TOS - 2.06 - The Doomsday Machine

The stakes are high when the Enterprise encounters an automated robotic weapon that is moving through the galaxy, destroying every planet that it encounters. The power of this Planet Killer is displayed by the fact that it has already severely damaged the USS Constellation, another Starship that is identical to the Enterprise.

The second season of the Original Series had a somewhat ropey start, but we’ve now had a second great episode in a row. “The Doomsday Machine” is hugely entertaining despite the fact that, if you think about it, not much actually happens. The Planet Killer is a daunting a threat but by itself is’t that interesting – it is just something of a Macguffin rather than a character in its own right with any motivation. Instead, the drama comes from inside the Enterprise and the presence of Commodore Matt Decker, the commanding officer of the Constellation and the last survivor after his mistakes have resulted in the death of his entire crew. Throughout its history, Star Trek often introduces senior officers as obstacles for respective captains to overcome, but Decker’s behaviour here makes perfect sense as he attempts to deal with what he has done. Indeed, Decker is said to be a friend of Kirk’s, which implies that he must have been an upstanding and rationale Starfleet officer before the events of the episode. However, Decker has now become a version of Captain Ahab from “Moby Dick”, obsessed with destroying the Planet Killer and prepared to put the Enterprise at risk in order to do so. With Kirk stuck on the Constellation, there are some great scenes as Decker pulls rank on Spock, who is powerless to stop him. McCoy is well used here as a means of presenting the emotion of the situation (I love the way that he manages to make adding “Sir” to one of speeches sound like an insult). When Kirk finally makes contact with the Enterprise again and realises what Decker is doing , we see probably his first act of real subordination as he is the one person prepared to stand up to Decker. Kirk’s anger at the commodore endangering his ship manages to be both satisfying and amusing.

William Windom's performance as Decker is great, making the commodore suitably restless in his body language and the way that he is constantly playing with some data bricks. It’s a role that gives plenty of scope for going over the top but Windom generally manages to avoid this; the closest he comes in his first scene and even there he seems subtle compared with William Shatner’s shouty line readings as he demand that Decker tell him what has happened. Despite Decker essentially being an antagonist for the first half of the episode, he is still ultimately a sympathetic character with his decision to sacrifice himself in an attempt to destroy the Planet Killer by flying a shuttlecraft in it. It is a nice inversion of the cliché that his actions aren’t actually successful, but he doesn’t die completely in vain as it gives Kirk the idea to create a bigger explosion using the Constellation. The climatic scenes as Kirk sets the Constellation for destruction but his attempts to escape are frustrated by inevitable problems with the transporter manage to be very tense even despite the fact that we all know that he will be fine.

No definitive explanation is given for the origin of the Planet Killer, other than the fact that It appears to come from another galaxy. Kirk theorises that it is a Doomsday Machine left over from an ancient war, but there is no evidence for this. His attempts to compare it the H-Bombs causing so much concern in the world when the episode was made are unusually clumsy for a show that doesn’t normally need to explain its metaphors. However, this is a very small problem in a script that manages to make so much from a very simple situation and which is satisfying in both its plot progression and character work.

Planetary Gazetteer

The Rigel colony: Located on a planet that is at risk from the Planet Eater. It is presumably in the same star system as Rigel VII as featured in “The Cage” and “The Menagerie”.

Starship Spotting

The USS Constellation is the first Starfeet starship other than the Enterprise to actually appear in the series. It has the same design as the Enterprise (not yet named as Constitution class) since it was portrayed by a commercial model of the Enterprise. Its registry number is very similar to the Enterpise (NCC-1017) as a result of the model kit’s decals just being re-arranged! The Constellation has been under the command of Commodore Matt Decker; there is no explanation as to why its captain has thus higher rank (other than to provide him with the ability to outrank Kirk with the story, anyway). The Constellation has been badly damaged in an attack by the Planet Killer, but Scotty is able to repair its impulse engines and a phaser bank. It is destroyed together with the Doomsday Machine. Decker wears a different Starfleet logo; since he is the only Constellation crew member to appear it is unclear whether this is due to his rank, or if this was worn by everyone on the Constellation. The Science Officer on the Constellation was called Masada.

