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 - Kirk out!!When I was a kid, wearing my mail-order "Captain Kirk" command shirt of gold vellour, the words "Third Season Trek" were synonymous with "bad." To compare something with the Third Season meant invoking images of failure, disaster, and sudden, irrevocable decline. Some of the individual episodes of this season also became buzzwords for something that, for lack of a better description, just plain sucked. "Space hippies!"; "What have you done with Spock's brain!?"; "You half-black!" Reading Shatner's "Star Trek Memories" explained a lot to me about the hows and the whys of Trek's tumble from the tops it had achieved in Season Two: the departure of ace writer D.C. Fontana, the increasing indifference of creator Gene Roddenberry, the drastic budget cuts, the nasty feuding between Leonard Nimoy and producer X over the show's writing and direction. But it didn't exactly make me nostalgic to see gagworthy episodes like "The Way to Eden" or "Requiem for Methuselea" again. When Trek Classic came out on DVD, my initial feeling was that I would buy the first two seasons and, perhaps at some point in the future, collect the third at a yard sale for pennies on the dollar. So you can imagine my surprise when I re-examined the Third Season and discovered it to have more than a few diamonds in its rough - including a couple of gems which are arguably among the best Trek episodes ever shot. For my money, the list of the good stuff includes: The Enterprise Incident - After 2 ½ years of do-gooding, it was nice to see the Feds play seriously dirty and bogart the Romulan's secret cloaking technology. Kirk violates a treaty, Spock seduces a Romulan commander into a firing squad, and the whole team gets together to pull a burglary that would make Thomas Crown proud. This Side of Paradise - Admittedly, Shatner is a Christmas ham in some of these scenes, and his Indian outfit looks decidedly silly on him. Still, this episode has serious sparkage between Spock and McCoy and the underlying theme of Kirk's loneliness, which had been examined previously in the First Season, was surprisingly touching. Here we see Kirk's "Paradise" - the life he gave up to become a starship captain. This is also the longest story in Classic Trek history: it lasts more than two months. Spectre of the Gun - I always loved this episode, which pits our heroes in a stylishly nightmarish Old West scenario and lets them wear six-gun rig. The set design for this episode was truly creepy, as were the stone-faced, soft-spoken actors who played the Brothers Earp to our Starfleet Cowboys. Plus, Chekov gets plugged, which is always fun to watch. Elaan of Troyius - This is one of the few 3S episodes which I think is brilliantly written almost from start to finish. Watching Kirk ham-handenly try to stamp out diplomatic fires while trying to root out a saboteur and outfight a Klingon battlecruiser is a joy. This episode has some jewels of dialogue, including Kirk's extremely impolitic remark: "Spock, the women on your planet are logical. Those are the only women in the universe that can make that claim"; and a truly classic moment where a fed-up Kirk threatens to spank knife-wielding hottie Elaan. Day of the Dove - Who doesn't love this 51 minute slugfest? From the opening scene, in which the sensual and villainous Klingon commander, Kang, tortures Chekov (the scream!), to the all-out swordplay between our heroes and the Klingons warriors, this is a fight-lover's dream. Great chemistry between Kang and Kirk, and a lot of heartwarming Klingon axioms, such as: "Four thousand throats can be cut in one night, by a running man." (runner up: "We need no urging to hate humans! But for now, only a fool fights in a burning house!") Thankfylly, Kang was to make a reappearance in the Trekverse 25-odd years later, on DS9. All Our Yesterdays - A highly underrated piece of work which features some terrifically subtle acting by Leonard Nimoy. In this episode - one of the rare "Trek tragedies" - Spock, having travelled backwards in time, finds his prehistoric Vulcan emotions getting the better of him. He falls in love, and seriously manhandles McCoy, which was probably sweet payback for three years of swallowing insults about that green icewater in his veins. The Tholian Web - Probably the best episode of the Third Season, and a standout in the whole series, this was another excellent action episode which also took time to explore the complex relationship between Kirk, Spock, and McCoy. I always viewed this tirumverate as a single being, with Kirk the heart, McCoy the conscience and Spock the logical brain. Removing Kirk from the equation threw up great sparks between the great Nimoy and the equally great Kelly. It