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Need your help with Star Trek Original series season 3 BLU -RAY (1 Viewer)

Xenia Stathakopoulou

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Just received Star trek season 3 .Ive finished watching the first 2 seasons, and enjoyed them.This will be my first time viewing many of these 3rd season shows.What im asking from you guys, is to recommend me the episodes that are the best,so I could watch the bad ones, whenever I feel like it.Obviouslly ,I know spocks brain is the worst.Ive only watched the enterprise incident so far, and I thought it was a very good episode.
 

Hollywoodaholic

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Season 3's Best Episodes? I believe that's the definition of an oxymoron.

But seriously. You probably already saw the best, "The Enterprise Incident." But I also liked "The Tholian Web" (very cool idea), and "Whom Gods Destroy" - mostly for Yvonne Craig in green and not much else.
 

Xenia Stathakopoulou

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Thanks , but only 3 episodes recommended?? It cant be that bad can it ??? Ive always known its a bad season , but bad enough where people cant even recommend at least 10 episodes.Well, on the bright side ive got the alternate version of where no man has gone before, to look forward to.Plus 3 versions of the cage.On the plus side,Ive never seen any version of the cage.Except the clips of it in season ones favorite episode of mine, the menagerie.
 

Hollywoodaholic

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I did absolutely enjoy the original version of "The Cage" starring Jeffrey Hunter as Captain Christopher Pike that is included on this package. It was the first time I've ever seen the original story and ending without the retro-fitted Captain Kirk verson glued around it.
 

Garysb

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I liked Plato's Stepchildren featuring Michael Dunn ( Dr. Loveless on the Wild, Wild, West) as a good guy. Its not a fan favorite but as I said I liked it.
 

Walter Kittel

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I like most of the episodes from Season 3. From my entirely subjective point of view I would suggest that The Way to Eden, Spock's Brain, and Turnabout Intruder are some of the weakest episodes of Seaon 3.

Favorites include The Enterprise Incident, Is There In Truth No Beauty?, Spectre of the Gun, Day of the Dove, The Tholian Web, Elaan of Troyius, Whom Gods Destroy, Let That Be Your Last Battlefield, and All Our Yesterdays.

- Walter.
 

BobO'Link

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Since you asked for 10 of the 3rd season "best", I'd have to go with (In no particular order):

"The Paradise Syndrome"
"Is There in Truth No Beauty"
"The Tholian Web" (personal 3rd season favorite)
"For the World Is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky"
"The Day of the Dove"
"The Enterprise Incident" (2nd favorite)
"All Our Yesterdays" (3rd favorite - Two words: Mariette Hartley)
"Elaan of Troyius"
"Plato's Stepchildren"
"Turnabout Intruder"

Worst:
"The Way to Eden" (IMHO this one's worse than "Spocks Brain" - Space Hippies!?! gimme a break! It was lame when it originaly aired, it's still lame.)
"Spock's Brain"
"The Empath"
"And the Children Shall Lead"
"The Mark of Gideon"
"The Savage Curtain"
 

Bryan^H

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SPECTRE OF THE GUN

One of the best Trek episodes period. Freaking fantastic episode.
 

Jeff*H

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Originally Posted by Bryan^H

SPECTRE OF THE GUN

One of the best Trek episodes period. Freaking fantastic episode.

Hear, hear, I second that choice! I LOVE Spectre of the Gun--not for any one particular reason, but rather the combination of the musical score, the characters, the minimalist sets, the spooky feel of the show, and the performances.
 

Xenia Stathakopoulou

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Thanks guys,for all the help.I think my next 2 shows, will be the tholian web, and day of the dove.Cant go wrong with a klingon episode, there always fun.
 

FanCollector

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My list isn't so different from everyone else's... I would say the best 3rd season shows are:

Spectre of the Gun
The Enterprise Incident
Is There In Truth No Beauty?
The Empath
The Tholian Web
Day of the Dove
Requiem for Methuselah

I know there are only seven, not ten, but these are the ones I feel could walk proudly among the first two seasons' episodes and fit right in. The Tholian Web is probably the only one I would say belongs in the top 10 of the entire series, though. The list isn't so different from everyone else's, apart from The Empath.It's very stylized and different, but I think highly of it. It is almost like a play, and that quality gives it an immediacy and intensity that other episodes lack. Many fans don't like it, but when you get to it, I would be interested to see your opinion.

