YMMV / Star Trek S2 E2 "Who Mourns for Adonais?"

• Jerkass Woobie: Apollo. Sure, he's a dick to the Enterprise crew after they won't worship him like the old days of Greek gods, but by the end, we see what a sad, lonely being Apollo really is, as he faces his defeat with a hefty dose of Manly Tears.
• Special Effect Failure: Even modern SFX can't keep a giant green hand in space from looking a little silly.
• Theiss Titillation Theory:
  • Gender-swapped with Apollo's outfit, which is a tunic exposing part of his chest and ends mid-thigh.
  • The top of Carolyn's backless gown was held in place with long strips of double-sided tape, which, when removed after filming, took a couple layers of the actress's skin along with it. As a result, actress Leslie Parrish refused to wear the outfit during rehearsals, even the dress rehearsal. (At the time, we were told that the top was held in place by the weight of the cape in back. Bill Theiss had many good stories like this.)
• Values Dissonance: While this is done deliberately at one point, it's present in an early scene of the episode, where Bones hypothesizes that once Carolyn finds a man, she'll probably give up her career in Starfleet. Because... she can't do both, apparently? (Particularly jarring given that just last season, Kirk presided over a wedding between two members of the crew who clearly had no intention of retiring just yet.) Gene Roddenberry frequently (and not consistently) used the idea, left over from World War II, that heterosexual women only joined the military to find the right man; once they do, they would marry and resign from the service.
• Visual Effects of Awesome: The green hand aside, the effects are pretty good even before the digital remastering. Subtle but effective: swaying trees and bird song make the studio set look like it really is outside. We really do believe from the arranged shots that Apollo is growing.
• WTH, Costuming Department?: Apollo's flimsy little Roman outfit does come off a bit cheesy, and even Apollo's actor, Michael Forest, joked about it on set.

---