#watch 'metamorphosis' specifically for the way kirk explains what love is lmao

[positronicpain]

theres great commentary on this post already but heres some tips for if you want to watch TOS specifically and dont know where to start!

i usually recommend people (esp trek newbies, which youre not, so feel free to ignore this one) start with 'the devil in the dark' -- not very spacey but imo it just hits those classic trek values of like trying to overcome prejudice and learning to be curious about and compassionate towards Weird New Life. and its a pretty solid introduction to the Main Men (kirk spock bones scotty). 

then, not necessarily in this order, what i call TOS Compact:

'the trouble with tribbles', is a) iconic in trek history (ds9 has an episode based on it) and b) it has some real banger moments in it (GORGED? on MY grain???). literally just a fun and low stakes time

'the city on the edge of forever'  is widely regarded as one of if not the best tos episode. a spock and kirk time travel classic. edith keeler my beloved. i shall not say more

'balance of terror' is tense, high-stakes, and introduces the romulans (important)

'amok time' absolutely CRUCIAL spock/vulcan lore. and a certified spirk banger 

'space seed' gives you the og background on khan should you want it. and perhaps you do for star trek ii: the wrath of khan

'mirror, mirror' introduces the mirror universe. i think every single trek show since has had some sort of mirror universe episode, or at the very least referenced it

'journey to babel' more absolutely crucial spock lore

esp if you wanna watch any modern trek with captain pike in it, watch 'the menagerie' to prepare

if you've watched these and are thinking 'wowee give me more of that please', watch 'the doomsday machine',  'the naked time', 'shore leave', 'a piece of the action', and 'the ultimate computer'

For someone who hasn’t watched most of Star Trek ( I’ve seen the 2009 movie and Into Darkness and liked them) -

Where should I start watching the shows?

I enjoy the premise of clips I’ve seen but there’s so many different shows I have no idea where to begin. I am mostly interested in them exploring and the interpersonal relationships.

[isnt-it-too-dreamy]

the way 60s and 70s star trek reinforces heteronormativity at every turn is so depressing to me. and i don't just mean the usual "the relationship kirk has to this woman that he has known for 3 seconds is above the love he and spock have" routine which as you all know was so painful for me to watch that i had trouble getting through the 3rd season of TOS, but also more overt plot elements and lines of dialogue specifically placed to erase homosexuality. for example in TAS when harry mudd shows up with the love crystals and explains that between man and woman they inspire love and between a man and a man or a woman and a woman they inspire "deep friendship"... or in "metamorphosis", an episode of TOS that is one of my personal favorites for the beautiful and subtle parallel its minor characters' relationship draws to kirk and spock's relationship ("shore leave" and "amok time" are always referred to as the "gay episodes" but i think that metamorphosis has this kind of subtext too, only it's possibly unintentional + less about sexual innuendo than the one written into shore leave and amok time and instead more about romantic love (i don't seperate "romantic" and "sexual", but what i mean is that while discussing love, "metamorphosis" does not cover the topic of physical love in a way that could be applied to spock and kirk)), in which spock utters some line about how the concepts of "female" and "male" and heterosexuality are consistent everywhere and the same for all living beings, apparently, and that the companion who takes the physical form of a shapeless cloud being female somehow changes the whole possibility of what could be between it and the man. and like the thought that in the future humans could still think like that was soooo depressing to me that i had to remind myself that this wasn't the actual future but just a 1960's tv show's vision of the future, heavily influenced by the culture and taboos of the time, lmao. still it's hard for me to not get frustrated sometimes bc the notion of traditional gender roles and heteronormativity still being a thing in star trek's left-leaning utopian future is just too comical.