The shuttlecraft that Decker steals is not named on screen but it appears to be the Galileo, resulting in the destruction of the shuttle featured in “The Galileo Seven” and “Metamorphosis”. This is problematic in terms of the order in which the episodes were originally transmitted since “Metamorphosis” was shown after “The Doomsday Machine”.

General Observations

• No Stardate is given for the current events, but Decker’s log states that the Constellation encountered the Planet Killer on 4202.1. This is the first Stardate in the 4000s.
• Neither Walter Koenig nor Nichelle Nichols appear in the episode. Uhura’s communications position is instead taken by a new female officer, Lt Palmer. John Winston appears again as Kyle (his sixth appearance), back in his familiar position as the transporter operator after his role as a bridge officer in “Who Mourns For Adonais?” A number of other Enterprise crew members appear in the episode – Washburn, Elliot and Russ who are all part of the damage control party sent to the Constellation (although only Washburn is named on screen with the other names used only in the credits), plus Montgomery (the security guard who is beaten by Decker in an unusual fight scene that doesn’t feature any of the regular characters).
• McCoy gives another version of his catchphrase when he states that he is a doctor, not a mechanic.
• George Takei doesn’t get to do much as Sulu in this episode, but I love his little satisfied smirk when Kirk and Spock finally convince Decker to stand down.
• “Space Dock” is mentioned for the first time (Scotty states that it is the only facility that would allow him to repair the Constellation’s warp drive.

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TOS - 2.05 - Amok Time

We’ve previously seen the Enterprise crew tested and challenged by external circumstances, but “Amok Time” is the first episode to inherently about one of the regular characters. This, together with it providing more details on Spock and visiting his homeworld, makes it something of a landmark episode.

“Amok Time” is an episode of two halves, with it actually spending a surprising amount of time on the Enterprise as Kirk and McCoy become concerned about Spock’s behaviour. It has become a not infrequent occurrence for Spock’s logical demeanour to break down, and so his emoting doesn’t quite have the same dramatic effect as if we had never seen it before. However, there is at least a mystery as to what is causing this change in Spock since we haven’t seen him infected by any virus or alien spores as in previous occurrences. The mystery is deepened since Spock seems to know what is going on, but is refusing to tell anyone.

Even though Spock and his Vulcan background provide the catalyst for the episode, “Amok Time” seems actually to be all about the deep friendship between Kirk and his first officer. It is actually heart-breaking to see Spock initially refusing to confide in Kirk, who in turn is powerless to help, especially when McCoy diagnoses that Spock will die if he does not get back to his home planet in the next few days. But this does make it quite affecting when Spock does start telling Kirk about what is going on, despite it being taboo, even amongst Vulcans. In return, Kirk is prepared to ignore direct orders from Starfleet to help Spock. I think this is probably the first time that we have seen Kirk as a maverick in the way that he was later characterised, but it is certainly effective here when he is prepared to sacrifice his career for his friend. It is also nice that the episode shows that these feelings are reciprocated as Spock allows Kirk and McCoy to accompany him to Vulcan.

The reason for Spock’s behaviour is revealed to be something called “ponn farr” – a biological event that leads to a neurochemical imbalance and violent emotions. Spock is very circumspect in the way that this is described (presumably to avoid upsetting the network censors), but it is essentially a drive to procreate and means that a Vulcan will die if they do not mate with another of their species. I know it will be established later than ponn farr is something that occurs every seven years; this is not mentioned here with it instead implied to be a single event that leads to a Vulcan taking a life partner. In Spock’s case, this is T’Pring. His marriage to her has been arranged by their parents and they are already in some sort of relationship – something “more than betrothal but less than marriage”. This is certainly the first time that Spock has experienced ponn farr since he had wondered whether his half-human heritage would have meant that he might not have had to go through it.