There are other third season shows that are fair, and have things to recommend them, including:

Elaan of Troyius
The Paradise Syndrome
For the World is Hollow...
Let That Be Your Last Battlefield
Whom Gods Destroy
All Our Yesterdays
Turnabout Intruder

The remaining ten episodes have some value for enthusiasts in an almost academic way (like Richard II for Shakespeare buffs), and Leonard Nimoy and DeForest Kelley are always compelling to watch, but they are really the worst of the season and, for the most part, the series. (Although The Alternative Factor and The Omega Glory could certainly fit right in.)
 

Xenia Stathakopoulou

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Thanks again guys ,I guess we can at least all agree that the enterprise incident is 1 of the best trek shows of any season. Anyway, 1 last question .On this blu ray there are 3 diffrent versions of the cage.Ive already have read reviews about the diffrences each one has,ive only ever seen clips of this in season 1 menagerie show.The question is, which of the 3 versions should I view first ?????
 

Ockeghem

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Originally Posted by Jeff*H




Hear, hear, I second that choice! I LOVE Spectre of the Gun--not for any one particular reason, but rather the combination of the musical score, the characters, the minimalist sets, the spooky feel of the show, and the performances.

Agreed. And the test of the Melkots (Kirk and Company's 'out') is a nice touch, revealed to the viewer in some rather subtle ways. I also like the movement of the 'baddies.' They are similar to automatons near the conclusion of the episode, and the way they have been directed to walk, and especially how they have positioned themselves at slight angles to one another, is reminiscent of how the Vians are positioned for a time in The Empath.

BTW, I love The Way To Eden, mostly for the cult-like aspects that I've discussed in other threads.
 

Sam Favate

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There is a lot to like in the 3rd season, and a few to make you cringe too. All of the suggestions above are good - Enterprise Incident and All Our Yesterdays are two of my favorites from the series. Let That Be Your Last Battlefield, Day of the Dove and The Empath are also favorites.

Spock's Brain and And the Children Shall Lead are not among my favorites.
 

Jonathan Kaye

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Originally Posted by younger1968

Anyway, my favourite from season three has always been Elaan of Troyius. There's a pace and intensity (especially incidental music) that sets it apart from most if not all of the Original Series.
 

Nelson Au

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I don't look to this section very often, I hope it's not too late to contribute!
I've been taking my time viewing the blu-ray of Season Three and I happen to finish yesterday, so it's fresh in my mind. There's a lot of great suggestions above. The 3rd season episodes that rank well with the first and second year do have those qualities that made the best of the earlier episodes so good. Here's my take. Warning, some spoilers.

1. The Enterprise Incident. This is a very good episode and one of the best of the 3rd year. Though in recent viewings, I begin to see some areas that DC Fontana had some issues with. Such as how the Romulan Commander was so taken in by Spock. I suppose he was very charming!
2. Requiem for Methuselah. I've always liked this one because I like the concept of Flint being immortal and possibly being all those great people in history. It has a nice ending touching on that friendship between Spock and Kirk.
3. Elaan of Troyius. This has that classic plot of the opposites attracting, but to say more would give it away. It has an exciting battle sequence that I've always thought was well executed and enhanced by the new CGI. Though I'm not so sure the new CGI was always that much of an improvement.
4. Day of the Dove. As mentioned above, Klingons! But the cool wrinkle is the alien life force that is controlling the game. They touch a little on bigotry too. It has a great ending where you see some hope for the 2 species, humans and Klingons.
5. The Tholian Web. I like this one more for the relationship that gets further fleshed out between Spock and McCoy. The science fiction aspect of how they get out of the web has never been clear to me. Maybe someone here can explain that one. The Tholians get more fleshed out in episodes of Enterprise.
6. For the World is Hollow.....Not a big favorite of mine. Though it's good to see McCoy get the girl for once. But did they violate the Prime Directive?
7. That Which Survives. This is one of my favorites because it's got that exciting count down device to add suspense as Scotty is trying to save the ship. The business on the planet is fun too because they don't know if the Enterprise is destroyed or not. And it's nice to see Lee Meriwether and Kirk against another computer!
8. All Our Yesterdays. This is a fun episode because it looks at a new idea for how to escape a planet's impending doom. I agree with the above comment, nice to see Mariette Hartley in her youth. How Spock reverts to what Vulcan's were like during that time period was an interesting idea. And seeing them fight so hard to get back to the library adds to the excitement.
9. The Empath. I have to say, I appreciate this episode more and more over time. I haven't seen it in a while and it chokes me up a little. Because they added some really nice subtle bits of how strongly connected the main 3 characters are and how deep their friendship is. One scene where Gem is watching Spock and understanding his strong friendship with Kirk is very touching when she touches Spock and feels his emotions for him.
10. Turnabout Intruder. The last original episode. It's got some really fun scenes with Shatner playing Dr. Lester in Kirk's body. A lot of cool subtle bits. His being started at how the communicator responds with Scotty's voice, his using a nail file, how he's covering himself at one point in sickbay. It's pretty unusual as everyone is acting sort of different by starting to realize that Kirk might be koo-koo and revolting.
11. Spectre of the Gun. I think this was a very imaginatively done episode. Another take on The Corbomite Maneuver and Arena where humanity is tested.

