[Poll] Pick the next recap episode!

[thefourthvine]

So. My three-season DVD set of TOS arrived today. (I'm sorry, amireal; I COULD NOT WAIT. It was like a horrible sickness compelled me to spend a small fortune on ancient, overpriced, but remarkably awesome television. I don't know what came over me.) Obviously, the question is: what should I watch next? I could just do a poll with all the episodes in order, except a) 80 episodes, OMG and b) I'm really afraid you'd all pick Spock's Brain just to see me suffer. I know you, okay? You have a sick sense of humor.

So I went through the original suggestion post and I think I pulled out all the ones that got recommended there (if I missed anything that should be here for reasons of awesome, let me know), and I'm letting you guys guide me. (Although I cannot promise that the one with the most votes will be the first one posted or anything. The ways of Trek love are peculiar, unpredictable, and kind of unnatural, I'm finding.)

This, obviously, is for the dozen of you who have actually seen these episodes and who care which ones get recapped at ridiculous length next.


[Poll #1510412]

Comments

[pearl-o.livejournal.com]

I think you would really enjoy Journey to Babel, because the entire main plot is about Spock and his relationship with his mommy and daddy. (And also Kirk meeting the in-laws for the first time.)

[brooklinegirl.livejournal.com]

AGREED. PEARL SAYS SMART THINGS.

[http://users.livejournal.com/_medley_/]

Let me just say this about The Empath. Dumbest plot ever, practically nonexistent, but it's very Kirk/Spock/McCoy and there's h/c. And them protecting each other. Which entirely makes up for the plot in my opinion.

[amireal.livejournal.com]

It is what we call a '50 cent epispde'. Notice the lack of scenery? IT IS ALL DONE WITH MAGICAL LIGHTING!

[brooklinegirl.livejournal.com]

Journey to Babel is one of my FAVORITES OMG. But omg, ENEMY WITHIN. MIRROR MIRROR. NAKED TIME. Dude, seriously, when my parents bought one of the FIRST VCRS back in 1983, they also bought four Star Trek tapes, WHICH I STILL OWN, and they were, I think, forty bucks for EACH TAPE? and SO WORTH IT. I imprinted on those four eps I mentioned up there. ♥ ♥ ♥ (It's awesome, b/c those VHS tapes weigh SO MUCH MORE than any tape you'd pick up today. God, I love the cusp of technology.)

SAVE Turnabout Intruder. SAVE IT. you have to BUILD UP TO IT.

[ellen-fremedon.livejournal.com]

SAVE Turnabout Intruder. SAVE IT. you have to BUILD UP TO IT.

AGREED. The Kirk-and-Spock (and Kirk/Spock) stuff is SO STRONG-- and the rest of the story is so toxic-- and you really have to build up antibodies to both of them.

[amireal.livejournal.com]

First I will note that you did not include Spock's Brain, so I hearby cast my WRITE IN VOTE just to be mean.

Secondly, oh TFV, and here I thought you were sensible, welcome to the Dark Side of the Force. We have dental and Evil Cackles (tm).

Third, The Conscious of the King is truly and interesting and nibbly episode. It's very nuanced and more dimensional than most other episodes. I like it for a lot of reasons, not the least of which is backstory that's unusual and level headed thinking in the face of emotional turmoil.

[laughingacademy.livejournal.com]

It also has one scene between Kirk and whatsferface, the actress he leads on a private tour of the Enterprise, which has some wonderfully cheesy, badfic-level dialogue.

[jacquez.livejournal.com]

I WANT TO CHECK THEM ALLLLLLL

[jacquez.livejournal.com]

AHAHA I NOTE THAT DEVIL IN THE DARK HAS THE MOST VOTES *points at icon*

[sanj.livejournal.com]

Devil in the Dark. Seriously. Because I NEED to know what you think of the aliens and of (probably) the first telepathy on TV OMG.

[thefourthvine.livejournal.com]

It's in the top four! Which is good, because now I need to SEE the first telepathy on TV OMG. (For a telepathy-phobic person - no, really, I regularly tell Best Beloved that I love her, but if she becomes telepathic, it's over, to which she replies, "Yes, I know" - this should be an interesting experience. Scary! And wrong! And yet SPOCK! It adds a frisson, you know?)

[proleptic-fancy.livejournal.com]

The Naked Time is really the best thing ever, and Mirror, Mirror is classic. However, for pure Kirk/Spock spacemarried goodness, you really can't go wrong with Devil in the Dark or Journey to Babel.