Things do get a little disorientating when we arrive on Vulcan for Spock’s marriage ceremony as things aren’t really that well explained (not least the fact that Spock doesn’t appear to have any familiar there). It is particularly confusing when T’Pring suddenly declares that Spock must fight for him. This is ultimately explained at the end of the episode as a plan that she has to get out of her arrangement with Spock and instead get together with her true love, but it comes out of nowhere within the story. The emphasis on Spock and Kirk’s friendship makes it inevitable but no less effective when T’Pring choses Kirk as her champion, especially when Kirk miscalculates by agreeing, not realising that this is a fight to the death. Whilst this fight is the event that the episode has been building to, I can’t help thinking that it does go on a little too long and it is afflicted by all too obvious stuntmen. Given that we know that both characters will be fine, it is never that convincing when McCoy declares Kirk to be dead, although I was expecting him to be just lying rather than a more complicated deception involving a drug. It is not an unreasonable resolution, but I can’t help wondering what the implications will be when the Vulcan authorities find out that Kirk is still alive. Indeed, the whole resolution is somewhat rushed, with Kirk essentially Kirk off the hook for his disobedience and Spock’s violent urges suddenly disappearing after his fight (it’s unclear how given the biological nature of ponn farr.

After some horrendous sexism in recent episodes, it is nice that “Amok Time” features some strong female characters who are not undermined and patronised. It is just a shame that this only happens when the females are not human. T’Pring doesn’t do much, but she is clever and devious. And then there is T’Pau, the most senior Vulcan that we meet and a very formidable character. It’s easy to see how she inspired a 1980s pop band.

"Amok Time” was the first episode to be transmitted in the second series. This is surprising to some extent given that it features Spock acting out of character for much of its duration, but I suppose this just shows how confident the producers were that the audience already understood Spock’s nature and that this would not be forgotten between seasons. However, it is easy to see why this potential concern was ignored since “Amok Time” has been by far the strongest episode so far in the second series, both in terms of script, production and its clear focus on the regular characters that we now care about.

Planetary Gazetteer

Vulcan: We visit Spock’s homeworld for the first time. It is rocky and mountainous with a red sky and an atmosphere that is thinner than that of Earth.

Altair VI: The planet to which the Enterprise is heading until Kirk diverts it to Vulcan. The Enterprise is to be one of three starships that is attending the inauguration of a new president, an event that is seen to be very important by Starfleet since there has been a long period of interplanetary conflict in this system. The fact that the Enterprise keeps changing course between Vulcan and Altair VI leads to some amusing scenes between Sulu and Chekov.

Regulus V: A planet which is home to giant eel-birds which must return to the caverns from which they were hatched every 11 years in order to mate.

General Observations

• A single Stardate is given in the episode – 3372.7.
• James Doohan does not appear as Scotty in the episode.
• Majel Barrett makes her first Series 2 appearance as Christine Chappel following three episodes of the first series; I see that she will appear more frequently in Series 2. Christine’s affection for Spock remains, but it is surprising that we don’t get any reaction from her to Spock’s impending marriage, especially since she happens to be on the bridge when T’Pring is revealed.
• This is the first episode to feature the Vulcan phrase “Live long and prosper” and the associated salute.
• Spock gives a very real emotional reaction at the end of the episode when realising that Kirk is still alive. Whilst we have seen him emote many times previously (especially in this episode), there has always been a reason for him to act out of character and so this genuine emotion is very disconcerting.
• Admiral Komack, who orders Kirk to keep going to Altair VI, had previously been mentioned in “This Side Of Paradise”.
• Lawrence Montaigne, who plays Stonn (Spock’s love rival), had previously worn pointy ears as a Romulan in “Balance Of Terror” and he had been considered to play a new regular Vulcan in the second season to replace Spock when it appeared as if negotiations over Leonard Nimoy’s salary were breaking down and the actor would not be returning.
• Spock’s rank is given as commander (both in the label on his quarters and in dialogue).
• The music score is particularly effective in this episode, with many of the scenes involving Spock’s Vulcan issues accompanied by a weird theme played on a bass guitar.

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TOS - 2.04 - Who Mourns For Adonais?

There is something of a sense of deja vu in this episode as Kirk and his crew are held captive on a distant planet by yet another god-like being. There is at least an interesting twist here since Kirk's captor is the Greek god Apollo. Despite initial scepticism from the Enterprise crew, it is ultimately explained that Apollo is indeed who he claims to be and he is the last survivor of a race of powerful aliens who visited Earth some 5000 years previously and therefore provided the origins of the Greek myths. These aliens left Earth when mankind outgrew them and so Apollo wants to keep the Enterprise crew on his planet so that the can look after them in return for being worshipped.

