When people think of Trek Season 3 they usually think it was all bad. Including Spock's brain which is covered last time. But I still maintain there were some good episodes. Were they perfect? No the budget cuts were always pretty glaring even when the script was decent. I don't think any come close to the quality episodes we got the first two seasons. That being said, it's not fair to toss the whole season in the trash as if there was nothing good.
So as proof, here are my top 10 best episode from Season 3 of TOS. Of course this is opinion
This is an awkward choice because I never cared about this episode. It's a derivative time travel story with no stakes, because you know Kirk, Spock and McCoy are gonna make it back at the end. So why list it? This episode is memorable for the scenes with Spock and Zarabth played by Mariette Hartley. And there scenes are well done, with the story here resonating into follow up books later. So while I never got into it, it deserves a nod for being a well written episode.
#9.Is There in Truth No Beauty?
This slot was the hardest to fill but I settled on this one. It is true that the script could have been tighter, the episode kind of drags its feet at several spots. And those nasty budget cuts are lurking around. That being said it's interesting to see Spock having a rival, and of course Diana Muldaur was great.
#8.Wink of an Eye
This is the episode where aliens that move at an accelerated rate board and try to take the ship over. Even though the timing of the story doesn't add up, the villains are some of the more fleshed out enemies on the show. Well acted and developed you feel for the people of Scalos.
#7.Mark of Gideon
A big theme in season 3 was Kirk getting separated from his crew. Another episode is further down and I didn't include yet another, "The Paradise Syndrome". This one has Kirk stuck on an exact duplicate of the Enterprise on a very overpopulated planet. One of the things that makes the show work is how well they do at making us feel how overpopulated the planet really.
#6.The Empath
Again, some may say this is to high. The truth is I hated this episode for a long time because of how different it is from a usual episode. It's one of those cases where as a kid you don't get it, but when you come back to it as an adult it makes more sense. It's about the friendship between Kirk, Spick and McCoy and is quite touching. The staging is very weird too, it really is outside the box as far as Trek episodes go. It's not high on my rewatch list but worth noting.
#5.Day of the Dove
This episode deserves more credit for truly being the episode that set the Klingons onto the course the would go in Star Trek. Before they were always just kind of thugs with no real personality. This episode the Klingons feel like they have an empire and culture behind it. The plot is ok but man the effect of the alien lame.
#4.Spectre of the Gun
A lot of people love this episode, and I only thing it's ok. This is the one where alien's make Kirk and crew recreate the Gunfight at the OK Corral as a punishment. It has weird editing and plot holes, like why Kirk would ignore a warning buoy to stay away. At least the budget cuts help the atmosphere of the story, the half built western town actually makes sense.
#3.The Enterprise Incident
This is quite the episode. Kirk and Spock go undercover to steal a Romulan cloaking device. In order to do this Kirk has to pretend to be going nuts, and after he is "killed" disguise himself as a Romulan. Spock gets some good scenes to, always fun to him get the girl once in awhile. There were only two decent Romulan episodes (a third is barely worth a mention) and this is one. We even gets a female Romulan commander, how cool is that?
#2.The Tholian Web
This one could almost be a season 2 episode. It has decent effects, a good plot, and some strong character moments. Kirk is lost and apparently dead so it's up to Spock to save the ship. The Tholians are even a great design, feeling original and quite alien. It's a great ensemble piece with everyone contributing. The one downside is Kirk is missing for most of the show, and while it's cool the show works without him because that's how strong our supporting character are, he's still kinda missed.
#1.Let That Be Your Last Battlefield
This is one of the quintessential Star Trek episodes because it deal's with racism. Though it's more about intolerance than racism, but it's still a good episode. We have some great moments like that the infamous one where Kirk threatens to self destruct the ship. I also love the villain Frank Gorshin plays, you can tell his smart and reasonable. It's just this hatred that he can't get past. This episode is one of the few message shows that stands out from the pack.
Some not on this list are still decent, and I did separate reviews of those. Whom God's Destroy is ok but slow at parts. And You may wonder why Plato's Stepchildren is missing. True, it is infamous for giving the first interracial kiss. But the rest of the episode is so bad, so nauseating and so stupid I can't add it here. The fact that episode managed such a memorable and even historic moment (plus another I did kind of like) is impressive, but it doesn't make the episode good at all.
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