09 May 2023

Well, I suppose a hexagonal box doesn't need lunch (Review: 'Star Trek' 3.5, "Is There In Truth No Beauty"?)

As I continue my way through Star Trek's third season, the budget cuts remain clearly obvious - this entire episode takes place on the ship bar model/CGI shots and it's clear that the set space available is now limited.

It's also clear that interesting concepts are not working in their execution. So, my thoughts:

  • The music in this is a bit much - the dramatic stings should not be that noticeable in general.
  • Everyone's behaviour towards Dr. Jones is frankly rather chauvinistic at best. Kirk confronting her in the med bay is just unpleasant to watch.
  • Not sure how something being ugly can make someone homicidally mad. Especially as we never see the actual form of Ambassador Kollos.
  • I see this is the original of the "Infinite Diversity in Infinite Combinations" mantra.
  • The idea of a blind person having a sensor net is an interesting one, but you'd think the technology would be smaller than a cloak.
  • Diana Muldaur, later twice nominated for an Emmy, makes her second TOS appearance here.
  • The show was still working out its mechanics of how warp drives work.
  • Nimoy gets to do something a bit different from his usual Spock acting, but then it all goes to pot when he goes crazy.
  • Indeed, the other bit of going crazy acting isn't that good either.
  • The fight scenes we get in this look particularly badly done, even for a show not known for its realistic hand-to-hand combat.
  • Perhaps this was a lower-budget episode to save money for elsewhere?

Conclusion

Not a good episode, sadly, but it isn't awful. I hope something better comes along as we continue, but I'm not optimistic.

4/10

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