The Grecian window dressing for this episode is successful in making it distinct from similar previous instalments such as "The Squire Of Gothos" and "Catspaw", as well as distracting the viewer from the fact that not a lot actually happens other then repeated scenes of Kirk arguing for his freedom and Apollo constantly zapping Scotty. The set dressing actually does the bare minimum in making Apollo's planet look like Ancient Greece, but the imagery of the Enterprise being held in space by a giant green hand is certainly striking and makes for a very memorable opening. A lot of the success of the episode actually comes down to Michael Forest who gives Apollo dignity and is able to make his changes in mood not seem too abrupt, as well as allowing the character's origins to be suitably ambiguous, He has even able to make us feel somewhat sorry for Apollo as he decided that he cannot continue to exist without love and he ultimately chooses to disperse himself. This makes for a surprisingly melancholy ending

The similarities with previous episodes continue since, like "Space Seed", Kirk must deal with a female crew member who is seduced by the guest villain of the week and must choose where her loyalties lie. This time it is Lt Carolyn Palamas, yet another female character who is treated badly by the series. She is instantly ogled by the guest villain before being forced to wear an extremely revealing outfit (which somehow manages to remain in place during the climatic storm) and then falling in love virtually immediately. At least Kirk is able to convince Palamas to do her duty before too much damage is done. The scene in which she lies to Apollo, overcoming her own feelings to tell him that she doesn't love him should be heart-breaking, but Palamas has been such a naive and unsympathetic character previously that we don't really care. This partly arises since it is also established previously that Scotty is in love with her but she seems oblivious to this and unlikely to return his affections. This also has the effect of the usually dependable Scotty acting completely out of character - repeatedly trying to attack Apollo and getting zapped for his trouble, even after Kirk has chewed him out for doing this.

Planetary Gazetteer

Pollux IV: An M-class planet in the Beta Geminorum on which Kirk and his colleagues are trapped by Apollo. This appears to be the homeworld of his species. Apollo appears to draw his power from the planet using an organ in his body.

Pollux III: A neighbouring planet in the Beta Geminorum system which has been surveyed by the Enterprise and found to be uninhabited.

Antos IV: The homeworld of a giant dry worm mentioned by Chekov.

General Observations

• A single Stardate is given in the episode - 3468.1.
• Starbase 12 is mentioned; this was previously mentioned in "Space Seed" as being on a planet in the Gamma 400 system.
• Chekov, who is seen at the navigation position for the first time in this episode, gives his age as 22.
• John Winston makes his fifth appearance as an Enterprise crewman, now finally named as Lt Kyle. He has previously been seen operating the transporter but is here supporting Spock on the bridge.
• The inherent sexism in the series even extends to Kirk and McCoy as they seem to find it impossible that a woman can have a family and a career!

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TOS - 2.03 - Friday's Child

Kirk, Spock and McCoy arrive on Capella IV in order to negotiate a mining agreement with the indigenous species, a race of tall humanoids who live by a set of very strict rules and are potentially very dangerous to any outsiders who upset them. However, their mission is made more complicated by the fact that the Klingons are also interested in Capella and an agent has already arrived and made contact with the Capellans.

“Friday’s Child” is certainly an eventful episode, especially in its first half. It is just unfortunate that it keeps throwing plot developments at the viewer at an extraordinary rate without really that much logic. The episode has a very disconcerting opening as we are thrown into an exposition filled briefing without even a log entry to explain why we should be interested in everything that McCoy tells us about the Capellans. Once, Kirk and his team arrive on the planet, things just keep happening. A hot-headed underling initiates a sudden coup against the fair minded leader of the Capellas. This new leader, who previously seemed to be hostile to Kirk and more keen on doing business with the Klingons, suddenly takes a liking to Kirk with no real justification. Then Kirk immediately jeopardises this new favourable position by helping Eleen, the widow of the previous leader who is pregnant with his child, leading to the Enterprise crew being sentenced to death. Their imprisonment then lasts mere minutes before they escape (partly by attacking one of these fearsome warriors with a cushion). It soon becomes clear that this is all pretty much a set up for the meat of the episode, with Kirk, McCoy and Spock on the run with the heavily pregnant Eleen, but I can’t help thinking that there could have been a more elegant means of establishing this situation.

