Star Trek TOS S2 Episodes 13, 14, 15, and 16

Alright. Today is a big one with four episodes to cover, and the majority are ones I like, so without further ado, let's just jump right in.

The first episode I watched was called Obsession, and it is about Captain Kirk encountering a cloud-like alien that had previously killed the majority of the crew, including the captain, of the starship Farragut, where he served as a lieutenant on his first deep space mission. This episode is a little strange as it was written as if it was a Moby Dick style story with Kirk doing anything he possibly can to kill the cloud creature. But where Star Trek normally tries to show every alien race as sympathetic in some way, this cloud creature is just a killer and the episode ends with the Enterprise crew successfully destroying it, so even the Moby Dick analogy falls apart because Kirk was right the whole time. It's a fine sci-fi episode, but I would have liked to see the cloud have some sympathetic traits or have it be a tragic villain, so as a Star Trek episode, it doesn't work, in my opinion.

The next episode I watched is a personal favorite of mine, titled Wolf in the Fold. This episode sees Scotty apparently murdering multiple women, but he can't seem to remember anything about it. It plays out like a really good murder mystery, but the second half is where the sci-fi and fantastic elements start to kick in. Turns out there is a murderous energy being that feeds on pain and fear known as Redjac and possesses people to force them to murder, the most notorious of these instances are the killings of Jack the Ripper. Didn't expect there to be a Star Trek episode with Jack the Ripper in it, but wow, this episode made it work well. And it shows Redjac as an absolutely horrible monster who just wants to cause as much pain and suffering as possible, although the ending, where the majority of the crew minus Kirk and Spock are on powerful relaxants to counteract Redjac's fear techniques is actually pretty funny. It's a well told story, and very entertaining.

The third episode I watched is probably the most famous of this series and that is The Trouble with Tribbles. The Enterprise is called to Deep Space Station K-7 to protect a grain called quadrotriticale (I believe that's how it's spelled), because it will provide food for the current colonization of Sherman's Planet. But the main draw is obviously the intergalactic trader Cyrano Jones and his tribbles, little balls of fuzz that reproduce so fast, even rabbits would blush. There is some stuff with the Klingons, and the Tribbles do factor into that point with the Klingons sending in an agent to poison the grain under the Federation's noses, but watching Kirk fed up with the Tribbles crowding both K-7 and the Enterprise, the various sarcastic lines from everyone, the brawl in the bar over a Klingon insulting the Enterprise to Scotty's face, and the absolutely hilarious ending all combine to make one of the most funny and light-hearted episodes of the series bar none. This is an essential just for the comedy alone, and I suggest you watch it for yourself.

The last episode I watched, The Gamesters of Triskelion, was clearly the weakest of the four episodes. It features Kirk, Uhura, and Chekov being taken to a planet called Triskelion against their will and forced to fight in gladiator games for a more advanced race who gambles on them. It's a pretty standard sci fi plot, and it doesn't really stand out too much. It had some good action scenes, but I just didn't like this one all that much. It just wasn't that good at the end of the day.

Next time, the Enterprise goes to a gangster planet, no really! Keep an eye open for A Piece of the Action.