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

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.

Extras:

"Star Trek" returns for a second tour on the Blu-ray format and Paramount has added further functionality to the releases to help push the technology. This time around "Star Trek" has more content with the BD-Live functionality and there is a bit more content available with the second release when accessing BD-Live from any disc. The first time you access the Internet content requires a lengthy download, but the wait is worth it. Upon my first access I was informed that a new BD-Live exclusive Interview with David Gerrold and the Red Shirt Logs Season 2 Videos were now online. There was a good deal of content available for the Creation Entertainment 2009 in Las Vegas, Comic-Con 2009 and Fedcon 2009 conventions. I must say, CBS and Paramount do a good job of making the BD-Live experience worthwhile.

Trailer Park and Paramount have worked together to make "Star Trek: The Original Series Season Two" the very first Mobile-Blu friendly device. This technology had me download an application for my iPhone from the Application Store and the connect both to my local network. After a little fiddling you will be able to use your mobile phone or other mobile device (such as an iTouch) as a remote control and to also download exclusive content and videos to your device. While some of the bonus features available from the Blu-ray can be watched on your mobile phone, there are four vignettes only available through Mobile-Blue. Writing Spock (:46), Creating Chekov (:53), Listening to the Actors (:37) and Spock´s Mother (:42) are spread out over the first four discs. The remote control functionality was a half a second slow, but very usable.

Disc One: The first disc boots up with bumpers for the "Star Trek" franchise home video releases including the films and two seasons available currently on Blu-ray. After that, there are some features for the four episodes contained on this first disc. The Starfleet Access feature provides access to "Starfleet Command´s Database" to view information regarding the show for the episode "Amok Time." This includes video commentary for the episode and very good background information on the episode. Story Editor D.C. Fontana provides a very good discussion of the episode. As you are watching this, the "Science" graphical overlays appear on-screen to provide further details for items such as Plomuck Soup. Sadly, there are only two episodes in the entire set with "Starfleet Access."

Under the menu item "Additional Data," some Previews and one additional item are included. Billy Blackburn´s Treasure Chest: Rare Home Movies and Special Memories Part 2 (12:07) has the supporting actor from the series talking about his time sitting on the bridge of the Enterprise and other small roles and jobs he had while making "Star Trek." These are short bits and I enjoyed "Part 1" on the first season´s seventh disc. There is a lot of time with Billy simply discussing the production and talking about things such as costumes and other budget saving tidbits. The previews are clips for the four episodes contained on the disc and this is identical to how things were done with the first season.

Disc Two and Disc Three: The second disc and third discs are disappointing in regards to bonus features. Only Previews are provided for each of the five episodes contained on each respective disc. There is no "Starfleet Access" for any of the ten episodes, but you do again have access to either the BD-Live content or the new Mobile-Blu functionality. One thing I did not mention while talking about the first disc was that you can switch between the "Episode with Enhanced Effects" and "Episode with Original Effects" for any episode in the second season on the fly with the yellow remote button. Of course, you can select your desired viewing style from the "Episodes" submenu.

Disc Four: The fourth disc of the second season is the big payoff for the seven disc set. The iconic episode "The Trouble with Tribbles" is the only episode on the disc and Paramount has realized the popularity of this episode and rewarded viewers with a number of good features revolving around this beloved episode. The packaging mentions a "Special Tribbles Disc" and this is it. Starfleet Access returns with more video commentary and pop up information and there is a good deal about the furry rabbit-like tribbles. This was my favorite "Starfleet Access" collection of vignettes and information yet.

While I stated there was only one "Episode" on the disc, this is somewhat incorrect as the "Additional Data" on the special tribbles disc contains episodes from other "Star Trek" series. More Tribbles, More Troubles (24:13) was the very first episode from the "Star Trek Animated" series. It includes optional Audio Commentary by David Gerrold. I had watched this episode quite some time ago and it was fun to sit through it again. "Star Trek: Deep Space Nine" episode 503 Trials and Tribble-ations (45:30) is another Tribble-centric episode contained on the Blu-ray disc. The episode looks dated and perhaps older than the remastered "Trouble with Tribbles" episode, but is interesting because of how it ties in with the original series.