This inconsistency extends to the characterisation of Eleen. It is refreshing that she is a strong woman who doesn’t fall in love with Kirk, and it is clear that she is not intended to be likeable, but her motivations keep changing constantly throughout the episode and this makes it difficult to relate to her, despite the charisma of original Catwoman Julie Newmar. She is first prepared to die when her husband is killed, but then happy to live. She doesn’t like Kirk and his colleagues, but then bonds with McCoy but then still hits him over the head with a rock to allow her to return to her people, but she still then lies to protect the Enterprise crew. She doesn’t want her baby and runs off and abandons it. Until the end of the episode when she decides that perhaps being a mother isn’t too bad after all for no apparent reason. Yes, there are some nice moments in the building of her relationship with McCoy, but the fact that he wins round this pregnant woman by slapping her (albeit in response to her repeatedly slapping him) doesn’t play well these days…

“Friday’s Child” reintroduces the Klingons after their debut in “Errand Of Mercy” at the end of Series One. Well, one Klingon anyway since we only get a single individual here rather than an army like the earlier episode. And this Klingon is far less impressive than John Colicos’s Kor, even to the extent of not even being named on screen (he is referred to just as “the Klingon” in dialogue and is only named as Kras in the credits). Tige Andrews is suitably smarmy as Kras, but he never really poses any sort of threat to Kirk (and his “beard but no moustache” look isn’t exactly fearsome, either). Indeed, whilst Kras is presented as a complicating factor for Kirk’s mission, he doesn’t really contribute anything to the episode other than providing visibility of the Klingon claim on the Capellan minerals. This does provoke some siagreement amongst the Capellans, and is therefore probably a catalyst for the coup, but the character is pretty much irrelevant after that.

The episode is very similar in structure to “Metamorphosis”, with Kirk, Spock and McCoy having an adventure on a planet whilst Scotty is in command of the Enterprise. We again get to see Scotty be an effective commander despite him being given the run around trying to answer a fake distress signal. The reason for this deception is never properly explained – it is presumably mischief caused by the Klingons, but it is unclear what they seek to gain from this since the Enterprise’s absence only causes issues for Kirk once he starts having problems with the Capellans, something that the Klingons couldn’t have foreseen happening. When Scotty ignores this trick, he is faced with a Klingon ship blocking his way back to Capella IV. This seems to be setting up a big confrontation but this never occurs. The next we see of Scotty is when he arrives on the planet to rescue Kirk, merely starting that the Klingons didn’t have the belly for combat – something which already seems out of character for them!

Planetary Gazetteer

Capella IV: The setting for the episode. The Federation and the Klingons are both interested in the deposits of topaline that have been discovered on the planet; this is a rare mineral that is critical to the function of life support systems for planetoid colonies. The native Capellans are divided into Ten Tribes, all led by the HighTeer. McCoy has spent a few months on the planet previously and therefore knows a lot about the Capellans.

Starship Spotting

The distress signals that the Enterprise receive are supposedly from the SS Dierdre (a freighter with a maximum speed of Warp 2) and the USS Carolina (a starship known to be in the same sector as Capella IV).

We see a Klingon warship on the Enterprise viewscreen. This was originally just a blurry green blob although the remastered version replaced this with a CGI version of the classic D7 design.

