Ranking classic STAR TREK.

The classic 1960s Star Trek TV series is one of my favorite shows of all time. In the 1970s and ’80s, Star Trek reruns were one of the best sci-fi things available. Especially to a youngster like me who lived in a rural area with no cable TV.

I’m somewhat obsessive about the show. Especially now, since I have my DVDs of it ripped and readily available on my home media streaming server. Having watched every episode a few times (and favorite episodes several times), I have opinions. I decided I’d start ranking each episode as I undertook my latest informal rewatch of the show. And, as of today, my classic Star Trek rankings are finally complete!

I tried to come up with a clever way to categorize my list, but in the end I decided to just go with “good,” “meh,” and “bad.” To assign letter grades, the “good” episodes would rate an A or B, the “meh” episodes a C, and the “bad” episodes would get a D or an F. I was pleased to find that there are more good Trek episodes than I realized. I had always kind of thought that maybe half of the episodes were good, but my final tally is 54 good episodes — a little more than two-thirds of the show’s 79 total episodes!

This isn’t a super-precise list. I mean, am I one-hundred percent sure that my no. 26 (“The Savage Curtain”) is better than my no. 27 (“Shore Leave”)? No, I am not. But I am pretty sure that my no. 34 (“Friday’s Child”) is better than my no. 64 (”The Way to Eden”). And I’m feeling really good about my top five.

Anyways, if you are a fan of Star Trek (or just a fan of obsessive lists), I hope you’ll find some insight or at least some entertainment in my Trek rankings.

The good...

