Awesome / Star Trek: The Original Series

Warning: Unmarked spoilers ahead.

Season One

Where No Man Has Gone Before

• In his very first episode, Kirk manages to beat up a would-be god.
  • Dr. Elizabeth Dehner saying a hearty "screw you" to With Great Power Comes Great Insanity and kicking Gary Mitchell's ass with her Psychic Powers, softening him up so Kirk could win with Good Old Fisticuffs. Kirk may have gotten the glory, but Dr. Dehner scored the victory.

The Naked Time

• Only on Kirk's Enterprise could they make a million-to-one shot to get out of the crisis of the week, and not only survive, but accidentally figure out time travel.
  • Also keep in mind that the guy responsible for working out the said calculations and accidental time travel happened to be infected by the virus and effectively in the grip of an emotional breakdown.
• Dr. McCoy deserves his props, as well. Not only did he discover a cure for the condition, but he himself had been handling several of those individuals himself, and his nurse was also affected. Yet, despite the exposure, despite being understaffed, and despite the madness of Riley's singing and the antics of the lab techs, the Doctor came up with a cure in a few scant hours.

Mudd's Women

• Eve calls Childress out on not wanting a wife that would spend time with him, but just a pretty thing to hang off his arm. Kirk’s look of pride throughout the whole speech is just icing.

Dagger Of The Mind

• Even while Kirk sobbing and screaming from the pain of the Neural Neutralizer is horrifying, he still manages to show Heroic Willpower in calling the Enterprise when being forced to drop his communicator.
• When Kirk is in danger, Dr. Noel sets to effecting his rescue, sneaking through the air vents and fighting guards so she can disable the shield preventing anyone from beaming down from the Enterprise.

The Corbomite Manuever

• Kirk's entire speech.
  Kirk: This is the Captain of the Enterprise. Our respect for other life forms requires that we give you this... warning. One critical item of information that has never been incorporated into the memory banks of any Earth ship. Since the early years of space exploration, Earth vessels have had incorporated into them a substance known as... corbomite. It is a material and a device which prevents attack on us. If any destructive energy touches our vessel, a reverse reaction of equal strength is created, destroying—
  Balok: [on intercom] You now have two minutes.
  Kirk: —destroying the attacker. It may interest you to know that since the initial use of corbomite more than two of our centuries ago, no attacking vessel has survived the attempt. Death has... little meaning to us. If it has none to you then attack us now. We grow annoyed at your foolishness.
  • It's a hell of an Establishing Character Moment for Kirk (after the pilot, this was the first episode filmed). Asking Spock for alternatives, Spock concludes there are none, likening them to having been put in checkmate in chess. Kirk suddenly decides to change the game from chess to poker and bluff his way to victory.
  • A Moment of Awesome for Balok as well... the whole thing was a Secret Test of Character, so he could figure out what these other Federation types were made of and if it was worth his while to bother interacting with them. Kirk's inspired bluff, along with the captain's insistence on beaming aboard Balok's ship when he sent out a distress signal, convinced him we were.
• This line from Sulu pretty much sums up Spock's brilliance:
  Sulu: Try to cross brains with Spock, he'll cut you to pieces every time.

The Conscience of the King

• Kirk and Karidian have a very tense conversation where Kirk accuses Karidian of being Kodos the Executioner. Karidian manages to simultaneously take offense that Kirk thinks he's the notorious killer, and quite defensive over Kirk's eagerness to judge Kodos for his actions. What results is a Shut Up, Kirk! of downright Shakespearian levels.
  Karidian: If you're so sure that I'm Kodos, why not kill me now? Let bloody vengeance take its final course! And see what difference it makes to this universe of yours.
• The final act of Karidian's life, Taking the Bullet for Kirk when he has discovered his daughter is the actual killer.

