Guerticus_Maximus

The Immunity Syndrome" feels like a first-season episode – not a lot of action, but plenty of drama. In most other TOS episodes, the villain is an alien race or some psychotic member of the Federation. In this episode, the villain is a giant amoeba. Not one of Trek's more memorable villains.

I hated this episode when I was a younger. Not enough action, no planet to visit, Klingons to fight or Trek babe to drool over. But it seems to grow on me as I get older. I can appreciate this episode for the drama and certainly don't consider it a stinker anymore. However, I wouldn't put in the top half of best Treks, though it's probably somewhere near the top of the bottom half.

I'm giving "The Immunity Syndrome" a C+ grade.

Ambassador Fox wins my award for the stupidest, most belligerent Federation representative ever to come aboard the Enterprise. This guy is so full of himself, he's willing to ignore Code 710 and risk the Enterprise (and perhaps interstellar war) simply because he's convinced his diplomatic capabilities can overcome any obstacles. Despite the high probability that Kirk and the landing party have been taken hostage, and despite an obvious attack against the Enterprise from Eminiar VII, Fox ignores the sound advice of Scotty and the rest of the bridge crew and storms ahead with his ill-fated attempt at negotiating a treaty to secure a spaceport.

All in all, I find this episode very entertaining. Anan 7 seems pretty ruthless, Ambassador Fox has you throwing tomatoes at the screen whenever he's visible, and I always like it when Kirk and company are stealthily sneaking around blasting everything in sight. And the idea of a war fought totally by computers gets you thinking. We're really not that far away from that type of reality, where the ease of waging war makes it easy to forget the horrors behind it. I'm giving "A Taste of Armageddon" a B+ grade and setting up my own disintegration machine to help motivate my kids to get their homework done.

The storyline for "The Alternative Factor" is a great concept – the possibility of a negative parallel universe and a madman whose insane actions could lead to the destruction of EVERYTHING. But there are several aspects of this episode that really bother me, and IMHO, "The Alternative Factor" is the worst first-season episode.

I like the concept for this episode. I also like the dialogue between Kirk and Spock in the briefing room when they finally put all of the pieces of the puzzle together. But letting Lazarus roam freely about the ship is a flaw I can't excuse, and the final solution seems a bit drastic. I'm also not a fan of the special effects. For the most part, first-season episodes are pretty good, but this episode feels like it was put together in a big hurry. I'm giving "The Alternative Factor" a D grade and will find an alternative episode to watch when I can.