Plot Your Course!


 

Star Trek: The Original Series
Season Two Episode Summaries

Warning!!! These summaries contain spoilers!

Amok Time
Who Mourns for Adonais?
The Changeling
Mirror, Mirror
The Apple
The Doomsday Machine
Catspaw
I, Mudd
Metamorphosis
Journey to Babel
Friday's Child
The Deadly Years
Obsession
Wolf in the Fold
The Trouble With Tribbles
The Gamsters of Triskelion
A Piece of the Action
The Immunity Syndrome
A Private Little War
Return to Tomorrow
Patterns of Force
By Any Other Name
The Omega Glory
The Ultimate Computer
Bread and Circuses
Assignment: Earth

THE REGULAR CAST:
Capt. James T. Kirk: William Shatner
Cmdr. Spock: Leonard Nimoy
Dr. McCoy: DeForest Kelley
Lt. Uhura: Nichelle Nichols
Chief Engineer Montgomery Scott: James Doohan
Pavel Chekov: Walter Koenig
Hikaru Sulu: George Takei
Yeoman Rand: Grace Lee Whitney
Nurse Chape: Majel Barrett

Amok Time
GUEST STARS:
T'Pring: Arlene Martel
T'Pau: Celia Lovsky
Stonn: Lawrence Montaigne
Admiral Komack: Byron Morrow

Spock is uncharacteristically emotional as he's stricken by pon farr, the Vulcan mating cycle tht occurs once every seven years and dictates that a Vulcan must return home to mate or else die. Set mostly on he planet Vulcan, we get insight into Spock's background and Vulcan physiology. Kirk and McCoy become the first "out-worlders" to witness the Vulcan marriage ceremony, Kirk becomes the second regular to be "killed," and we hear Spock mutter "Live long and prosper," for the first time.

Who Mourns for Adonais?
GUEST STARS:
Apollo: Michael Forest
Lt. Carolyn Palamas: Leslie Parrish
Lt. Kyle: John Winston

An Enterprise landing party encounters a vision of the Greek god Apollo, who commands their collective worship. Apollo turns out to be a alien space traveler who landed on Earth long ago and ruled over its primitive inhabitants from Mount Olympus.

The Changeling
GUEST STARS:
Lieutenant Singh: Blaisdell Makee
Lieutenant Carlisle: Arnold Lessing
Voice of Nomad: Vic Perrin

Kirk wages a battle of wits with a computer probe named Nomad, which is programmed to eliminate anything impure or inferior. Kirk, of course, beats the probe using pure logic, impressing Mr. Spock immensely.

Mirror, Mirror
GUEST STARS:
Marlena: Barbara Luna
Tharn: Vic Perrin

Kirk, Scotty, McCoy, and Uhura are transported to a parallel universe in which the Federation is evil, Kirk is a despotic captain and Spock is a ruthless first officer with eyes on the captain's chair. This finely tailored script is the first to introduce the oft-repeated notion of a parallel universe. Kirk faces his other self for the second time in the original series, but beware that Star Trek's trademark humor is scant in this episode, due to it's pervading darkness.

The Apple
GUEST STARS:
Akuta: Keith Andes
Martha Landon: Celeste Yarnall
Sayana: Shari Nims
Ensign Mallory: Jay Jones
Makora: David Soul

Kirk leads a landing party to an ancient world ruled by a computer named Vaal, which controls the elements on the planet, as well as its childlike inhabitants.

The Doomsday Machine
GUEST STARS:
Commodore Decker: William Windom
Lieutenant Palmer: Elizabeth Rogers
Elliot: John Copage
Washburn: Richard Compton

The Enterprise encounters a giant alien device in space that transmits energy waves capable of destroying entire planets. Great edge-of-seat suspense all the way through, thanks to a myriad of special effects and wonderful acting by William Windom as Commodore Decker.

Catspaw
GUEST STARS:
Sylvia: Antoinette Bower
Korob: Theo Marcuse
Lieutenant DeSalle: Michael Barrier
Jackson: Jimmy Jones

Kirk, Scotty, and Spock beam down to Pyris VII, a strange planet overrun with zombies, witches, giant cats, goblins, and things that go bump in the night. Just to clarify, this episode was intended as a Halloween special :-)

I, Mudd
GUEST STARS:
Mudd: Roger C. Carmel
Norman: Richard Tatro
Lieutenant Rowe: Mike Howden
Ensign Jordan: Michael Zaslow
Stella: Kay Elliot

Incredible fun and antics follows when devious con man Harry Mudd tricks the Enterprise into traveling to an uncharted planet inhabited by androids. Some of the great Star Trek fun is brought in during such scenes as Kirk, Spock, and Chekov outwit the androids by overloading their brains with nonsense. The only scene which is funnier is the finale, in which Kirk impishly reveals that Mudd's punishment will be constant vigilance under an entire planet of androids -- all of them duplicates of his shrewish wife, Stella.

