A writers strike happened, therefore this season didn't reach the peaks of season two. However, it was still some excellent Star Trek without a stinker in the bunch.
Character arcs continued, but each episode remained a "Done in One" adventure of the week as befitting the "Original Series" timeframe.
Hegemony II- The Star Trek tradition of "The word is no... I am therefore going anyway," continues. Pike flies the Enterprise into Gorn territory to rescue his crew. The captured junior officers, (Ortegas, Sam Kirk, La'an and Doctor M'benga) get some focus time pulling off an escape from the biomaterials of the Gorn ship that is both heroic and disgusting. Its nice seeing Sam get a spotlight as both a Starfleet Officer and scientist without his brother in several episodes this season. We learn a bunch about Gorn lifestyles, communications and technology, which was quite nifty. Captain Batel is saved from becoming a hatchery... at least for a while.
Wedding Bell Blues - The mood swing pendulum kicks in again this season. Spock and Christine are getting married! Because of Trelane! (Hey, if the original Trelane actor could come back and be a Klingon, why can't someone else play him?) The connection to the Q that was often hinted at in novels and such shows up at the end along with a lot of goofy fun along the way. There's also real drama for our friends, because Star Trek is good at that during the silly ones. It was hard wrapping my head around Roger Korby being a pretty cool guy after watching him in the Original Series. We'll have to see if he transforms over time, or he just disappears into those Styrofoam caves. This episode provides absolute proof that this is a vastly different timeline than the Original Series, no matter what the creators say. There is no way at all that James Kirk is the one who introduced the James Doohan portrayed Montgomery "old Aberdeen pub crawler" Scott who "drank an extra galactic alien in a perfect human body under the table, to Scotch. As much as I enjoy this series, that scene offended me...
And that's not even taking into account that they forgot Jim's drink of choice is Saurian Brandy.
Shuttle to Kenfori - A focus on the Captain of the Enterprise and his Chief Medical Officer... just like old times! But all new! Pike
and M'Benga run into the daughter of that Klingon ambassador from last season and we find out the good Doctor straight up took him out. Is this why he gets demoted? (Not yet anyway. Maybe it is his bond with Chris that makes him step down from the CMO position after command changes.) However, it's hard to focus on that because PLANT ZOMBIES!!!! This show really knows how to ratchet up the action when it wants to go for it. The whole purpose for their trip, is that Captain Batel isn't as cured as we were led to believe. Also, there's a bit of debate about if what M'benga has planned can be considered a "cure" especially since Una's blood is involved again, and we're going past "augment" into "hybrid" territory. There sure is a lot about augmented people in this show. It's almost as if Star Trek has a long history of focusing on marginalized groups and the importance of diversity. How about that?
A Space Adventure Hour - See, these Original Series Era folks agree with me. The Holodeck is stupid and dangerous. Nice focuses on La'an and Scotty for this one. Lovingly goofing on the Original Series performances and sets was a hoot. Anson Mount gets to poke fun at Gene Roddenberry too while the cast is engaging in the Star Trek tradition of enjoying hammy new roles. Much like Uhura's singing, its nice that these shows presented a showcase for La'an's dancing abilities. In true Trek fashion, even the silly story has character growth moments and real drama mixed in.
Through the Lens of Time - We get to see Roger Korby's real job as an archeologist when it doesn't involve making a sexy android for himself and he is quite good at it. The same goes for Sam Kirk's scienceing abilities. Seeing Nurse Chapel take an active role with all the credentials we've been introduced to her having was cool too. It kinda looked like they were setting up Gamble as a new regular didn't it? SUPRISE!! Gotta love when Star Trek returns to its EC Horror Comics roots for a wild, galaxy threatening possession story. Are these beings connected to the Pah Wraiths? They seem similar. Then again, they seem similar to all the evil non-corporeal aliens that are part of the over arching invasion plot of the Original Series that I made up.
The Sehlat Who Ate Its Tail - This continuity's James T. Kirk facing the stresses of real command for the first time in a crisis with a group of officers who will some day crew his version of the Enterprise. WHAT A COINCIDENCE! Seriously well done episode though. We get to see Jim's command style start to evolve based on the inputs of people who will eventually have the highest levels of trust both from and for him. He's still new at this though, and clearly not fully ready, but the steps are visible. I would have liked a name drop of his former Captain Garrovick but we can't have everything. Two key moments- One, the bond between Jim and Spock really starts developing here as what they have in common causes their differences to compliment each other. Two, Pike acting as a mentor to Kirk, showing how someone with a completely different command style can shape him for the better without changing him.
What is Starfleet? - A classic Star Trek story told in a non-standard way. We've got a jerky and demanding culture on a planet, ordering around the Enterprise, with hidden darker motives. And we have a truly alien being that is far more sentient than originally suspected. There are two elements that make this a cool episode. The first is seeing a problem Kirk and crew have handled multiple times being handled just as well, but very differently given their command styles, by Captain Pike and his officers. The second is seeing the whole story through the lens of Ortegas's brother's documentary, when he is of the "Starfleet is wrong" mentality. It was very well handled, the space shots were gorgeous, and it put some nice variations on what could have been a "we've seen this before" vibe.
Four-and-a-Half Vulcans - I believe, based on the Katra stuff and other reasons, that the transformed crew members were acting like they believed Vulcans act, not like actual Vulcans. (Not counting "Romu-La'an," which may be my favorite Trek Pun ever.) However, as I've pointed out previously, almost every non main crew member Vulcan across tv shows and films we've met has been a jerk, their assessment is pretty accurate. The whole episode was a lot of fun, particularly Spock trying to deal with his transformed friends. And yet, it is hard to focus on anything in this episode other than Doug. I have been a fan of Patton Oswalt's stand up well before his appearances on SHIELD, his starring in Ratatouille, his role as Mathew the Raven and his forays into comic book writing. Doug, the Vulcan that loves humanity, is my favorite performance of his I have ever seen, and it makes me crack up just thinking about it. I really hope he comes back.
Terrarium - Yes, it is Enemy Mine. Who cares? That story has been told many times in many forms, and it is the execution that matters. We learn much about Ortegas on her journey in this episode. (And like her even more, because she continues to be awesome.) We also learn more about the Gorn as an intelligent species. Just as important as Erica's trials are the scenes back on the Enterprise. Much like "The Tholian Web", Uhura is the only one who still believes they can rescue a lost member of the crew. (And thanks to this Episode not being filmed in the Sixties, Uhura is not treated as a "hysterical woman" this time.) Pike is shown (in a quieter manner) that he supports his crew just as much as Kirk will.
New Life and New Civilizations - Chris and Marie get to live a full life together in one of the many weird time passage rate occurrences in Trek. This was quite a way to end the season with action, suspense, romance, and our heroes smashing a cult. In case the show didn't get renewed it was an excellent ending, with a comprehensive send off acknowledging the whole crew, and increasing the bond between Kirk and Spock which will become legendary. Question- Was the "life" Pike and Batel lived together real enough to them that they felt it was complete? Because otherwise, I have questions about him being with Vina on Talos IV while Marie spends eternity as (checks notes) a living, chronologically transcendent statue.
That would have been a good ending, but a better one is getting another season and a half of Going Boldly!
Click for season four... someday.
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