Star Trek: The Original Series/Recap/S3/E01 Spock's Brain: Difference between revisions
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{{sidemenuend}}
In 1968, [[NBC]] wanted to cancel ''Star Trek'' after two seasons, but the cult fanbase organized a [[Sending Stuff to Save The Show|letter-writing campaign]] to save the show for a third season. They succeeded and ''Trek'''s third season began with an episode no one would forget. This it it. The [[Narm]]. The [[Plot Hole|Plot Holes]]. This is that episode. This is "Spock's Brain", widely considered the worst ''Star Trek'' episode ever made. [[So Bad
It all begins when the ''Enterprise'' encounters an alien spacecraft. Scotty is amazed that they are so advanced as to use ion propulsion, a technology which existed ''at the time the episode was written'' (however, as it's clearly an FTL drive, it's the same as today's [[In Name Only]]). The spacecraft's only occupant beams onto the bridge of the ''Enterprise'' and it turns out to be yet another alien woman who wears [[Stripperiffic]] clothes. The men ([[Les Yay|and Uhura, for some reason]]) stare as the soundtrack swells with romantic music, [[Blatant Lies|as they've clearly never seen a woman like this before]]. As we will learn later on, she is named Kara. But Kara does not come in peace. Using a wrist band, she knocks out everyone on the ship with that "boing" sound effect which [[Sufficiently Advanced Alien|Sufficiently Advanced Aliens]] always use. After seeming momentarily interested in Kirk's butt, she walks up to the unconscious Spock and gleefully strokes his cranium.
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Kara pleads that her people will all die without their new Controller, saying the old one is finished. Apparently considering committing genocide a reasonable price to pay for having his Science Officer back, Kirk refuses to listen and demands to know how she removed Spock's brain. Kara says she used the "old knowledge" from "the Teacher". The Teacher turns out to be [[Cool Helmet]] and Kirk forces it onto the head of a protesting Kara. It turns out making a hostile alien smart isn't such a brilliant move and she pulls out a phaser which she had apparently been keeping in [[Hammerspace]] since [[We Will Not Have Pockets in The Future|that dress certainly doesn't have pockets]]. Note how she was smart enough to not leave their phasers with their communicators and tricorders when she was dumb, but only now that she is smart can she figure out how to pull the trigger on the phaser. Rest assured, this turns out to be a [[Cliffhanger Copout]] and Kirk gets back the phaser from her rather easily after a commercial break. Kirk and Kara have an argument in which [[Straw Man Has a Point|she actually makes better sense]], mostly because Kirk never addresses her concerns about her people and instead just keeps repeating that Spock will die. You know, if Spock were in character, his brain might point out at this point that saving him would constitute sacrificing the needs of the many for the needs of the one.
McCoy suggests he could use the Teacher, but Spock's brain warns him that it wasn't made for humans and tells him that he can't take that risk. So apparently Spock is okay with them [[A Million Is a Statistic|killing off a whole civilization to save him]], but he draws the line at [[Rule of Empathy|risking Bones' life]]. McCoy insists it's worth the risk since he could bring the knowledge he will learn to "the world". [[Earth Is the Center of The Universe|Yes, he said "world", not "galaxy".]] Moving on, Kirk lets McCoy do it. It causes him to faint, but it still works and he gasps that "a child could do it!" Naturally, the big mystery of how to remove and restore a brain is going to be resolved with [[The Un
Meanwhile, McCoy is forgetting the knowledge he learned from the Teacher, but Kirk has a brainstorm to save the day. He has McCoy connect Spock's speech center and then Spock ''freakin' directs his own brain surgery''. Yeah, that makes sense. And when did Spock get the Teacher's knowledge anyway? In any case, the operation is successful, however improbably so. By the way, Spock's brain has now been surgically removed and restored without affecting his trademark hairstyle at all. Spock starts to talk about how fascinating the [[Scavenger World]] they've just destroyed is and McCoy snarks that he shouldn't have reconnected Spock's mouth. Cue [[Everybody Laughs Ending]].
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