Merrick here...

...with a look at this weekend's STAR TREK Remastered. It's "Spock's Brain." That's right..."Spock's Brain."

Generally considered the lamest episode of The Original Series, this one's about what happens when hot, dingy chicks in miniskirts extract Spock's brain & take it home with them to run their world.

To me, this is an allegory for high maintenance women sucking the souls out of quiet, well-intentioned dudes.

As misguided as the episode is, it is notable for a subtle technical quality: it's one of the very few episodes in which the main viewer on the Enterprise bridge is presented as a practical (projected) effect for a few brief shots - allowing actors to pass in front of it freely, a wider range of camera angles/movement, etc.

Original

First up: a before & after look at the Ion Ship, whose occupants come to the Enterprise and steal Spock's Brain. I am, and forever shall be, 100% smitten with the original series, but...man...that image of the (original) vessel design is pretty tragic.

Original

Remastered

With the Remastered enhancements, the landing party from the Enterprise can now beam down to a world that actually looks cold and glacial (referenced in the original version, but not visualized fully).

I really like the remastered shot a lot -- I hope they rework more shots like this in the future. Exactly the kind of scale many TOS episodes need.

Original

Remastered

HERE's a list of airdates and stations showing the Remastered TREK. If you can't find a station near you, they can also be downloaded via iTunes and XBOX Live (where an increasing number of episodes are available in High Definition - the series is not shown in HD by many broadcasters).

"Original" images from TrekCore

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