“Journey to Babel” (Season 2, Episode 10): Action, danger, interpersonal drama, silly aliens, cool aliens, Spock’s parents, a high-stakes diplomatic mission… this episode has it all. And it moves — there isn’t a wasted frame.
“Mirror, Mirror” (s02e04): Iconic for evil Spock’s beard. It’s one of the great Trek episodes, though one has to be at least a little familiar with the characters to really appreciate the evil parallel universe versions. An underrated aspect of this episode is how, back in the “real” universe, the not-evil Enterprise crew immediately recognize evil Kirk as an unhinged jerk and throw him in the brig.
“The Enterprise Incident” (s03e02): Kirk takes the Enterprise into Romulan territory, putting the ship and its crew in great danger. Kirk is behaving erratically. Spock starts getting friendly with the Romulans. What the heck is going on? The short answer is a high-stakes espionage mission. This episode, like “Journey to Babel,” was written by D.C. Fontana. And like “Babel,” this one is full of clever and exciting twists and turns and is one of the all-time great Trek episodes. Iconic for Kirk disguising himself as a Romulan with pointy ears and also the “Vulcan death grip.”
“The Trouble With Tribbles” (s02e15): The funniest classic Star Trek episode, and also one of the best. It’s iconic for a reason.
“Arena” (s01e18): Kirk versus a reptilian Gorn, mano-a-mano. I sometimes forget there’s a lot of cool stuff that happens before the “arena” part — that doesn’t start till about halfway through the episode. Before that there’s an artillery battle and a space chase. Iconic and awesome, and probably the best episode of Trek’s first season.
“Amok Time” (s02e01): Spock must return to his home planet of Vulcan. To mate! Or he’ll die! Spock and Kirk end up fighting each other (for reasons explained in the episode) in one of the series’ most iconic scenes.
“The Doomsday Machine” (s02e06): A planet-killing machine is turning entire solar systems to rubble. Captain Kirk and friends have to figure out a way to stop it while also dealing with an unhinged Starfleet commodore.
“The Tholian Web” (s03e09): The Enterprise crew investigates a starship that has become unstuck from our universe because of an unstable area of spacetime. Then Kirk gets unstuck from our universe, so Spock has to figure out how to rescue him. But the unstable area of spacetime is making some of the folks on the Enterprise crazy. Then the titular Tholians show up, and they aren’t friendly. A lot going on here, and it’s a top-tier Trek episode.
“A Piece of the Action” (s02e17): Kirk and friends tangle with space mobsters! There’s a whole subset of classic Trek episodes that play with genre tropes (space Nazis, space gladiators, space cowboys), and this episode is hands-down the best of the bunch. Also the funniest Trek episode this side of “The Trouble With Tribbles.”
“Operation — Annihilate!” (s01e29): This is basically the Star Trek version of a 1950s monster movie, and I mean that as a compliment. Iconic for the scene where Spock is permanently blinded. (Don’t worry, he gets permanently unblinded before the episode’s end.)
“Errand of Mercy” (s01e26): Kirk and Spock try to protect a pacifist society from the Klingons, who make their first appearance in this episode. But the pacifists are uninterested in being protected. John Colicos plays the Klingon leader to perfection.
“A Taste of Armageddon” (s01e23): Two planets are waging a virtual war on each other. There are no real weapons involved, but if the war computer decides someone is a casualty, they are required to kill themselves via a suicide machine. It’s kind of like a sprawling, deadly game of Dungeons & Dragons. When the Enterprise is “destroyed,” Kirk refuses to play along (and maybe breaks the Prime Directive?).
“This Side of Paradise” (s01e24): The Enterprise crew visits a colony on a remote planet where everyone is happy and healthy. A little too happy and healthy, because of the effect of some weird spores. Iconic for a laughing (and in love with a woman) Mr. Spock. (He returns to his normal emotionless state after Kirk shakes him free from the influence of the spores).
“The Devil in the Dark” (s01e25): There’s a weird and scary monster, but it turns out it’s not evil, it’s just misunderstood. I love this kind of Trek story — the Enterprise crew has to solve a problem, but there’s not an actual bad guy.
“Space Seed” (s01e22): The episode that introduced Khan and paved the way for the best Trek movie. Ricardo Montalban delivers one of the all-time great Trek guest performances as Khan.
“Tomorrow is Yesterday” (s01e19): Noteworthy for being the first time travel episode of Star Trek. The Enterprise goes back in time to the earth of the 1960s, which just happened to be the place and time that Star Trek was originally on TV.
“The City on the Edge of Forever” (s01e28): One of my hot Star Trek takes is that “City on the Edge of Forever” is not the best episode of classic Trek. It is a very good hour of sci-fi TV. It’s just that a big part of the plot involves Kirk falling in love with Edith Keeler, a 20th century earth woman (this is a time travel episode). Keeler is one of the great Trek guest characters, and Joan Collins’ portrayal of Keeler is incredibly charming. But dang it, Captain Kirk’s only true love is his ship, the Enterprise. That’s like Kirk’s whole deal. A friend once noted that if this story featured a generic sci-fi captain and was made into an episode of The Outer Limits, it would be probably be the best episode of The Outer Limits. But as Star Trek episodes go, I have to rate it very good and not quite great.
“Day of the Dove” (s03e07): An “Arena”-style episode, this one has a malevolent energy being forcing Kirk and friends to fight a bunch of Klingons on board the Enterprise.
“Court Martial” (s01e20): Courtroom drama (and melodrama, of course) with Captain Kirk on trial for the negligent manslaughter of one of his crew. And Kirk’s lawyer is played by the great Elisha Cook Jr. Yes, please.
