Elaan of Troyius
The Enterprise transports the royal Elaan to a wedding that will unite two cultures, but she proves a reluctant bride. Kirk aims to teach her manners.
The series's take on The Taming of the Shrew entertains mainly through the spoiled Elaan herself. We can forget how polite most Starfleet officers are till we see such a stark contrast. True that she can stand to learn to use a fork and knife, but many 21st century viewers would agree with the sentiment " I will not be handed to a Troyan pig as a bribe to stop a war!" She also has a dazzling range of costumes, the most of any TOS character, though it's her guards who are dressed most flamboyantly. Can anyone forget those shoulder pads? Yikes. Shades of Journey to Babel appear, perpetuating the unfortunate third season trend of ripping off earlier, better episodes. The "magic tears" subplot is wholly unnecessary and again echoes an earlier show, A Private Little War. Average fare for this season - somewhat entertaining, but with no fresh ideas.
Spock Saves the Day: The first officer helps detect the vital dilithium crystals and helps install them. Most interesting is he and McCoy's walking in on Kirk, and attempts to snap him out of chemically-induced love.
Oops: Meh. Nothing ventured, nothing gained.
Developments: Not much here, apart from helping his captain out of an unwilling love affair. He doesn't seem at all surprised to find Kirk fondling their royal guest. Guess he's used to this sort of thing by now.