Reviews Series / Star Trek The Original Series

This is where everything began.

I will be brief. Star Trek, the original series, is by far my favorite of the bunch.

It also really, really, really didn't age well.

From the designs of the ships and scenarios, the weird recycled props to casual bouts of misoginy. Modern viewers may need a lot of tolerance, and a lot of preparation and understanding beforehand to fully delve into the episodes and not think that Bones was a racist doctor for his treatment of Spock (instead of 'just bantering, as it was normal at the time'), or not be horrified at Spock's treatment of nurse Chapel and other problems such as hamfisted allegories and extremely cheesy moments. The memes didn't make things easier either, painting Kirk as a sexist jerk, redshirts dying left and right and others, but nothing is more farther from the truth (In an era where the romantic idea was 'chase the woman till she loves you', Kirk actually delivers a speech about respecting boundaries!)

But, if the viewer is able to pass through these (MANY) hurdles, what awaits them is basically Star Trek at its most genuine, dramatic and hopeful. This is where the crew ask questions about empathy, exploration and science, where humankind learned to be an utopia, but has to be reminded to keep that way ("keep bigotry out of my ship!"), where Kirk genuinely holds the hand of a despaired alien and say "Don't worry, we humans used to have problems too, but look at us now! And if we did it, you can do it too." or sad because a conflict ended in bloodshed. As memetic as Shatner's acting was (and still is) he was able to pull some nice scenes, especially in memorable episodes such as "The City on the Edge of Forever" and "Balance of Terror" and none of the cast are behind in acting. There is a glowing joy in the eyes of the characters as they want to help others and understand their situation without imposing their values. The trio of Reason, Logic and Heart through Kirk, Spock and Bones is still unmatched to this day with good reason.

The writers weren't afraid to pull punches when it came to gruesome fates, downer endings and explore bizarre concepts, but, to me, what strikes most interesting is how they tried to make inclusion casual (with varying degrees of success) from an indian admiral, to a black scientist and a woman being the equivalent of a JAG prosecutor, all dealt with complete normalcy and respect in the 60's! Of course, without forgetting about Uhura, Sulu and Chekov!

Episodes vary in quality, especially with the shoestring budget that was shrunk even further in the third season, and the writers had to be especially creative with what they got (such as episodes like "Spectre Of the Gun") but they are often pleasant, even if silly at times due how technology marched on, and thought-provoking. Its a chore to withstand all the aged parts and course through the memes, and its completely understandable if one can't get through with them (finding too cheesy and so on), but if you can do it, give this series a chance.