With Thanksgiving approaching, many Trekkies enjoy binge-watching their favorite Star Trek shows as they enjoy the long weekend and realize what they're grateful for. For those fans who love The Original Series (such as yours truly), there are five standout episodes from season 1 that we're especially thankful for. Whether it's an extremely memorable script, unforgettable characters, or the canon events created, each of these episodes reminds us how fortunate we are to have Star Trek!
"Balance of Terror"
This episode is one of the finest cat-and-mouse installments of the season, with "The Corbomite Maneuver" being the other, as it transitions from initial fear of the unknown to levity in the second half of the episode. "Balance of Terror" has a single tone — rising anxiety and the very real possibility of the destruction of the USS Enterprise and her crew.
When Federation outposts go silent near the Neutral Zone, Starfleet sends Captain Kirk out to investigate. The anxiety begins almost instantly, as humans and Romulans have never seen each other. Then, when the bridge crew sees the Romulan commander via the viewscreen, he seems familiar yet menacing, like a mirror version of one's best friend. Those pointed ears must have given Kirk the shivers! The cloaking device allows the commander to escape into invisibility several times, leaving the helm to fire at something they can't see.
While the commander ultimately destroys his own ship and takes himself and his crew with him, it's not an easy victory for Kirk or the young Lt. Angela Martine who lost her husband-to-be, Lt. Robert Tomlinson during the battle. It makes us reconsider the cost of violence and how its ripples often shatter the lives of others.
"The Menagerie" (Parts I and II)
Using unreleased film scenes to create a script that combines them with new and familiar content created one of the best Star Trek two-part episodes of the entire franchise. "The Menagerie" takes us 13 years into the past and onto the USS Enterprise captained by Christopher Pike. Mr. Spock serves as Pike's young Vulcan/human science officer, who exhibits much more emotion in the footage from the past, and his loyalty to Pike is clear.
When Spock hijacks the Enterprise to get Pike to the planet Talos IV, where the Enterprise's former captain could escape his terribly disabled body, it's almost as if the divisive line is visible when it comes to Kirk, Pike, and Spock's unwavering loyalty to them both. Shutting out one friend while risking his own life for another isn't an enviable position, but for Spock, it's especially difficult, as his two sides always war with each other.
I love this episode because of its duality. We see the Enterprise then and now, a first officer who's a woman (Number One), and a terrifying imprisonment on Talos IV. The mental torture the Talosians use on young Pike (Jeffrey Hunter) and Vina is quite graphic. The image of Pike burning in a fire is especially gross.
While NBC execs believed audiences wouldn't connect to the show because it was "too cerebral," it lends so much to the canon and world-building of Star Trek: The Original Series that we fans are grateful to both Gene Roddenberry and famed actress Lucille Ball (via her production company Desilu) for not giving up on Star Trek.
"The Squire of Gothos"
I had to include this episode because it's one of my favorites from the first season. Actor William Campbell is a Q-themed delight years before John de Lancie enchanted us in Star Trek: The Next Generation (and a few of the other franchise series), plus the main cast members have some great moments.
While it is now accepted canon that Trelane was a Q Continuum child (thanks to the Star Trek: Strange New Worlds episode "Wedding Bell Blues") Campbell fills the character with so much melodrama, theater-kid vibes, and a messy personality that it doesn't truly matter. He's arrogant, overblown, overconfident, and sulky. Even today, that's a comment on how some so-called "leaders" act.
Trelane's only saving grace is his line delivery. It's deliciously droll and smarmy, and you just can't hate him completely because of how funny it is. His argument with Captain Kirk in his so-called court of law is hilarious because he takes the slightest word or tone as insulting and reacts like The Birdcage's Albert Goldman (Nathan Lane) while Kirk is clearly over the entire situation. We will always be thankful for Campbell giving us Trelane, not just on Turkey Day.
"Space Seed"
Few episodes from the first season of Star Trek: The Original Series weave canon like "Space Seed." It introduced us to Khan Noonien Singh, a genetically altered superhuman from Earth's Eugenics Wars. Played by the late Ricardo Montalban, Khan was handsome, charismatic, intelligent, and physically strong, but he was also ambitious and ruthless when he wanted to achieve a goal (like taking over the Enterprise).
While Kirk and the crew ultimately foil Khan and leave him and Starfleet historian Marla McGivers on Ceti Alpha V, that certainly wasn't the last time we'd hear from the vengeful superhuman. I cannot imagine how many sleepless nights the top brass at Starfleet had after listening to Kirk's log, which must have been a doozy.
When Khan resurfaced in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan, Montalban gave him a terrifying edge that only made him a better and more menacing villain. The backstory came to us via "Space Seed" and we TOS fans are grateful for the episode that started it all.
"The City on the Edge of Forever"
This list wouldn't be complete without "The City on the Edge of Forever," one of the most tragic, star-crossed science fiction scripts ever produced for television. Written by the late Harlan Ellison, it's like a collaboration between Hallmark writers and Franz Kafka, and even casual Star Trek fans know this one.
Once Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock enter the Guardian of Forever, on the trail of a drug-addled Dr. McCoy after a medical accident on the bridge and a terrible change in Earth's historical timeline, the feel of the story turns tender when Kirk meets Edith Keeler (Joan Collins). Kirk and Spock also give Odd Couple vibes throughout the episodes, one of the facets that makes it great.
Soon, Kirk falls in love with Keeler, who must die to restore the timeline, and it's an agonizing wait. Spock sympathizes with his captain but through his tone rather than any display of emotion. However, the Enterprise's first officer verbally reminds Kirk that "Edith Keeler must die."
When the end finally does come and Kirk has to stop McCoy from saving Keeler's life, it's a terrible game of "what if," except no one wins. Kirk likely carried the memory of her death for the rest of his life, as we regret the loss of loved ones when they're absent from our Thanksgiving gatherings.
Do you agree with our list? Which Star Trek: The Original Series season 1 episodes are you thankful for? Share your thoughts and comments with us on the Redshirts Always Die Facebook and X pages.