3.01 – Spock’s Brain – Star Trek Review
You may file “Spock’s Brain” in the “What the hell were they thinking?” category. From start to finish this is an episode fit only for Mystery Science Theater 3000. And at that it may be pushing the envelope. Indeed, before this episode is over, the term “Spock’s brain” takes on an unintentional comedic value which is indicative of the episode as a whole. Put simply, this is about as bad as sci-fi can get – to the point where it almost requires ridicule and derision.
The episode is centered around a plot in which Spock’s brain is stolen by a femme fatale character who uses it to regulate the temperature, light, and air of her underground city on a planet in the grip of an ice age. And so Kirk & Co. spend the entire episode hunting for “Spock’s brain,” inquiring about “Spock’s brain,” exclaiming “Spock’s brain!” and fighting off oafish men and scantily clad women in the process.
Oh! And at one point, they get to wear giant green belly buttons, too.
It’s an exercise in unintentional hilarity and one has to wonder how on Vulcan this one ever made it off the drawing board. The premise is bad. The script is worse. And the acting, particularly from the guest stars, is embarrassing. There’s almost no redemptive quality to the episode beyond the “train wreck” factor of having to watch it crash and burn.
That isn’t to say that the episode is without a point or message. In the story, the alien civilization has atrophied because it became overly reliant on the “controller” – the device which Spock’s brain was meant to replace. It’s a common sci-fi theme and, on that level, the story manages a bit of relevancy. But it’s all tossed aside in favor of the most implausible plot devices and scenarios – like “the teacher” which is a spiky helmet which makes you supersmart for a few minutes. Too bad I didn’t have that for finals …
“Spock’s Brain” is bad. It’s horrid. It’s embarrassing. And yet you’ll be compelled to watch it nonetheless. As such, it gets some credit for being an entertaining trainwreck.
Filed under: Original Series
People really had fun watching this episode just from the pure embarasing awfulness of the whole 50 minutes. It has to compete with Geraldo and Al Capone’s vault for the most embarasing 50 minutes in television.