General Observations

• Three Stardates are given in the episode – 3497.2, 3498.9 and 3499.1
• This episode features probably the most blatant example of the Red Shirt trope so far as Kirk, McCoy and Spock beam down to Capella with a security office who dies almost immediately! Kirk is at least upset about this initially, even to the extent of being grumpy with McCoy in the aftermath, although he soon gets over this and the poor crewman is never mentioned again after this. This security officer was called Grant, although this name is only given in the credits.
• Walter Koenig returns after being absent from “Metamorphosis”. This is the episode that establishes him as a regular since he is present at the initial briefing and Chekov also gets some character development through the introduction of his Russian patriotism and the introduction of what will become a running joke about him saying that everything comes from Russia (in this case the saying “Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me”), although his smirk here suggests that he is joking. This of course establishes Chekov’s nationality (if it wasn’t already obvious from his name and Koenig’s accent).
• The episode features another amusing variation of McCoy’s catchphrase when he says “I’m a Doctor not an escalator” as Eleen clambers over him to get up some rocks.
• We see that Sulu has a special scanning device at his helm position – this unfolds from his console extremely slowly in a shot that seems to go on forever.

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TOS - 2.02 - Metamorphosis

Kirk, Spock, McCoy and Assistant Commissioner Nancy Hedford are marooned on an isolated planetoid when their shuttlecraft is drawn off course and a strange damping field prevents the craft from operating or even sending a message back to the Enterprse.. Kirk is surprised to find that there is already a human living here and that this is Zefram Cochrane, the inventor of warp drive who was thought to have died some 150 years previously. It turns out that Cochrane has been rejuvenated by a strange non-corporeal being that he calls the Companion. This creature has been preventing Cochrane from ageing, so he is now essentially immortal, but he has been wracked with loneliness and so the Companion has brought Kirk and his crew to the planetoid in order to provide him with company, and this is where they will remain trapped forever unless Kirk can find a solution.

This is a very self-contained episode, being set mainly on the planetoid with a small cast of characters. The Enterprise doesn’t appear until about half way through, and even then there is only a small number of scenes showing Scotty’s search for the missing shuttle. Despite this, “Metamorphosis” does prove to be an engaging and unpredictable episodes. When Kirk first meets Cochrane, it is very clear that there is something odd about him due to his evasiveness, but he doesn’t turn out to be as untrustworthy as we might expect. We get a little action, as Kirk and Spock unsuccessfully attack the Companion, before McCoy reinforces the ideals of the show by reminding Kirk that he is trained as a diplomatic as well as a soldier. Kirk’s attempts to negotiate with the Companion results in the revelation that it is female and it is essentially in love with Cochrane. This is a good twist, but it does then lead to a lot of scenes of Kirk making speeches at the Creature about the power of love.

Cochrane will of course go on become to be a key character in the future of the franchise, but he’s not that interesting here once his is initial evasiveness disappears. He’s pretty much a traditional square-jawed space pilot, so it is not surprising that he was completely reinvented for the James Cromwell version in “Star Trek: First Contact”. I think the episode missed an opportunity to show how things have changed between the time of Cochrane and Kirk, especially in terms of their attitudes. The space pioneer doesn’t even seem that interested in everything that has happened as a direct result of his invention.

Reading around the episode, I see that the script is intended to be an allegory of overcoming the prejudices around inter-racial love. I can’t see that I really got this from my viewing and it does perhaps explain why Cochrane is made to be horrified when he learns of the Companions feelings for him, something which does seem somewhat out of character given how laid back he has been about everything previously. But the resolution does result in a potentially troublesome message as he only accepts the Companion and his love for her when the alien ends up merging with Nancy Hedford and therefore ends up looking like a human woman who he has already stated that he was attracted to – so not exactly a victory for diversity. Further, the treatment of Nancy Hedford in the episode is problematic. She starts off as a strong, independent woman, and the idea that she has contracted a fatal disease is effective in providing urgency to Kirk finding a way for everyone to escape the planet but it does lead to her spending large periods of the episode unconscious and therefore contributing little. The strength of her character also doesn’t last long – she is instantly patronised by Cochrane on their first meeting, and she soon becomes hysterical on the planetoid. However, worse is to come when Nancy’s imminent death leads to her tearfully regretting her independent life and have never been in love. I can see that this is trying to set up a happy ending as she is able to find love via the Companion, but it is somewhat humiliating for the character. And, whilst the dialogue attempts to convince us that the Companion merges with her, I’m not sure how much of Nancy actually remains – or indeed how consensual the takeover is – since the conclusion of the episode focusses very much on Cochrane’s relationship with the Companion. The episode also ends with Cochrane and the combined Nancy/Companion entity mortal, intending to live out their life together on the planetoid since the Companion is unable to leave. This sounds fine in principal, and Cochrane’s decision to remain is a clear way of showing his love, but I can’t help wondering what will happen when the first of them dies…

Planetary Gazetteer

Epsilon Canaris III: A planet on Nancy Hedford has been conducting diplomatic mission in order to prevent a war until she contracted Sakuro’s Disease, thus necessitating her return to the Enterprise.

