History Recap / StarTrekS3E1SpocksBrain

It all begins when the ''Enterprise'' encounters an alien spacecraft. Scotty is amazed that they are so advanced as to use ion propulsion, a technology which existed ''at the time the episode was written'' (however, as it's clearly an FTL drive, it's the same as today's InNameOnly). The spacecraft's only occupant beams onto the bridge of the ''Enterprise'' and it turns out to be yet another alien woman who wears {{Stripperiffic}} clothes. The men ([[LesYay and Uhura, for some reason]]) stare as the soundtrack swells with romantic music, [[BlatantLies as they've clearly never seen a woman like this before]]. As we will learn later on, she is named Kara (Creator/MarjDusay). But Kara does not come in peace. Using a wrist band, she knocks out everyone on the ship with that "boing" sound effect which {{Sufficiently Advanced Alien}}s always use. After seeming momentarily interested in Kirk's butt, she walks up to the unconscious Spock and gleefully strokes his cranium.

Anyway, the ''Enterprise'' follows the ion trail left by Kara's ship to the Sigma Draconis system[[note]]Yes, in the 23rd century, ion propulsion apparently allows FasterThanLightTravel[[/note]], but they can't determine which of the system's three class M planets she landed on and none of them seem capable of creating something so advanced as FTL starships. Playing on a hunch, Kirk decides to go with the primitive ice planet, which has been giving off regular pulses. [[{{Planetville}} Unsurprisingly, their strategy consists of beaming down to a random spot on the planet and assuming Spock's brain will happen to be nearby.]] The landing party gets attacked by cavemen and, strangely, the two {{Red Shirt}}s they brought along don't die. Kirk stuns one of the cavemen and the rest retreat. They question him and he tells them about "the others", who [[AccidentalInnuendo "give pain and delight".]] He speaks perfect English, however, he doesn't seem to understand words like "women" or "female", or indeed the concept of a mate. No one thinks to ask where the babies come from instead. Meanwhile, Chekov detects evidence of a buried city and Kirk leads the landing party there, presuming it's where the others live. They find a cave which they conclude is a trap that the others have set for the cavemen. Kirk orders [=McCoy=] to beam down and he brings with him a remote-controlled Spock. Yes, Spock's brainless body is now controlled by [=McCoy=] with a HandyRemoteControl which has all of ten buttons on it. And for some reason, Spock is now sporting the Omicron Ceti III colony outfit he wore back in "This Side Of Paradise". Kirk, [=McCoy=], Scotty, and Spock's body enter the cave to set off the trap. Chekov and the Red Shirts are left to stand guard outside the cave and thus do nothing for the rest of the episode. Who would have guessed that this would be the episode in which two Red Shirts live?

At this point, Kirk, [=McCoy=], Scotty, and Spock's body are taken prisoner by Kara. They are brought to some kind of conference room with her all-female counsel and their male bodyguards. By now, it has become apparent that the cavemen living on the surface are the "Morg", the women living underground are the "Eymorg", and that the Eymorg enslave the Morg using their wrist bands. How either society can procreate is not explained. Kirk demands Kara returns Spock's brain, but she not only has no memory of taking it, she doesn't even seem know what the word "brain" means. "Brain and brain! ''What is 'brain'?!''" she asks in exasperation, giving us the the episode's most famous line[[note]] and that's saying something![[/note]]. Kirk asks to speak to their leader. Kara says she is leader, but Scotty and [=McCoy=] dismiss this as impossible since they need engineers and doctors. After all, [[ValuesDissonance they clearly need men for that]]. Not to mention engineering and medical skills have absolutely nothing to do with leadership credentials. That's, you know, why Kirk is captain of the ''Enterprise'' instead of them. Anyway, they finally get far enough through Kara's beautiful thick skull for her to mention that there is a "Controller". Then Kirk has an epiphany. "Spock's... brain... ''controls''," he says in classic Creator/WilliamShatner fashion. Kara leaves with her counsel to consult the Controller, leaving their Morg slaves to guard the prisoners. In stupidity which is for once justified by the plot, the Eymorg have left Kirk, [=McCoy=], and Scotty in the same room as their communicators and tricorders. They take them back after a FightScene with the Morg slaves and contact Spock's brain again. Spock's brain beams them a signal which they follow to the WetwareCPU room. Kara uses her wrist band to hit them all with an AgonyBeam. While writhing in pain, Kirk grabs the remote control, using Spock's unaffected body to overpower Kara and free them. How he manages to make Spock's body do such complicated actions with [[PlotSensitiveButton ten unlabeled buttons]] is another of the episode's mysteries.

