ST: TOS: Pilot

Ok, so I'll admit it. It was my first time ever seeing this episode. Did I know Kirk wouldn't be in it? Yes. Did I know that Christopher Pike was the commanding officer? Yes. Did I know it would be slightly cheesy? Yes.

None of that could have prepared me for this episode. The intro reel is what really tipped me off. You know how sometimes you can watch a movie in the theater and the special effects looks amazing, but then when you watch it again on DVD they are kinda horrible (think Star Wars episode II - Attack of the Clones)? Well that really describes my feeling toward the opening. It was inspiring I'll give you that, but it didn't really seem... smooth.

The story line for the episode was pretty good; away party lands, captain gets captured by telepathic aliens, #1 takes over, captain is rescued. It could have been just me, but I think this story line would have been better suited for a later episode and not for the pilot. It was nicely thought out, but the execution was a little odd. And what was up with Spock's voice? Was he going though an early pon farr?

Some of the bridge scenes were quite fun too. I enjoyed how some of the sound effects have never been repeated as bridge noises. Also, some of the technology mentioned in this episode that was later abandoned sounded quite interesting. (for example the time factor of warp speed, and that neat little trick they did with the screen.

All in all, I think this episode did well to capture the ideas of struggle, humanity and compassion that Roddenberry loved. Did I love it? Yes.