Alpha Centauri: Where Zefram Cochrane is said to come from. This is a somewhat odd since Alpha Centauri is a star and it is over four light-years from Earth, but he is also said to be human – a clear contradiction since there couldn’t be a human colony in that star system prior to the invention of warp drive. It is unsurprising that this detail will be ignored when Cochrane was featured as a key character in “Star Trek: First Contact” where he is explicitly a human living on Earth.

The planetoid on which the bulk of the episode is set is not named.

General Observations

• Two Stardates are given in the episode – 3219.8 and 3220.3.
• It is stated that Scotty is a lieutenant commander and he now outranks Sulu since he is in command of the Enterprise with Kirk and Spock absent (Sulu had previously been seen as third in command in “Arena”).
• Walter Koenig does not appear as Chekov in the episode.
• The shuttle being used by Kirk and company is the Galileo, as seen in “The Galileo Seven”, conveniently allowing the re-use of effects shows from the earlier episode.
• Cochrane was 87 when he first arrived on the planetoid, making him around 237 at the time of the episode. Kirk promises not to tell anyone that he has discovered that the famous pioneer of warp drive is still alive.
• Cochrane recognises Spock as a Vulcan. This fits in nicely with the events that we see later in “Star Trek: First Contact” when his first warp flight leads to Vulcans arriving on Earth.
• This episode introduces the universal translator as the means by which we hear all aliens talking English. The dialogue even attempts to provide an explanation as to how it works (by instantaneously comparing the frequency of brainwave patterns of an individual, selecting those ideas and concepts it recognises, and then providing the necessary grammar). 

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TOS - 2.01 - Catspaw

And so we come to the second season of the Original Series. There is a new arrangement of the theme tune to go with a modified title sequence in which DeForest Kelley is now credited, reflecting his importance to the show. And we get a new cast member with Walter Koenig making his debut as Chekov in a truly horrendous wig. Chekhov gets no specific introduction (which makes sense given that "Catspaw" was not the first episode to be transmitted in the second series), but it is implied he is relatively inexperienced.

My timing in watching "Catspaw" has been quite fortuitous, since it is essentially a Halloween Special. When Sulu and Scotty go missing on a supposedly uninhabited planet, Kirk, Spock and McCoy follow them down and end up being faced with just about every creepy cliche going, from hideous witches to a forbidding castle complete with dungeon. Unfortunately, this theme isn't maintained beyond the opening of the episode, which soon deteriorates into something reminiscent of "The Squire Of Gothos" as Kirk and company are held captive by a powerful alien, combined with elements of "The Return Of The Archons" with Scotty and Sulu both under mind control. As such, it is all pretty tedious stuff. There is a new twist in that the Enterprise crew are now faced by two aliens, Korob and the somewhat less exotically named Sylvia, and there is some conflict between them, but this isn't really properly explored and so it isn't really earned when Korob decides to help Kirk.

The other big issue with the episode is that nothing is really explained properly. It turns out that Korob and Sylvia are visitors from another galaxy who are experiencing a physical form for the first time. But it is confusing as to what they are trying to achieve - Korob talks at one point about testing the loyalty and bravery of the Enterprise crew but it isn't clear why as things become distracted by Sylvia's sudden hedonistic desires (and why was she happy to be a cat for the whole opening section?). The Halloween trappings are only explained through some mumbo jumbo about the aliens mistakenly creating the wrong setting that they have taken from the human subconscious. And the resolution comes from sinple action of Kirk smashing Korob's magic wand, which miraculously is sufficient for everything to return to normal.

