Star Trek: The Original Series Tier List (Episodes 4-6)

 Well, what I intended to be a weekly post got interrupted by life. I know some people say that casually, but between a friend going into hospital for brain surgery (and me looking after the house in their absence), a major project at work, and a killer cold working it's way through the household, time and focus to sit down and work on a blog post never happened. So, better late than never, right? Right?

*cricket sounds*

Okay, sorry about the delay folks. Here's the next trio of episodes!

100% spoilers, these episodes are around 60 years old. Go watch them if you haven't!

#4: The Naked Time

After beaming down to an outpost where the crew all seemed to let themselves die out of lack of care or interest in their own safety, a startling lack of basic contamination control leaves the Enterprise suffering from a rapidly spreading contagion that causes the crew to behave as if they're obnoxiously drunk. 

Tier Rating: D

Before I ever saw this episode of Star Trek, I saw what would be its reprise on The Next Generation as it originally aired (The Naked Now). And my complaint about The Naked Time is the same as that of it's successor: this episode gives us a chance to see the cast acting out of character, and it's all too soon. We haven't spent enough time with the cast to see their characters to appreciate them breaking character!

If you've seen this episode, you might experience blood pressure increases if you ever hear the song "Kathleen". 

The chaos on the ship is mildly amusing for a short time, but the drama grows thin when Mr. Scott seems to have problems opening the door to engineering (why not just blast it down with a phaser rifle?) On marathon watches, I will typically skip this episode.

#5: The Enemy Within

A transporter malfunction has stranded Sulu and an away team on a planet where nightfall brings deadly cold. It's a race against time to fix the transporter before the away team freezes to death.

Oh, wait, the actual main plot is Captain Kirk gets split into his aggressive and passive selves, and the focus is on the Captain trying to either keep his command or use his power to drink and molest yeoman?

Tier Rating: C

This episode has a really good idea in it - what is a person when they're pulled in two figuratively? Can a human being function without their aggression, their animal drives and the ugliness we try to pretend we're above. There's some genuine good acting on Shatner's part in this episode; clips from this show are often shown, out of context, as if he's overacting. The character in this episode has been split into two opposite selves, and his overacting is... well, acting. This is the enjoyable part of the episode. 

Meanwhile, any viewer will be watching and yelling loudly at the screen "send a shuttle down for Sulu and the team!". It's like shuttlecraft are utterly forgotten about in this episode. I don't recall hearing any reason why a shuttle couldn't have fixed the issue - even if it couldn't have recovered them, taking shelter in the shuttle would have been better than leaving Sulu and team to freeze to death. I like how Sulu retains his professionalism right up to the last moment - even though he's freezing to death, he doesn't yell at his Captain when it becomes clear they probably aren't going to be rescued.

#6: Mudd's Women

The Enterprise nearly burns out every crystal that regulates the ship's engines pursuing, arresting, then saving galactic snake oil salesman Harry Mudd. Harry has three ladies along (his cargo) who are using some "venus dust" to appear impossibly captivating, causing havoc on the ship. The episode concludes with a convenient swap: ladies for crystals on a dilithium mining planet.

Tier Rating: B

This episode is goofy, cheesy, corny even. And yet, it's essential `Trek watching. Roger Carmel fashions an unlikely sympathy as Harcout Fenton Mudd, and his wheeling and dealing expose just what a hardass Captain Kirk can be. The ending, where one of the three women manages to use her "venusian beauty" without the drug is exactly the kind of moralistic ending you'd expect from a story like this. But that's what makes this episode fun: it's a morality play, with large personalities stuck in a human drama that could easily take place in any era. 

Tier Results

I haven't got to making a tier graphic yet (yeah yeah yeah, I know), but here we are.

A: Nothing yet

B: Mudd's Women, Where No Man Has Gone Before

C: The Enemy Within, The Man Trap

D: Charlie X, The Naked Time

F: Nothing yet 

Next Post

What does it mean to be human when androids are involved? The crew contracts a lethal virus and a bunch of kids prevent them from finding a cure. And Captain Kirk is driven insane after trying to investigate an asylum.