Star Trek‘s real Top Ten

Somebody from the Onion’s AV Club turned in the essential 10 episodes of Star Trek; it’s just Star Trek, not TOS, most people know the difference between the Sixties show and what followed. I have the same gripe regarding Star Wars and A New Hope.

I agreed with about maybe half the list and I don’t think the third season was an unequivocal disaster. Sure it was off to a rough start thanks to “Spock’s Brain” and “The Empath” (I couldn’t finish watching, it was awful) but it pulled through on “Day of the Dove,” “Elaan of Troyus” and “The Enterprise Incident.”

Anyway here is my revised top ten of the show, especially in light of seeing them recently through Netflix streaming. They are not in any particular chronological or order of importance, they are would be the ten I feel define the show:

1. “Space Seed” – Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan wouldn’t be possible without this episode. Montalban gave a memorable performance too. Beyond the movie, Khan’s backstory lays down vital information about how the Twentieth Century would end.
2. “Balance of Terror” – The original show used to borrow heavily from other genres since it was created during television’s adolescence, plus it was cheaper. The Enterprise being engaged in an old-fashioned WWII submarine v. destroyer chase was done to great effect, never mind all the Scientific errors. Bennett and Meyer must’ve notice since Khan borrows heavily from this episode for its final battle in the nebula.
3. “The Squire of Gothos” – Omnipotent aliens were a common encounter and I often found them annoying. Sure there would be more advanced creatures whose technology was so beyond the Federation’s it might as well be magic. However, I don’t think it was the writers’ actual intent. It was more of a script convention then as it was for The Twilight Zone and The Outer Limits. Trelane stands out over the Metrons, the Excalbians, Organians, Apollo and Melkotians (sad I know their names from memory, except one I had to look up) because he’s the foundation for everybody’s favorite all-powerful imp Q. Peter David wrote a great ST:NG novel about Trelane being Q’s stepson.
4. “The City on the Edge of Forever” – Semi-feasible time travel was another element Star Trek established for future series and movies yet this trip originally penned by the mercurial Harlan Ellison was the triumvirate’s best. Starring a less-known Joan Collins, it had one of the show’s best emotional payoffs which was pretty amazing given the buildup of a mere 30 minutes. I wonder how it played the first time in 1965 or 1966 when the Depression (and WWII) was still a recent memory.
5. “Errand of Mercy” – The first appearance of the Klingons and the establishment of the Organian Peace Treaty to keep the two polities at bay. These surrogate Soviets go on to be the Federation’s primary nemesis from then on. Jon Colicos gave a great performance as Commander Kor. It’s a shame the show runners couldn’t get him back since the original plan was to have Kor as a recurring villain like Mudd.
6. “The Trouble with Tribbles” – A demonstration of the show’s humorous side, for nerds but I think kids find it amusing. Although Colicos wasn’t available Bill Campbell must’ve impressed as Trelane in order to get his opportunity as Commander Koloth. While Kor was ruthless, straightforward and a warrior, Koloth was tricky, arrogant and haughty. Thus the Klingons were getting fleshed out as more than just rubber-suit aliens.
7. “Journey to Babel” – Mark Lenard debuted as the cunning Romulan commander in “Balance” and lived on as Spock’s father Sarek through this. We also get to see the Federation’s diversity with the introduction of its other key members: Andorians, Tellarites and Vulcans (Spock isn’t unique in Starfleet); and they squabble like all democracies/republics. The Orions are re-introduced as Swiss-esque troublemakers who would profit greatly by a war between the Federation and Klingon Empire.
8. “Day of the Dove” – Michael Ansara’s Commander Kang is my favorite Klingon. He plays the part like a Samurai warrior stereotype: gruff, brave, tough as nails and honorable. What his Klingon brought to the Star Trek mythos is that these alien enemies aren’t without compassion (he blames Kirk for the loss of his crew he cared about), without perspective (what Conservatives call moral relativism) and most importantly…Kang isn’t unreasonable or uncompromising, he lets Kirk plead the case regarding the real culprit. The Organians’ prediction in “Errand” has its beginning here and comes to realization with Worf a century later. Female Klingons make their debut too.
9. “Mirror, Mirror” – After time travel, alternate realties or timelines originate here for the other shows to follow, too bad they never tried a movie in light of Insurrection and Nemesis sucking hard. DC comics pioneered this territory years earlier through The Flash and Justice League of America but Star Trek nailed the accepted conventions when encountering evil versions, namely Spock’s beard! South Park used it best on Cartman.
10. “A Piece of the Action” – The gangster planet is the best use of Paramount’s backlots to save money. It was used to humorous effect unlike the Nazi, Roman and Mormon planets being rather heavy-handed, especially through the excessive colorful language; I bet the author watched Some Like it Hot and Public Enemy Number One often. Kirk having to re-interpret the Federation’s noninterference directive showed great flexibility to an evolving plot device. To me it shows how non-functional a Libertarian world would inevitably become as violence becomes the only tool in resolving disagreements.

Runners-up: “Elaan of Troyus” (ripping off Taming of the Shrew!), “Patterns of Force” (Kirk and Spock defeat the Nazis years before Indiana Jones, the Blues Brothers and Mel Brooks!) and “Where No Man Has Gone Before” (this would’ve been better if Gary Mitchell were around for a few episodes before he had to die, get the emotional investment).

I dare any of you to throw out what you think are the best ten. This Fall is the 25th anniversary of Star Trek: The Next Generation hitting the syndicated airwaves, go for it. Besides, the original show is easier to pin this down on, it had a mere 79 (or 80) episodes compared to ST:NG‘s 170 (I think) or Enterprise‘s 9o-something.