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Leonard Nimoy's favorite Star Trek episodes
Spock locks a few provoking perils
CBS Television Distribution
Every Trek devotee has their favorite episodes. Even the folks who made the show have some choice, stand-out Starfleet adventures. There are many reasons why one episode might have particular value. Sometimes, there are overlaps, and people agree that one episode is special. Other times, the favorites are such because of their personal resonance.
Either way, it's like a litmus test when a person provides their favorites. Luckily for fans, Spock himself, Leonard Nimoy, shared some opinions in his 1977 autobiography, I Am Not Spock.
(Yes, we recognize the irony of introducing the man as "Spock himself" only for the title of his memoir to contradict the designation.)
1. "This Side of Paradise"
"This is a very special episode for me for obvious reasons and particularly because, where Spock was so totally adult in most of his attitudes and reactions throughout the series, this episode provided a chance to expose the complete child within. We saw him loving, picnicking, romping, and literally swinging playfully in the trees. It was a total exposure of internal Spock that so many people have always suspected was there."
2. "City on the Edge of Forever"
"The story is exquisitely constructed in its tragic design in that the Captain and the girl are deeply in love and we discover that the girl is to die in a street accident.
"[It] was beautifully written and wonderfully produced and directed. I also happen to believe it was one of Bill Shatner's finest performances."
3. "Amok Time"
"Amok Time," a lovely, poetic script by Theodore Sturgeon, was a very special story again for Mr. Spock, in that it was the first time we visited his home planet of Vulcan. It was great fun to explore the possibilities of seeing Mr. Spock in his own culture among his peers. [...] The story was rich in Vulcan ritual and was the first time the Vulcan hand salute was used."
4. "Dagger of the Mind"
"Not because it was in itself what I would consider a major Star Trek episode, but because it was the first time that we introduced a very special talent for Mr. Spock... The Vulcan mind-meld. This was a brilliant innovation by Gene Roddenberry. [...] Too often, a writer will use a device to get himself out of a difficult plot situation. However, the idea was extremely effective and 'Dagger of the Mind' served to introduce it."
5. "The Menagerie"
"This was again a sample of Gene Roddenberry working at his best. [...] Roddenberry took the original pilot material and reconstructed it with some additional shooting to include the present-day crew of the Enterprise and created a pair of Star Trek episodes which were at least among the best, if not actually the best of the shows we ever put on the air. I doubt that any other television series or even television special has ever achieved the level of production, texture, and ideas that were contained in this pair of shows."
6. "Devil in the Dark"
"In a crucial scene in the plot, Mr. Spock communicates with the Horta creature through the Vulcan mind-meld. Through this procedure, Mr. Spock discovers who and what the creature is, and the story is brought to a successful resolution. This is probably the only time in my life that I've ever been asked to establish communication with a living rock."
7. "The Enemy Within"
"'The Enemy Within,' written by Richard Matheson, would be another one of those that must be mentioned because it was a landmark episode again for Spock. This was the episode in which the Vulcan neck pinch, described in a previous chapter, was first introduced."
