Although I was always aware of Star Trek, I never really took the time to get into it. I think it was because by the time I learned about the franchise, the "Kelvin Timeline" was kicking off in 2009 and I originally thought that it would be a Star Wars copy. Shows how little my nerd cred really matters, doesn't it? I've watched the Kelvin-verse and enjoyed it fine (Into Darkness, notwithstanding), and when I finally sat through Wrath of Khan I really enjoyed it. I knew nothing of the original cast beyond a few cameo appearances in Simpsons and Futurama, but I found myself enjoying what I had seen nonetheless.
So, when I heard that Star Trek: Discovery was coming out, I felt a compulsion to finally check out the original series... then that compulsion disappeared until a week ago where I found all of the shows (but none of the films) available on Netflix and wrote down the chronological order of which to watch. The first, of course, would be the original in 1966 starring William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelly:
This will just a brief recount of the first three episodes (again, excluding the pilot) and keep in mind, this is from a fresh perspective of someone who isn't the biggest fan of the franchise (as of right now, at least). So, if I say anything about a story point not making sense or wishing more could be done with it, don't bother saying if it makes sense in another show or is expanded upon because as of right now, I just do not care. I want to be able to experience the show as is and give my critiques as I go along. No idea if I'll do this for every 5 episodes, but I do at least want to cover the series up to "Space Seed" if only to see how Khan was introduced.
With all of that said, let us begin with:
"The Man Trap!"
Yes, those are really the legit effects of the time. I still defend it due to the show having a shoestring budget.
Anyways, this episode first sees the crew of the Starship Enterprise doing a routine medical check on planet M-113 with Dr Crater and his wife Nancy, whom was originally an old flame for Dr Leonard McCoy, only for a random crew member to get killed off (a running gag so famous even Trekkies make fun of it) by an unforeseen creature. They learn he died from having his sodium chloride levels sucked out, which leads the crew to believe that Crater and Nancy are hiding something.
As first episodes go, this one was fairly decent. I enjoyed seeing the personalities of the cast bounce off of each other, especially McCoy's cynical attitude complimenting Kirk's cockiness and confidence. The mystery behind the deaths of the crew members, while somewhat predictable, was engaging with how no-one was shown to be stupid, though it does get personal when Nancy gets involved and McCoy gets defensive on her behalf. While it is very easy to poke fun at the acting in this show, particularly Shatner with his odd inflections, the performances from the entire main cast is still solid and we can see the beginnings of the defining traits these characters would possess during their time. Frankly, my main complaint is that the twist is a bit too predictable. Without getting into spoilers, you can tell what the twist is as soon as Nancy finds the first dead body. Otherwise, a decent start to the show.
A pity that it is then followed by an awful episode with a broken premise:
"Charlie X".
Oddly, that's the same face I made for the entire episode.
As for the plot, the crew of the Starship Antares--
-- No relation to him, drop off a 17 year old boy, Charlie Evans, in the hands of the Enterprise, happy to just get rid of him. As the episode progresses, we VERY quickly understand why; the boy has psychic powers, and he has been using them on people without any remorse or hesitation. He was apparently raised and educated by a computer, which has left him so socially inept, that he hates the idea of someone not being friends with him and would use his powers to torture them, just because they weren't nice to him; doing so to the Antares by making it explode off-screen later in the episode.
And thus, why this premise does not work; they try to make us feel sorry for Charlie because he hasn't had a normal upbringing and hasn't, supposedly, been taught right or wrong. I argue, however, that he clearly DOES know the difference between right or wrong, with how he uses his powers with unfiltered joy to fuck around with the very fabric of reality itself; chiefly by turning people he doesn't like into animals, muting Uhura when she sings, forcing Spock to recite human poetry to amuse him, teleports people into space, thus likely killing them, and forcing Kirk to keep a ship on course just so he can meet new people to torment. Correct me if I'm wrong, but that doesn't read at all like a kid with social anxieties and an uncontrollable power, but a relentless sociopath who takes pleasure in the torturing of others. He may has well be a descendent of Onision, because that's all I got out of it.
I'm sorry if I don't talk much else about this episode, but I seriously cannot express enough why this episode pissed me off. So, if it's okay, I would like to move past it now and talk about the next one:
"Where No Man Has Gone Before".
"Come play with us, Shatner."
Upon finding a damaged recorder from a lost ship and after going through the same magnetic storm that caused it to be lost in the first place, Helmsman Mitchell and psychiatrist Elizabeth are both affected and end up with incredible ESP powers, the former becoming insane from his new godlike abilities. Thus, Kirk has to decide whether to kill this old friend that is only now being introduced and is never mentioned again, or save the entire crew from the same phenomenon that killed the previous one of the lost ship.
Frankly, while this episode is better than the previous one, it's still kind of boring. Most of it is just having Mitchell and Elizabeth laying around in the med-bay doing nothing, while occasionally cutting to the crew just pondering on what to do next. Really, most of the episode could be summed up like this:
Well, minus the part about them being idiots, but you get my point. Very little actually happens during the episodes length to really justify being 50+ minutes long. We don't really get to know Mitchell or Elizabeth as people, either, so I don't really care for their ultimate fate by the end. It's still competently written so it doesn't annoy me, but it still could've been a lot better.
But for now, I will still keep watching the series as is. No clue if I will keep updating and giving my raw thoughts on the episodes as I go (I'm up to episode 7, mind you), but it'll still be an interesting ride nonetheless.
If you liked what you've read, then please consider following me on Twitter, as this will be retweeted to get it out there. If you have any thoughts, please leave a comment; I'd love to see you defend Charlie as a character.
So until next time; this is Callum Lewis, the Media Hood, signing off!
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