As with any series, the original Star Trek has its ups and downs. Although common wisdom has generally considered the third season of the series to be its worst, that is only when you’re comparing seasons in aggregate.
Containing some of the worst episodes of the show, like “And the Children Shall Lead,” this reputation of TOS Season 3 being awful is understandable, even if I don’t think it is fully deserved. In fact, I would argue that the third season has some truly excellent episodes, to the point that it’s hard to narrow the list down to just five.
Narrow it down I must, however. What follows is my best attempt to contain my love for the underdog season of Star Trek with five episodes that are (at least subjectively) classics in their own right and deserving of more consideration.
5. “The Cloud Minders”
Starting off this list is an episode that I don’t think gets talked about nearly enough. A total of three writers worked on “The Cloud Minders." David Gerrold and Oliver Crawford were acknowledged for the story, but it was Margaret Armen who received credit for the teleplay in the end. Directed by Jud Taylor, "The Cloud Minders" sees the Enterprise crew visit the planet Ardana, where the elites live on Stratos, the city in the clouds, while the land-dwelling Troglytes are left to work in underground mines.
As with many great episodes of any Star Trek series, “The Cloud Minders” manages to encapsulate real issues with a sci-fi lens that are topical to this day. Unfortunately in this case, the real world also has countless situations where poorer people must live in environments that negatively affect their health and make it difficult for them to escape and improve their lives.
Of course, “The Cloud Minders” does not end with everything completely fixed on Ardana, but that could actually be for the best. While Kirk can help to alleviate the health concerns, societal shifts take time. We are left with optimism that things can improve and a clear mandate that they can only improve if people speak up and make the effort.