Balance of Terror

• Kirk telling Lt. Stiles to shut it after he hears the latter snidely remarking that "the Vulcan" (i.e. Spock) could help with the encoded message.
  Kirk: Leave any bigotry in your quarters; there's no room for it on the bridge.
• Kirk's battle of wits with the Romulan commander. For both captains.
  • Also for the Romulans in general. The Romulan ship is smaller than the Enterprise and fusion-powered, meaning she should be a lot less powerful than the Federation ship... And yet, the Romulan Bird of Prey outguns the Enterprise, with the latter's only hope of surviving being hit is to be far away enough that the hit loses power. When you add that the Federation crew isn't too surprised by this, you start to understand exactly why it took the creation of the Federation to take them on, and over a century later, the Federation is still scared of them.
    • That seems to have been an intentional implication, by the way, because it would be reinforced in Star Trek: Deep Space Nine. The Dominion spent months wiping the floor with the Federation-Klingon alliance prior to the Romulans joining the war. Within days of declaring war with the Dominion, however, the Romulans single-handedly beat the Dominion back behind their lines and capture several planets. It's only then that they even bother to get in touch with their new allies.

The Squire of Gothos

• Spock's flat assessment of the titular character, who has spent much of the episode having "fun" with the powerless crew. Bonus points for Kirk's quirking a smile at the end - it's the first time anybody managed to upset the bastard.
  "I object to you. I object to intellect without discipline. I object to power without constructive purpose."

Arena

• As pictured, Kirk MacGyvering a cannon to beat the Gorn in combat. But that's not enough for James "I can't hear you over the sound of how awesome I am" Kirk - no, he then refuses to kill the Gorn as ordered by the Metrons (the godlike entities who put them there to begin with) and calls them out for making him and the Gorn destroy each other for their entertainment. Kirk is in rare form in this episode.

The Return of the Archons

• Spock decided to cut loose a little and actually punched out a guard.
  Kirk: Isn't that a little old fashioned?

Space Seed

• Khan is a Crowning Villain Of Awesome. He and his Mooks take over the ship with barely a hint of effort.
• Dr. McCoy when Khan suddenly grabs him and holds a scalpel to his throat:
  McCoy: Well, either choke me or cut my throat. Make up your mind.
  Khan: English. I thought I dreamed hearing it. Where am I?
  McCoy: You're in bed, holding a knife at your doctor's throat.
  Khan: Answer my question.
  McCoy: It would be most effective if you would cut the carotid artery, just under the left ear.
  Khan: I like a brave man. [lowers the scalpel]
• The Kirk/Khan fight is pretty awesome, including the part where Kirk finally defeats Khan by hitting him with a plastic toy hammer.
• From the same episode, it's a brief see-it-or-miss-it moment, when Scotty punches out one of Khan's superhuman minions in one blow. And then had enough smarts and speed to escape from the knock-out gas entering into the room.
• Khan has taken over the Enterprise, with Kirk held inside a decompression chamber, slowly getting deprived of oxygen. Khan demands that the crew bow down before him, but the crew, possessing a toughness as the cream of Starfleet that arrogant dictator can never understand, firmly refuses, leading Khan to shout "IT'S SO USELESS!"
• Khan's second-in-command backhands Uhura. Her response is to turn around and give him an utterly defiant "Go to hell" Death Glare.

This Side of Paradise

• Spock (along with most of the crew) is under the influence of a Lotus-Eater Machine, and Kirk has to get him mad enough to shake off its effects— not easy with a Vulcan. Once he's done insulting him, his race, his parents and his girlfriend, and Spock's finally had enough, he throws Kirk around like a rag doll, even bending the metal bar that Kirk tries to use to keep him at bay. He's about to remove Kirk's head when he finally comes to his senses. A hilarious moment for Kirk when he's trying to provoke him, and a rare look at what a Vulcan who's finally had enough is capable of.
  Kirk: It isn't every first officer who gets to belt his captain... several times.
  • In many ways, a certain scene in the 2009 movie is a Call-Back to this one.
• McCoy's response on being told that the colony doesn't need a doctor, also a CMoF:
  "Oh no? You like to see just how fast I can put you in a hospital?"

