Star Trek TOS S2 Episodes 17, 18, and 19

So, an explanation on why I'm picking this up again instead of continuing Switch Adventures. Switch Adventures is merely on hiatus and I wanted to do something different for a change, and so I am reviewing more of the Star Trek franchise for your enjoyment. Today, I have three episodes to discuss, so I hope this ends up being a fun read for you!

The first episode I watched was my personal favorite of the three, which is called A Piece of the Action. The idea behind this episode is Kirk, Spock, and McCoy travel to a planet that hadn't been visited by anyone from the Federation for 100 years. When they arrive, they find it to be basically the set of an old style gangster movie, except literally the entire planet is 1920s-style gangsters constantly taking hits out on each other. The two main bosses, Bela Oxmyx and Jojo Krako, try to get the Enterprise crew to supply their gangs with futuristic weapons to be able to take full control of the planet. Well, this leads to a lot of hilarity and a surprising solution. Some standout moments include Kirk trying to drive a car (Spock kindly tells Kirk he sucks at driving), Kirk hamming it up pretending to be as much of a gangster as the rest of the planet's inhabitants, and Kirk making up a very ridiculously complex card game called Fizzbin. It's got a lot of humor, the gangster element is fun to see the characters play with, and the way the episode ends is unconventional, but makes perfect sense.

The second episode I watched was called The Immunity Syndrome. This one is basically about the Enterprise having to stop a giant space amoeba from destroying the entire galaxy after already consuming an entire solar system and another starship called the Intrepid. It's an interesting premise, and there is some good dialogue between the characters, but it didn't stand out too much for me compared to other episodes. It played out like the Enterprise basically being an antibody for this amoeba, which is basically a virus to the galaxy. Like, it's definitely not bad, just not...a standout episode I have a lot to say about.

The last episode I watched is...yeah, it's a real episode. It's called A Private Little War, and...let's unpack it. The plot is very messy, but basically, Kirk and the boys go to a planet that Kirk had explored about a decade prior which he described as a Garden of Eden sort of planet where everyone lived in harmony and used bows and arrows to hunt. Well, turns out half of the people have now been given flintlocks by Klingons to basically start indoctrinating them into making this planet a future part of the Klingon Empire. Kirk's solution is to supply the more primitive inhabitants of the planet with flintlocks as well to keep the balance of firepower equal. There's also some weird subplot involving a witch doctor lady who heals Kirk from a giant monkey bite, and is also the wife of Kirk's friend from his previous expedition, and also tries to use her sexuality to steal Kirk's more advanced weapons for...reasons. It's a weird subplot to say the least. This episode tries to be an allegory for the then-current event of the Vietnam War. Well, it clearly didn't age well. This episode is not very good.

Next time, possession is the name of the game as Kirk, Spock, and a lady of the week (because this was the 60s), get possessed by energy beings so they can build robotic bodies for themselves. Prepare yourself for Return to Tomorrow.

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