“The Immunity Syndrome” (s02e18): Kirk and company travel into some kind of pseudo-black hole and contend with a giant killer space amoeba that is sapping the energy of both the Enterprise and its crew. McCoy keeps the crew going with “stimulants” (amphetemines administered via hypospray) while Spock undertakes a dangerous shuttle mission to investigate the big amoeba.
“Where No Man Has Gone Before” (s01e03): This pilot episode established a classic Star Trek trope — the Enterprise crew has to contend with a being with godlike power. The being in this case is Enterprise crewperson Gary Mitchell. Mitchell is portrayed by Gary Lockwood, who also starred in 2001: A Space Odyssey, so his sci-fi bona fides are impressive to say the least.
“Spectre of the Gun” (s03e06): Basically a western-in-space with Captain Kirk and friends fighting for their lives in a surreal version of an American frontier town. The weirdness (and the moody-for-Star Trek cinematography) make this episode a bit more compelling than similar episodes like “Bread and Circuses” (swords-and-sandals-in-space) and “Patterns of Force” (WWII-in-space).
“Bread and Circuses” (s02e25): Kirk, Spock, and McCoy vs. space Roman gladiators! Not quite as iconic as the episode where they fight space Nazis, but I think this is overall the better of the two episodes.
“Patterns of Force” (s02e21): This one is very similar to “Bread and Circuses,” swapping out space Nazis for space Roman gladiators. “Patterns” is the weaker of the two episodes, but it’s more iconic because space Nazis.
“Catspaw” (s02e07): AKA “The Halloween Episode.” Kirk, Spock, and McCoy beam down to a spooky planet with witches and a gothic castle and lots of fog. The horror movie trappings are all an illusion created by that time-honored Trek antagonist, a being with godlike powers. But it’s still a fun watch, especially during spooky season.
“The Savage Curtain” (s03e22): Another episode that is kind of like “Arena,” but instead of fighting alone, Kirk has Spock and Space Abraham Lincoln on his side. As silly as that sounds, Space Lincoln is a terrific character, and this is a solid third season episode.
“Shore Leave” (s01e15): The Enterprise crew stops by a lush and green planet for some R-and-R. Then things get weird, most famously with McCoy encountering a giant talking Alice in Wonderland rabbit.
“The Menagerie” (Part 1) (s01e11): Spock hijacks the Enterprise and kidnaps his old captain. But why? Could it have something to do with the mysterious forbidden planet Talos IV? This one is iconic for a few reasons, the big one being it’s part one of the only two-part episode of classic Star Trek — it ends on a pretty great cliffhanger. Also iconic for (smartly) repurposing footage from the original unaired pilot for Star Trek that featured different actors and characters from the pilot that went to air.
“The Menagerie” (Part 2) (s01e12): Not sure if the payoff is as good as the setup, but it’s still pretty good. This episode is iconic for the introduction of the green Orion slave girl.
“The Apple” (s02e05): The Enterprise crew encounters an idyllic, Eden-like society that worships (and is taken care of by) a “god” that is actually a computer. The “god” computer also damages the Enterprise, which sets up a Prime Directive conundrum — is it OK to destroy this computer to save the Enterprise, even though it will drastically alter the planet’s society?
“By Any Other Name” (s02e22): Strange aliens transform themselves into humans and hijack the Enterprise. But the aliens aren’t prepared for the feelings that come along with being human, and Captain Kirk hatches a plan to play on the aliens’ newfound human failings to win back control of his ship.
“Wink of an Eye” (s03e11): The Enterprise is hijacked by aliens who move so fast they’re invisible to Captain Kirk and his crew. Then the aliens alter Kirk so he moves at their speed, and he has to figure out how to reclaim his ship and get himself back to normal speed.
“The Naked Time” (s01e04): Because of a contagion, everyone on board the Enterprise starts behaving as if they’re drunk. Hijinks and disaster ensue. Iconic for Sulu running around shirtless with a sword. There’s also a time-travel twist at the end that I always forget about, so I guess that makes this technically the first time-travel episode of Trek and not “Tomorrow Is Yesterday.” But the time travel here is more of an aside than a driver of the plot.
“Friday’s Child” (s02e11): Kirk, Spock, and McCoy beam down to a planet to negotiate mineral rights and end up on the lam after they get tangled up in the politics of the war-happy locals, known as Capellans. Klingons in the neighborhood don’t make the situation any better. And, aside from trying to save their own hides, Kirk and company are also trying to protect a very pregnant Capellan refugee (played the great Julie Newmar).
“The Corbomite Maneuver” (s01e10): One of those early Trek episodes that’s good but also rough around the edges. (Even though this was the tenth episode to air, it was the first non-pilot episode filmed.) Little things jump out to me, like Spock yells too much. Also, Uhura is wearing the wrong color uniform! (She’s in yellow here, instead of her usual red.) Even for the characters where the uniforms are the correct color, a lot of them are weird, with collars that are too big. Yes, these are the kinds of things you notice when you watch old Star Trek episodes over and over. Even with all of those rough edges, it’s still an iconic episode, with an alien antagonist who is not what he seems, and Kirk bluffing his way out of a seemingly unwinnable situation.
“The Enemy Within” (s01e05): An unlikely transporter malfunction creates two Captain Kirks — one good… and one evil! But also the good Kirk is timid and indecisive and learns his evil counterpart has some good (or at least necessary) qualities.