A Taste of Armageddon

• A mix of Moment of Awesome and Funny Moments: Kirk and Spock have snuck out of their holding room, and see across the hall a group of armed guards escorting people to the termination booths. Spock casually walks up to one of them, says, "Sir, there is a multi-legged creature crawling on your shoulder," gives him a Vulcan nerve pinch, snatches his gun, and calmly walks away while the other guards just stare.
• Scotty standing up to an all-too-trusting ambassador:
  Ambassador Fox: Diplomacy, gentlemen, should be a job left to diplomats. You will, of course, immediately resume a peaceful status.
  Scotty: No, sir—I will not!
  Fox: What did you say?
  Scotty: I'll not lower the screens; not until the captain tells me to.
  Fox: You are taking orders from me. You will lower the screens as a sign of good faith. My authority!
  Scotty: I know all about your authority, but the screens stay up!
  McCoy: Mr. Fox! They've faked a message from the captain, they've launched an attack against our ship, now you expect us to trust them openly?
  Fox: I want and expect you to comply with my lawful orders!
  Scotty: No sir; I won't lower the screens.
  Fox: Your refusal to comply with my orders has jeopardized the success of this mission! I could have you sent to a penal colony for this!
  Scotty: That you can, sir. But I won't lower the screens.
  • This was supposedly based on a real-life experience James Doohan encountered in the Canadian armed services, according to a documentary included in the first season collection, and the Star Trek wiki:
    As a lieutenant in the Royal Canadian Artillery, James Doohan was threatened with court martial for real for saying "No sir, I will not," to a visiting colonel when he realized a training exercise order would entail blowing the heads off some of his own men. Fortunately, his immediate superiors backed him up and, like his fictional character, he was eventually promoted to captain.
• Later in that same episode, Ambassador Fox gets one when he decides to get dangerous and become Ambadassador Fox. Starfleet doesn't promote complete jerks, thank you very much.
• Part of the solution to the crisis involves setting things up so that unless Kirk countermands his order, the Enterprise will destroy all life on the planet in two hours. The true awesome comes when you realize that it is not a bluff—the question is whether the Enterprise crew will do it, not if the Enterprise can do it.
  • Kirk's anti-war speech is one of his best ever.
  Kirk: Death. Destruction. Disease. Horror. That's what war is all about! That's what makes it a thing to be avoided!

The Devil in the Dark

• On a professional aspect, Dr. McCoy saves an entire species by successfully treating a severely wounded Horta, a silicon-based lifeform— something he is not only completely unfamiliar with, but didn't believe was possible in the first place until that very day.
  McCoy: By golly, Jim— I'm beginning to think I can cure a rainy day!
• Kirk's reaction when cornered by the "monster." He knows that the creature in front of him has already killed several men. It is monstrous in form. He is not completely clear on exactly how it kills, so he has no idea what to watch out for. He is armed with a weapon that can destroy it, but only if he is quick enough to strike first. He chooses instead to try to communicate with it.
• Spock agreeing to mindmeld with a creature which has been known to kill with a touch. Considering how dangerous later series have shown mindmelds to be, and he doesn't even know whether the thing has any sort of mind, that probably took some nerve.
• And the Horta herself— she is completely outnumbered by the strange, horrible looking attackers who are destroying her eggs, all that is left of her species, and singlehandedly manages to eliminate much of the opposition despite operating in conditions she's not used to - and this is before she goes straight for the life-support system, which would've killed everyone else.

Errand Of Mercy

• The Organians stopping the war between the Klingons and the Federation, and giving Kirk one of the best cut downs he’s ever been forced to accept. He immediately starts squirming and fidgeting like a child that’s been told off.
  Kirk: We have the right!
  Ayleborne: To wage war, Captain? To kill millions of innocent people? To destroy life on a planetary scale? Is that what you're defending?

