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Star Trek: The Original Series Season 1 Review

Star Trek: The Original Series is an iconic science fiction television series. Its first season consisting of 29 episodes premiered in 1966.

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“I suspect you’re becoming more and more human all the time.

Captain, I see no reason to stand here and be insulted“

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This is no The Next Generation first and foremost. It’s a silly show with many action-heavy episodes being downright ludicrous and quite dated. But some are great, thought-provoking and sophisticated. It’s just highly uneven in the quality of its episodes of which there are many here, and most land squarely in the middle as just solid enough.

Its technical aspects are somewhat dated, but for the most part the VFX are fine for the sixties, and I particularly admired its great production design with some amazing, truly otherworldly sets throughout the season. The score is also fantastic, especially the iconic opening.

As for the characters, only some of them are iconic, others not so much… James T. Kirk is naturally the standout part of the team. He is cocky and annoying at times, but undeniably fun. His various romantic adventures can be overwhelming, but William Shatner is so sensual and charismatic in the role that the character works entirely.

The same goes for Leonard Nimoy whose performance as Spock is excellent. Spock is an intriguing character who is more complex than seeming at first. It’s a shame that we did not get to see as much from him in this first season, but his interactions with Kirk are great. Scotty and Uhura are fine, but otherwise the supporting cast, especially the women are very forgettable with the villains being much better. Yes, the film includes black people which was groundbreaking for its time, but its treatment of women is highly questionable.

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The Man Trap is a solid introductory episode, but the silliness of its villain is downright unbearable. Charlie X is such a great concept with so much potential of which only some was fulfilled through a couple of very powerful sequences. Where No Man Has Gone Before is one of the best episodes of the season with an amazing villain, and such an intense tone to it.

The Naked Time is one of those annoyingly sexual episodes that have plagued this series a lot. The imagery is amazing, but the rest of it is very silly. The Enemy Within had potential, but the execution is so campy to the point of being hilarious with Shatner playing his bad side horribly. Mudd’s Women features an annoyingly misogynist portrayal of women.

What Are Little Girls Made Of? is entirely forgettable, Miri is fine for what it is, and Dagger of the Mind also features fine imagery, but far from great storytelling. With The Corbomite Maneuver starts a solid streak of great episodes. This one features a phenomenal, wonderfully entertaining villain and fantastic dialogue throughout. It’s such a fun episode.

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The Menagerie is a great two-parter which is very interesting in its courtroom drama procedural approach, and it features some of the best uses of Spock in this season. The Conscience of the King is too silly and weak, The Enterprise introduces the Romulans, but not in a particularly memorable manner. Shore Leave is very good in concept, but again too dated in execution.

The Galileo Seven is a giant episode which still needed more magic in it. The Squire of Gothos is rather clichéd overall, Arena is way too action-heavy to be enjoyable and Tomorrow is Yesterday is one of those cheap episodes that tediously focus on Earth. Court Martial is another solid courtroom drama episode, this time focusing so well on Kirk himself.

The Return of the Archons has a solid mythology to it, but Space Seed is such a fascinating episode that is one of the smarter plotted of this bunch, and featuring both great dialogue and a very good script. A Taste of Armageddon is also pretty solid with the computer war being solidly handled for its time. This Side of Paradise is an okay plant episode, but The Devil in the Dark is downright amazing how it utilizes on its mystery wonderfully. It also features stunning cave set design, and great science and thriller elements.

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Errand of Mercy features a pretty good storyline with a good conflict, but not particularly great execution. The Alternative Factor explores parallel universes in a weak manner, the City on the Edge of Forever is a time travel episode focused on romance way too much and Operation: Annihilate! does sound great, but is otherwise poorly handled and dull.

Overall, this first season of The Original Series could have been better. Some episodes are truly excellent and very memorable, but many are only solid with some being downright dated. The focus on romance and sexuality as well as action is too overwhelming.

Worst Episodes: The Squire of Gothos, Arena and Miri.

Best Episodes: The Corbomite Maneuver, The Menagerie and The Devil in the Dark.