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"plaintext": "Y'all... Star Trek is so back! Or, well... It was back then, during the 1967-1968 season, anyway!"
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"plaintext": "That's when Star Trek returned to NBC's airwaves with its second season. And they were trying to get us to take it seriously this time! There's even a brand spankin' new title sequence — this time introducing the show as having been created by Gene Roddenberry, and including DeForest Kelley as another star alongside the season one duo of Shatner and Nimoy. Walter Koenig's Ensign Chekov is just introduced this season and George Takei is missing for a big chunk of episodes, but it felt like James Doohan and Nichelle Nichols were used in every episode, so I'm curious why they don't ever receive billing as series regulars. It could have been a budgetary concern, since the series reportedly had less to work with than in the first season. In any event, there's also now vocal accompaniment to the theme song, which was... A choice. I'm sure some folks love that operatic-esque singalong theme song, but it's a bit of a downgrade for me. The first season theme was my jam! It's also not the last time a Trek theme gets altered... For better or worse."
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"plaintext": "This season felt very different than the first in a lot of other ways, too. I think the writing was heavily improved this season, since it seemed as though the writers finally had an idea of what they were doing this time. Toward the end of last season, they had started showing signs of \"getting their shit together,\" as one might put it, because much of the lore of the Star Trek franchise overall makes much more sense this season. It fits in better with what is established in later series that I've seen and I feel like they have established who their core characters were. This universe feels less made-up and more lived-in. However, there are admittedly still several filler episodes this season that could (and maybe even should) be skipped, but I think that, with season two of the original series, I am truly starting to understand why this show specifically spawned a fictional universe that has endured for 60 years. This was the season it became apparent that Roddenberry had stumbled onto something special."
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"plaintext": "Now, I'm going to be honest with you... I have no idea the order in which this season is meant to be viewed. I think that I watched the episodes in the order in which they originally aired back in the '60s, but the production numbers do not line up sequentially in that order, so I'm guessing NBC either ran the second season out of their intended order or they just didn't film them that way. Regardless, the first episode of the season that I watched was \"Amok Time,\" which is a surprising first look into Spock's people, the \"emotionless\" Vulcans. I think that I established in my first season review that the legacy episodes that inform later entries into the Trek canon are my favorite, and this one was no different. It was very interesting to see our first glimpse of the planet Vulcan, as well as what their mating ceremonies typically include. I even recognized T'Pring, the lovely lady that Spock is surprisingly engaged to, played here by Arlene Martel, from her episodes of Strange New Worlds, in which she's portrayed by Gia Sandhu. It felt promising that they were opening the season with a story that provided more background context to Spock's character and his race as a whole. They were definitely sending out the vibe that they're doing some world building, not just figuring it all out as we go. There's even an episode later in the season, \"Journey to Babel,\" in which we get to see Vulcans, Andorians, and Tellarites, the other three seasons that make up the Federation with us mere humans. And Sarek, Spock's father, is the Vulcan representative!"
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"plaintext": "I was delighted that the world building continued in episodes like \"Mirror, Mirror,\" in which the crew steps into the Mirror Universe, which is a concept later visited in episodes of Deep Space Nine, Enterprise, and Discovery. The Klingons, Romulans, and even Harry Mudd turned back up this season to serve as antagonists for our unlikely heroes. I'm still having trouble finding the look of the more humanoid Klingons with bad spray tans very intimidating, and I'll definitely be pleased when they start showing up with their more famous look. We also finally get to see the episode I've been waiting this entire time to watch: \"The Trouble with Tribbles!\" It shows up around mid-season and it is, in fact, everything that I hoped it would be. In fact, I might be naming it my favorite episode of the original series so far. Not only because we have furry, adorable animals that PURR, but also because the cast dynamic in this episode is just SO GOOD. Even Shatner manages to be fun to watch in this episode, as he just leans into the sheer silliness of it all. If ever you were to watch one single episode of the original Star Trek series, make sure that it's this one!"
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"plaintext": "There were plenty of filler episodes though that made me go \"meh.\" I occasionally found myself doomscrolling during them out of boredom. They were all weirdly similar to one another, too. The crew takes on numerous encounters that take place on planets that have Earth-like people or cultures. Seriously, we have Chicago mob-style gangsters, a Greek god, Ancient Rome, Nazi Germany, and even something of a Civil War rendering with the Klingons vs. the Federation and the people worship the American constitution??? (Yeah, that one was messy...) There's also an episode, \"Wolf in the Fold,\" where the episode opens with the crew on a planet getting some much-deserved downtime, but then Scotty is framed for murdering three women Jack the Ripper-style. Weird, right? The season concludes with yet another time-travelling plot back to Earth and encountering a mysterious man named Gary Seven who is watching over the planet from the future or something? This episode was pretty interesting, and I've read was intended to serve as a backdoor pilot for a spinoff featuring the Gary Seven character and his assistant. The assistant being noteworthy for having been played by a young Teri Garr! All things told, however, I can see why NBC didn't move forward with that pilot, because even this episode introducing the characters left me a bit puzzled."
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"plaintext": "Despite the stinkers, I think this was an overall huge improvement over the first season. You can absolutely tell that they were just kinda winging it during the first half of the first season, but they started finding their footing later on. NBC thankfully gave them a reprieve to keep going and, while they may not have hit it completely out of the ballpark in season two, they aren't noticeably striking out every episode anymore either. When it comes to this crew, I'll be happy to move into their film era, but we still have one more season to go and a handful of episodes from The Animated Series as well. Stick with me, folks. We're getting there!"
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"plaintext": "Interested in what I wrote about the first season of Star Trek? You can check that out below!"
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"plaintext": "What are your thoughts? Discuss with me over on Bluesky!"
