TOS - Elaan of Troyius

This is a most unusual episode of Star Trek, originally conceived as a money-saving “bottle show.” It turned out to be quite interesting because of the unusual plot, which seems to combine different elements from different “types” of Trek episodes in one 50 minute span of time. This show includes some new effects such as shots of the Klingon ship, a rarity for the original series. The battle between the Enterprise and the Klingons is also quite good, except for the repeated mentions by Scotty (among others) of the impossibility of firing the phasers without operating the warp engines. Tying the phasers into the warp drive was not a design element incorporated into the Enterprise until its refit following the five-year mission of that ship in the original series. However, since the warp core is sometimes referred to as the warp drive (or engine) that could have meant the phasers drew their power from the matter/anti-matter reaction in the warp core, as many systems on the ship do, but was later refitted to draw power from the warp drive itself in the nacelles. Other than this slight but confusing discrepancy, this episode is practically nothing but an enjoyable romp, but with some serious aspects added to it as well.