"The Enterprise Incident"
Airdate: September 27, 1968
60 of 80 produced
57 of 80 released
Click here to watch on CBS.com
Introduction
The Enterprise, on Captain Kirk's orders, crosses the Romulan Neutral Zone. It quickly finds itself surrounded by several Romulan warships. The danger is compounded by Kirk's seemingly increasing irrationality. Adding to the danger is the commander of the Romulan vessels. She holds the fate of the Enterprise in her hands, but seems as interested in its first officer as the ship itself. Have the stresses of the job finally broken the captain? Offered a privileged life with his Romulan cousins, will Spock be able to resist?
Conclusion
Love. This. Episode. No two ways about it. The writing is definitely well above average. A few minor plot annoyances don't detract from the solid political thriller or the character development in this story. Acting and production values are nigh on perfection. Leonard Nimoy and Joanne Linville as the Romulan commander turn in some fantastic performances. As I do in the podcast, I am going to heap some fawning praise on the Romulan commander's evening gown. Minor quibbles about Romulan shipboard security protocol don't keep this episode from a 5 from both us. This episode gets a total of 10 and has a more than average chance at the top ten of TOS episodes. Enjoy the podcast, everyone.
Definitely loved it. And was shocked at how much cooler the Romulan Uniforms are then the Next Gen ones-- if I had the means, at all, the Romulan Commander's uniform would be my Halloween and all purpose costume from now until forever. I thought Shatner over-sold Kirk being crazy, but I still enjoyed it on a campy level. And even though it was a little obvious that Spock and Kirk were pulling a fast one (only because we know the series can't have a traitor Spock anymore than it can have a dead Spock) it was still exciting to see it come together, and how far Spock was willing to go. And I mean that in the full, eyebrow-wagging sense-- the Romulan Commander is totally awesome, and I get pretty psyched whenever the TOS writers manage to sneak a strong female leader in.
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