Star Trek TOS: 5 Best Episodes (& 5 That Missed the Mark)

Star Trek: The Original Series had to have good writing and interesting characters because they couldn’t rely on a big budget or special effects. The stories were interesting because the characters carried the plot and took it seriously no matter how outlandish it was, and it got pretty weird. When that worked, fans loved it, but it wasn’t always smooth. Sometimes the writers would find themselves in a corner and resort to unconventional solutions in order to get them out, and it was reflected in the awkward character responses and unsatisfying plot resolutions.

There’s a lot of great writing in TOS but there’s also a lot of bad writing. This series has some of the best and the worst of television’s golden age, which is why it retains its popularity. Here are a few times that TOS gave audiences a satisfying conclusion and several other examples where the fans just didn’t buy it.

10 Missed the Mark: “Turnabout Intruder”

This episode offends so many viewers in so many ways, and a ridiculous plot based on little more than gender stereotypes is one way to explain why. This episode seemed to exist to give Starfleet a ham-fisted excuse for not allowing women to be Captains in the TOS era, one of the first things to get ret-conned as the series moved into the future.

The whole storyline of “Turnabout Intruder” hinges on the prevailing idea that women are just too hysterical to be in charge. Janice Lester sounds competent enough, she’s a doctor after all, but she’s cast in the stereotypical role of an overly attached ex-girlfriend, and the second she gets some power she abuses it. This episode is not a favorite.

9 Best: The Man Trap

McCoy is the emotional center of the Enterprise crew, and sometimes that presents a problem that his more level-headed friends have to solve. The first episode to feature the crew as we now know them made the ship’s doctor the focus of the plot. Kirk and Spock discover that McCoy’s old flame, Nancy, is actually a salt-sucking killer alien in disguise. It’s a daring bit of horror added to a sci-fi plot before it was cool, another thing that makes this episode a fan favorite.

It’s only because of McCoy’s sentimental memories that the alien is allowed access to the ship, but we need that angle for the plot to move forward, and we understand how McCoy feels from the first few minutes of the episode so his actions, and the conclusion that results from them, makes perfect sense.

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8 Missed the Mark: “A Wolf in the Fold”

This episode is another one of those painfully dated episodes that haven’t aged well, and yet another episode where the writers decided to make Scotty a punching bag.

Basically, the writers decide that Scotty is the guy who’s awkward around women just so this story can work. This episode doesn’t really seem fair to the characters and doesn’t really deliver a good narrative.

7 Best: “The Corbomite Maneuver”

The best thing about humans is also the worst thing about humans. Humans like to make things up, or to put it another way, they lie. It’s true for all humans, not just Kirk, which is why this ending is not only perfectly in character but easily believable by most viewers.

It’s entirely within character for Kirk to be a poker player. Fans have never seen him play a hand of any card game, but the audience instantly buys the notion that he knows the game and has played it before. That’s not all, either. When the opposing aliens try to call Kirk’s bluff, he actually doubles down and wins the bet, so to speak.

6 Missed the Mark: “This Side of Paradise”

Just a bit of flower dust, and the stoic Vulcan facade falls apart? Compare this to the slow burn of “Amok Time” where it takes Spock a couple of weeks to lose his mind, and it seems unlikely.

Granted, this is basically a good episode, and it has some great moments for everyone’s favorite Vulcan, but he flips too quickly and that isn’t in his character. This might have been better fodder for a two-parter or even a movie. The fans know that this is likely just a way for the writers to get into the real story, but it still feels rushed.

5 Best: “Mudd’s Women”

Here’s a situation where the visiting characters of the week get to teach the fans and the crew of the Enterprise and the fans a lesson. Fans don’t get to know the Brides very well, and only one of them, Evie, really has any significant lines. She does most of the talking, and from the way she pushes back against Mudd, fans are not surprised to see she doesn’t take any crap from the men on the mining colony, either.

Evie herself takes the viewer by surprise, as viewers don’t often get a Character of the Week with such a solid presence, but Evie is consistent and that makes her character’s actions and arc believable. She’s wise, resourceful, and a survivor, an ideal recipe for success in the unknown reaches of space. Too bad Evie never got to attend Starfleet Academy.

4 Missed the Mark: “The Lights of Zetar.”

McCoy’s sentiment is genuine in episodes like “The Man Trap” where he’s smitten with a love interest, but at least it’s grounded. Scotty, on the other hand, turns into a weird, clingy version of himself around Mira, a girl he has a crush on.

Fans have to admit that this isn’t completely out of left-field. It seems like a callback to the other episode where this happened to Scotty, “A Wolf in the Fold,” where the writers decide they need a character that’s awkward around women, and for some reason, Scotty is it. However, the plot doesn’t need it. In fact, the whole episode could happen without Scotty or Mira, so it feels pointless and a disservice to the character.

3 Best: “The Empath”

Trapped in an alien laboratory, Spock, Kirk, and McCoy are the subject of several experiments with an otherworldly life form simply referred to as an empath. McCoy, who’s already been established as the Id in the triumvirate that makes up the main cast, is the one best suited to communicate with the empath.

He’s even the one to give her a name, a concept the two more practical crewmates never consider. It’s an interesting, experimental concept, one of the better episodes according to come viewers, and a complement to McCoy’s character.

2 Missed the Mark: “Friday’s Child”

McCoy starts out strong in this episode, guiding the crew through the initial meetings and negotiations with the fierce Capellans, but as soon as he’s responsible for the heavily pregnant Eleen he turns into a different person. He’s rude, grabby, even mocking, and cruel to the young woman.

Granted, the wife of the Te’er is a proud woman, but the way McCoy treats her is totally out of character and it’s totally unnecessary to move the plot forward. It also seems strange that given her own personal sense of self-worth, that she not only puts up with it but names her newborn child after him. It’s an unfortunate flaw in what would otherwise be a great expository and action-packed episode.

1 Best: “Plato’s Stepchildren.”

It’s nice to see a minor character rise up and steal a few scenes from the main players, and in “Plato’s Stepchildren” it’s Alexander, the long-suffering captive of a group of beings who believe themselves to be superior to everyone else.

The only one on this planet that’s not a vicious jerk is Alexander, and he tries to warn the visiting Starfleet officers of the danger. He’s wise and gentle enough, but it’s clear he’s not the fool the other Platonians treat him as, and it’s not a surprise when he’s the one that turns on his captors. In fact, everyone gets what they deserve at the end, and it’s one of the most satisfying endings in the series.

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