Kara pleads that her people will all die without their new Controller, saying the old one is finished. Apparently considering committing genocide a reasonable price to pay for having his Science Officer back, Kirk refuses to listen and demands to know how she removed Spock's brain. Kara says she used the "old knowledge" from "the Teacher". The Teacher turns out to be a CoolHelmet and Kirk forces it onto the head of a protesting Kara. It turns out making a hostile alien smart isn't such a brilliant move, as she pulls out a phaser which she had apparently been keeping in {{Hammerspace}} since [[WeWillNotHavePocketsInTheFuture that dress certainly doesn't have pockets]]. Note how she was smart enough to not leave their phasers with their communicators and tricorders when she was dumb, but only now that she is smart can she figure out how to pull the trigger on the phaser. Rest assured, this turns out to be a CliffhangerCopout and Kirk gets back the phaser from her rather easily after a commercial break. Kirk and Kara have an argument in which [[StrawmanHasAPoint she actually makes better sense]], mostly because Kirk never addresses her concerns about her people and instead just keeps repeating that Spock will die. You know, if Spock were in character, his brain might point out at this point that saving him would constitute sacrificing the needs of the many for the needs of the one.

[=McCoy=] suggests he could use the Teacher, but Spock's brain warns him that it wasn't made for humans and tells him that he can't take that risk. So apparently Spock is okay with them [[AMillionIsAStatistic killing off a whole civilization to save him]], but he draws the line at [[RuleOfEmpathy risking Bones' life]]. [=McCoy=] insists it's worth the risk since he could bring the knowledge he will learn to the world. Moving on, Kirk lets [=McCoy=] do it. It causes him to faint, but it still works and he gasps that "a child could do it!" Naturally, the big mystery of how to remove and restore a brain is going to be resolved with TheUnreveal. They even have Bones operate behind a partition so that they don't have to explain what he's doing (and so they don't have to show Leonard Nimoy's sawed-open skull with his nerve endings protruding). Oh, and they're doing this operation while in the underground Eymorg complex. How it still has light, oxygen, etc. without the Controller is not explained. Kara is also still there, acting the NeutralFemale. She seems mildly annoyed that all her people will die. No, this is not an understatement. Kirk tells her that they won't die and launches in with his KirkSummation, telling that they'll be better off living on the surface with the Morg. He appears to have just made this up on the spot since what will happen to the Eymorg without their Controller is obviously such a low priority. At least he's not committing genocide anymore, but he's still destroying an entire culture without anyone even mentioning the [[AlienNonInterferenceClause Prime Directive]].[[note]]The fact that they have interstellar flight and initiated first contact themselves probably means they're not covered by the Prime Directive, but it would still have been nice to have somebody say so.[[/note]]

Meanwhile, [=McCoy=] is forgetting the knowledge he learned from the Teacher, but Kirk has a brainstorm to save the day. He has [=McCoy=] connect Spock's speech center and then Spock ''freakin' directs his own brain surgery''. Yeah, that makes sense. [[note]]RealityIsUnrealistic: Real brain surgery often involves a local anesthetic, not "knocking out" the patient, and thus there can be some verbal feedback, though not direct instruction.[[/note]] And when did Spock get the Teacher's knowledge anyway? In any case, the operation is successful, however improbably so. By the way, Spock's brain has now been surgically removed and restored without affecting his trademark hairstyle at all. Spock starts to talk about how fascinating the ScavengerWorld they've just destroyed is and [=McCoy=] snarks that he shouldn't have reconnected Spock's mouth. Cue EverybodyLaughsEnding.

* FantasticallyChallengingPatient: A humanoid alien incapacitates the crew of the ''Enterprise''. Upon recovery, they discover that she has absconded Spock's brain, leaving his body alive but mindless. It becomes the episode's mission to track down the brain thief and recover Spock's brain before his body fails from lack of purpose. [[spoiler: Bones is ultimately able to operate on Spock and get his brain back in.]]

