Getting a lot of use out of those dress uniforms, aren't they? How come Uhura doesn't get one? She looks very flirty while chatting up a nice young man as they wait for Khan to show up for the dinner party - I think she was trying to make Spock jealous. And she is great when Khan's goon tries to get her to open communications - looks like she's getting ready to punch that jerk's lights out. But jeez, what is with McGivers? Another stupid, spineless Starfleet graduate - she must've been in the same graduating class as Stiles and Bailey. At least she has the guts to save Kirk. There's quite a lot of K/S teasing-banter at the beginning of this ep, but as soon as things get serious they stop being playful. I guess Spock *was* jealous.
Contains the classic Spock line, "Sir, there is a multi-legged creature crawling on your shoulder". Isn't Barbara Babcock beautiful? (And she still looks great!) Too bad there wasn't more interaction between her and Kirk; he didn't get much of a chance to charm the leotard & sarong off of her. Go Yeoman Tamura! I really like the way Spock leaves her in charge of Mea - in fact, Spock does a great job of dealing with the guards and blasting disintegration chambers with very little fuss, while Kirk is off being heroic and virile. Once again, he drop-kicks the Prime Directive into the next quadrant while deciding the fate of two planets.
The Spock ep we've all been waiting for! OK, I don't really buy him swinging upside down from a tree, but the way he nuzzles, kisses, and otherwise caresses Leila Kalomi is soooo sexy. Mmm mmm. Once again I have to point out that Kirk enjoys goading Spock into a fight - I mean *really* enjoys it - and Spock seems to put an awful lot of effort into smacking him around (why didn't he just use the neck pinch, hmm?). Please also note Uhura's very sweet Eartha Kitt impression as she tells Kirk she can't contact Starfleet - she's practically purring at him. Spock must have been really affected by the whole thing, because I can't believe he's admit to Kirk, McCoy, AND THE REST OF THE BRIDGE CREW that "for the first time in my life, I was happy."
Hey, this ep was much better than I remembered it. Nimoy is *great* as Spock melds with the Horta - just listen to the way he uses his voice: high-pitched when the Horta is raving, then softer, weary as it contemplates death. I believe this is also the first time Spock calculates the odds and uses them to get his way. (There's lots more of that to come.) Spock changes his mind about killing the Horta pretty damn fast when Kirk is in danger, doesn't he? Strange but True: There are no women in this episode.
What? Oh, I'm sorry, I must've fallen asleep during this ep. Sorry, but it did have a rather silly plot, and the frame-spinning-away-from-the-screen effect for interdimensional travel made me think I was watching a 40s B-movie (I kept expecting it to stop and show a newspaper headline like "Lazarus Nabbed in Crystal Heist"). The most riduclous scene comes at the end, however, when Kirk fights to throw the Bad Lazarus into the ship and everyone else (a bunch of red shirts and Spock) just stands there watching them roll around in the dirt! Sigh. This ep has one, and only one redeeming feature: Lt. Charlene Masters - a woman, a African-American woman no less, in *engineering*! And she knows what she's doing! And she acts like a real Starfleet officer in time of crisis! GO MASTERS!!!