Metamorphosis
GUEST STARS:
Zefram Cochrane: Glenn Corbett
Comissioner Nancy Hedford: Elinor Donahue

On the planet Gamma Canaris N, Kirk, Spock, and McCoy encounter an Earth scientist who is protected by an energy cloud he calls "The Companion." This episode contains not only incredible wonders by the universal translator, but also the first appearance of the now-famous (among Trekkies, anyway) Zephram Cochrane, the inventor of the first space-warp drive.

Journey to Babel
GUEST STARS:
Sarek: Mark Lenard
Amanda: Jane Wyman
Thelev: William O'Connell
Shras: Reggie Nalder
Gav: John Wheeler

A mission to transport passengers to a peace treaty conference becomes very difficult for Spock when he learns that two of the delegates on board are his own parents. This episode features a large deluge of different Star Trek species, plus a difficult dillemma for Spock: to remain as captain after Kirk is injured, or leave to give blood to his dying father? In the end, Spock is convinced to help save his father, and one of the most humorous scenes ensues, with two Vulcans, a cranky Southern doctor, a starship captain, and a strong-willed Earth woman all in the Enterprise's sick bay.

Friday's Child
GUEST STARS:
Kras: Tige Andrews
Maab: Michael Dante
Eleen: Julie Newmar
Keel: Cal Bolder
Duur: Kirk Raymone
Akaar: Ben Gage

Enterprise and Klingon crews clash when they simultaneously try to establish relations with the prosperous planet Capella IV. Although the Prime Directive comes into play, Kirk and company end up involving themselves when a pregnant Capellan woman goes on the run with them and McCoy delivers his only baby.

The Deadly Years
GUEST STARS:
Commodore Stocker: Charles Drake
Dr. Janet Wallace: Sarah Marshall
Lieutenant Arlene Galway: Beverly Washburn
Johnson: Felix Locher

After visiting the planet Gamma Hydra IV, Kirk, Spock, McCoy, and Scotty are afflicted with rapid, premature aging. The aging shows how the four members of the crew may age differently, but nonetheless retain their personalities.

Obsession
GUEST STARS:
Ensign Garrovick: Stephen Brooks
Ensign Rizzo: Jerry Ayres

A ghost from Kirk's past resurfaces in the form of a gaseous cloud creature that feeds on human blood cells. In a 'Moby Dick' style episode, Kirk displays an obsession with killing the creature which was responsible for the deaths of half of his crewmates a decade earlier, for whose deaths Kirk feels responsible because he failed to act quickly enough to save the people.

Wolf in the Fold
GUEST STARS:
Hengist: John Fiedler
Jaris: Charles Macaulay
Sybo: Pilar Seurat
Tark: Joseph Bernard
Morla: Charles Dierkop

A murder occurs during a mission on Argelius II, with all the evidence pointing to chief engineer Scott. The real killer is proven to be the ethereal spirit of Jack the Ripper, in reality the ancient life form called Redjac.

The Trouble With Tribbles
GUEST STARS:
Nilz Baris: William Schallert
Captain Koloth: William Campbell
Cyrano Jones: Stanley Adams
Mr. Lurry: Whit Bissell
Korax: Michael Pataki

Responding to a distress signal, the Enterprise travels to space station K-7, where they are introduced to small, furry creatures called Tribbles. This is one of Star Trek's most memorable episodes ever, due to great performances by all members of the Enterprise crew, plus the uptight Klingons, the paranoid station keeper, and the hilarious Cyrano Jones. The Tribbles become everyone's favorite friend -- except the Klingons', who receive a shipment of the furry creatures from Scotty, who assures Kirk that "they'll be no tribble a'tall!"

The Gamsters of Triskelion
GUEST STARS:
Galt: Joseph Ruskin
Shahna: Angelique Pettyjohn
Lars: Steve Sandor
Tamoon: Jane Ross
Jana Haines: Victoria George

Kirk, Uhura, and Chekov are mysteriously beamed off the Enterprise and onto the warlike planet of Triskelion, where violent gladiator games are the main form of amusement.

