On this show, we meet one of the classic characters from the Star Trek universe: General Trelane, AKA The Squire of Gothos, AKA an all-powerful adolescent alien space blob. When the Enterprise crew finds an unknown planet in the middle of the star desert, “Greetings and Felicitations” soon go sour as Trelane gets in touch with his human (i.e. violently irrational) side. Castles, candelabra, harpsichords and swords provide an anachronistic backdrop for a battle of wits between Kirk and and the impish Trelane.

Are you a naughty little boy? Do you wear lime green pants? Would you phaser the last salt vampire remaining in the universe? Let us know your thoughts in the comments or send us an email at StarTrekQuest@gmail.com.

Or you can download the MP3 file here.

If you could visit a planet where all of your most intimate thoughts would be immediately made real, would that be a good thing?

In what is currently (and perhaps shockingly) our highest rated episode to date, the Enterprise crew experiences just such a place, for better or worse. Kirk struggles with a literal inner demon from his past, while Bones chases a white rabbit and Sulu fights a samurai. Zeroes and flocks of seagulls fly above, and a chained tiger wonders why his once glorious run at Ringling Brothers has taken such a s dramatic turn for the worse.

Is this the single best episode of the Original Series? Probably not. But after two shows discussing futuristic courtroom dramas, it was great to see the lighter side of Trek so beautifully and blatantly on display.

Do doctors ever peak? Do Vulcans have any imaginations at all? Could you defeat a mounted wax knight? Let us know your thoughts in the comments or send us an email at StarTrekQuest@gmail.com.

Or you can download the MP3 file here.

Captain Kirk orders most of his senior staff to fly a tiny shuttle straight into the heart of a quasar-like green cloud. What could possibly go wrong?

Scoring on the far low end of the TrekQuesters’ logic score, this episode nevertheless offers one of the original series most (unintentionally) hilarious moments: a giant spear cracking through a styrofoam space rock and glancing off the head of “dead” crewman. Why is a giant spear being chucked at a dead crewman? Because the giant fur-wearing humanoids who live on the planet make giant folsom-pointed spears. And when giant humanoids with giant spears live on planets in the middle of quasar-like clouds, they tend to be grumpy. And these particular humanoids are probably even grumpier than would be normally expected, seeing that their planet is seemingly otherwise devoid of life — which would tend to make the giant humanoids pretty hungry. Did I mention this show isn’t very logical?

It’s actually kinda funny that the episode that’s most focused on Spock’s dedication to logic surrounds a plot with so many illogical holes. Completely separated from Kirk for the first time, we see that Spock’s insistence on pure logic can really irritate his human colleagues. One of the other officers comes darn close to outright mutiny, and you’re left wondering how Kirk would react once he learned the full details of what happened during the Galileo’s little outing.

Can you recharge a spaceship with a gun? How long would you have waited for Yoeman Mears? Are you afraid of space giants? Let us know your thoughts in the comments or send us an email at StarTrekQuest@gmail.com.

Or you can download the MP3 file here.

In our first podcast, Victor, Kevin and Brian review the second Star Trek pilot and first episode starring Captain James T. Kirk (or should we say James “R.” Kirk??).

Why not start with the first pilot, “The Cage”?  Simple. No Kirk, no Original Star Trek. End of story.

But don’t worry, Pike-lovers. We’ll get plenty of the pre-Kirk captain (plus some throbbing alien heads and green slave women) during the double-episode “The Menagerie,” so just have a little patience, OK?

This week, the TrekQuesters probe into the origins of the classic Star Trek universe , discussing a screaming Spock, a 200-year-old space trashcan, tin-foil contacts, and the lovely Yoeman Jones, er, we mean Yoeman Smith.  Sorry about that, Andrea Dromm.

Does absolute power corrupt absolutely? Could Kirk ever beat Spock in 3D chess? Do glowing silver eyes freak you out? Tell us what you think in the comments or send us an email at StarTrekQuest@gmail.com.

Or you can download the MP3 file here.