Even as a casual "Star Trek" fan I know about the somewhat difficult circumstances that the series' third and final season were made under. Creator Gene Roddenberry all but checked out, the budget was slashed and the show was moved to a Friday night dead zone time slot. In short, the writing was on the wall.
These challenges led to the show having to adapt and become less ambitious in terms of its scope and scale relative to seasons one and two. This has given the perception that season three is, for lack of a better word, "bad". However in recent years season three seems to have been re-evaluated a bit and many fans, both hardcore and casual, have found that there are more than a few very strong episodes to be found there. Take "The Tholian Web".
Character focused and story driven, this episode is smart, efficient and often compelling. It's a case where the lack of resources probably forced the writers and producers to focus on the fundamentals rather than try and distract us with baubles and beads.
As I write this, I'm struggling to place "The Tholian Web" into a Trek tier. Is it an all-time, top-ten? No. Though to be fair I'm still making my way through the series. But it seems to fit nicely on that shelf just below, and I'd have absolutely no qualms about revisiting it again in the, um, future.
These challenges led to the show having to adapt and become less ambitious in terms of its scope and scale relative to seasons one and two. This has given the perception that season three is, for lack of a better word, "bad". However in recent years season three seems to have been re-evaluated a bit and many fans, both hardcore and casual, have found that there are more than a few very strong episodes to be found there. Take "The Tholian Web".
Character focused and story driven, this episode is smart, efficient and often compelling. It's a case where the lack of resources probably forced the writers and producers to focus on the fundamentals rather than try and distract us with baubles and beads.
As I write this, I'm struggling to place "The Tholian Web" into a Trek tier. Is it an all-time, top-ten? No. Though to be fair I'm still making my way through the series. But it seems to fit nicely on that shelf just below, and I'd have absolutely no qualms about revisiting it again in the, um, future.