The 2nd pilot of the show, the one that actually got picked up, is for some reason the 3rd to be aired… it’s weird, but that’s kind of what Star Trek is all about… Let’s see how jacked up the timeline already is!
– Make-up on Spock is awful… his eyebrows look like a teenage girl trying to do them for the first time. Also, he is wearing Yellow.
– Scotty!!! …. Also wearing yellow… this is troublesome.
– Wait… why does this think blinking send the whole ship on red alert? Isn’t it just transmitting information?
– No Uhura, No Bones, No Yeoman Rand… it’s this weird middle-ground between The Cage and Man Trap. Must have confused the crap out of people trying to get into the show when it first aired.
– Okay, now Sulu is in a blue shirt?! This is bothering me more than it should.
– I haven’t given it credit until now, but whatever special effects team did the remastering on these episodes did a freaking phenomenal job.
– This long scene in the sickbay between Mitchell and Dr. Dehner is incredible.
– Scottie’s accent is my new favorite thing.
– Any interaction between Kirk and Spock, even in these early days, is just great, especially when discussing something life or death. Easily the most consistent part of the show to this point.
– Oh hey, now Dr. Dehner has the weird silvery eyes…
– Dr. Piper (aka Not Bones) has a weird knowledge of the entire topography of this desolate planet…
– Episode ends with Kirks first fist fight and another charming moment between Kirk and Spock.
Most Valuable Player – Lt. Cmdr. Gary Mitchell (Gary Lockwood) – 1st MVP – A wonderful character (especially compared to the similarly-abled Charlie X from the previous episode) who was even more wonderfully acted by Gary Lockwood of 2001: A Space Odyssey fame. Easily the best performance on the show so far, dude knocked it out of the park.
Least Valuable Player – Yeoman Smith (Andrea Dromm) – 1st LVP – This one was really tough, as just about everyone brought their “A” game to this episode. Yeoman Smith, however, only says one line (“It’s Smith, sir”, correcting Kirk on her name) and is completely forgettable. Yeoman Rand she is not.
Final Grade: After Charlie X, I needed this. A superb performance from Lockwood and a solid script make this pilot far more watchable than “The Cage”. It’s no “Encounter at Farpoint”, but we will get there when it’s time for The Next Generation to take over… B
Up Next: “The Naked Time” – I don’t really remember anything about this one, but at least everyone will be in the properly colored shirts.
Josh Can't Blog 