The 5 Worst Episodes Of Star Trek: The Unique Collection, Ranked

Within the “Futurama” episode “The place No Fan Has Gone Earlier than” (April 21, 2002), the hapless Fry (Billy West) learns that “Star Trek” has been banned within the thirty first century. He visits the severed head of Leonard Nimoy, stored alive in a jar of fluid, hoping to study extra in regards to the destiny of “Star Trek.” Nimoy, understanding in regards to the ban, initially pleads ignorance. Fry, attempting to remind him, describes “Star Trek” as a Sixties TV that had “76 episodes. About 30 good ones.”

Nimoy finally confesses to remembering “Star Trek,” however Fry’s description of the present’s high quality is not wholly unfair. Gene Roddenberry’s authentic “Star Trek” collection had many highs, offering widespread sci-fi with a few of its most indelible photographs. Moreover, its imaginative and prescient of a country-less, money-free, diplomacy-forward, anti-colonialist future impressed many to be optimistic about issues to return. But it surely can be true that the present churned out greater than its share of stinkers. “Star Trek” is a cultural phenomenon, sure, however even deep-cut Trekkies will admit that it may get extremely foolish, and even downright absurd, when given the prospect.

All the favored criticisms of the present — its low budgets, its tendency towards hippie-free-love nonsense, its Sixties overacting — are reliable. Trekkies, you would possibly discover, are sometimes prepared to confess and even lambaste the present’s weaker episodes. We are able to love one thing on the similar time we prod it.

In that spirit, listed here are the 5 worst episodes of the unique “Star Trek.” And, boy howdy, are a few of these horrible.

In “Patterns of Power” (February 16, 1968), the Enterprise arrives on the planet Ekos searching for Professor John Gill (David Brian), one among Kirk’s previous historical past lecturers at Starfleet Academy. Kirk (William Shatner) and Spock (Leonard Nimoy) beam all the way down to Ekos to search out that it has adopted the politics and the uniforms of Nazi Germany. The Ekosians have focused a close-by planet referred to as Zeon for extermination and use the language of Adolf Hitler as their excuse. Kirk and Spock additionally discover that John Gill has been chosen because the planet’s Führer.

When Kirk and Spock lastly confront Gill on the finish of the episode — with assist from an area resistance — the Führer explains that he crash-landed on the planet and located it overrun by chaos. As a historical past professor, he determined to intentionally arrange a fascist authorities, feeling that it was probably the most environment friendly type of authorities humanity had ever devised. Kirk convinces Gill to resign the Nazism he espouses and declare peace with Zeon.

It is onerous sufficient watching “Patterns of Power” understanding that the present’s two Jewish leads had been requested to put on Nazi uniforms. It is tougher nonetheless, nonetheless, to just accept the present’s premise that Nazism will be checked out objectively and positively. The present is clearly attempting to criticize the individuals who, within the Sixties, tried to argue that Nazism was a nice option to govern, had been it not for all of the genocide. It is so mawkish and mild, nonetheless, that the criticism has no enamel. Finally, “Star Trek” argues that all of us simply have to get alongside, not addressing the insidiousness nor the violence of precise genocidal regime. The “cannot all of us simply get alongside” conclusion feels infantile. The episode was banned in Germany for years.

Gene Roddenberry’s imaginative and prescient for the long run featured a wierd contradiction. “Star Trek” was set in a military-run future, whereby Starfleet adhered to a strict code of conduct primarily based on rank, guidelines, and rules. The one distinction between a contemporary navy and Starfleet was that the latter wasn’t dedicated to army conquest. What if, Roddenberry thought, all of our army know-how was dedicated to exploration, humanitarian missions, and peace? To ensure that such a system to work, Roddenberry felt, strictness and propriety had been key.

On the similar time, nonetheless, Roddenberry brazenly advocated totally free love and peacenik-inflected hippie idealism. He liked the concepts of sexed-up hippie chicks singing to music and simply hanging with the scene, man. If free love was concerned, you possibly can wager that the notoriously randy Roddenberry was an advocate.

These two ideas — army rigidity and hippie freedom — conflict in “The Technique to Eden” (February 21, 1969), some of the obnoxious episodes of the present. A bunch of music-loving hippies beam on board the Enterprise after their very own ship is destroyed, saying they’re searching for a planet they name Eden. They finally take over the ship and make it to Eden. Nonetheless, the planet, maybe predictably, is not as Edenic as its identify would have you ever consider.

