Star Trek: Spock's Brain

Episode: "Spock's Brain"
Series: Star Trek: The Original Series
Season 3, Episode 1
Original Air Date: September 20, 1968

via Memory Alpha

"Spock's Brain" is considered by many, including cast members, to be the worst episode of Star Trek's original series.  I knew this going in, a difficult preconception to overcome.  NBC had caved to pressure from the devotees and renewed Trek for a third season. But the network was still out to strangle the series through scheduling.  The show was moved to 10 p.m. on Friday nights.  The writing was on the wall.  The magic of the first year and the early days of the second was fading.  A franchise in desperate need of a win instead served up a terrible season premier.

For me, "Spock's Brain" is more boring than bad, though I suppose that amounts to the same in a genre dependent upon spectacle.  My mind drifted.  A female being beams directly on to the bridge of the Enterprise, knocks out the entire crew, then steals Spock's noodle right out of his noggin.  Why?  How?  Our crew doesn't know exactly but they sure better get it back.

I'm not going to pretend the episode is good.  Those who associate overacting with the series need look no further than this story for proof.  But there are a few redeeming qualities.  It's one of only a few of the originals that meaningfully incorporates all seven principal characters.  It's a good Scotty episode as he gets a rare turn on the away team, though James Doohan is also one of the prime offenders on the overacting.  To be fair, the far too many shots of him with astonished expressions are probably more the director's fault than the actor's.

I'm prepared for a bit of pain going into Season 3.  If "Spock's Brain" is truly the worst, I think I can handle it.  I'm holding out hope for a hidden gem or two along the way.

*****

via Memory Alpha

Marj Dusay played Kara, the brain thief.  She was born Marjorie Ellen Pivonka Mahoney on February 20, 1936 in Russell, Kansas.  She got her big break in an Elvis Presley movie, 1967's Clambake.

While Dusay scored numerous television guest appearances in prime time, she found her real niche in daytime soap operas.  Over a 26-year period beginning in 1983, she had recurring roles on Capitol, Santa Barbara, Days of Our Lives, All My Children and, most significantly, Guiding Light.  On the latter program, she played Alexandra Spaulding off and on for 16 years.  She won a Daytime Emmy in 1995.