Season Two

Amok Time

• Kirk tries his best to be a good little officer and asks permission for the Admiral to let them go to Vulcan before the inauguration ceremony. Of course he refuses, so in the words of a later similar situation “the word is no, we are therefore going anyway”, making it the first time Kirk really disobeys orders because Spock is his friend and he owes him.
• Before Kirk gets enrolled in all this, Spock is deep in Vulcan "blood fever", of which T'Pau herself said that he wouldn't speak again until the fight was over. He manages it nonetheless, and the determination needed for him to do it is only underlined by the faint-yet-audible disbelief in T'Pau's "Thee speaks?"
  • Speaking of which, Spock trying to convince T'Pau to release Kirk from participating in the Kal-i-fee, period. Spock, who has been beaten up over his human half for his whole life, gives his people more fuel with this request and even takes a few shots from T'Pau, the woman Kirk described as "all of Vulcan wrapped up in one package." While Spock is never in any physical danger in this scene, it may be the bravest thing he ever does in the entire series.
• Likewise, after "praising" T'Pring for the coldly logical way that she manipulated events to her favor, there are his parting words to T'Pring and Stonn.
  Spock: After a time, you may find that having is not so pleasing a thing after all as wanting. It is not logical, but it is often true.
• McCoy pulls off a last-minute Indy Ploy out of nowhere to keep Spock from killing Kirk, and bluffs the hell out of everyone there, including Kirk and T'Pau, in order to pull it off. And gets in a dig at Spock at the end for good measure. Beautiful.
• T'Pring herself should get a mention for the scheme she pulled off. To recap: the original plan was for Stonn, her lover, to fight Spock. Easy enough. And then Spock beams down with Kirk and McCoy, and she changes her plan on the fly in a perfectly executed Xanatos Gambit.
  T'Pring: If your Captain were victor, he would not want me, and so I would have Stonn. If you were victor, you would free me because I had dared to challenge, and again I would have Stonn. But if you did not free me, it would be the same. For you would be gone, and I would have your name and your property, and Stonn would still be there.

The Changeling

• Kirk uses a Logic Bomb on the "perfect" Nomad probe, revealing that it is actually faulty and thus, by its own logic, must destroy itself. Spock compliments him afterward. When a Vulcan compliments you on your logic, you done good.
  Kirk: You must sterilize in case of error?
  Nomad: Error is inconsistent with my prime functions. Sterilization is correction.
  Kirk: Everything that is in error must be sterilized?
  Nomad: There are no exceptions.
  Kirk: Nomad, I made an error in creating you.
  Nomad: The creation of perfection is no error.
  Kirk: I did not create perfection. I created... error.
  Nomad: Your data is faulty. I am Nomad. I am perfect.
  Kirk: I am the Kirk, the Creator?
  Nomad: You are the Creator.
  Kirk: You are wrong! Jackson Roykirk, your creator, is dead! You have mistaken me for him. You are in error! You did not discover your mistake. You have made two errors. You are flawed and imperfect — and you have not corrected by sterilization, you have made three errors!
  Nomad: [in high-pitched voice] ...Error. Error. Error. Examine.
  Kirk: You are flawed, and imperfect! Execute your prime function!
  Nomad: [high-pitched, shaking, circuits audibly frying] I shall analyze error. Analyze... Error...

Mirror, Mirror

• Spock, or specifically the bearded version in "Mirror, Mirror," when he warns his version of Sulu that if he is killed, he has associates who would avenge him, capped off by appending "...and some of them are Vulcans." Sulu's "Eep!" look at this statement and the accompanying music sting is all you need to convey the fact you do not mess with this Spock!
• Regular Spock has his moment too. Namely, while Kirk and his crew worry at what trouble their barbaric counterparts are causing in their dimension, the next scene shows they should have more faith in Mr. Spock, as he has instantly figured out what is going on and has the barbarians hauled to the brig.
• Uhura intimidates the mirror Sulu into backing down with nothing but a cool voice, a steely stare, and a dagger the size of her hand.

The Doomsday Machine

• The final five minutes. A dramatic countdown as Kirk pilots the USS Constellation on a suicide run—but the transporter shuts down before he can beam off, effectively trapping him on the doomed ship, while Scotty races to fix the transporter. One of Trek's all time biggest Moments of Awesome.
  • Not to mention the Awesome Music pounding away in the background...
• When Kirk finds out the mentally unstable Decker had taken control of his ship and is expecting Kirk to follow his orders as well, he refuses and tells Spock to relieve Decker of command, on his personal authority as captain of the Enterprise. Also one for Spock, who proceeds to do so with the threat of being hauled off by security if Decker doesn't go quietly. Decker claims he's bluffing; Spock simply responds, "Vulcans never bluff." That simple matter of fact statement from that Vulcan is all that is needed to remind Decker that he is playing against an officer who cannot be intimidated when he has set his mind to a task, and stands down.