Additionally, the production values for the episode are problematic. The real form of Sylvia and Korob are effectively alien and disturbing, but it is only in the remastered version are they less obviously puppets. The sequence in which Sylvia turns herself into a giant black cat and chases Kirk around the castle is laughable (and not in a good way). As such, the only real pleasures from the episode come from the character moments. It is quite nice to see Kirk's attempted seduction of Sylvia backfiring spectacular, and Spock's answer to Kirk's request for an analysis of the witches is priceless ("Very bad poetry, Captain").

Planetary Gazetteer

Pyrus VII: The planet on which the episode is set. It has previously been mapped by Starfleet and shown to have no indigenous lifeforms; it is just being used as a base by Korob and Sylvia.

General Observations

• A single Stardate is given in the episode - 3018.2.
• Michael Barrier makes his third appearance as DeSalle (after "The Squire Of Gothos" and "This Side Of Paradise"). He is now the Assistant Chief Engineer (and so now wears red rather than gold) and he is command of the Enterprise with Kirk, Spock, Scotty and Sulu all off the ship (presumably it would have been unthinkable in 1967 for Uhura as a black woman to be in charge?).
• John Winston also returns as the Transporter Chief (he was previously in three episodes during the first season). We briefly meet another Enterprise crewman, Jackson, who dies at the start of episode (and he isn't even wearing a red shirt).

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TOS - Series 1 Blu-ray Special Features

So that is the end of the first series of Star Trek, so I've now gone on to have a look through the Special Features on the Series 1 Blu-ray set:

Starfleet Access: This is a second version of selected episodes from the series featuring text captions and in-picture interviews with key players. The episodes that get this treatment for the first series are: "Where No Man Has Gone Before", "The Menagerie Parts 1 and 2", "Balance Of Terror" and "Errand Of Mercy".

Previews: Contemporary trailers for each episode.

Spacelift - Transporting Trek Into The 21st Century (20 mins): A fascinating featurette about the remastering of the series. This covers the picture restoration as well as the CGI effects, and also reveals that the main theme had been re-recorded to give a clearer sound.

Reflections On Spock (12 mins): Leonard Nimoy talks about his character remembers his time on the show in an interview from 2003.

Life Beyond Trek - William Shatner (10 mins): A somewhat tedious featurette in which Shatner talks about his love of horses.

To Boldy Go...Season One (19 mins): A featurette about the making of the first series which a particular emphasis on "The Man Trap", "The Naked Time", "The Menagerie", "Space Speed", "The Squire Of Gothos" and "The City On The Edge Of Forever". It features interviews with William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, Robert Justman (producer), George Takei, John DF Black (writer and associate producer), Ricardo Montalban (Khan) and William Campbell (Trelane).

The Birth Of A Timeless Legacy (24 mins): A featurette about the creation of the show and the production of the early episodes. It features interviews with William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, Robert Justman, Gene Roddenberry (from a 1988 archive interview), Nichelle Nichols, George Takei, James Doohan (from a 1994 interview) and DC Fontana (writer and story editor).

Sci-Fi Visionaries (16 mins): Featurette about the writing of the show, with a particular emphasis on "Shore Leave", "The Naked Time", "Balance of Terror" and "The City On The Edge Of Forever".It features interviews with William Shatner, Gene Roddenberry (from 1988 again), DC Fontana, John DF Black, Mary Black (wife of John Black and secretary working on the show) and Robert Justman.

Billy Blackburn's Treasure Chest - Rare Home Movies and Special Memories (13 mins): An interview with Billy Blackburn who was a regular supporting artist on the show, as well as being DeForest Kelly's stand-in. It features fascinating home movie footage that Billy shot on the location shoots of various episodes.

Kiss N Tell - Romance In The 23rd Century (8 mins): A featurette about Kirk's romances and other love interests in the show. This is the only feature in the set to touch on elements beyond the first season. It features interviews with William Shatner, DC Fontana, Leonard Nimoy, George Takei, Nichelle Nichols and Wlater Koenig

Interactive Enterprise Inspection: A CGI flypast of the Enterprise allowing the user to select and view different areas of the Starship.

Trailer for Star Trek (2009): Bizarrely, this also autoplays when the first disc in the set is loaded.

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