also has the long awaited moment of familiarity between the two, when Spock says to McCoy: "Forget it, Bones." There are some other decent (if flawed) outings here, but it seems sometimes like the newer generation of writers didn't quite understand the show's history or backstory....for example, the surprise of our heroes in The Enterprise Incident that the Romulans have a cloaking device, despite their previous encounter with one two years before in Balance of Terror: and the budget cuts, which limited most of the episodes to set shooting only, making for a claustrophic, low--budget atmosphere. I might be mistaken, but I can't remember a single episode besides This Side of Paradise being shot outside. Finally, there is the issue of Shatner's subtly growing pot belly and shaggy sideburns, decidedly un-captainlike features we used to mock as ungrateful kids who didn't know which side our television toast was buttered on. Classic Trek's Third and last Season remains its least impressive. There are too many clunkers like Let That Be Your Last Battlefield and not nearly enough winners to balance the scale. But in the last analysis, it's still Trek....and that's enough for me. 3.5 stars. Rating:  - Don't believe those that call this season weak!Speaking as a Star Trek purist (I only like TOS), the season three episodes are an essential part of any Star Trek collection. I'm not saying "Spock's Brain" won't make you laugh, but I am saying "Turnabout Intruder", "Is there in truth no beauty", and "Let that be you last battlefield" are examples of profound themes that put to shame any contemporary TV show. I always liked the incidental music as well as the background sets utilized well here. The extras feature Doohan, Koenig, and Sulu who discuss among other things why NBC cancelled them. The text commentary is just blurbs from some NBC apologists. Anyway, my first encounter with these episodes dates to the early '70s and the first reruns. I always like "Turnabout Intruder" with Dr. Janis Lester vs. Kirk. What is it that was exchanged? The "soul"? consciousness? self? But it was also "mind", as they retain knowledge. There is an ambiguity there, but also a profundity. "Is there in truth no beauty" is another great one with Diana Muldaur featuring the Ambassador that drives humans insane by mere sight (always appreciated those wierd camera angles of the insane). The first victim's rant is great, "no, they come in your dreams....don't love her! She'll kill you if you love her!" And Miranda's coldness, but obsession with "becoming one" with the Ambassador. The Tholian Web is always a good one as a "ghost" Kirk keeps showing up, and Chekov goes insane. "Spectre" is the Western episode as the Clantons (Star Trek crew) take on Wyatt Earp's gang of thugs, and Spock uses his mind meld to save them. I always thought "Let that be your last battlefield" was great as two survivors of a planet at war fight each other via the Enterprise. Also "Eden" is an interesting look at space hippies, even if Dr. Severin IS insane (however what he seeks is not) and "Yay Brother" isn't that good a song. There are many other good episodes here and if there is supposed to be a third season drop in quality I don't see it. NBC was positively idiotic for cancelling the show. Star Trek TOS now stands as a monument to the spirit of the '60s and what might have been, had the counter-'60s forces not triumphed. But as Kirk says in "That which survives", "Beauty....survives". All these episodes are worth seeing if only to show that once there was actually such a thing as creativity on TV. Rating: - the end?of the five year mission,i think not because this trek never endsthe third season was by all acounts not the best of the show. by this time the writing(always a high water mark of the show) was sliping badly and you can feel the end coming. even so there is some life left in some of the shows and they still beat most of the shows that were on at the time. as on the others sets the extras are great and the shows look like new. so this is one that i am glad to have. Rating: - Classic Sci-FiStar-Trek fans will definitely enjoy this collection of the best science-fiction show ever produced. This album includes every episode of the final (third) season originally aired on TV in the late 1960's. But: without commercials, and with excellent picture quality! Truly a collector's item. And it comes with a photo booklet and unique hard-plastic case. Rating: - the third and last season of the five year missionthis season was more uneven as far as plots go but this is still better than most of the stuff that was put on t.v. great extras and the two versions of the first pilot the cage. a must for the collection
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