Now I want to watch Star Trek.

[norabombay.livejournal.com]

That is the phrase of the day! "spacemarried". I think I love it.

[nestra.livejournal.com]

Excuse me, where is the space hippies episode?

[brooklinegirl.livejournal.com]

SPACE HIPPIES OMG I ALMOST FORGOT ABOUT THE SPACE HIPPIES.

[auburnnothenna.livejournal.com]

FV, I have to throw in my votes for The Empath and Mirror, Mirror. Especially Mirror, Mirror. This is the prototype for all other AUs with evil goateed counterparts. And I love Uhura in it. (My memory of episode titles is atrocious, so I'm checking that Mirror, Mirror is in fact the episode I think it is. ETA, yep.) Go, watch, entertain me with a great review. Err, and enjoy.

In some ways, watching Original Star Trek is like due diligence to understand fan fiction, I swear. It might not have done everything well, but it did a lot of it for the first time.

[thefourthvine.livejournal.com]

I am in fact watching Mirror, Mirror. (No, I can't get through an episode in one night. I, um, am very slow. And this is a breakneck pace for me, you understand.)

In some ways, watching Original Star Trek is like due diligence to understand fan fiction, I swear. It might not have done everything well, but it did a lot of it for the first time.

I am starting to understand this! Why did no one TELL me that TOS was a prereq? I've been so confused all this time!

[ellen-fremedon.livejournal.com]

I think you probably want to watch "Balance of Terror" before seeing "The Enterprise Incident," but "The Enterprise Incident" is not to be missed. Vulcan handporn! By which I mean, Spock's hands get the Vaseline-lens treatment normally restricted to female co-stars! They are lovingly lingered on by a deeply sympathetic camera.

You know. If that sort of thing is relevant to your interests.

[sanj.livejournal.com]

Hey! You have to be proud of me! I had an opinion!!

[svmadelyn.livejournal.com]

MIRROR MIRROR.

WHEN HAVE I EVER LEAD YOU ASTRAY.

[amireal.livejournal.com]

Do you want that by date, or in alphabetical order?

[nightcamedown.livejournal.com]

I love The Menagerie. Not a particularly strong K/S episode, as I recall - but I love both the story itself (Spock backstory! Previous adventures of the starship Enterprise! Christopher Pike!) and the way it's structured (the integration of the footage from the original pilot is very cool, and I'm a sucker for courtroom drama).

[amireal.livejournal.com]

It is totally K/S! BETRAYAL! EVERYWHERE!

[innocentsmith.livejournal.com]

The Naked Time.

IT'S CALLED "THE NAKED TIME," COME ON. How could that not be relevant to your interests? Also, emo!Spock and shirtless!fencing!Sulu.

[thefourthvine.livejournal.com]

Long, long ago, before the Trek bug took me, I actually TRIED watching The Naked Time, and even though I can barely remember it, I tell you what: IT IS SO RELEVANT TO MY INTERESTS.

[norabombay.livejournal.com]

Mirror Mirror! The foundation on which all evil facial hair has been formed!

[thefourthvine.livejournal.com]

So I have just discovered! OMG, I had never known where the "evil goatee" concept CAME from. (Answer: the world's most evil goatee. What the FUCK happened to Spock's FACE?)

[abyssinia4077.livejournal.com]

DEVIL IN THE DARK! So good!

(also, I keep wanting to shout "the one with Trelane, Squire of Gothos!" only I can't remember the title of his episode.)

[brownbetty]

Comes in behind Mirror, Mirror, as “Episode which inspired most BDSM fic,” I believe.

[melannen.livejournal.com]

DEVIL IN THE DARK is an awesome episode, but the dead babies made *me* cry the last time I watched it. Somehow it does not work the same as tribbles. :/

Mirror, Mirror is basically the mother of a thousand BDSM AUs, though, and also, Uhura is mad hot in it. I vote for that one!

(Though Naked Time has *canon* Kirk/Enterprise. So there's that.)

[malnpudl.livejournal.com]

Oh, good point. There is, uh, "animal" harm in Devil in the Dark. Or at least freaky alien critter harm.

[cesperanza.livejournal.com]

OK, I vote for watching them in ORDER, so I'd say you want to start with "Where No Man Has Gone Before" and just BOLDLY GO on from there. (WNMHGB will make you realize how different Reboot Kirk is--Original Kirk is described in this episode during his time in the academy, and he is NOT Reboot!kirk.)