It all begins when the ''Enterprise'' encounters an alien spacecraft. Scotty is amazed that they are so advanced as to use ion propulsion, a technology which existed ''at the time the episode was written'' (however, as it's clearly an FTL drive, it's the same as today's InNameOnly). The spacecraft's only occupant beams onto the bridge of the ''Enterprise'' and it turns out to be yet another alien woman who wears {{Stripperiffic}} clothes. The men ([[LesYay and Uhura, for some reason]]) stare as the soundtrack swells with romantic music, [[BlatantLies as they've clearly never seen a woman like this before]]. As we will learn later on, she is named Kara (Marj Dusay). But Kara does not come in peace. Using a wrist band, she knocks out everyone on the ship with that "boing" sound effect which {{Sufficiently Advanced Alien}}s always use. After seeming momentarily interested in Kirk's butt, she walks up to the unconscious Spock and gleefully strokes his cranium.

At this point, Kirk, [=McCoy=], Scotty, and Spock's body are taken prisoner by Kara. They are brought to some kind of conference room with her all-female counsel and their male bodyguards. By now, it has become apparent that the cavemen living on the surface are the "Morg", the women living underground are the "Eymorg", and that the Eymorg enslave the Morg using their wrist bands. How either society can procreate is not explained. Kirk demands Kara returns Spock's brain, but she not only has no memory of taking it, she doesn't even seem know what the word "brain" means. "Brain and brain! ''What is 'brain'?!''" she asks in exasperation, giving us the the episode's most famous line. Kirk asks to speak to their leader. Kara says she is leader, but Scotty and [=McCoy=] dismiss this as impossible since they need engineers and doctors. After all, [[ValuesDissonance they clearly need men for that]]. Not to mention engineering and medical skills have absolutely nothing to do with leadership credentials. That's, you know, why Kirk is captain of the ''Enterprise'' instead of them. Anyway, they finally get far enough through Kara's beautiful thick skull for her to mention that there is a "Controller". Then Kirk has an epiphany. "Spock's... brain... ''controls''," he says in classic Creator/WilliamShatner fashion. Kara leaves with her counsel to consult the Controller, leaving their Morg slaves to guard the prisoners. In stupidity which is for once justified by the plot, the Eymorg have left Kirk, [=McCoy=], and Scotty in the same room as their communicators and tricorders. They take them back after a FightScene with the Morg slaves and contact Spock's brain again. Spock's brain beams them a signal which they follow to the WetwareCPU room. Kara uses her wrist band to hit them all with an AgonyBeam. While writhing in pain, Kirk grabs the remote control, using Spock's unaffected body to overpower Kara and free them. How he manages to make Spock's body do such complicated actions with [[PlotSensitiveButton ten unlabeled buttons]] is another of the episode's mysteries.

* PantyShot: [[HospitalHottie Nurse Chapel]] gives us one as she goes down.

[=McCoy=] suggests he could use the Teacher, but Spock's brain warns him that it wasn't made for humans and tells him that he can't take that risk. So apparently Spock is okay with them [[AMillionIsAStatistic killing off a whole civilization to save him]], but he draws the line at [[RuleOfEmpathy risking Bones' life]]. [=McCoy=] insists it's worth the risk since he could bring the knowledge he will learn to the world. Moving on, Kirk lets [=McCoy=] do it. It causes him to faint, but it still works and he gasps that "a child could do it!" Naturally, the big mystery of how to remove and restore a brain is going to be resolved with TheUnreveal. They even have Bones operate behind a partition so that they don't have to explain what he's doing. Oh, and they're doing this operation while in the underground Eymorg complex. How it still has light, oxygen, etc. without the Controller is not explained. Kara is also still there, acting the NeutralFemale. She seems mildly annoyed that all her people will die. No, this is not an understatement. Kirk tells her that they won't die and launches in with his KirkSummation, telling that they'll be better off living on the surface with the Morg. He appears to have just made this up on the spot since what will happen to the Eymorg without their Controller is obviously such a low priority. At least he's not committing genocide anymore, but he's still destroying an entire culture without anyone even mentioning the [[AlienNonInterferenceClause Prime Directive]].[[note]]The fact that they have interstellar flight and initiated first contact themselves probably means they're not covered by the Prime Directive, but it would still have been nice to have somebody say so.[[/note]]

* GutFeeling: Kirk is faced with three Class M planets in the Sigma Draconis system, with only time to investigate one of them. Two have inhabited civilisations, but are not advanced enough to build an ion drive spacecraft. The other is a glacial world inhabited by primitives, but with regular pulses of energy coming from it. Kirk takes his chance on the last planet and turns out to be right.