“The Gamesters of Triskelion” (s02e16): Another “Arena”-style episode. In this one, Kirk, Uhura, and Chekov are space-napped to fight in games for some degenerate gamblers from outer space. Spoiler: Kirk is a pretty good gambler himself, and he beats the gamesters at their own game.
“Balance of Terror” (s01e14): The Enterprise fights a Romulan ship, and it’s staged like a submarine battle. Plus there’s tension on board the Enterprise, as the crew has gotten their first look at the Romulans, and their resemblance to Vulcans has some of the crew suspicious of Mr. Spock. Rough around the edges like most of the early first season episodes, but iconic all the same.
“Assignment: Earth” (s02e26): The Enterprise crew very casually travels back in time to take part in a “backdoor pilot” for what would have been kind of an American version of Doctor Who. The episode prominently features both Teri Garr and a cat, so it’s obviously good.
“For the World Is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky” (s03e08): Good episode, great title. Dr. McCoy has some terminal disease and also falls in love while investigating a giant spaceship that looks like (and that is believed by its occupants to be) a planetoid. It’s a fun mashup of generation starship and hollow earth sci-fi concepts.
“The Ultimate Computer” (s02e24): An experimental computer is put in charge of the Enterprise with disastrous results. It’s a solid episode that’s particularly relevant these days given all of the unreliable A.I. that is being pushed on consumers.
“The Return of the Archons” (s01e21): Before there was a Purge, there was Red Hour!
“All Our Yesterdays” (s03e23): Kirk, Spock, and McCoy accidentally time travel to the past of a dying planet. Kirk is accused of witchcraft in an era that is like earth’s 1800s. Spock and McCoy get stuck in an ice age. Spock falls in love. It’s a weird episode and also pretty good.
“What Are Little Girls Made Of?” (s01e07): This is kind of an earlier, less humorous take on the “I, Mudd” plot with androids wanting to hijack the Enterprise. One of the androids in this case is pretending to be Nurse Chapel’s long-lost fiancé. Pretty solid for an early first season episode, and Ted Cassidy is awesome as the giant android named Ruk. (good)
“Spock’s Brain” (s03e01): Often cited as the worst episode of classic Star Trek, I am here to tell you that “Spock’s Brain” is actually pretty good. The central conceit, that some aliens steal Spock’s brain, is a bit over-the-top for Trek — that plot would be more at home on Lost in Space (where I assume Dr. Smith would be the one with the stolen brain, and Will Robinson and the robot would have to find the brain). But it’s never boring or offensive and it’s often entertaining, and that’s more than I can say for most of the actual bad episodes of Star Trek. And if this was an episode of Lost in Space, you know it’d be top-tier Lost in Space.
“The Squire of Gothos” (s01e17): Before there was Q, there was Tralane.
“I, Mudd” (s02e08): Androids hijack the Enterprise with their sights set on taking over the galaxy. And that scoundrel Harry Mudd is involved. Mudd is one of the rare classic Trek guest characters to appear in multiple episodes. And “I, Mudd” is the rare sequel that is better than the original (“Mudd’s Women” from the show’s first season).
“Let That Be Your Last Battlefield” (s03e15): Another iconic episode, because of the aliens who have faces that are split down the middle black and white. The message kind of overpowers the plot in this one, but it’s a great message, about how racism is stupid and destructive.
“Return to Tomorrow” (s02e20): The Enterprise getting hijacked is something of a Star Trek trope. In this episode, Kirk, Spock, and another crew member (played by Diana Muldaur) have their bodies hijacked by alien entities. Notable for being the first Trek appearance of Muldaur, who played a different character in “Is There in Truth No Beauty?” and a leading role (Dr. Pulaski) in the second season of Star Trek: The Next Generation. Also notable for Kirk’s “Risk is our business” speech, which is maybe iconic? It’s at least a pretty good speech.
“Charlie X” (s01e02): Another one of those early, awkward episodes. This one is about an awkward teenage boy with godlike powers. Pretty good episode, but I have trouble watching it because the teen (Charlie of the title, played to perfection by Robert Walker Jr.) is such a creep. He’s petulant and entitled and naive and also very powerful. He occasionally tries to do the right thing, but inevitably goes back to being a bully. Trivia — this is a holiday episode! Kirk mentions that it’s Thanksgiving so he’d like the crew’s meals to at least look like turkey.
“The Changeling” (s02e03): Star Trek: The Motion Picture is basically a big-budget remake of this episode. The misguided-yet-dangerous robotic space probe here is named Nomad. In a fit of misogyny, Nomad mind-wipes Uhura. Yikes. Also, Nomad kills Scotty, only to un-kill him a few minutes later. Iconic for the finale where Kirk defeats Nomad with a logic paradox.
“The Deadly Years” (s02e12): Medical mystery episode with Captain Kirk and several of his key officers start rapidly aging. I’m not a big fan of the “weird aging” sci-fi trope, but it’s handled pretty well here.
“Obsession” (s02e13): Captain Kirk chases his own white whale, but in this case the whale is a murderous vapor cloud. I don’t quite buy the extent of Kirk’s obsession, and the cloud is one of those bad guys that manages to be boring and overpowered at the same time.
“The Cloud Minders” (s03e21): This is a frustrating episode. It’s thematically meaty, featuring a society where the lower class is forced to work in dangerous underground mines while the upper class literally lives in the clouds. But that theme is not handled with much subtlety. I feel like this one was just a couple more screenplay drafts away from greatness.