  Kirk: Not with my ship, you don't! Mr. Spock, relieve Commodore Decker immediately! That's a direct order!
  Decker: You can't relieve me and you know it! According to regulations-
  Kirk: Blast regulations! Mr. Spock, I order you to assume command on my personal authority as captain of the Enterprise!
  Spock: Commodore Decker, you are relieved of command.

  • Also those two security officers. For once, those Red Shirts are not random cannon fodder, but big tough guys loyal to their captain and first officer and eager for the word from Spock to drag Commodore Decker out before his Moby Schtick kills them all.

I, Mudd

• Uhura gave a very convincing performance to the androids, pretending to sabotage the Enterprise crew's attempt to sabotage the androids.
• The crew's brilliantly executed Logic Bomb crosses this with Funny.

Journey to Babel

• Despite being stabbed in the back, Kirk still manages to take down his attacker and call Spock before collapsing.
• Bones manages to perform open-heart surgery on Sarek, when he's never even operated on a Vulcan before. Not only that, but he keeps both Sarek and Spock alive, when Spock is participating in the surgery by donating his blood while using an experimental drug. Not only that, but for a significant part of the surgery, the Enterprise was under attack, losing power, and shaking violently. Bones proves that he's one hell of a Doctor.
• Sarek gets into an argument with rival ambassador Gav, who decides to make the argument physical. Gav grabs Sarek by the shoulder, and he responds by lightly tapping Gav's palms, sending him reeling four feet back and hard into a wall. If Kirk hadn't interrupted, Sarek would've clearly shown Gav how illogical it would be to make a Vulcan feel like the logical thing to do is getting into a fistfight.
  • Makes sense though. Spock had to get his badassery from somewhere.

The Deadly Years

• When Kirk pulls the Corbomite bluff again to escape a Romulan attack, minutes after having recovered from Rapid Aging-onset senility. The Romulans' hasty retreat combines this with Crowning Moment of Funny.

Obsession

• Chapel applying psychology by getting a self pitying Garrovick to eat something. McCoy is completely lost when she tells him about it.

Wolf in the Fold

• One of the nerdiest solutions to a catastrophe ever. The non-corporeal demon Redjac gets into the ship's computer system, and seemingly has total control of the ship. What do Kirk and Spock come up with? Ask the computer, under high priority, to calculate to the last digit the value of pi.
  Kirk: That should keep that thing busy for a while.

