in what is essentially a black void, but occasionally we get to see the surface of a planet, and the costumes all look good.

3x13 "Elaan of Troyius" - Kirk tries to teach an alien cuntloaf some fucking manners. Ridonkulous.

3x14 "Whom Gods Destroy" - Kirk is captured by the escaped inmates of an insane asylum, and must confront a former starship captain who believes he is destined to rule the universe. Somehow, he has gained the ability to perfectly mimic any person, and Kirk must defeat him and escape before he can take over the Enterprise. Strange episode, but well-played, I suppose, by the insane cast. Not much to say, visually, other than there's another green chick to watch dance.

__________________
"A million monkeys typing until the end of time will produce the complete works of William Shakespeare. Ten thousand monkeys typing for ten thousand years will write a Hemingway. Ten monkeys typing over Columbus Day weekend will give you a Dan Brown."

http://olympusmans.blogspot.com
http://benforrealz.blogspot.com

Brikar

3x15 "Let That Be Your Last Battlefield" - The Enterprise takes aboard two aliens, each black on one side and white on the other, but on opposite sides, who hate each other. Their hatred threatens an important mercy mission, and Kirk slowly begins to unravel the cause of the hatred between the two men. 'Star Trek' tackles racism in this episode, with all the subtlety of a drunken Cymro. It's simple, but also kind of brilliant. Shatner hams it up to the max in this one, giving one of the worst performances of the series - save for one priceless expression when the aliens finally reveal exactly why they hate each other.

__________________
"A million monkeys typing until the end of time will produce the complete works of William Shakespeare. Ten thousand monkeys typing for ten thousand years will write a Hemingway. Ten monkeys typing over Columbus Day weekend will give you a Dan Brown."

http://olympusmans.blogspot.com
http://benforrealz.blogspot.com

Brikar

3x16 "The Mark of Gideon" - Captain Kirk materializes on a duplicate Enterprise on the surface of an over-populated planet, and forced to take part in an experiment that would allow the population to live normal lifespans, therefore reducing the crowded conditions. Kirk offers to teach them how to use condoms instead, but they refuse. Another episode taking place almost entirely on the sets of the Enterprise, the episode doesn't have much detail to display.

3x17 "That Which Survives" - The Enterprise crew encounters an abandoned planet where an ancient security system has the ability to kill the crew with a mere touch. This episode is pretty strange, but not all that bad. The concept outstrips the production though. The sets and costumes are cheesy and simplistic. Still, what little there is to see exhibits strong colors and reasonable sharpness.

3x18 "The Lights of Zetar" - Episode starts out well enough, with an intriguing mystery involving the deaths of the crew of Memory Alpha, and even a romance for Scotty. Unfortunately, things don't end out as well as they started and Scotty ends up destroying the last survivors of an alien race, and no one seems to have any trouble with this whatsoever. Still, it's all well-made and looks great in HD.

3x19 "Requiem for Methuselah" - Kirk encounters an immortal human living as a recluse who may or may not be several historical figures - da Vinci, Brahms, etc - and his beautiful companion, Rayna. Kirk and Spock attempt to unravel the mystery surrounding Flint and Rayna's identities while McCoy tries to gather a substance necessary to cure a sickness aboard the Enterprise. This episode is pretty solid, despite the silly idea of one man being so many famous figures. There are lots of paintings and intricate details on display in Flint's home, and the colors are well-done, too. A great-looking episode.

3x20 "The Way to Eden" - Space hippies? FUCK. YOU.

3x21 "The Cloud Minders" - Solid episode, where Kirk and Spock encounter a world where society is split in two - workers below, aristocrats above in a flying city. The workers mine a substance needed to fight a plague on a nearby world, but are withholding the shipment while demanding freedom. With a story written by David Gerrold, this is one of the more well-conceived episodes of the season, recalling the greatness of seasons one and two. The new effects are also pretty cool.

3x22 "The Savage Curtain" - Kirk invites Abraham Lincoln aboard, who promptly insults the ship's black receptionist. Way to go. This episode is pretty thoroughly ridiculous, with Kirk and Spock forced to fight alongside various historical figures by a fat rock creature that looks suspiciously like my boss in some kind of fight to the death to determine something about good and evil. Genghis Khan also appears. The new effects for this episode are pretty great - the alien planet looks really amazing from orbit. If you look closely, Shatner rips his pants during a fight scene in this episode.

__________________
"A million monkeys typing until the end of time will produce the complete works of William Shakespeare. Ten thousand monkeys typing for ten thousand years will write a Hemingway. Ten monkeys typing over Columbus Day weekend will give you a Dan Brown."

http://olympusmans.blogspot.com
http://benforrealz.blogspot.com

Brikar

3x23 "All Our Yesterdays" - The Enterprise visits a planet about to be destroyed by a star going nova, and finds that all the inhabitants have retreated through time portals into their society's past. Spock and McCoy are accidentally transported to a distant ice age, where they meet the world's only humanoid inhabitant: a beautiful prisoner marooned in time. She reveals to them that their bodies will regress to earlier forms to adapt with the time change, and Spock begins to lose his emotional control as a result. He falls for Zarabeth, and the two bone. Eventually, Kirk figures out a way to rescue them all, except Zarabeth, who's atomic structure is now linked to the time period, and must remain or die. This episode is definitely one of the better ones of the season. I'd never seen it before, but I was vaguely aware of its existence due to a novel I'd read years ago that was a sequel to it (Spock returns to that planet's ice age via the Guardian of Forever and finds his son). In HD, it's also one of the better looking episode son the set. The ice age local features tons of detail, in the rock sets and the billowing snow, while Kirk encounters a medieval village (not the one from Stargate, though). The new effects are good, too - the final shot of the episode, with the star going nova and destroying the planet is a standout for the entire "remastered" series. I should note that the "boom" from that explosion had such deep bass that it actually knocked something off my coffee table. VERY impressive.

__________________
"A million monkeys typing until the end of time will produce the complete works of William Shakespeare. Ten thousand monkeys typing for ten thousand years will write a Hemingway. Ten monkeys typing over Columbus Day weekend will give you a Dan Brown."

http://olympusmans.blogspot.com
http://benforrealz.blogspot.com