My new list of runner ups too. This time, I watched episodes I never liked that much in the past, but I have a new perspective on.

1. Whom Gods Destroy. I thought was a little goofy in the past. Garth was so over the top, but he was a crazy person. There's some nice little bits where Shatner and Nimoy play Kirk and Spock but as Garth inside. Some fun subtle bits of acting.
2. The Way to Eden. I never thought I'd say this, but I enjoyed it more this time around. I was liking the idea of the story. it's another ecology type story that was big in the late 60's. The idea that a group of people would revolt against the technological society of the 23rd Century and go back to a simpler life. They just dressed this one up with he hippies to make seem topical. That was the only weak part that everyone sees.
3. And the Children Shall Lead. I hated this episode. But this time, I was more open minded to it. I thing it's execution made it weaker and having Belli in the clown suit didn't help! But the idea of an evil being using innocent children was a perfectly good idea.
4. The Paradise Syndrome. This one is better then a runner up. I liked the by-play between Spock and McCoy here too. And the effect of the beam to affect Kirk's memory of who he is is an interesting to play out and he tries to live among the people on the planet. The part that makes it fail for me is they decided to make the alien life forms Native American Indians. They could have been blue skinned primitives and worked out better. Voyager did an episode that worked out well with primitive aliens.

As mentioned above, there's a lot of great music in these episodes too. The score to The Empath is really great for example!

And be sure to watch the Cage last. If it's your first time viewing it, watch the new CGI version first. I think it works better with the new CGI> Then you can re-watch it with the original effects. The extended version only differs because it has an intro and outro by Gene Roddenberry explaining the existence of The Cage. So I'd only watch those parts for his comments.

Then watch the newly discovered Where no Man has Gone Before pilot. The existence of this high quality print is amazing!

Have fun!
 

Ockeghem

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Nelson,

Those are some very interesting and informative observations. Nicely written.

I liked the original concept of the Tholians being two-dimensional (similar to Eck in the TOL episode Behold, Eck!). The episodes of ENT really do develop them quite nicely (both aurally and visually). I particularly liked how the writers handled the species in Future Tense and In A Mirror, Darkly.

Steve Inhat (Garth of Izar) was a bit unusual in Whom Gods Destroy. I've come to know him to be much more serious in roles he had in other shows (e.g., Mission: Impossible!, to name but one, in which he plays a mastermind). If you haven't seen that one (The Mind of Stephan Miklos), it's well worth a viewing. The ending has a wonderful twist, insofar as relevant information is left with the viewer and not with the principle character.

Did you ever think how unusual it was to have a character blown up like Marta was in Whom Gods Destroy? They didn't show it, but the point is made. I also liked seeing different species in that episode, and of course, the chess problem is not only a nice touch, but a trivia question that pops up on various Trek message Boards every now and then.
 

SimonTemplar

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I too am a big Steve Ihnat fan. As well as his Stefan Miklos (in my mind one of the very best MI episodes) its worth seeing his fabulous 2 part Outer Limits story, The Inheritors , in which he is incredibly moving. I also love his small contribution to the movie The Chase where he works with another 60s TV icon, Richard Bradford in the role that got him the lead in Man in a Suitcase.

As far as ST s3 is concerned, I remember absolutely hating most of these episodes when I watched them in the 80s but have warmed to them in recent years, despite some very poor scripting. In a few of these episodes, particularly And The Children Shall Lead, it feels as if people aren't actually talking to each other, or responding in an emotionally believable way.

My favs are:

The Paradise Syndrome
Spectre of the Gun
Day of the Dove
The Tholian Web
Wink of an Eye
Let That Be Your Last Battlefield
The Savage Curtain
All Our Yesterdays
and Turnabout Intruder (if only for the amazing female acting of Shatner, especially check out the scene with the nail file).

Best to all HTFers

ST
 

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