I was surprised by the reviews on this message board. I consider this to be one of Star Trek's best episodes. Star Trek tends to portray two types of aliens, both implausible: aliens that are essentially human with minor plastic surgery, and abstract clouds of light/energy. In reality, aliens are more likely to be like the strange creatures we find on earth such as jelly-fish or electric eels: distinctly non-human but still contained in a well-defined body of tissue. I like this episode because the alien, Kollos, is a clever concoction, is very alien, and yet is plausible. Kollos is not some nebulous blob wafting through space, but instead sits inside a transport pod that humans carry about. If humans look directly at Kollos, they go insane. It should be obvious that it is not Kollos' ugliness that drives men mad. Rather, Kollos emits a frequency and pattern of light that damages the human brain and it is the brain damage that makes the men mad. This is much like an epileptic having a seizure if they see flickering lights. A creature with this effect is quite alien and yet very plausible. The crew takes precautions to not look at Kollos, but still treat him with respect, he being an ambassador for his people. Kollos' telepathic interpreter, Miranda, can mysteriously see Kollos without going mad. In a clever plot twist, we learn later that Miranda can do this because she is blind.
The action is well acted in this episode, giving a real sense of suspense. Additionally, the story's exploration of the nature of beauty is thought-provoking.
I only have two gripes with this episode. First, I found it annoying how every male on the Enterprise was obsessed with Miranda's beauty. I know this was somewhat central to the episode's theme of the nature of beauty, but the producers could have done it more subtly. The seniors officers of a flagship military vessel are a disciplined lot. They aren't rendered into babbling fools every time a pretty girl walks in the room. The whole effect just fell flat because Miranda wasn't even that pretty. Secondly, the odd camera angles were very distracting. I can give the camera crew some leeway for trying to spice up the aging third season with some novel camera angles, but there were far too many in this episode. The strange camera shots really took away from the episode.
The action is well acted in this episode, giving a real sense of suspense. Additionally, the story's exploration of the nature of beauty is thought-provoking.
I only have two gripes with this episode. First, I found it annoying how every male on the Enterprise was obsessed with Miranda's beauty. I know this was somewhat central to the episode's theme of the nature of beauty, but the producers could have done it more subtly. The seniors officers of a flagship military vessel are a disciplined lot. They aren't rendered into babbling fools every time a pretty girl walks in the room. The whole effect just fell flat because Miranda wasn't even that pretty. Secondly, the odd camera angles were very distracting. I can give the camera crew some leeway for trying to spice up the aging third season with some novel camera angles, but there were far too many in this episode. The strange camera shots really took away from the episode.