Plot: What’s it about?
Episode #63- “The Empath” >>> Airdate 12/6/68
While Kirk and some of his crew search for missing researchers, they suddenly become captured, taken prisoner by an alien race known as the Vians. Kirk, Spock, and Bones find themselves in a strange place soon enough, where they learn the Vians plans to use them for research of their own. The trio soon meets a mute woman named Gem, who is an empath, which means she absorbs the pain of others. In the process, she takes the pain from them and it heals them, so the Vians have taken her as well. Although her claims are rather large, she soon demonstrates her power and in a bold move, the Vians offer her a test. If she gives her life to save Bones, her planet will be spared, a very hard situation to be in, to say the least…
I like the premise here, as an empath can be an excellent central character, but I was still let down with this episode. The basic idea is not enough to make an entire episode, but I guess the writers here didn’t know that, as they waste potential left and right. It has a couple good sequences, but on the whole, this is a poor episode that could have been awesome, I think. Kirk even takes a step back to allow someone else to share the spotlight, which is a rare event in this series. I simply wish the writers would have put down the bottle for a few minutes, to make a decent episode here, but in true Trek fashion, the potential is wasted in the end. I know Trek geeks will disagree, but this is a lame episode and is for series fanatics only.
Episode #64- “The Tholian Web” >>> Airdate 11/15/68
The U.S.S. Defiant is simply floating in space and shows no signs of activity, so Kirk leads a team to board the ship and see what the deal is. Once Kirk, Spock, and Bones have beamed onto the Defiant, they discover the entire crew is dead and that the ship is trapped in an interphase, caught between two dimensions. Of course, this means the trio need to return to the Enterprise as soon as possible, so they quickly beam back aboard their own ship. Spock and Bones beam up with no problems, but Kirk is left behind and must remain trapped between dimensions. At the same time, some Tholians accuse the crew of traveling in private space and begin to weave a powerful energy bond around the Enterprise. Can Spock somehow manage to defeat the Tholians, as well as rescue Kirk from his most unusual situation?
I guess this one was doomed to fail with me, as I found the premise dull and the episode never even gets off the ground. I suppose the very small amount of suspense is worth a mention, but this one is poorly written and executed, without a doubt. The “put Spock in charge” angle is decent enough, but even it is wasted here, in one of the poorer episode in this series. I can see a lot of ways to improve upon this episode, but then again, anyone with a small level of common sense could also, so why waste space, right? Simply put, this is a bad episode in all regards and even by the Trek standards, this one just plain sucks. But of course, all of you Trek nerds will argue to no end about good it is, so if you’re a Trek maniac, give it a spin.
Video: How does it look?
The episodes are presented in full frame transfer, as intended. As with all of their Trek episodes, Paramount has remastered and enhanced the ones here, which means this is about as good as it gets. You’ll still see some grain and defects at times, but this is cleaner than on reruns, so fans shouldn’t be let down. The colors look bright enough, though a little faded here and there, while contrast is more than solid at all times. All in all, I don’t think fans of the series could ask for much more here, as the episodes look better than ever.
Audio: How does it sound?
As with all the newly remixed episodes, these sound quite good and while the surround use is not frequent, it is well done. The rear channels are used for the score and random sound effects, but always in a natural fashion, so it never sounds too thin or hollow. The age and nature of the materials keeps it from being too immersive, but I think fans should be pleased with the added presence. The dialogue is clean and always easy to understand, with no problems in the least to report. This disc also includes English subtitles, should you need those.
Supplements: What are the extras?
This disc includes preview trailers for each episode, which is downright nifty, I think.
