YMMV / Star Trek S3 E3 "The Paradise Syndrome"

• Canon Fodder: Likely because of the initially very positive reception of this episode, the Preservers went on to be prominently featured in Star Trek spin-off material. Strangely enough, the decline in the episode's overall reputation hasn't done much to dent the popularity of the Preservers themselves. It helps that we never actually see the Preservers, and the main characters can only guess at their motives, thus helping them avoid falling into the same White Man's Burden trap that a similar race in the Voyager episode "Tattoo" did.
• Condemned by History: This episode was, at the time of its initial airing, hailed as one of the better episodes (arguably even the best) in an otherwise pretty underwhelming season. It afforded William Shatner the chance to do some of his best acting during the show's run. The episode created the Preservers, an enigmatic, unseen race who would provide huge amounts of both Canon Fodder and Fanfic Fuel for the decades ahead. While the episode retained its strong reputation for a while, it ultimately nosedived around the late 1980s. Shatner had gone on to provide far more iconic performances in the TOS films. The problems with the episode's white savior narrative and stereotypical depictions of Native American peoples — all played by actors in brownface, no less — became glaringly obvious by the 1990s. In later years, various fanfics and expanded universe novels made far more effective usage of the Preservers than their fleeting mentions in the episode. As a result, the episode is now generally seen as one of the worst not just of the third season, but of TOS in general. (Contrast this with perennial favorites like "The City on the Edge of Forever" and "The Devil in the Dark", whose timeless messages still resonate today and which are still considered some of the best the series ever produced.)
• In-Universe Factoid Failure: Kirok/Kirk gets his hand slashed by Salish's knife attack. Salish notes the incongruence of a "god who bleeds". In many cultures, it is not at all unusual for a god to adopt a human avatar with all of the frailties and weaknesses of a real human. Not that the god in question could necessarily be killed by killing their human form. And what better way to mate with a mortal?
• Overshadowed by Controversy: Nowadays, it's hard to talk about this episode without addressing the severe Values Dissonance it's suffered.
• Signature Scene: The final scene, with Kirk comforting the dying Miramanee, is likely a big part of why this episode had such a strong reputation until the problems with its racial politics became evident, with William Shatner doing some of his best acting in the show's run.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Character: Miramanee has arguably more genuine romantic chemistry with Kirk than any of his other one-time love interests (with the notable exception of Edith Keeler) in TOS's run, and often shows herself to be a capable, independent-minded woman. Unfortunately, the Mighty Whitey undertones of her relationship with Kirk and the inconsistent writing of her character — when she isn't being capable and independent-minded, she comes across incredibly submissive, bordering on child-like at points — end up undermining things.
• They Wasted a Perfectly Good Plot: Depending on who you ask, it's either an otherwise strong-for-Season 3 episode that's wrecked by its outdated and ill-considered racial politics, or a generally mediocre episode that brings up something interesting with the Preservers, but fails to properly build on it (in addition to the aforementioned racial issues). Also the fact that Kirk, McCoy and Spock all have interesting character beats - Kirk feeling like he doesn't deserve to be happy, Spock exhausting himself out of guilt, Bones demanding that his Vitriolic Best Bud rest - only contributes to the problem, as the white men get depth and nobody else does.
• Values Dissonance: The episode is a perfect storm of every offensive "Native American" and Mighty Whitey trope imaginable, plus Miramanee is played by a white actress in brownface... and it's worth remembering that a lot of this was absolutely bog-standard for American TV portraying Native Americans in The '60s. It's best exemplified by the fact that for the two decades or so after its first airing it was considered one of the best episodes of the third season, but nowadays is seen as... well, definitely nowhere near one of the worst episodes of that season, but not remembered nearly as fondly as it once was.

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