17. The Galileo SevenWHY WE LIKE IT: Kirk's unwavering search for his lost crewmen.
WHY WE DON'T: The funky alien apes, for starters.
REVIEW: The episode starts out nicely, with some interesting effects (the quasar formation, the shuttle launch), and an engaging story - How will they survive? We might think of Apollo 13 in relation to this, for example. Survival stories are always tense and engrossing.
And while that's true here, and Kirk's search for his men adds to the drama, there are so many things that let the episode down. For example, I might mention Ferris, the first of many "interferers" that can take command of the ship for no discernable reason other than to make the plot work. The first in a long Star Trek tradition, but one of the least interesting.
Speaking of traditions, this is the second ending with extended forced laughter. I hope they don't make it a habit. Here, Uhura even points and laughs at Spock. Indeed, attitudes toward Spock are illogical throughout (if you'll permit the expression). It seems that any time his crew was against his ideas, I was in total agreement with them. He takes their advice and makes a show of force to the giant apes, and when it turns for the worse, they're all "what, you expected the apes to act logically?" It was THEIR idea!
My frustration with the episode goes up with every such scene. Spock acts emotionally all along, being angry and shouting in places, and then the breakdown where he questions his logic (that scene doesn't work for me), yet they keep calling him a machine. At the end, the so-called act of desperation is quite logical to me (they were gonna die anyway, there obviously WAS a chance), but this is the one time they say he did something irrational. Saving graces are a couple of Spock's jabbing remarks early on and the fact the Mr. Scott is very professional and follows orders. He's not like all those nay-sayers at all.
And then there are size issues, with both the apes (which might be anywhere between 8 and 20 feet tall judging from onscreen evidence) and the shuttle itself (kind of like a TARDIS, isn't it?).
LESSON: Just because an alien race is using stone spears doesn't mean they don't have access to enlargement beam technology. (Sounds like something I might get spammed about soon.)
REWATCHABILITY - Low: Though the episode is suspenseful, there's no reason you can't watch any number of "Spock's in command and we don't trust him" episodes in its stead.
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