TOS #15: Shore Leave

This episode is about a planet that's essentially one big holodeck. It's also about how you need a vacation after you take a vacation, because of how tiring vacation can be.



On this planet, anything you can imagine comes true. This is what McCoy imagines:


And this is the Captain's old flame, who name is Ruth:

TOS #20: Court Martial

Sometimes you have to stand up to your superiors, like Captain Kirk.



Kirk: So that's the way we do it now-- sweep it under the rug and me along with it. Not on your life. I intend to fight.
Stone: Then you draw a general court!
Kirk: Draw it? I demand it. And right now, Commodore Stone, right now.



So, since he has to go to court, he gets advice from his lawyer/ex-girlfriend. Then he finds out she's the prosecutor.





Luckily, Spock beats the computer at chess, realizes someone has tampered with it, and figures out it must be the missing Finney. Kirk finds him, gets his short torn, pounds him into submission, then saves the ship.


And Finney wonders why he never made Captain...

TOS #16: The Galileo Seven

This is the first episode that is purely a study of Spock's character. After crash landing on a weird planet where this, highly illogical, twelve-foot behemoth terrorizes Spock's science party, Scotty saves the day with a little Twenty-Thousand-Leagues electricity magic.




And the whole bridge crew has a good laugh about Spock's highly logical illogical behavior.

TOS #13: The Conscience of the King

Spock: "How did you know this lady was coming aboard?"
Kirk: "I'm the Captain."

Kirk simultaneously solves a murder mystery, serves as an intergalactic tribunal, and seduces a hot 19-year old actress in order to get information.

Bones: "Did it ever occur to you that he simply might like the girl?"
Spock: "It occurred. I dismissed it."
Bones: "You would."

The Captain uses this pimp face...



...to get some info. Spock figures out what's going on independently. Then, with the inside info, they catch the eugenicist butcher and murderer. There's also a certain vengeance-vs-clemency-of-Caesar theme in this episode. There are more precursors to Star Trek 2 in this one as well.



The episode ends with a perfect Hamlet conclusion.

TOS #8: Miri

This is an awesome episode in which it is suggested that the presence of Captain Kirk can accelerate the onset of puberty, in girls like this one, Miri:



Turns out she also has a crazy disease and might go postal at any time (become a woman). In order to keep her busy and keep her from knowing what's going on, the Captain asks her to sharpen a lot of pencils.






This works, and everyone lives happily ever after.

TOS #9: Dagger of the Mind

Second episode in a row with a crazy doctor run amok, but this one is a possible precursor to the "There are Four Lights" TNG episode.

This episode has a little Zach-in-the-box action...

...But is really a fascinating exploration of psychotherapy. All the "rehabilitated" people that I saw kept reminding me of the post-treatment scenes in "A Clockwork Orange."

Kirk: "One of the advantages of being a Captain, Doctor, is being able to ask for advice without necessarily having to take it."

Then the dude tries to use the neuralizer to erase Kirk's mind. Naturally, he is unsuccessful.

TOS #7: What Are Little Girls Made Of?

I think this is the first episode in which undergroud survivial caves are mentioned, in yet another connection to ST2. Also, this episode has a barren ice-world -- just like ST6.

I love, in this episode, how Kirk trusts Dr. Corby only until he beams down and doesn't see him, at which point he immediately disregards the Doctor's request and calls for backup. He is, of course, correct to be suspicious, because this dude is lurking:

He's a neo-sapien android with Asimov robot programming. Also a precursor to Data, his name is "Ruk."

This is definitely the hottest girl so far in the series. And her name is... Andrea! Sadly, she is also an android.