A Piece of the Action
GUEST STARS:
Oxmyx: Anthony Caruso
Krako: Victor Tayback
Kalo: Lee Delano
Tepo: John Harmon
Zabo: Steve Marlo

On the planet Sigma Iotia II, Kirk and crew are shocked to discover the Iotians have adopted a gangster lifestyle right out of Al Capone's heyday. Kirk finds that the people have modeled their planet after a book about Chicago mobs left by another starship years before. Kirk tries to negotiate peace between the gangsters, and has some great comedic moments when he attempts to drive a 1920's style automobile and again when he teaches the dimwitted Iotians "fizzbin," a card game made up on the spur of the moment that has some strange rules.

The Immunity Syndrome
The Enterprise responds to an emergency in the Gamma 7A solar system, which is being threatened by a massive amoeba-like creature that drains energy from plants and ships.

A Private Little War
GUEST STARS:
Nona: Nancy Kovack
Tyree: Michael Witney
Apella: Arthur Bernard
Krell: Ned Romero
Yutan: Gary Pillar

The Enterprise investigates life on the primitive planet Neural, whose inhabitants have adopted a warlike attitude, courtesy of the Klingons.

Return to Tomorrow
GUEST STARS:
Dr. Ann Mulhall: Diana Muldaur
Voice of Sargon: James Doohan
Body of Sargon: William Shatner
Nurse: Cindy Lou

Three aliens who have existed for centuries -- in a mental state only -- request assistance from Kirk to construct android bodies to house their intelligence.

Patterns of Force
GUEST STARS:
John Gill: David Brian
Melakon: Skip Homeier
Isak: Richard Evans
Daras: Valora Noland

While investigating the planet Ekos, Kirk and Spock discover the inhabitants have adopted a Nazi-like existence in which the Zeons, an underground group, are persecuted and exterminated. This episode is clearly a statement on the horrors of Naziism, but also contains some funny moments, like when Bones is transported down to the planet while still getting dressed into his Nazi regalia.

By Any Other Name
GUEST STARS:
Rojan: Warren Stevens
Kelinda: Barbara Bouchet
Hanar: Stewart Moss
Tomar: Robert Fortier

Agents of the Kelvan Empire scheme to hijack the Enterprise to make a 300-year trip back to the Andromeda Galaxy. A highly amusing episode, in which two Enterprise crewmembers are reduced to small, dry blocks, and Scotty attempts to get an alien drunk with a bottle of green alien liquor.

The Omega Glory
GUEST STARS:
Captain Tracy: Morgan Woodward
Cloud William: Roy Jenson
Sirah: Irene Kelley
Lieutenant Galloway: David L. Ross
Lieutenant Leslie: Eddie Paskey

On the planet Omega IV, Kirk discovers that a renegade Federation commander, Captain Tracey, has violated the Federation's Prime Directive and interfered with the inhabitants by supplying them with weapons. As a twist, the Yangs' "worship words" turn out to be a altered version of the United States Constitution.

The Ultimate Computer
GUEST STARS:
Dr. Richard Daystrom: William Marshall
Wesley: Barry Russo
Harper: Sean Morgan

Computer genius Dr. Richard Daystrom's plan to test his newest computer development, the M-5, on board the Starship Enterprise, brings disasterous results. This episode begins the notion of man being replaced by machine. In the early stages, Kirk actually appears to be jealous of the M-5, which seems to do a better job of running the Enterprise than he does.

Bread and Circuses
GUEST STARS:
Merik: Wiliiam Smithers
Claudius Marcus: Logan Ramsey
Septimus: Ian Wolfe
Flavius: Rhodes Reason
Drusilla: Lois Jewell

On the planet IV 892, the Kirk-Spock-McCoy trio is captured by a group of Roman soldiers and forced to compete in gladiator games, which are broadcast to the eager citizentry via live television.

Assignment: Earth
GUEST STARS:
Gary Seven: Robert Lansing
Roberta Lincoln: Teri Garr
Mr. Cromwell: Jim Keefer
Colonel Nesvig: Morgan Jones

After traveling back in time to the 20th century, the Enterprise intercepts an enigmatic space traveler named Gary Seven, who claims to be an Earth man trained by aliens to prevent Earth from destroying itself.


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