24. A Taste Of Armageddon
This episode is incredibly relevant today as it shows cyber warfare, an ever prevalent international issue, in the extreme. The Enterprise is ordered to steer clear of their destination, Emeniar VII, for unknown reasons. Upon beaming down to the surface, they learn that the planet has been at war with neighboring planet Vendikar for 500 years, but not a drop of blood has ever been shed. The warring factions fight their war totally with computers, casualties being marked for death and sent to disintegration machines. The latest attack marks the Enterprise as destroyed, and the landing party is held hostage as the leader of the high council, Anan 7, demands the surrender of the Enterprise crew for disintegration. Of course, it wouldnt be a show without a great escape, and that they do. When the Vendikar government threatens to launch a conventional attack due to the lack of disintegration of the Enterprise crew, in the panic of full scale war, Anan 7 agrees to open peace talks with Vendikar after 500 years of war.
23. Assignment: Earth
The idea of Gary Seven always fascinated me, an unknown humanoid alien sent from a distant world to preserve the flow of history. In this episode, an unsuccessful Gene Roddenberry pilot that just so happened to crossover with Star Trek, Gary Seven is a humanoid alien intercepted by the Enterprise in 1968 while trying to beam to Earth from a distant planet. Mr. Seven claims that he was sent to preserve the flow of Earths history, but Captain Kirk detains him, believing him to be a threat. He then escapes rather quickly using his superior strength of body and mind and a redshirt's superior strength of incompetence and death and beams down to 1968 Earth. The Captain and Spock beam down in disguise to find Seven, who has found help in the form of Roberta Lincoln, played by Teri Garr, where they ultimately learn that Sevens intentions are good and history is practically untouched. Captain Kirk leaves Mr. Seven and Ms. Lincoln and wishes them well in their adventures that we ultimately never saw.