The Day of the Dove (HD Video; Memory Alpha) starts with Kirk getting punched in the face by a Klingon, and quickly goes downhill from there.
Best part
The Klingon Captain Kang is played by the Technomage from B5.
Worst part
Basically everything else in the episode. There’s some terrible sword fighting, Klingons in blackface, a being that’s crazy powerful but stupidly scared, a total lack of backstory, a simple plot mechanic with no twist, and a sixties pean to race relations that’s so guileless it doesn’t even pretend to be anything else.
Grade
D
Is There In Truth No Beauty? (HD Video; Memory Alpha) starts right out by telling you that Medusans will make you crazy if you look at them.
Spock, of course, is exempt. He’s a Vulcan, so a snazzy visor will protect him from the crazy. And Dr. Miranda Jones is human and a telepath, but she’s exempt because… well, that’s part of the mystery.
This is a good episode. It’s got enough twists to fill out its length, and enough substance to make you think. Miranda is an interesting character and the Medusans are a clever– if gimmicky– idea. The ship goes to Warp 9.75 and they once again jump across the edge of the galaxy. There is a particularly badly-filmed and badly-choreographed fight scene. There is use of a fish eye lens to make the world seem alien, to good effect. It all plays well.
Spock as the Other
This is yet another episode, though, where Spock is imbued with special powers merely because he’s not human. I’m of two minds on this.
In the first case, it’s lazy writing. Space is dangerous because otherwise the show is boring. So we see lots of ways that space can be dangerous, and then the writer takes the easy way out and has Spock be different. He has super strength. Big ears mean big hearing. His eyes heal. Etc.
On the other hand, Spock becomes our foil. Kirk is a good character because he’s the best of humanity: curious and courageous and quick and determined. Spock can enhance the effect of this by being what Kirk is not. He’s too calculating to be a good leader; too cautious to take chances.
These are two different ways to approach the character, and one is distinctly better than the other, to my mind. This episode takes the wrong one, but is largely unsullied by it.
Grade
B+
