Random TV Show Review - Star Trek: The Original Series

 

Time to end the debate once and for all. Star Trek was around long before Star Wars and for many years both franchises have divided fans. Most prefer Star Wars because of the fantasy element and the exciting sci-fi battles (you know before politics, midichlorians and how sand can be coarse, rough, irritating and get everywhere) whereas others prefer Star Trek due to how it's always exploring the possibility that life could be out there beyond Earth (which sounds like something I said yesterday) as well as logic of course. I am a fan of both, but lean towards Star Wars because I love it too much. But I do enjoy Star Trek too and just recently I managed to finish watching the original series as I'm watching it all in chronological order. So today I will be reviewing the entire Original Series and its animated continuation. So let's explore new worlds, seek out new life and boldly go where no man, woman or other species have gone before:

Season 1

So this season chronologically starts where the second season of Discovery left off. We learn how James T. Kirk (played by William Shatner) got the starship Enterprise and goes on its ongoing mission to explore the galaxy. Also in the series, Spock (played by the late Leonard Nimoy) assists his former captain on a mission that endangers the ship, Bones (played by the late DeForest Kelley) somehow goes into a time portal in the first season's critically acclaimed episode all while going on many other adventures to seek out life, explore new worlds and boldly go where no man has gone before. Having seen the films and the two prequel series before seeing this, this series isn't too bad. It establishes what would become a huge franchise well and while some would turn off on the idea of exploring, it is more than that as time goes on. 9/10

 

Season 2

In this season, Spock is forced to go back to his home planet Vulcan to be cured of his surprising aggressive behaviour, the crew enter what would later be known as the Mirror Universe, a planet eating alien machine puts the Enterprise at risk and a bunch of other adventures too. Many dangerous while others not so much. Fans often see this as the best overall season of any Star Trek show and after watching it, I too agree with that statement. There's lots going on, plenty of elements that would later be explored in other shows and films and Spock gets a bit of character development as does the rest of the main cast but him especially. 9/10

 

Season 3

In the third and final season of the live action series, the Enterprise gets caught in the middle of a dimensional surge by alien beings, Spock's brain gets captured by alien beings, the Enterprise enters a more brutal conflict with the Klingons than ever before, Bones learns that he may be dying from a disease with no cure and Kirk faces a problem with a spoiled princess who must learn how to bring peace to a star system. And plenty of other adventures too. Like the last season, this one also has elements that later shows would explore too. As the final live action season, it's OK. By this point, I got used to the whole thing and while it is great, I can now see why people like to make fun of how William Shatner talks which isn't a bad thing. But can get a bit annoying at times. 8/10

The Animated Series

So after the original series got cancelled, Gene Roddenberry (the creator of the overall franchise) played on the idea of making an animated continuation, and we got two seasons that would make up the animated series. It kind of reminds me of the old Hanna-Barbera cartoons with its style and length, but the cast is back and it feels like the original series in every way. Because of it being animated, some of the crew are more alien than ever before which I'd say is a good thing because the Federation comprises many species across the galaxy with the most notable being the vulcans and humans. So yeah it's probably not what many would expect to see from Star Trek, but it is what it is, and I am glad they managed to find some way to continue. 8/10

So as the first overall show for Star Trek, it's OK. Some people tend to forget that this show was the one that started it, but if you were to compare it to the later shows, they tend to be better. But for what we got, it is a great series and one that would set the stage for what would become a huge franchise full of great and not so great things all for the sake of boldly going where no man has gone before. 8/10