1x01 The Man Trap

7.2/10. Very interesting as an entree into The Original Series. It's funny coming to the series so late, after being so immersed in the other installments of the franchise and various parodies thereof, because I feel like I already know these characters, even as they're given a different tint by dint of seeing them in the garish hues of the Sixties original.

The episode itself feels like an embryonic version of It Follows, with the idea of a steady creepy horror that takes on the appearance of something you love or desire. The actor who plays Crewman Green in particular does a great job at conveying the unnerving nature of the creature. There's some heady stuff, particularly at the end, with the idea that Professor Crater and the creature had some form of symbiosis -- him helping it get the salt it needed to survive, and it helping him avoid the reality of the death of his wife. There's also some interesting moral philosophy at play about the idea of preserving the last of something ("like the buffalo" as the episode beats you over the episode.) And there's even a bit of that old chestnut trope that persistently shows up in zombie movies -- can you kill something that looks like a loved one but you know is dangerous? A lot of this is played out in pretty simple terms, but there's some deceptive complexity under the hood.

The pacing, though, nearly killed me. In some ways, that worked to help communicate the steady but unassuming horror of the creature, but man did it feel like the show was just filling time at various points, like discussing the plan to stun Prof. Crater, then setting up, then stunning him, etc. etc. etc. I was also surprised at how smug and kind of a dick Kirk is here. I know the character as having a certain amount of Bravado, but his friendship with Bones is one of those things that you just pick up through osmosis from years of watching and discussing the franchise, and as jocular as they are together, he's kind of a jerk to the good doctor at times.

There's other fun oddities here and there. The production design is really interesting, if only as an idea of what people in 1966 thought the future would be life. There's a certain Dr. Seuss quality to some of the sets, especially the botany lab. (The silly venus flytrap handpuppet lent to that sense.) Uhura hitting on Spock was an unexpected treat, even the tones of it feel a little dated and sexist now. And little details like the creature not being able to vamp on Spock because of his different physiology were nice too.

Overall, I can't say I was over the moon about my first real foray into the world of TOS, but I liked a lot of what it was doing, and I'm intrigued to see where the series goes from here.

There's always the danger of rating an over 50 year old show like Star Trek simply by its look. Which wouldn't do it justice.

Now, for what is supposedly the pilot episode it doesn't do a good job of introducing characters and relations but throws you right in. Some things seem out of place even if you've already watched the show, like Uhura hitting on Spock of all people. Not that it is odd she's got a thing for him but it feels utterly out of place doing it on duty. But that's the 60s for you right there I guess.

The story seems like a simple horror setup but there are those questions about destroying the last of it's kind, and is any creature, that just tries to survive, really evil. Is a Lion evil because it hunts and eats game ? Those are the things that Star Trek does well and why I (or you) can come back to it ever so often and ask yourself those questions.

I find it interesting how many close-ups they used. I need to pay attention if that's continued throughout the show or just a trait for a certain director. I honestly don't remember. A lot of time it felt thought those shots were added in post from a library of shots they had. They don't seem to fit.