YMMV / Star Trek S3 E13 "Elaan of Troyius"

• Cargo Ship: How does Kirk get over Elaan? By going back to his one true love. Spock? No, sorry, shippers. It's the Enterprise.
• Dragon Lady: Played by a half-Asian actress with bronzer, Elaan evokes this trope strongly.
• Narm: Some of the cringiest dialogue is in this episode, some for Values Dissonance, but some intentionally dramatic lines are horrendous.
  • "You cannot resist my love, my love." in particular is eye-rolling, though France Nuyen sells it as best she can.
• Strawman Has a Point: Elaan is clearly meant to be a deeply unlikable character, being spoiled, petulant and rude constantly and to absolutely everyone — but she's being dragged off to a planet she despises and forcibly married to someone she doesn't like for the sake of politics and is very vocal about it. Her bad temper is not particularly unwarranted, given the circumstances.
• Theiss Titillation Theory: Hoo boy! Elaan probably gets the most costume changes of any Girl of the Week on TOS with four. First, a purple outfit that makes her look like a gladiator themed superhero from the Silver Age. When she visits the engine room with the purpose of insulting Scotty, she wears what appears to be tinfoil panties and a couple of gravy boats. After she's had her off screen love scene with Kirk, she wears a glittery orange dress that has a top that looks more like a scarf. (It looks a lot like Marilyn Monroe's gold dress in Gentlemen Prefer Blondes — a modified halter top with a plunging neckline straight down to her waist and was likely glued to her breasts.) The dress she wears to die by Kirk's side is a shiny blue sleeveless, high-necked number that at first glance seems modest. Then she turns around and we see that her sides are bare from armpit to ankle. OK, Will, if your plan was to convince us that not all male fashion designers are gay, mission accomplished.
• Took the Bad Film Seriously: For all Fred's talk on how it's a love story, Shatner plays Kirk after the tears hit him as disgusted and trying to not give in.
• Unintentionally Sympathetic: Elaan. She's a Jerkass, true, but she's expected to learn perfect manners for her Arranged Marriage. Apparently this is the only method two space-faring races can think of to avert conflict...
• Values Dissonance:
  • The Federation and one of their captains being perfectly OK with Arranged Marriage with the bride explicitly stating her lack of consent can easily come off as this, even if considering that said bride is a complete jerk and that it is all for The Needs of the Many. (In contrast, the thematically similar TNG episode "The Perfect Mate" at least addresses that issue.) The closest this episode gets to addressing Elaan's lack of consent is a token suggestion from Kirk that she relinquishes her title- which she is all too happy to leverage- to be freed of the responsibility that comes with it- unless the likely alternative is death or serious injury — the scene can feel very uncomfortable to watch.
  • By that same token, however, the more widespread awareness of Double Standard: Abuse, Female on Male means just as many find Elaan's assumption she can slap Kirk with impunity just as distasteful