Star Trek: The Original Series: The Complete 2nd Season (Blu-ray)

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The second season of the original "Star Trek" series contains perhaps the most beloved episode in the history of the franchise. This episode, "The Trouble with Tribbles" is one of the quickest to come to mind when you think of James T. Kirk and the low budget show. How can you not love William Shatner with a plethora of round furry critters? The original series ran for three seasons and the iconic episode appears roughly midway through the season, but there are still a few other notable episodes contained in the second year. The first season is generally considered the strongest. However, in a January 1995 article, Entertainment Weekly named five episodes from the second season among the best ten episodes from the original series. Aside from Tribbles and the Vulcan home world, the introduction of Pavel Chekov (Walter Koenig) is another important introduction in season two.

Everybody is fairly familiar with Shatner´s character James T. Kirk and after the recent blockbuster "Star Trek" film by JJ Abrams, the characters of the original series are once again thrust back into the spotlight. I grew up watching syndicated re-runs of the original show and will always view Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, James Doohan, DeForest Kelley, George Takei and Walter Koenig the bridge crew of the Starship Enterprise and while I do look forward to the new film on Blu-ray I am quite happy to now have the second season in high definition. Thankfully, Abrams and the actors that have filled the shoes of the original crew did a good job and unlike the recent film versions of "G.I. Joe," "Transformers" and "Land of the Lost," Hollywood has not destroyed my childhood memories of these shows that are now over forty years old. Some things are still sacred and the "Tribbles" episode and other shows from 1967 and 1968 remain as such.

In a few brief words for those two people who have lived under a rock and have no clue about "Star Trek," it is a creation by Gene Roddenberry that tells the story of the Starship Enterprise as it boldly goes where no man has gone before. The ship is commanded by James Kirk (Shatner) and his science officer and pointy eared Vulcan friend Mr. Spock (Nimoy). The third most important member of the crew and show is the ship´s chief medical officer Leonard "Bones" McCoy (Kelley) as Kirk, Spock and Bones are the backbone of the show. Scottish engineer Montgomery "Scotty" Scott (Doohan) provides the technical support for the ship and the ship is guided by navigator Pavel Chekov (Koenig). The Enterprise´s weapons are controlled by Hikaru Sulu (George Takei) and communications controlled by Nyota Uhura (Nichelle Nicols). The Enterprise is an exploratory vessel that sometimes requires a little military force against Klingons and Romulans.

Instead of giving a full synopsis on the second season, it seems more logical to briefly discuss some of the better episodes from year two and where best to start than with "The Trouble With Tribbles." This episode has the crew from the Enterprise journeying to Deep Space Station K7. The area is in dispute with the Klingon Empire and extra security must be handled by the crew as both the Enterprise and Klingons visit the station. The fun begins when an intergalactic salesman named Cyrano Jones visits to sell furry little creatures we all know as Tribbles. One is given to Uhura and she takes the purring little creature onboard the Enterprise where it begins to multiply, but relax the crew with its soothing sounds. Tribbles and Klingons do not get along very well at all and eventually the Enterprise is overrun by the always hungry and always reproducing Tribbles. The show is one of the more entertaining shows for good reason.

Another highly touted episode from season two is "Mirror, Mirror." This show has been placed on numerous "Best Of" lists and is typically considered the best episode from the second season. "Star Trek" has long since supported the notion of a "Mirror Universe" and this episode is where the concept started. It begins when a transporter fails on the Enterprise and they are greeted by a cruel Spock who sports a Van Dyke beard. The Enterprise is considered the "Imperial Starship Enterprise" and the Federation has become a torturous and cruel dictatorship. Assassinations are the key to promotion and the mission of the "mirror" Enterprise is to destroy the planet they have traveled to. The cruel and upside down mirror universe gives Spock learns a little lesson on humanity in a very solid episode.

Another element of "Star Trek" is that of time travel or placing the crew in alternate Earths where period stories can be told and "A Piece of the Action" is an episode where Kirk and Spock become involved with gangsters of the 1920s. Of course, McCoy is in tow and there is a lot of fun as the three try to fit in with the Tommy Gun wielding gangsters. Kirk is placed into a dangerous situation when local crime boss Bela Okmyx invites the crew to the planet and Okmyx demands to be supplied with phasers. It is believed the planet´s attitude may have been influenced by the lost starship Horizon after a book detailing 1920s Chicago is found. Kirk and Spock find themselves in the center of a feud between Okmyx and his rival boss Jojo Krako. Eventually, Kirk bullies the mob bosses and establishes some control over the violent society.