The Trouble With Tribbles

• Spock showing off his Badass Bookworm nature in usual stoic manner.
  Baris: Quadrotriticale is not wheat, Captain. Of course, I wouldn't expect you or Mister Spock to know about such things, but quadrotriticale is a rather-
  Spock: Quadrotriticale is a high-yield grain, a four-lobed hybrid of wheat and rye. A perennial, also, if I'm not mistaken. Its root grain, triticale, can trace its ancestry all the way back to twentieth century Canada-
  Kirk: Mister Spock, you've made your point.
• Kirk letting his opinion of Baris be known.
  Kirk: I have never questioned the orders or the intelligence of any representative of the Federation. Until now.
  Kirk: On the contrary, Mister Baris. I think of this project as very important. It is you I take lightly.
  Kirk: (realizes the Tribbles like Baris) Mister Baris, they like you. Well, there's no accounting for taste.
• Scotty gets another one when he decks a Klingon for insulting the Enterprise, after he stopped Chekov from attacking them for insulting Captain Kirk.
  Kirk: You hit the Klingons because they insulted the Enterprise, not because they...
  Scotty: Well, sir, this was a matter of pride!
  • And what started it in the first place:
  Klingon: We like the Enterprise, w-we really do! That sagging old rust-bucket is designed like a garbage scow. Half the quadrant knows it, that's why they're learning to speak Klingonese!
  Scotty: Laddie, don't you think you should rephrase that?
  Klingon: You're right, I should. I didn't mean to say that the Enterprise should be hauling garbage. I meant to say that it should be hauled away as garbage!
  • Those are indeed fighting words. Insult Captain Kirk, Scotty will live and let live. Insult the Enterprise, Scotty will kick your ass.
  • Korax has a little seen ability for a Klingon. He impersonates Scotty quite well when saying, "You're right, I should." He also exhibits a good sense of humour.
• Cyrano also deserves mention for his Moment of Awesome in this same scene. He watches the brawl while gleefully consuming multiple glasses of wine (free of charge, thanks to the bartender's absence). He then fairly waltzes across the room, carefully avoiding all the humans and Klingons being thrown around, then stands at the door and raises his wine glass, preparing to drink it. The bartender returns at that moment with security and swiftly snatches the glass from his hand without even breaking stride. Cyrano, undaunted, pulls another wine glass out of his pocket and drinks it with a self-satisfied smirk. Pure. Win.
• Even better, despite being weaker in physical strength, and despite a moment where Chekov's Klingon No Sells his punches, the fight that the Enterprise crew give the Klingons is pretty much equally-matched throughout.
• Score another one for the Red Shirts: The brawl immediately ends when a squad of Enterprise security personnel rush in. Apparently, not even the Klingons wanted to mess with them.
• The tribbles get one for outing a Klingon spy.
• After finding out about the Klingon plot to poison the grain, Kirk nonchalantly tells Koloth that he has six hours to get out of Federation space. The tribbles that Kirk is holding let out a squeal that makes the Klingons scamper off.
• Scotty beaming all the tribbles from the Enterprise to the Klingon vessel— the Klingons would not have been happy with all the noise that tribbles make when they sense them.

Return to Tomorrow

• This exchange, which sums up what Star Trek is all about and why Kirk is still, in the minds of many, the best of all the Star Trek captains.
  Kirk: Bones? You could stop all this by saying no. That's why I called you all here together. We'll all be deeply involved. It must be unanimous.
  McCoy: Then I'll still want one question answered to my satisfaction. Why? Not a list of possible miracles, but a simple basic understanding of why that overrides all danger! And let's not kid ourselves that there is no potential danger in this.
  Kirk: They used to say if man could fly, he'd have wings. But he did fly. He discovered he had to. Do you wish that the first Apollo mission hadn't reached the moon, or that we hadn't gone on to Mars and then to the nearest star? That's like saying you wish that you still operated with scalpels and sewed your patients up with catgut, like your great-great-great-great-grandfather used to. I'm in command. I could order this. But I'm not. Because Doctor McCoy is right... in pointing out the enormous danger potential in any contact with life and intelligence as fantastically advanced as this. But I must point out that the possibilities, the potential for knowledge and advancement, is equally great! Risk... risk is our business! That's what the starship is all about. That's why we're aboard her! You may dissent without prejudice. Do I hear a negative vote?

By Any Other Name

• The crew realize that an easy way to disorient the Kelvans (and thus disarm them) is to get them in touch with human emotions and sensations. Smart plan, but the moment of Awesome goes to Scotty, who takes the plan a step further by offering some liquor to the Kelvans. He then proceeds to drink one of them under the table. Also a Funny Moment.
  Scotty: [to his empty scotch bottle] We did it, you n' me! [mwah!] Put him right under the table!

Bread and Circuses

• It's understated, but Flavius' involvement is definitely part of what saved the trio this episode.
  • First he's chosen as McCoy's opponent in the televised fight, and is deliberately trying not to hurt him - even when 'forced' to make the fight entertaining, he gives McCoy help on how to hold his weapon properly, whereas anyone else would've quickly overpowered the doctor and killed him on the spot.
  • Second, when he sees Kirk about to be summarily executed, he runs straight into the thick of things yelling "Murderers! You want death, then fight me!" - this gets him gunned down, but it was just the distraction Kirk needed to grab one of their guns, along with buy the seconds needed for Scotty's planet-wide 'lights out' trick that allows Kirk to get away in the darkness (then find and break out Spock/McCoy), and which leads into Mevik's final redemption that gets them beamed away.