The meh...

“The Omega Glory” (s02e23): This one starts out with a cool mystery (an empty starship where the crew has apparently been turned to crystalline dust) but eventually goes off the rails. I give it some credit for delivering some good action and probably the most WTF ending of the entire classic Trek series.
“The Galileo Seven” (s01e16): I’m torn on this episode. I feel like it’s kind of iconic as an early Spock’s-in-charge episode. The theme of this episode is that man (or Vulcan) cannot live by logic alone. It’s a fine theme, but it isn’t delivered with any subtlety. In fact, the characters often behave ridiculously in service of the theme.
“Dagger of the Mind” (s01e09): This episode is about abuses on a prison planet, and it bums me out that in the idyllic future of Star Trek people are still subjected to cruel and unusual punishment. Iconic for the first appearance of the Vulcan mind meld.
“That Which Survives” (s03e17): Kirk and an away team get trapped on a planetoid when the Enterprise is somehow thrown a thousand light years away. Plot-wise it’s fine, but the character work is off. Spock in particular is just way too snarky.
“Elaan of Troyius” (s03e13): The Enterprise crew must transport an arrogant royal (Elaan of the title) to a planet where she is to be married for political convenience. There’s some espionage and Klingons, which is pretty good. But the diplomacy stuff with Elaan has plenty of cringe-inducing moments.
“Who Mourns for Adonais?” (s02e02): What if the Greek gods were actually space aliens, and what if the Enterprise crew encountered one of those aliens? Would be better if Scotty didn’t spend so much time mooning over one of his fellow officers. Iconic for the giant green space hand holding the Enterprise.
“A Private Little War” (s02e19): As far as Kirk getting mixed up with aliens who resemble Stone Age humans, this one is a lot better than “The Paradise Syndrome.” But, hoo boy, there is a lot of Prime Directive breaking going on in this one. In fairness, the Klingons started it. But still.
“Turnabout Intruder” (s03e24): My biggest gripe with classic Trek is all the misogyny. It’s especially frustrating because Star Trek is generally progressive in other areas. This final episode of the original series is infamous for a huge misogynistic plot point — women are forbidden to be Starfleet captains. So I’m kind of rooting for the “bad guy” in this episode, a woman who snatches Captain Kirk’s body, Freaky Friday-style, so she can finally captain a starship. Shatner, of course, really chews the scenery playing Kirk as “possessed” by a vengeful woman.
“And the Children Shall Lead” (s03e04): A group of Federation interplanetary settlers are all killed. Except for the children of the settlers, who don’t seem too upset that their parents are dead. Turns out the kids are under the influence of an evil alien entity, and the kids and the entity try to take over the Enterprise.
“The Way to Eden” (s03e20): Space hippies take over the Enterprise. And it’s practically a musical, what with all of the space folk singing going on. No, it’s not a good episode. But it actually plays better in execution than it does on paper.