If you can't handle this idea, Devil in the Dark or Mirror Mirror are both awesome choices.

[cellia.livejournal.com]

Yes! I watched them all in order myself and maybe I am biased, but it really is nice that way. Also that way you haven't watched all the bestest ones straight off and are left with only the not-as-good.

[dorinda.livejournal.com]

You are so cruel to make me choose. CRUEL.

(...now I want to go watch some Star Trek all of a sudden.)

[thefourthvine.livejournal.com]

I would just like to point out that you should be telling me I am a shiny, wonderful person, because my original impulse was to make them radio buttons. (What can I say? I love a forced choice. I am the daughter of a psychologist; BLAME HER.) I reconsidered! I put in ticky boxes! I consider that an act of extreme mercy!

(WATCH IT WATCH IT WATCH IT OMG.)

[thingswithwings.livejournal.com]

hey, just watch out for The Enemy Within - there's some really rough rape-related scenes in it. To me, the worst is a scene in which several male senior officers stand over a woman who has recently been threatened (she sits while they stand) and interrogate her harshly about her assault - it's truly horrifying, at least to me. It's too bad, because that episode also has Spock actually zoning out while staring at Kirk's naked chest as well as Spock cuddling alien puppies, but . . . anyway, ymmv, but I don't think people should go into that episode unwarned. :)

PS your prejudice against "Spock's Brain" is SILLY and UNFOUNDED.

[toft-froggy.livejournal.com]

Agreed - I was just trying to remember which episode it was where Spock held the alien puppies, and I would say it is definitely worth fast-fowarding the horrible bits for the massive joy of Spock smacking a weeping Kirk in the face and yelling, "BUCK UP, CARSON" (or something equivalent), and the bits where Spock inexplicably walks around holding an alien puppy (http://toft.dreamwidth.org/496418.html?thread=5942306#cmt5942306), though.

[dormouse-in-tea.livejournal.com]

I notice that Mirror, Mirror is by far the front-runner.

Don't watch it yet! It's much more awesome when you've seen more Trek and catch all the ways it's mocking itself.

[cellia.livejournal.com]

oooh that is a good point.

[brownbetty]

I voted for Turnabout Intruder for which I have a strange love, but they're all good.

Er. 'Good.'

[thefourthvine.livejournal.com]

Young lady, I request an explanation of your use of quotes, there.

[dzurlady.livejournal.com]

was like a horrible sickness compelled me to spend a small fortune on ancient, overpriced, but remarkably awesome television. I don't know what came over me.
You are asking the wrong group of people about this, for so many of us share your sickness.

[thefourthvine.livejournal.com]

I HAVE NEVER BEEN THAT PERSON BEFORE. IT WAS REALLY WEIRD, OKAY?

But now I feel like I am a Real Fan! *tears of joy*

don't worry, i'm not actually voting :P

[elaran.livejournal.com]

i have only watched one eps of TOS - the pon farr one (surprise?). i was told that if i ever only watched three eps of TOS, it should be the pon farr one, the tribbles one and the evil!goatee!spock one.

i think you've watched the first two so were i actually to vote in this poll, i would pick mirror, mirror. go on, you know you want to see evil!goatee!spock.

[i am also tempted to click the naked time because really how could that one go wrong?!]

Re: don't worry, i'm not actually voting :P

[thefourthvine.livejournal.com]

Oh my god WATCH MORE WATCH MORE. The tribble one! The goatee one! AND YES WATCH THE NAKED TIME TOO.

*crazed panting*

[jenlev.livejournal.com]

Chosing was very difficult....partly because I'm so looking forward to you watching Who Mourns for Adonais. :)

[thefourthvine.livejournal.com]

*eyes you suspiciously*

Why? I mean, some people are STILL agitating for Spock's Brain, so - I do feel I need to ask.

[wneleh.livejournal.com]

Just thinking... Devil in the Dark might not be your thing, for child/animal-harm reasons. Immunity Syndrome too, come to think, though I don't think I'd have minded it 1.5 years post-partum. I would not have dealt well with Devil in the Dark.

[thefourthvine.livejournal.com]

Yeeep. Thank you thank you thank you for the warning! Best Beloved will be previewing this one to see if it is Suitable for TFVs, because YIKES that does not sound like something I can handle.