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"textContent": "Y'all... Star Trek is so back! Or, well... It was back then, during the 1967-1968 season, anyway!\nThat's when Star Trek returned to NBC's airwaves with its second season. And they were trying to get us to take it seriously this time! There's even a brand spankin' new title sequence — this time introducing the show as having been created by Gene Roddenberry, and including DeForest Kelley as another star alongside the season one duo of Shatner and Nimoy. Walter Koenig's Ensign Chekov is just introduced this season and George Takei is missing for a big chunk of episodes, but it felt like James Doohan and Nichelle Nichols were used in every episode, so I'm curious why they don't ever receive billing as series regulars. It could have been a budgetary concern, since the series reportedly had less to work with than in the first season. In any event, there's also now vocal accompaniment to the theme song, which was... A choice. I'm sure some folks love that operatic-esque singalong theme song, but it's a bit of a downgrade for me. The first season theme was my jam! It's also not the last time a Trek theme gets altered... For better or worse.\nThis season felt very different than the first in a lot of other ways, too. I think the writing was heavily improved this season, since it seemed as though the writers finally had an idea of what they were doing this time. Toward the end of last season, they had started showing signs of \"getting their shit together,\" as one might put it, because much of the lore of the Star Trek franchise overall makes much more sense this season. It fits in better with what is established in later series that I've seen and I feel like they have established who their core characters were. This universe feels less made-up and more lived-in. However, there are admittedly still several filler episodes this season that could (and maybe even should) be skipped, but I think that, with season two of the original series, I am truly starting to understand why this show specifically spawned a fictional universe that has endured for 60 years. This was the season it became apparent that Roddenberry had stumbled onto something special.\nNow, I'm going to be honest with you... I have no idea the order in which this season is meant to be viewed. I think that I watched the episodes in the order in which they originally aired back in the '60s, but the production numbers do not line up sequentially in that order, so I'm guessing NBC either ran the second season out of their intended order or they just didn't film them that way. Regardless, the first episode of the season that I watched was \"Amok Time,\" which is a surprising first look into Spock's people, the \"emotionless\" Vulcans. I think that I established in my first season review that the legacy episodes that inform later entries into the Trek canon are my favorite, and this one was no different. It was very interesting to see our first glimpse of the planet Vulcan, as well as what their mating ceremonies typically include. I even recognized T'Pring, the lovely lady that Spock is surprisingly engaged to, played here by Arlene Martel, from her episodes of Strange New Worlds, in which she's portrayed by Gia Sandhu. It felt promising that they were opening the season with a story that provided more background context to Spock's character and his race as a whole. They were definitely sending out the vibe that they're doing some world building, not just figuring it all out as we go. There's even an episode later in the season, \"Journey to Babel,\" in which we get to see Vulcans, Andorians, and Tellarites, the other three seasons that make up the Federation with us mere humans. And Sarek, Spock's father, is the Vulcan representative!\nI was delighted that the world building continued in episodes like \"Mirror, Mirror,\" in which the crew steps into the Mirror Universe, which is a concept later visited in episodes of Deep Space Nine, Enterprise, and Discovery. The Klingons, Romulans, and even Harry Mudd turned back up this season to serve as antagonists for our unlikely heroes. I'm still having trouble finding the look of the more humanoid Klingons with bad spray tans very intimidating, and I'll definitely be pleased when they start showing up with their more famous look. We also finally get to see the episode I've been waiting this entire time to watch: \"The Trouble with Tribbles!\" It shows up around mid-season and it is, in fact, everything that I hoped it would be. In fact, I might be naming it my favorite episode of the original series so far. Not only because we have furry, adorable animals that PURR, but also because the cast dynamic in this episode is just SO GOOD. Even Shatner manages to be fun to watch in this episode, as he just leans into the sheer silliness of it all. If ever you were to watch one single episode of the original Star Trek series, make sure that it's this one!\nThere were plenty of filler episodes though that made me go \"meh.\" I occasionally found myself doomscrolling during them out of boredom. They were all weirdly similar to one another, too. The crew takes on numerous encounters that take place on planets that have Earth-like people or cultures. Seriously, we have Chicago mob-style gangsters, a Greek god, Ancient Rome, Nazi Germany, and even something of a Civil War rendering with the Klingons vs. the Federation and the people worship the American constitution??? (Yeah, that one was messy...) There's also an episode, \"Wolf in the Fold,\" where the episode opens with the crew on a planet getting some much-deserved downtime, but then Scotty is framed for murdering three women Jack the Ripper-style. Weird, right? The season concludes with yet another time-travelling plot back to Earth and encountering a mysterious man named Gary Seven who is watching over the planet from the future or something? This episode was pretty interesting, and I've read was intended to serve as a backdoor pilot for a spinoff featuring the Gary Seven character and his assistant. The assistant being noteworthy for having been played by a young Teri Garr! All things told, however, I can see why NBC didn't move forward with that pilot, because even this episode introducing the characters left me a bit puzzled.\nDespite the stinkers, I think this was an overall huge improvement over the first season. You can absolutely tell that they were just kinda winging it during the first half of the first season, but they started finding their footing later on. NBC thankfully gave them a reprieve to keep going and, while they may not have hit it completely out of the ballpark in season two, they aren't noticeably striking out every episode anymore either. When it comes to this crew, I'll be happy to move into their film era, but we still have one more season to go and a handful of episodes from The Animated Series as well. Stick with me, folks. We're getting there!\nInterested in what I wrote about the first season of Star Trek? You can check that out below!\nWhat are your thoughts? Discuss with me over on Bluesky!",
"title": "My Trek Through Trek — The Original Series, Season 2",
"updatedAt": "2026-06-01T19:53:18+00:00"
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