Star Trek 1.24 (This side of paradise)

First Aired: March 2, 1967

Cast:

Jill Ireland (Leila Kalomi)

Frank Overton (Elias Sandoval)

Michael Barrier (II) (Lt. Vincent DeSalle)

Dick Scotter (Painter)

Grant Woods (Lt. Commander Kelowitz)

Writer: D.C. Fontana

So the crew go along to a planet thinking that all of the settlers have died - they have had no contact with them and the planet is being bombarded by Berthold Rays. So when they get there and everyone isn't dead it really makes no sense! They shouldn't be alive - all of their animals are dead, there doesn't seem to be anything indigenous to the planet apart from plant life.

Then Spock is infected with spores from a plant and then pretty much everyone else gets infected and everyone decides to stay on the planet. The whole crew mutiny and decide to beam down to the planet. But somehow Kirk resists this paradise, when everyone else falls under it's spell. YEAH RIGHT! Eventually, Kirk is the last person left on the Enterprise. Then a cunningly left spore plant gets him then he decides to beam down...

But then he gets angry! And is miraculously cured. So he beams Spock up, makes him angry then cured him! Then they make everyone get angry and everyone is cured.

This episode gets remembered because we get to see Spock lighten up (when he is under the influence of the spores).

I suspect that this episode is rated as an all time classic. God knows why.

Crew Deaths: 0

Total Crew Deaths So Far: 25

Score: 4/10

Star Trek 1.23 (A Taste of Armageddon)

First Aired: February 23, 1967

Cast:

David Opatoshu (Anan 7)

Gene Lyons (Ambassador Robert Fox)

Miko Mayama (Yeoman Tamura)

Sean Kenney (Lt. DePaul)

Robert Sampson (Sar 6)

Writers: Gene L. Coon & Robert Hamner

This episode starts with something that I have in my head as a bit of a Star Trek cliche - the overbearing official that demands that whatever he says goes, something that is backed by law, usually despite the fact that he is leaving someone to die or putting the ship in grave danger. In fact, I am sure there has been another but I wasn't thinking about it at the time. This is the second story strand, and it is utterly annoying.

The first strand is that a war is being fought, but there is now a kind of gentlemans agreement not to send actual missiles, just that when the computer calculates that there would have been a hit, the number of people that would have died have to step into disintegration booths and die for real. The opening scene where the city is under "attack" is quite good, especially with Kirk trying to work out what the hell is going on and why there are no explosions.

Then of course the Enterprise is "destroyed" and the crew have 24 hours to report to the planet to be disintegrated. They, naturally, don't.

The only bad thing is that you know by the end that Kirk will have saved the day and the suicide ritual will be a thing of the past. So the end of the episode is a little predictable.

It's okay, but it isn't great.

Crew Deaths: 0

Total Crew Deaths So Far: 25

Score: 6/10