It is annoying how smug either side — the hippies and Starfleet — develop into when discussing their respective philosophies, and nobody comes throughout as sympathetic. What’s extra, the hippies are absurd and their music takes up approach an excessive amount of of the episode. One would possibly solely discover a thrill in seeing the strict Charles Napier within the silliest frock ever worn by a “Star Trek” actor. And that is saying one thing.

“Star Trek” by no means had the best scores, and on the finish of its second season, NBC was poised to cancel the collection outright. If it hadn’t been for a concerted letter-writing marketing campaign by ultra-fan Bjo Trimble, “Star Trek” would not have gotten a season 3. It is a good factor that “Star Trek” obtained a 3rd season, too, because it pressured the present over the brink for syndication. As soon as it was in syndication, the collection discovered its true viewers.

However, golly, when “Star Trek” fired up its third 12 months, issues did not appear promising. The primary episode of the season was “Spock’s Mind” (September 20, 1968), a very infantile episode that would not have felt out-of-place as a “Scooby-Doo” story. An alien invader infiltrates the Enterprise and surgically removes Spock’s mind. Spock’s physique remains to be alive, although, so Dr. McCoy (DeForest Kelley) is ready to outfit his cranium with a remote-controlled machine that enables others to pilot him like a zombie robotic. Kirk and co. finally uncover that Spock’s mind has been plugged into an enormous laptop on a distant planet and is getting used to manage the meals and setting for a species of dolts. A studying machine, trying like a colander, teaches McCoy how one can reinsert Spock’s mind.

“Spock’s Mind” is whimsical in a approach nobody desires “Star Trek” to be, and I say that as a fan of “Star Trek: Decrease Decks” and “Star Trek: Unusual New Worlds.” The premise is absurd and the know-how is ridiculous, even for the ordinarily wild “Star Trek.” Briefly, “Spock’s Mind” is simply foolish.

A variety of dangerous “Star Trek” episodes boast dangerous writing or unusual conceits, however “The Different Issue” (March 30, 1967) is the one episode that’s downright incompetent. Within the episode, Kirk and co. encounter a mysterious house traveler named Lazarus (Robert Brown) who appeared to spontaneously blink into existence. Lazarus, it seems, is Brigadooning out and in of our dimension, and inflicting the material of space-time to tear. Lazarus periodically slips into an eerie dimensional passageway on his approach again to his dwelling dimension. When he passes by, nonetheless, he encounters a parallel model of himself, and the 2 Lazaruses briefly fistfight.

The interdimensional fights are realized by loud banging and a whole lot of oversaturated photographic results which are unclear and troublesome to grasp. After every struggle, Lazarus A is changed by Lazarus B. They’re unattainable to inform aside, nonetheless, as they each sport comparable glue-on beards.

There’s some highfalutin dialogue about how a mixture of matter and antimatter will destroy each universes, nevertheless it by no means a lot is sensible. The episode is sluggishly paced and its script is nonsense. This isn’t an attention-grabbing exploration of doppelgängers, parallel universes, and even human drama, it is only a bunch of sound and fury. Lazarus is not a memorable hero or villain, and it is onerous to inform if one was meant to be “good” and the opposite “evil.” By the top of the episodes, the 2 Lazaruses are trapped of their pocket dimension, pressured to struggle ceaselessly. Nobody a lot cares.

It is a pity that the worst episode of “Star Trek” is its closing episode. “Turnabout Intruder” (June 3, 1969) is a body-swap episode whereby a bitter villain named Dr. Janice Lester (Sandra Smith) makes use of an eerie know-how to commerce minds with Captain Kirk. As Kirk, she tries to take over the Enterprise, regardless that she appears uniquely ill-equipped for the duty. In the meantime in Lester’s physique, Kirk has to persuade those who his physique has been usurped.

Dr. Lester, the episode explains, desires to inhabit Kirk’s physique as a result of, sigh, girls aren’t allowed to function starship captains. It is odd and disheartening that “Star Trek” would suppose to introduce this sexist conceit in its closing episode, and Trekkies are likely to ignore any canonical implications.

However to make issues worse, “Turnabout Intruder” goes effectively out of its option to present that girls aren’t able to being good captains. Dr. Lester is depicted as impulsive, egotistical, hysterical, and too emotional to serve. She solely desires to be a captain by sexist resentment, and her ambition is seen as depraved and misguided. She cackles and orders her crew to be put to dying. Like Girl Macbeth, she goals to “unsex” herself.

For a collection that had an inclination towards progressive concepts, “Turnabout Intruder” is as regressive as they arrive. And with it, “Star Trek” sailed away. It is a good factor it will finally return to scrub the style out of our mouths.