* MotherRussiaMakesYouStrong: Chekhov says that despite its freezing temperatures Sigma Draconis VI is "liveable". Kirk quips that Chekhov has a thick skin.

* ObscuredSpecialEffects: The [[TakeOurWordForIt amazing brain replacement surgery]] that Dr [=McCoy=] is conducting -- we can't see it as Spock's cranium is inserted into a huge panel behind which [=McCoy=] is working.

The FanNickname for this episode is "The One with [[ShapedLikeItself Spock's Brain]]". It is the only episode of the series to feature a main character's name in the English title. It is also, far and away, the episode with the most [[TitleDrop title drops]][[note]]fifteen, plus twenty-one additional uses of the word "brain"[[/note]], to the point that many people have made a DrinkingGame out of it. It's not recommended for lightweights. It may also be the episode that uses the "BOING!" sound effect the most[[note]]ten times[[/note]]; adding that to the drinking game ''will'' destroy one's liver.

* NeverLiveItDown: InUniverse--Bones says he'll never live down the fact that Spock is telling him how to operate on his brain.

* NeverLiveItDown: InUniverse--Bones says he'll never live down the fact that Spock tells him how to perform brain surgery.

* CityInABottle: When Kirk asks Luma what the UndergroundCity is, she just answers in confusion, "This place is [[OfThePeople Here]]."

The FanNickname for this episode is "TheOneWith [[ShapedLikeItself Spock's Brain]]". It is the only episode of the series to feature a main character's name in the English title. It is also, far and away, the episode with the most [[TitleDrop title drops]][[note]]fifteen, plus twenty-one additional uses of the word "brain"[[/note]], to the point that many people have made a DrinkingGame out of it. It's not recommended for lightweights. It may also be the episode that uses the "BOING!" sound effect the most[[note]]ten times[[/note]]; adding that to the drinking game ''will'' destroy one's liver.

The FanNickname for this episode is "TheOneWith [[ShapedLikeItself Spock's Brain]]". It is the only episode of the series to feature a main character's name in the title. It is also, far and away, the episode with the most [[TitleDrop title drops]][[note]]fifteen, plus twenty-one additional uses of the word "brain"[[/note]], to the point that many people have made a DrinkingGame out of it. It's not recommended for lightweights. It may also be the episode that uses the "BOING!" sound effect the most[[note]]ten times[[/note]]; adding that to the drinking game ''will'' destroy one's liver.

In 1968, Creator/{{NBC}} wanted to cancel ''Star Trek'' after two seasons, but the cult fanbase organized a [[SendingStuffToSaveTheShow letter-writing campaign]] to save the show for a third season. They succeeded and ''Trek''[='s=] third season began with an episode no one would forget. This is it. The {{Narm}}. The {{Plot Hole}}s. This is '''that''' episode. This is "Spock's Brain", widely considered the worst ''Star Trek'' episode ever made. [[SoBadItsGood Or perhaps the best.]]

* CliffhangerCopout: Kara steals a phaser set to "kill" and prepares to shoot Kirk with it. Time for a commercial break...followed by Scotty pretending to faint, distracting Kara so Kirk can take back the phaser. Moving on...

* ViolenceReallyIsTheAnswer: A GiantMook is guarding their tricorders and communicators.

* BattleOfTheSexes: The UndergroundCity was [[WomenAreDelicate built for the women]] while the men were expected to work on the icebound surface. Somehow the two societies because estranged, with the men reverting to a [[FuturePrimitive primitive state]] while the women abduct them periodically for slaves and procreation. When Kirk tries to question a Morg, he doesn't even know what a woman ''is'' -- just "The Others" who [[AlienAbduction "bring pain and delight" for their own mysterious reasons]].