Season Three

The Enterprise Incident

• The Reveal halfway through the episode that Kirk's reckless, embittered behavior throughout the episode, as well as Spock's seeming betrayal, was all a big scheme to steal a part from a Romulan ship. The episode thus becomes an Awesome moment for Kirk and Spock. Bonus: we get the rare sight of Spock mackin' on the Girl of the Week.

Is There In Truth No Beauty?

• Not only does Dr Jones not fall for Kirk’s attempts at distracting by seducing her in the slightest, she also gives him a short but effective What the Hell, Hero?, Tranquil Fury in her voice, telling him he’s a very complicated man.
• Behind the scenes, Roddenberry was Merchandise-Driven and wanted a big speech shilling the Vulcan badge so that fans would buy it. Nimoy and Shatner refused to do it on principle, and actually got him to tone it down.

Spectre of the Gun

• The buildup to the final confrontation is commendable for how well the crew trapped in the illusion avert holding the Idiot Ball for even one moment, and try everything they can think of to avoid the gunfight. Screw This, I'm Outta Here? An unknown force prevents them from leaving, either by calling Enterprise to beam off or just walking away. Try to talk things out with the Earps, including outright surrender? They won't accept it. Try to use their modern scientific knowledge to use available contemporary chemicals to create knockout gas? The chemicals do not react as they should. After that, they believe nothing will allow them to avoid the confrontation, and justifiably so.
• Spock, when the gang is trapped in a surreal Death Trap nightmare of no escape. When Spock reveals he figured a way out, the atmosphere instantly changes to hope as you hang onto every word Spock says, as he explains the truth of the situation and the solution. Which, of course, works perfectly in suddenly making the landing party the ones with the real edge in that nightmare.
• Spock's solution leads to the pure, grade-A badass image of Spock, Kirk, Bones and Scotty standing up to a crew of gunfighters, and responding to direct hits with completely deadpan expressions, while the fence behind them is chewed up by the bullets. For just that moment, the crew of the Enterprise were the biggest BAMFs in the galaxy.
  • The build-up to the finish deserves mention, as they cross-cut between Spock mind-melding with the others, while the Earps & Holliday march towards the corral like cold-hearted angels of Death. All the while, Jerry Fielding's music builds up to a powerful climax when Wyatt growls, "Draw."
  • One more from that sequence: after Kirk has quickly and easily beaten Wyatt Earp to the ground, he pulls his own pistol. A defenseless, clearly frightened Earp is pretty much looking down the gun's barrel as Kirk cocks the hammer. It would've been very easy to use the illusory gun to kill the illusory Earp for revenge. But Kirk won't commit murder, even in an illusion. So he uncocks the gun, tosses it away, and releases Earp.

Day Of The Dove

• Kirk’s speech in “Day Of The Dove”, both for getting Kang to listen, and how he could be talking to himself, trained as a good little soldier for the Federation, and becoming more like the (even if still flawed and human) diplomat we know and love.
• Kirk withstanding Kang's not so friendly back pat when they are trying to convince the entity they are all friends. Given that Klingons are often presented as stronger than humans overall, and Kirk likely wasn’t expecting it, he stood up very well.

Plato's Stepchildren

• Kirk and Uhura have the first interracial kiss; mainly because, in that same episode, Kirk acts like a horse so a midget can ride him. And later, the same midget is being telekinetically controlled by some aliens to attack Kirk with a knife. And Kirk responds in kind.
• The behind the scenes story is pretty great too. The network was skittish about the kiss and asked that they shoot a few takes where Kirk and Uhura stop before they actually locked lips or at least a Kissing Discretion Shot where Uhura's head was blocking the view. William Shatner and Nichelle Nichols responded by deliberately screwing up every single take the director tried to do of them not kissing, forcing the editors to use a take where they did.
  • In fact, if you read their respective autobiographies, it becomes pretty clear that the events of the Kiss Scene are the only thing the two see eye-to-eye on. Nichols and Shatner really don't get along, but on this, they were in complete agreement.
• Alexander shows that even though he's shorter than everyone else on the planet, he's the bigger man by refusing to sink to the level of his sociopathic oppressors.
• Throughout the episode, Parnum forced Kirk to shut up (and recite love poetry, scream in pain, neigh like a horse etc.) because “[I’m] tired of your moralising”. At the end when he’s lost, he still makes excuses and Kirk gets his own back, telling him Tranquil Fury that he’s very good at speeches, but better make sure he lives up to them.