The bad...

“Whom Gods Destroy” (s03e14): The inmates are running the asylum. And trying to hijack the Enterprise. And the actors playing the inmates are chewing up all the scenery trying to act “crazy.” To add insult to injury, the character played by the great Yvonne Craig is almost suffocated but then gets blown up. It does end on one of those classic gags where Spock has to figure out who is the real Captain Kirk and who is the imposter and then shoot the imposter. All things considered, I guess this is one of the better of the bad episodes.
“The Man Trap” (s01e01): Iconic for being the first ever episode of Star Trek to air. And the monster in this monster-of-the-week story looks pretty cool. But it’s a clunky episode, even in comparison to other clunky early first season episodes.
“Plato’s Stepchildren” (s03e10): Kirk, Spock, and McCoy encounter a society of telekinetic humanoids who dress like Plato-era Greeks. There’s a lot of tiresome overacting as the telekinetic guys force people to do silly dances and stuff. Notable for featuring television’s first interracial kiss. Also notable for featuring a second-time guest appearance by Barbara Babcock, who also guest-starred in the much better episode “A Taste of Armageddon” a couple years earlier.
“Metamorphosis” (s02e09): There’s an interesting idea here, about a human and an energy being living in a symbiotic relationship. And there’s some important Trek lore, with a guest appearance by Zephram Cochran, the inventor of the show’s warp drive technology. But the execution here is pretty bad. Thematically it’s all over the place, trying for a “love is love” message while also propping up the patriarchy. And Kirk’s initial plan to just kill the energy being is pretty barbaric.
“The Paradise Syndrome” (s03e03): Kirk and Spock fighting space-Nazis? Classic. Kirk getting amnesia and thinking he is a space-Native-American? Oof. Horrendous cultural insensitivity aside, the b-story (with Kirk missing, the crew of the Enterprise is trying to figure out how to stop an asteroid that is on a collision course with the space-Native-Americans’ planet) ain’t bad. But overall, this one is obviously bad.
“The Alternative Factor” (s01e27): This one is just a mess — boring and nonsensical. That said, it’s not misogynistic or otherwise offensive. So maybe I shouldn’t be so hard on it. But it’s so boring!
“Mudd’s Women” (s01e06): Harry Mudd is an entertaining and iconic guest character. (He returns in a later episode, and that basically never happened with classic Trek guest characters.) But the whole deal with him transporting mail-order brides, and every dude on the Enterprise acting like hormonal teenagers... it’s a whole lot of cringe. Also, this is one of those very early episodes where some things are off (like Uhura wearing the wrong-color uniform).
“Requiem for Methuselah” (s03e19): This is one of the classic Trek episodes I have watched the least. Was pleasantly surprised to see Spock playing the piano! It’s basically a chamber piece with kind of a Forbidden Planet-meets-Blade Runner vibe. Kind of boring for the most part, but then it goes completely off the rails at the end.
“The Conscience of the King” (s01e13): A novel premise, with Captain Kirk playing detective, looking to unmask a mass murderer. The problem is the mystery is not mysterious at all — the identity of the murderer is obvious from the get-go.
“Is There in Truth No Beauty?” (s03e05): This episode stirs up a lot of melodrama (and, unfortunately, a lot of casual misogyny) around a Medusan — an alien being with beautiful thoughts whose appearance is so bizarre that seeing it can drive humans mad. It’s a shame — there are several cool sci-fi concepts in the show, but the melodrama and misogyny make it a tough watch.
“The Mark of Gideon” (s03e16): Spock has to deal with some annoying diplomats when Kirk goes missing. Kirk is on another Enterprise, one that is totally abandoned. Spoiler: the annoying diplomats are responsible for Kirk’s disappearance. And their motivations turn out to be really dumb.
“The Lights of Zetar” (s03e18): Another “Scotty falls for a crewmate and starts acting goofy” episode. Scotty’s love interest, Lt. Mira Romaine, is quickly possessed by energy beings. It’s not just Scotty who is behaving foolishly — everybody is kind of obnoxious in this episode. And there’s so much misogyny — I lost track of how many times the men refer to Romaine (a Starfleet officer!) as “the girl.”
“Wolf in the Fold” (s02e14): This one starts with a lot of cringe — Kirk, McCoy, and Scotty are visiting a hedonism planet. Scotty suffered an injury that was a woman’s fault, and now he hates all women, so Kirk and McCoy are apparently planning to get him laid by an exotic dancer so he can get over his misogyny. Oof. At least this one’s not boring. The bad guy here is Jack the Ripper — turns out he’s actually an immortal energy being that feeds on fear. In order to starve out Jack, McCoy prescribes tranquilizers to everyone on board the Enterprise. So the whole crew is high as heck at the episode’s end.
“Miri” (s01e08): The Enterprise explores a planet exactly like earth (right down to the shape of the continents). Except it’s all post-apocalyptic. Turns out its been ravaged by a disease that kills people as soon as the become adults. So the only people alive on the planet are kids, including the teenager Miri. She and Kirk start a flirtation, and that plot development is ill-advised to say the least. We find out that, technically, all the kids are hundreds of years old and just aging very slowly. But still, oof.
“The Empath” (s03e12): Aliens abduct Kirk, Spock, and McCoy and torture them in an attempt to provoke a response from the titular empath. All the torture make this episode a downer. But I’d also like to complain that McCoy names the empath “Gem,” which sounds just like “Jim,” which is what Captain Kirk’s friends call him. So weird! Also, the musical score for this episode is saccharine and syrupy, which is an odd choice given the torture.

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