Three episodes from the second season contained familiar faces and names to the "Star Trek" universe. "Journey to Babel" took place on the Vulcan home world. It was another episode picked by EW and is notable as it is the very first episode to show Spock´s parents Sarek (Mark Lenard) and Amanda Grayson (Jane Wyatt). Grayson was most recently portrayed by Wynona Ryder in the JJ Abrams film. "Metamorphosis" introduces the inventor of warp drive, Zeframe Cochrane (Glenn Corbett). This character was later was featured in the film "Star Trek: First Contact" with James Cromwell in the role. One of the more endearing villains in the show, Harry Mudd (Roger C. Carmel) returns for an episode in the second season. "I, Mudd" has the cosmic conman Harry Mudd (Roger C. Carmel) controlling a planet with over 200,000 androids whom treat him as a king.

There are some other notable events and episodes in season two. The episode "Catspaw" was the first episode filmed with Koenig, but it was aired out of order to coincide with Halloween. "The Doomsday Machine" was another episode showcased by EW and is one of the episodes that feels far stronger while viewing with the new enhanced effects instead of the primitive original effects. Starships fighting planet killing machines look far better when scaled correctly. "Amok Time" was the other listed episode and was the first aired episode to feature Koenig. "Patterns of Force" featured the crew battling against a Nazi style regime, complete with uniforms. "Wolf in the Fold" was unique in that it focused on Scotty. Teri Garr and the Playboy Playmate of the Year for 1968 had cameo roles in "Assignment: Earth."

In my humble opinion, the second season of "Star Trek" is not far off in quality when compared to the first season. There are a few gems in the twenty six episodes and "The Trouble With Tribbles" remains one of my best loved episodes. The show would see a serious drop in quality during the third season due to budget cuts and less than impressive writing, but there are some very good moments during this second season. Ratings for the show did fade and NBC had decided to cancel "Star Trek" after two years, but the story of the third season will have to wait until I review it on Blu-ray at a later date. Some could say that the show should have ended after this second season and the first two seasons of "Star Trek" are easily the best years of James T. Kirk and company on the small screen.

Episodes:

The episodes contained in this Season One collection are arranged as follows:

Disc One:
Amok Time
Who Mourns for Adonais?
The Changeling
Mirror, Mirror

Disc Two:
The Apple
The Doomsday Machine
Catspaw
I, Mudd
Metamorphosis

Disc Three:
Journey to Babel
Friday´s Child
The Deadly Years
Obsession
Wolf in the Fold

Disc Four:
The Trouble with Tribbles

Disc Five:
The Gamesters of Triskelion
A Piece of the Action
The Immunity Syndrome
A Private Little War

Disc Six:
Return of Tomorrow
Patterns of Force
By Any Other Name
The Omega Glory

Disc Seven:
The Ultimate Computer
Bread and Circuses
Assignment: Earth

Video:

A few years ago, "Star Trek" the Enterprise and her show underwent a modernization program. Paramount has included both the CGI retouched "Enhanced" versions and the "Original" televised versions of each episode. While some purists may find argument with the changes made by Paramount, "Star Trek" has not received the George Lucas treatment and the original integrity of the show has been retained. The most obvious changes are the new planets and Enterprise that inhabit nearly every space scene. The starship no longer looks like a small model dangling from a wire against a drab black starscape. The planets no longer look like poorly animated spheres or marbles and have been replaced with beautiful high definition digital worlds. A few matte paintings and other items have been touched up to make the special effects look a little better in the digital world and create a few minor flaws. Thankfully, they all blend seamlessly and look perfectly fine as the first season plays out its twenty six episodes.

Framed in its original 4:3 aspect ratio, the remastered "Star Trek" looks superb. This is an incredible looking collection of episodes and these forty year old shows look far better than the recent DVD releases of "Star Trek: The Next Generation." Each meticulously remastered frame is clean and pristine. There are no flaws visible whatsoever after the digital cleansing. Beyond the very strong level of detail that shows very small details you would never have seen in their original broadcast, the coloring of the second season of "Star Trek" is superb. Red is always a troublesome color for both digital transfers and security officers and it looks great on Blu-ray. Skin tones are solid and black levels are strong. I was very impressed when I watched the first season in high definition a couple years ago when it debuted on HD-DVD and I was just as impressed watching the second season.

Sound:

The volume problem has been fixed and that is a good thing. If you are wondering what I refer to, it is the issue the first season had where the episodes had overly low volume levels and you needed more amplifier power to compensate. Thankfully, the English 7.1 DTS HD Master Audio mix of the second season is no longer plagued as both high definition versions of the first season were. The iconic theme song of the show has been given a full update and re-recorded and re-mixed from the original source tapes and sounds as impressive as ever without giving up its Sixties vibes that makes it all the more classic sounding. Effects and dialogue have also been touched up some to make "Star Trek" sound cleaner and clearer than ever. With eight channels of sound, the show has decent directional effects, but you can tell this was an old mono track that was expanded. Overall, the mix is very good with clean vocals and pretty good sound effects considering the age of the show. The original mono mix is included as a Mono 2.0 mix as well as Spanish and French Mono 2.0 mixes.