‘Star Trek’ Retro Recap: ‘The Man Trap’

Written by John Edward Betancourt 

I will never forget, the moment I fell in love with Star Trek. Which is funny, because I don’t remember much else about that day, just that I was playing around with my toys, and my dad was watching television on the couch and what he was watching, looked pretty damn cool. Because a bunch of people in bright colored shirts were flying about space aboard a massive star ship and what they were doing on screen was enough capture my attention, and I put my down my toys and went right over to the couch to see more of this fascinating show. I of course, asked my father what this was, and he told me it was a show named Star Trek and he loved it as a kid, and it was about a man named Kirk, who was captain of a ship named Enterprise that flew around the galaxy, exploring space and well, that was all I needed to hear.

Because space was already on my mind at that young age and seeing a show about it immediately garnered my attention and I watched the remainder of that episode on the couch with him in utter silence because I was simply entranced by what I was seeing and well, I was hooked from that moment on. In fact, that glorious moment led to a life-long love affair with this franchise, one that has allowed for me to enjoy every single series and every single movie as the years have rolled on because this is a franchise that inspires me and fascinates me with every new iteration that arrives on the market thanks to all the wonderful things Star Trek stands for. Because I am hard pressed to think of any other series that truly shows mankind at its best, free from the trappings we place upon ourselves.

But, as I get a little older and the memories start getting a little fuzzy, the time has come to revisit every last iteration of this magnificent saga. In part to escape the daily news cycle, which is something we all do when it comes to television, but more so to celebrate the wonder of this franchise and everything good that it stands for. Which means it is time to return to this glorious vision of the future, one where mankind is united under the banner of a Federation of Planets, where we travel the stars to explore strange new worlds and new civilizations, boldly going where no one has gone before, and really, the best way to kick off this second journey through the stars would be at the absolute beginning, when Captain James Tiberius Kirk and his intrepid crew enjoyed their first adventure together in ‘The Man Trap’. 

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Now going forward for these Retro Recaps, I’m going to try my best to steer clear of a heavy discussion of the plot, in part because you’ve likely seen these episodes before, but also because I want to truly celebrate what these stories stood for and how they hold up today and with that in mind, I think the first thing I truly liked about the series premiere of The Original Series was the sense of wonder that it instilled into the audience. Because it wastes no time in just immersing us into the 23rd Century, and by immediately showing us the technological advances that mankind has made in two-hundred and forty-six years, we are instantly entranced by the story and everything it has to offer and we simply must know more about the future and this crew, one made up of diverse humans and aliens alike, and that part of the show still holds great weight.

Because there is something supremely beautiful about seeing a group of individuals from different parts of the world and the galaxy, work together to solve problems, and treat one another as equals, without paying any mind to the color of their skin or the makeup of their species and well, that definitely gave me pause. Because it was just so natural and without thought here, this was just the way the universe is/was in 2265 and it is still breathtaking to see humanity in such an evolved and enlightened place. And I also appreciated how this episode worked hard to add immediate depth to the characters, something that was accomplished by way of Doctor McCoy’s journey in this tale. For we learned just how big his heart is when the story revealed his love for Nancy and it was fascinating to see how those old feelings made his daily duties difficult and of course, there’s that ending, wherein he has to put down the salt-eating creature that resembles his love, and this is so powerful. Because in many ways, this act signals that Bones is truly bidding farewell to his past. 

If anything, this really was quite the solid series premiere, since it does a fine job of establishing the world we’re about to enter and it does provide us with dynamic characters that we instantly care about and it does such a good job in telling its story that one can overlook the only flaw present here, in that, the crew is a little awkward around one another. But that’s expected since this is their first adventure on screen together, but the chemistry is there and really, so is the overall magic when it comes to this series. Because even though this premiere is fifty-three years old, you can truly tell that there is something special happening here, revolutionary even, and I simply cannot wait to dive back into this series and see what new wonders I find within the stories, now that I’m a few years older and on that note, it’s time I log off of here and rejoin the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise as they rush through the stars. Until next time.   

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