well, they can’t all be winners, can they?

Not even 3 minutes in to “Who Mourns for Adonais?” I could tell it was not going to be one of my favorites.

Oh goody, another mysterious energy being with god-like powers! We’ve never seen anything like it! Except in like three other episodes so far…at least.

I think it would have been cooler if Apollo’s floating head had been an advertisment…like “Come to Apollo’s Greek Restaurant and Parthenon Party Place, located conveniently on Starbase 14! Not human? No problem, it’s all Greek to us!” and then the whole crew went to Starbase 14 and had a giant toga party and Spock ends up getting drunk and passionately reciting The Illiad in proper Dactylic Hexameter. At least that’s how it happens in my mind…and it’s awesome.

What really happens is that they beam down to the planet and Scotty gets FUCKED UP repeatedly by “Apollo” and the yeoman wears a skimpy outfit until they figure out how to beat the greek god/mysterious energy being.

Oh yeah, in all my excitement about “Amok Time,” I forgot to mention the most exciting thing about starting Season 2…CHEKOV!!!!

And that’s all I have to say about that. No shirtless Kirk for your viewing pleasure and mine in this one.

AND NOW FOR SOMETHING SLIGHTLY DIFFERENT…

Moving on to “The Changeling.” I didn’t love this one, but it’s better than “Who Mourns for Adonais?” and I like the speculative fiction air of “what could happen to the probes we send out into the universe?”

Unfortunately, Nomad itself is kind of irritating, and then the last 15 minutes of the episode are just Kirk talking yet another computer to death. I’ve noticed Kirk getting the signature “Shatnervoice” inflection a lot more this season than in the first season, and this episode is no exception.

Also, it would be okay with me if Uhura never sang in an episode again. I’m not sure why it bugs me so much, but it totally does. I did sort of feel like Nomad was supposed to be falling in love with her in that scene on the bridge, though.

This project seems to have gone off the rails a bit this week. I was under the weather over the weekend and didn’t feel up to blogging, and I’ve been working my little (ok, generously proportioned) butt off at work this week trying to get everything in perfect order. I sat down last night fully intending to get some quality blogging done…but alas, Tumblr’s servers were busy for quite some time. I’m quite a few episodes in to season 2 now, though, and it’s time I got busy blogging away about them. Since I’m so far behind I was planning to do several episodes tonight, but I feel like “Amok Time” really deserves some special attention before I move on to the rest of the season.

“Amok Time” has always been one of my favorite episodes, probably because of all the angsty Spock and the big homoerotic fight scene… ‘cause that’s just how I roll. Bones also has some choice lines of dialogue and I always like it when my favorite medical officer’s sterling wit is on display.

PLUS, it has soup throwing, and for some reason, that just makes me happy.

Spock delivers a creepy pick up line worthy of Data, or possibly John Lithgow’s character from 3rd Rock from the Sun…

…and Kirk and Spock have a very bizarre Vulcan “Birds and Bees” talk. It seems a little weird to me that the “logical” Vulcans can’t talk about sex…aren’t hang-ups Illogical? Dan Savage says they are.

Also, the whole Vulcan child-marriage custom with it’s “Never and always, touching and touched” is a little creepy, but to each their own, I suppose.

Anyway, so T’Pring is a GIANT BITCH, and then Kirk and Spock fight with giant bladed metal q-tips which are not in the least bit phallic.

But everything turns out okay due to Dr. McCoy’s amazing medical trickery! T’Pring gets to be with the ugly guy, Spock doesn’t die of sex deprivation because the fight with Kirk was close enough to the real thing, Kirk doesn’t die of murdered by Spock, and Nurse Chapel ends up just as confused and desperate as before.

Oops, I almost forgot, don’t forget to watch out for surprised Kirk nipples at 39:06

Yay! It’s the last blog of Season 1! Is everyone else as excited as I am?

This episode was pretty good. It leaves some loose ends and such, but at least it’s fast paced and exciting, which is always good for a season finale. If you’re not reading it, you should pick up the IDW Star Trek ongoing comic which is detailing the five year mission of the crew from the 2009 movie—they’re doing this story right now, and it’s been pretty good so far!

My only complaint about this episode is the monsters, which look like frozen chicken breasts from the grocery store. They just don’t seem that threatening… and neither do the crazy people running around with pipes and giant keys. I didn’t think they explained very well how these parasitic beings killed people by making them crazy.

So, that’s it for season 1. Good stuff all around, really looking forward to season 2, Chekov, and Amok Time!

I leave you with this parting gift from Season 1.

Man, this episode is totally as good as I remembered it! This blog and the next one may be a bit short, but it’s not because these aren’t great episodes, it’s just because I’m so excited to move on to season two!

First off, how adorable is Hobo Spock?

Pretty cute, right?

In this episode it’s like Kirk has finally figured out how to do time travel right, and it has all the pathos of a great Doctor Who episode like “Father’s Day.” It does seem a bit silly that it never dawns on Kirk or Spock that they could bring Edith to the future with them since being not on earth in her own time would accomplish the same thing as her being dead, but whatever.

“An Errand of Mercy” is the first time we meet the Klingons. So, a person with some knowledge of later Star Trek series might assume that there would be some exciting stuff happening in this episode. That person would be dead wrong. This episode is about as dull as they come and ends with a big fat Deus Ex Machina in the form of the Organians. I fell asleep halfway through the first time I watched it and could barely keep my eyes open the second time, but I powered through to see it to it’s dull and speechy end.

Things go from bad to worse in the next episode. “The Alternative Factor” made me long to be watching “Squire of Gothos” or “Shore Leave” again. The script stinks, the plot make no sense, and the ending is just kind of bleh.

AND, what the fuck is up with Lazarus’ beard?

Seriously, it looks like some sort of ceremonial chin veil. I have no idea why it bothered me so much, but it was just so ridiculous.

Plus, every time the universe “winked” why does a newspaper spin a the screen? It’s like “EXTRA! EXTRA! Read all about how much this episode sucks!” (Note: I realize it’s not actually a newspaper)

So, in all, my absolute least favorite episode so far.

But what of Lazarus.

But what of Lazarus.

Supposedly this is William Shatner’s favorite episode, and it’s easy to see why. I love the episodes where it’s all about discovering something totally new and respecting it rather than destroying it. This episode is all about Roddenberry’s hope that humanity can overcome small-minded brutality and connect with other races, cultures, and creeds.

It is a little weird to see Kirk’s unbridled capitalism in the first half of the episode, wherein his main concern is making sure that the mining activities are not interfered with any further. He mentions this several times, while Spock is advocating a more humane approach. But then, as the danger becomes more apparent, Spock changes  his tune, encouraging the Captain to kill before he is killed.

The scenes with Spock mind-melding with the creature do go on a bit long, but it’s cool to see him making contact with this life-form whose mind is a totally alien thing and probably wouldn’t even think in the same kind of concepts that a humanoid being would. I’ve been reading The Biology of Star Trek by Dr. Athena Andreadis, and her section on how it would be possible for a silicon life form like the Horta to exist is really, really cool. I definitely recommend picking it up.

In the end, they work out an arrangement between the Horta and the miners, and McCoy get’s his first “I’m a doctor, not a…” catchphrase moment, when he exclaims “I’m a doctor, not a bricklayer!” It’s pretty heartwarming at the end of the episode when the miner tells Kirk about the baby Hortas hatching and tunneling. Almost brings a tear to my eye…