Welcome to The Morning After, where I share with you what movies I’ve seen over the past week. Below, you will find short reviews of those movies along with a star rating. Full length reviews may come at a later date.

So, here is what I watched this past week:

Star Trek (The Original Series): Journey to Babel

On their way to a diplomatic conference to determine if a mining planet of major importance should be admitted to the United Federation of Planets to protect its autonomy and keep it from being unfairly treated, tensions are high among the diplomats, leading to a conflict that results in death. Representing Vulcan, Spock’s (Leonard Nimoy) father Sarek (Mark Lenard) falls gravely ill while being suspected of the murder of the Tellarite ambassador.

Fighting against a suspicious vessel attacking the U.S.S. Enterprises while trying to convince Spock to donate blood to save his father, Kirk (William Shatner) wrestles with his first mate after he’s ambushed by the real murderer, forcing him to lie to Spock in order to convince him to proceed with the operation.

Shatner and Nimoy are solid, but the episode belongs to Lenard. Conveying a sense of the Vulcan lifestyle and personality that had not been readily apparent, Lenard makes Sarek bold, full of conviction, and a touch emotional. Together, Lenard and Nimoy play convincing relatives. The episode gives the audience a chance to see the conflict inherent in the Federation between member worlds. It shows us a myriad of distinct and compelling alien races and yields a fascinating turn as events turn dramatic and the stakes are raised perilously.

Star Trek (The Original Series): Friday’s Child

Deforest Kelley gets to stretch his comic muscles in this episode in which the famous line “I’m a doctor, not an escalator” is uttered. The episode is set on the planet Capella IV where a warlike tribe sits on a deposit of valuable minerals that have drawn the attention of both the Federation and the Klingon empire.

As Kirk and company attempt to obey the customs of the warrior tribe, matters are complicated by a nefarious plot being conducted behind the scenes by the Klingon representative (Tige Andrews) that involves open rebellion among the planet’s tribes. The episode focuses heavily on action, but presents a unique exploration of varied cultures and the compelling way the Federation handles such negotiations.

The costuming is a bit corny, combined with the capes and pony tails, the Capellans make for a modestly laughable race. Their attitudes are a bit too stoic, but the episode provides a solid opportunity see the three title credited actors work in tandem to achieve their goals. There is always a focus on Shatner, but Nimoy and Kelley each get opportunities to steal the spotlight.

Star Trek (The Original Series): The Deadly Years

Five members of the Enterprise crew, Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Scotty (James Doohan), Ensigh Chekov (Walter Koenig) and Lt. Galway (Beverly Washburn), discover the colonists on Gamma Hydra IV are dying of old age in spite of all being under the age of 30. Unsurprisingly, everyone who beamed down begins showing signs of advanced aging with Chekov the lone exception.

As their mental and physical faculties begin failing, a concerned Commodore (Charles Drake) insists they re-route to Starbase 10 to avail themselves of the medical and science facilities there. As Kirk begins re-issuing commands and using improper procedure, Commodore Stocker convenes a competency panel that results in Kirk’s removal from position, endangering the crew as Stocker directs them towards Starbase 10 directly through the neutral zone where conflict with the Romulans is probable.

Only in science fiction do we get to see our protagonists age and the old age makeup is relatively convincing for the period as we see the crew slowly deteriorate both in physical appearance and in physical carriage. Everyone gives solid performances as aging versions of themselves, exaggerated as expected, but not too far outside the realm of credibility.

Drake is a bit of dead weight as Stocker, overplaying his inexperience on the bridge as the Romulans bear down on them. The episodes sets up an interesting twist as they scramble to uncover a cure for their radiation poisoning and avert near destruction with the Romulans slowly whittling down their defenses.

Star Trek (The Original Series): Obsession

A fitting title, “Obsession” witnesses Captain Kirk confront an alien entity he failed to destroy several years earlier. He must first convince his first officer and the ship’s doctor that the alien is an intelligent and malignant threat before they can discover enough about the creature to stop it from killing more crew members.

Brooding on the past, Shatner is a bit less animated than usual, which would be a welcome reprise if it didn’t feel so stilted. The same goes for the young security officer Garrovik (Stephen Brooks) who briefly freezes when confronted by the alien and its menace blaming himself for his fellow crew members’ deaths, just as Shatner did the deaths of others, including Garrovik’s father, years earlier.

The story is heavy-handed in how it handles grief, self-blame and eventual self-redemption, though its interesting approach to science physiognomy and the Vulcan blood stream gives it a sense of gravitas.

Star Trek (The Original Series): Wolf in the Fold

Attending a belly dancing performance on the pleasure planet of Argelius II, leads Scotty to leave the building to spend more time with the buxom Argelian. When she is found murdered in the alley way with Scott standing over her with weapon in hand and no other suspects along with no memory of the incident, the crew is embroiled in a murder mystery that threatens to end in Scott’s death if a suitable solution is not discovered.

While on Argelius II, the story focuses in on the societal and sociopolitical climates of differing nations and how they approach life and justice. The overzealous investigator (John Fiedler) wants a quick solution, but Kirk and company don’t believe Mr. Scott is capable of the crimes for which he’s accused and convince Prefect Jaris (Charles Macauley) to let them use their scientific methods to help analyze the data and come to a solution rather than allowing seeming incongruous data to interfere with the case.

The latter half of the episode takes place on the Enterprise where they must look into the deaths of the original woman as well as the death of a Starfleet officer who was conducting a neurological test on Mr. Scott and the prefect’s wife Sybo (Pilar Seurat) whose mystical divinations uncover a malignant force behind the whole affair.

The exploration of futuristic technology, including a more technologically advanced version of the polygraph test, is fascinating. While some elements seem a bit far fetched, even by modern standards, they are stick as closely to possible scientific methodology as they can, allowing the episode to progress and develop in unique, albeit modestly conventional ways. The revelation of the killer and its origin is a bit hard to swallow, but getting there is great fun for fans of these characters as well as the murder mystery genre itself, albeit one somewhat simplified for television.