This season should not have been aired. It's even worse than season one. The show was cancelled after this season. For a reason. Based on this last season, it's absolutely beyond me how the whole franchise escaped the downward slope into oblivion and was able to secure a reboot with Star Trek: The Motion Picture years later. Kudos to the producer and investors for seeing potential in the Star Trek brand. I'm a big Star Trek fan but I probably would have given up on Roddenberry after this disastrous season three of the original series. In comparison, the movies were much better. Back then, TV was the ugly child of the movie biz indeed. But the difference in quality between the series and the movies is striking. I always expected it to be like the step from the Police squad! TV series to The Naked Gun movies, but the difference from TOS to the movies is extreme in comparison. Budget issues in later episodes are obvious: some stages are recycled, from other movie sets or literally black empty rooms.
There are many bad episodes, it's hard to select my least favorite episode: perhaps Spock's Brain. This is hardly a unique choice. This episode was always infamous and derided by fans (according to me, only Voyager's Threshold and TNG's Sub Rosa play in the same ball park). Plato's Stepchildren is also exceptionally bad. I also disapproved The savage Curtain. Other problems continue: misogyny, sexism, racism, horrible stage design, Earth-like alien planets, a strange focus on Kirk's gut-feelings, his physical attributes and his wrestling skills, repetitive stories, slow pacing etc. There are some good episodes though. I like for example The Enterprise Incident, The Tholian Web and Day of the Dove. I can't explain it myself but my guilty pleasure is: Spectre of the Gun. Objectively bad - strangely entertaining.
The voyages of the USS Enterprise come to an end in the third and final season of Star Trek. Featuring the infamous episode “Spoke’s Brian,” the quality of the writing takes a steep decline; recycling old plots and losing all subtlety in its social commentary (ex: “Let That Be Your Last Battlefield”). And the budget cuts show in the limited sets and reduced cast on-screen. Still, there are a couple of standout episodes, such as “The Enterprise Incident,” “The Savage Curtain,” and “The Tholian Web,” and the show continues to deliver exciting fight scenes and interesting aliens. Additionally, several notable guest stars make appearances, including Lee Meriwether, Charles Napier, and Mariette Hartley. Star Trek’s third season is the weakest of the series and its slide into mediocrity resulted in the show’s cancelation.
Shout by JasonVIP 5BlockedParent2022-12-19T15:18:21Z— updated 2024-04-13T22:43:50Z
Theme- 7.5/10
Rewatchibility- 2/10
Acting- 5.5/10
Kinematography- 7.5/10
Time- 3/10
Total - 25.5/5 = 5.1
To seek out new life and new civilizations. Pulling the plug on the show was the right call after this season despite two more being pre-programmed in the intro's monologue. It wasn't all bad but this season did provide the worst episodes of the series as well as a lot of repeated episode formulas with thinly-veiled stories. Also, my anger with Kirk in 'Requiem for Methuselah', a fairly good episode, made me realize my biggest qualm with O.S. Kirk does not behave, learn, nor adapt from the experiences of past episodes, as is the woe of episodic non-linear television.
"Top" 3 Episodes
1. The Enterprise Incident
2. The Empath
3. Is There in Truth No Beauty?