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Post #1308409

Author
joefavs
Parent topic
All Things Star Trek
Link to post in topic
https://originaltrilogy.com/post/id/1308409/action/topic#1308409
Date created
2-Dec-2019, 12:20 PM

I’ve been thinking a lot recently about the best way to introduce a new viewer to Trek, particularly TOS. I think if you’re coming from Star Wars fandom, the most accessible way into the series in terms of tone is the trilogy of Wrath of Khan, Search for Spock, and Voyage Home, but the emotional stakes of those movies are so much more extreme if you go into them already invested in and with some sense of the history between the characters. To that end, I’ve wanted to come up with a list of five TOS episodes to use as a primer for the film trilogy. “Space Seed” and “Journey to Babel” seem obvious because they introduce Khan and Sarek. “Amok Time” is good because it sets up some of the Vulcan culture stuff that comes up in SfS. “The City on the Edge of Forever” deserves a spot just because it’s an absolute series highpoint. What about the fifth? My first thought was “Balance of Terror” just because it’s a personal favorite, but then it occurred to me that Mark Lenard showing up again as a Romulan might muddy the waters for a new viewer. What do you folks think?