There are three more items contained on this special fourth disc and two are again related to the troublesome tribbles. Trials and Tribble-ations: Uniting Two Legends (16:53) looks at how the "Deep Space Nine" episode meshed with the original show with original make-up, costumes and other elements and how the "DSN" cast was excited to be part of this special episode. Trials and Tribble-ations: An Historic Endeavor (16:32) is the second half of the "DSN"-based making of featurette that talked about carrying on the tradition of tribbles with this furry homage. The two features could have been merged, but they are worth looking at. The last item aside from the Preview for the episode on the fourth disc is the Star Trek: TOS on Blu-ray (10:04) discussion with people involved with the series and the remastering of the show for the high definition world.

Disc Five and Disc Six: After the swell Tribble disk, these two platters are slim with bonus offerings. As was the case with Season One, the fifth disc contains To Boldly Go… (19:32), but this time around it is based upon Season Two. Consisting of interview segements between 1996 and 2004, this featurette includes Shatner, Nichols and other people involved with the original series. There is Shatner, do you really need more reason to watch it? There are also Previews for the four episodes contained on each of the two discs. The only true supplement on Disc Six is Designing the Final Frontier (22:19).Running for a third of an hour, this supplement includes some nice drawings for conceptualizing the sets and includes long discussions with Matt Jefferies, who was the art director for "Star Trek." This was an interesting supplement that I enjoyed.

Disc Seven: The last disc of the set has more supplements than the other six discs and includes Previews for the three episodes contained on the disc. The offerings are not as heavy as they were for the first season, but are still notable. The first bonus item, Star Trek´s Favorite Moments (17:10) has a number of actors and crewmembers from the show´s spinoffs as they discuss what drew them to "Star Trek" and what they fondly remembered from the original show. Members of "Deep Space Nine" and "The Next Generation" share their moments here. Writer´s Notebook: D.C. Fontana (7:35) spends more time with the story editor and writer from her 2003 session as she discusses the show. Fontana spent time recording material for the Mobile-Blu and Starfleet Access features and her involvement for the second season is of benefit to the set.

There are three more items on the final disc. Life Beyond Trek: Leonard Nimoy (12:03) was recorded in 2003, which was before his return to the role of Spock in the 2009 film. It has Nimoy discussing what he was doing with his life at the time as he talks about photography and other aspects of his life. Kirk, Spock & Bones: Star Trek´s Great Trio (7:10) is a very brief feature that talks fondly about the show´s three primary stars and their on-screen chemistry. They were the heart of the show. The Star Trek´s Diva: Nichelle Nichols (13:04) is a conversation with the star from 2003 and she talks about how she wasn´t an actor, but a burgeoning singer that just happened to become part of "Star Trek" after some small roles and guest roles and how she met Roddenberry. There are also Enhanced Visual Effects Credits for those that took part in the restoration and enhancement of the show.

Closing:

It takes nearly thirty hours to sit through everything offered by "Star Trek: The Original Series: Season Two." The retouched and modernized episodes are very impressive and I applaud Paramount for continuing to include the original televised versions in a cleaned up guise. My interest in "Star Trek" was rekindled by the excellent J.J. Abrams film this past year and I still love the original crew more than any of the spinoffs and will never think of James T. Kirk as anybody but William Shatner. There are twenty six episodes in season two and while there is a minor drop off in storytelling when compared to the first season, this second season still offers a few amazing episodes. The Blu-ray release sounds and looks superb and there are a good number of bonus features. I wasn´t too sold on the Mobile-Blu technology, but at least they are trying to push the format. There were only two episodes with the solid "Starfleet Access" Profile 1.1 technology and this was the only blemish of the release. "Tribbles´ were certainly treated with respect. I love this show and still think it is the only real "Star Trek" television show worth dedicating your time to. I now eagerly await season three.


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