Star Trek Season 3 - My Top 5 Favorite Episodes

I am both happy and desperately sad that I have made it to the end of the Original Series.  I really love this crew - so at least I have the films to look forward to now!*  Looking back, I think the first season was the best overall, but while the episodes this season don't stand out for me as strongly as the first, there are some fantastic moments in my top 5 picks that meant I fell in love with the episode as a whole.  On the fangirl front - yes I have bought a pair of Star Trek pajamas (in "Spock blue") and a necklace with the TOS emblem from Etsy.  Yup, I'm that nerd. :)   I would like a true TOS uniform, but those dresses are ridiculously short!!  Now to the episodes!

5. Plato's Stepchildren

I wavered on putting this in my top 5 because honestly it made me feel so uncomfortable but it definitely stands out in this season and because it made me so empathetic for the Enterprise crew, I really couldn't leave it out.  Kirk, Spock and McCoy respond to a distress call on a planet inhabited by beings who model their society on Greek principles.  And can mind control and are completely sadistic.  They take pleasure in making Kirk and Spock do many undignified things to make McCoy stay with them.  Because they are so indolent that their immune system is crap and even a little cut could mean their death.  Seeing Kirk, Spock, and later Nurse Chapel and Lt. Uhura made to do such humiliating things was very distressing!  So that moment when Kirk wields a little of his own power is incredibly satisfying.  I wouldn't have minded if all the crew indulged in a little revenge, but of course that would be beneath the integrity and honor of the Starfleet.  But wow, is this episode disturbing!

4. All Our Yesterdays

On a planet that is soon to be destroyed by a star going nova, Kirk, Spock and McCoy (they really focused on these three in this season) land to try to warn the inhabitants.  Yet they find that almost all of them have been evacuated except for the librarian who is willing to send them wherever they want to go.  Turns out the librarian can send them into the past, and Kirk accidentally goes to one past while Spock and McCoy go to another.  There's a point in the beginning where I just couldn't understand why the crew stayed on the planet when the librarian told them everyone was safe.  Ok, time to leave Kirk!  But of course they didn't and had to have a look around, resulting in some very disturbing emotions for Spock.  I have to say the biggest shocker moment of the whole series for me was when Spock got mad at McCoy!  I was like WHAT IS HAPPENING???  And then it just got even more outrageous - Spock falling in love what?? There's an explanation of course, and even though I kinda wanted Spock to just stay with Zarabeth, I thought it was a great episode.  Bonus that Zarabeth was played by Mariette Hartley who I know from some episodes of Bonanza and who I think is so talented and pretty.  She actually kinda reminds me of Jennifer Lawrence.

3. The Paradise Syndrome

Here's another episode with a hopeless romance!  When (say it with me) Kirk, Spock and McCoy investigate a planet that will be hit by an asteroid, they find a primitive American Indian type culture.  The people seem to worship an obelisk that is highly advanced.  Kirk accidentally opens it and falls into a machine that gives him amnesia.  Spock and McCoy must leave to deflect the asteroid and return for Kirk later, so that Kirk is found by the locals who think him a great Shaman, and for the two months Spock and McCoy are away Kirk falls in love, gets married and is expecting a child.  I kept thinking their relationship wouldn't escalate as far as it did, because when Kirk eventually regains his memories, what was he going to do with his wife?  I'm sure you can guess what happens to the wife.  It was interesting to see Kirk happier and more carefree and in some ways very tragic that the life he's chosen with the Enterprise can't give him that same kind of joy.  I think this episode tugged on my heartstrings more than Spock's relationship in "All Our Yesterdays" because with Kirk it was more of an attainable life, while with Spock he's so disturbed and unhappy by feeling love, rage, and jealousy.

2.  The Empath

I'm going to abbreviate - K, S and M are on a mission to rescue some research personnel discovering them already gone.  It turns out they were used for an experiment that resulted in their death.  And somehow a mute empath is important to the whole project.  The whole mystery surrounding the empath was surprising, and I think the journey to the answer was better than the answer itself, but the reason I am so fond of this episode is one scene actually.  The scene where the Enterprise crew show how selfless they are.  Especially that McCoy would sacrifice himself for Spock!  It's an absolutely heart-warming moment, even though it was definitely logical that Spock be the one to be experimented on.  But how noble of McCoy to take his place.  I loved this moment so much!  

1. The Enterprise Incident

This episode was a whole lotta fun!  It appears that Kirk and Spock are completely out of character - but there's a plan and it's a good one.  For the longest time I was just in shock as this episode progressed because they really wait a while before tipping that there is a plan.  Even though I knew there must be, I wasn't sure who was in on it and who was really surprised by Kirk's actions.  The Enterprise crew rarely engage in espionage missions so this was another fun aspect of the episode - that Kirk and Spock have to take on a persona and engage in a little trickery.  The story is just full of twists and surprises and I absolutely enjoyed this episode the most out of the whole season!

*Just so you know - I finished the first six movies and Season 1 of TNG!