Arena

This episode really feel like 1966, while the others one didnt. But still I was entertain for a full hour It was a pretty great episode despique the old special effect.

Yeah, yeah... the futility of war, the awkward issue of territorial disputes, the arrogance of so-called superior beings -- all classic Star Trek themes, but let's be honest, what makes this a great episode is the fact that Kirk gets to fight the Gorn, a reptilian alien with great strength but the speed and agility of an arthritic sloth, the action taking place at the iconic Vasquez Rocks.

The Arena begins with a landing party beaming down to the Cestus III Outpost only to find the place obliterated. After fending off an attack by an unseen enemy, Kirk and his crew beam back to The Enterprise, which is also under attack from an unknown vessel. A chase ensues, during which both spaceships are halted mid-flight by a powerful species called The Metrons, who decree that the battle be decided by a fight to the death between the captains of both ships.

The trial by combat that follows is hilarious, the Gorn (a man in a dreadful rubber costume) hurling rocks with ease but throwing punches in slow motion, and Kirk constructing a handy-dandy home-made cannon from objects and minerals that he finds scattered about the area. In the end, Kirk and his cannon win the day, the Enterprise's captain impressing the Metrons by sparing the Gorn's life.

7/10. It's all very daft, especially how Kirk builds his weapon with such ease, but it's also very entertaining.

A convention used frequently is that of setting two opponents against each other, giving them no choice but to fight. The frequent accusations by the more advanced aliens that earth creatures are too violent is often counteracted by their own blood lust. In this episode, Kirk is pitted against the Gorn, a species of lizard man. Perhaps they could have done just a bit of work to animate his jaw, rather than making it look like a Halloween mask. This episode forces Kirk to draw on his knowledge of chemistry and warfare to face the Gorn. As the crew watches the fight continues. They parry and thrust their way. The strength of the episode has to do with lessons learned. McCoy gets in his usual shot at Spock for inaction. He seems to blame him whenever his logic doesn't solve the problem.

I won't spoil it by saying what the ending is in this episode, but for me the ending is what made it all worthwhile. This episode is a little slow, a little clunky, but the Gorn (Kirk's enemy in this episode) has so much natural charm to him that it keeps you watching.

A deep space outpost of the Federation gets slaughtered and Kirk and his crew are out for revenge. The episodes starts out quite well, it focuses on action and mystery. Who attacked the outpost and why? It's all very mysterious and alarming. Is this the start of an intergalactic war? Perhaps.

The Enterprise ends up chasing the attacking ship through space and things don't go as planned for either ship. That's where I'll leave it. As I said the Gorn is the star of this episode. It's not often the someone outshines Kirk, but the Gorn certainly did.

'Arena' has always been one of my favorite TOS episodes, both for legitimate reasons and ironic. It is a good episode, examining the idea of casualties of war and man's heavy-handed expansion to other planets. An outpost is destroyed, the Enterprise pursues the Gorn ship responsible, and Kirk finds himself facing off against their captain at the will of the Metrons ("We will resolve your conflict in the way most suited to your limited mentalities").

This is where the fun begins. Gaze upon Shatner's grappling with a giant rubber lizard man at Vasquez rocks (there's a reason Trekkies make the pilgrimage to those rocks, and this is it). Lumbering moves, telegraphed punches and really fake boulders; that is what this episode is really about. One drawn-out and ham-fisted fight scene.

This is just the right mix of thought-provoking and hilarious, and the Gorn has lived on as somewhat iconic for a reason. Maybe just a tiny step down in status from the Tribbles.

9/10