Let That Be Your Last Battlefield

• Kirk psyching out Bele like a boss, by initiating the Enterprise's Self-Destruct Mechanism.

The Cloud Minders

• Vanna might be the smartest one in the episode, manipulating Kirk into thinking he’d bested her when trying to kidnap him, and that she trusted him, leading to him becoming her hostage anyway. And when he’s infected by the gas and fighting the advisor, she saves the day by calling the Enterprise.

Turnabout Intruder

• When Dr. Janice Lester, an ex-lover of Kirk's, is in his body and acting as captain and trying to sentence both Kirk (who's in her body) and Spock (who found out about the switch) to death, Scotty and McCoy privately have a conversation about what to do, as they suspect something but have no proof to directly prove it.
  Scotty: Suppose you voted with me in favor of Spock. That's two to one and Spock is free. What do you think the Captain will do?
  McCoy: I don't know.
  Scotty: You know, all right. It'll stick in his craw. He'll never accept it.
  McCoy: We don't know that.
  Scotty: I tell you, he won't. Then, Doctor, that's the time we move against him. We'll have to take over the ship.
  McCoy: We're talking about a mutiny, Scotty.
  Scotty: Aye. Are you ready for the vote?
  McCoy: I'm ready for the vote.
  • Janice Lester gets one (more like a Crowning Moment of Evil) for recording the whole conversation above and effectively using it to sentence Scotty and McCoy to death for trying to mutiny against her, the "captain."
• Chekov and Sulu defying Lester's orders toward the end of the episode. At this point, she has already locked up Kirk, Spock, Scotty, and McCoy, and planned to have them executed as mutineers. It would be small beans for her to add their names to the list. But that doesn't matter. These two are not assisting this Ax-Crazy body-swapper in succeeding with her plans.

Other

• From the comics, a cross between Moment of Awesome and CMOF: Army. Of. TRIBBLES.
• A Real Life example, told in Star Trek Memories: Nichelle Nichols had come to work in spite of being in a car wreck on the way there, and fainted on set when the anesthetic took effect. William Shatner pulled his rank as star of the show to take her home before he resumed shooting.
• "Come here, mum, everybody, come quick, come quick, there's a black lady on television, and she ain't no maid!" The sheer audacity of Roddenberry and NBC in putting a black woman at back center stage, in 1966 — right behind the Captain's seat, where you couldn't miss her — is one of the most awesome casting choices in television history. It got Whoopi Goldberg into acting, Trek, and a role in Star Trek: The Next Generation. And then it got Dr. Mae Jemison, NASA's first female African-American astronaut, into space.
  • Driving home how significant Star Trek was for the promotion of racial diversity, "The Ultimate Computer" gives us William Marshall, a black man, cast as Richard Daystrom, Starfleet's foremost computer expert, who is referred to by Captain Kirk as "sir." You might not think this is a bold casting choice today, but it sure as hell was for 1968.
  • Yet another example of a notable black character was Commodore Stone from "Court Martial", played by Percy Rodriguez, who conducted Kirk's trial because he outranked him!
• The first Space Shuttle built by NASA was originally going to be named Constitution, after one of the first frigates built for the US Navy. However, following a letter-writing campaign consisting of "hundreds of thousands of letters", the shuttle's name was changed to Enterprise, in honor of the fictional starship. The fact that fans of a cancelled television show were able to convince a high-level government body to change their minds really says something about the show's cultural impact.
• On October 13, 2021, Captain Kirk took off for real as William Shatner became the oldest person to be launched into space at age 90, on a short sub-orbital flight of Blue Origin.
• According to Memory Alpha, Roddenberry tried to take Gene Coon’s accomplishments (producer from “Miri” to “A Private Little War”, writing four episodes in season three, and creating a lot of fan-loved elements) for his own after the other Gene died, and Nimoy, Shatner and DC Fontana all refused to let him get away with it.