Today is Star Trek’s 50th anniversary: Treat Yourself to These Episodes

Uhura rescues a weakened Captain Kirk in Star Trek: The Animated Series episode, ‘The Lorelei Signal.’ (Photo by CBS via Getty Images)

5.) The Lorelei Signal (The Animated Series)

Even the most die-hard fans might strategically fail to mention Star Trek: The Animated Series. To be fair, The Animated Series has some – well, let’s call them “quirks”. The music is definitely from the 1970s, and the animation is cheap. Characterization and plotting can be downright cheesy. Yet, give this series a chance, and you’ll be rewarded by some surprisingly deep episodes.

Despite being created for kids, The Animated Series often dives in issues surrounding death, belief, and even Satan himself. No, seriously, one episode takes the Enterprise crew to a different dimension where they discover that Satan was a mischievous alien. Plus, animation allowed for some actually alien crew members, including one cat-person and a helmsman with three arms.

In The Lorelei Signal, all the men on the Enterprise are lured to the Taurean system by a mysterious signal. No women on the ship feel the effects of the signal, though the male crew feels a strong summons. Once in orbit above the second planet in the system, Kirk, Spock, and McCoy beam down to the surface. There, they encounter beautiful alien women who proceed to drain them of their life force.

Awkward plot, yes, but this leads to Uhura taking command of the ship. Along with her fellow women crew members, Uhura beams down to the planet and rescues the helpless men below. If nothing else, watch this episode for the glory of an all-female crew saving the day.

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Any other episodes you think we should include on our list? Sound off in the comments!