I think of Mark Lenard as pretty much an honorary main cast member as Sarek, even though he only appears sporadically across the entire franchise. His performance is just that powerful.

Minor point: The first all-Vulcan ship actually shows up (technically) in TOS. The USS Intrepid was destroyed in The Immunity Syndrome.

This one has aged well as a fine vintage champagne . By the way, Sarek is also the name of Europes oldest national park, in operation since 1909. It is located in Sweden, Lappland, northwest of Jokkmokk. A popular spot for hikers and mountaineers, it was declared a world heritage by UNESCO in 1996 .

Hi Thank you for the commentary on the episode. I do have a nitpick however, In the episode the immunity syndrome in the cold open Spock reacts to the death of the Intrepid. Although not actually stated as a ship of the fleet it is heavily implied by McCoy who states the the Intrepid is manned entirely by Vulcans and Spock quotes a crew of 400 in the same scene.

This is without a doubt my favorite of TOS. This is exactly what I look for in my Trek.... great character work, good acting, action scenes, some decent humor thrown in at various points, fictional politics, and world-building galore. Given that so much of the Federation, Starfleet, various alien races, and the interactions between those races are established here, can you honestly be surprised that so many people love this episode? And it shows just how easy world-building can be. Just put some actors in some alien make-up designs and stick them in the background! And, seriously, aliens that actually look alien? Can we PLEASE get more of this instead of countless forehead bump, ridge, coloring, etc. aliens like we did on TNG, DS9, and VOY?! I don't care if it's obviously a mask the actor is wearing. I'll gladly take something like this any day over Random Forehead Alien #521,465. But even smaller things show how easy it can be. The Tellarite make-up leads to the world-building of Tellarites being arrogant and loving an argument. A stray, off-the-cuff, comment from the Andorian ambassador to Spock about his race being violent but having nothing against Kirk, can later lead to the Andorians being militant and warriors on ENT. Even Ambassador Shras' accent gives the Andorians a wonderfully alien flavor. Just being in an actor with a noticeably foreign accent, and world-building can be had. Seriously, Shras' accent and the alien flavor it imbues the Andorians with are probably the one thing I love most about this episode. The scene between Spock and Shras outside the brig is the one scene that's always stuck with me from "Journey to Babel" because of the actor's deliciously foreign way of speaking. I honestly cannot think of a single thing I dislike about this one. It really is a shame that we had to wait until ENT to get this level of world-building with the Andorians, and especially with the Tellarites, again. And, of course, we get Kirk's patented Flying Butt Drop move in his fight with the Orion spy. How can you not love that?! 10/10

I love the dilemma of Spock. He identifies as Vulcan, but on Vulcan he will always be considered human. And while on earth he will always be considered Vulcan: he’s also considered an outsider. But in Starfleet… Also: Ithanites were named by Daniels.

Lore, I demand a retraction! How rare could Vulcans have been at that time? Sister starship to the Enterprise, Constitution class, USS Intrepid, was manned entirely by Vulcans. See episode 18/season 2: The Immunity Syndrome. That's 428-430 vulcans... on one ship. Perhaps you're conflating the fact that Spock was the only half Vulcan in starfleet at that time. In any case, one more foolish oversight like that & we'll have to call you "Alternative Lore". BTW, Thank you very much for many hours of listening pleasure.

Summary: While transporting 115 ambassadors of the Federation to a neutral planet named Babel to discuss the admission of the planet Coridan, including Spock's father Sarek and mother Amanda, one of the Tellarite delegates is found dead, and Spock's father gets the blame. (colourful episode, a lot of background story for Spock, quite nice!)

Omg, TOS episodes discussions, how the hell KZfaq hidden this from me? Have a lot to catch up. I don't care what people say but TOS it's my favorite Star Trek.

I'm an Andorian fan because of this, and Tellerites were not that good - much improved by Enterprise. Love this episode, -- hey hey! Look out Spock, there's a Romulan on board! :)

Those eyeholes gave rise to cannon fact that Tellarites have terrible eyesight but excellent sense of smell.

Later on after arguing with the Tellerite, Gav was found baked with an apple in his mouth.

We're coming up on an episode here in TOS where there'll be an all-Vulcan ship, so if Spock was indeed the first Vulcan to join Starfleet, then others jumped on that bandwagon real fast. Nevermind Tuvok being on the Excelsior, we can skip over that, but still, it's a plot point in one of my favorite episodes that there's an all-Vulcan ship, in either Starfleet or the Federation, which specifically ends up being destroyed because they have nothing other than logic with which to try and save themselves.

I do enjoy this episode for many reasons. I rather enjoy the threat of the week and the fight of the two star ships. And I really enjoy the world building aspects this episode gives us. I do feel this episode is a must watch because it gives many things that they would base for member worlds

As a fan of the Star Trek universe this is one of my top favorite episodes, as a TV viewer this episode was OK. I feel like this is one of those episodes that only works if you're invested in the lore of the show.

Small point: TNG is not the first Star Trek series to have many Vulcans serving aboard a Starship. In The Immunity Syndrome - not an especially good episode - it is stated that the Starship Defiant was manned only with Vulcans

I liked the Vulcan Finger Bang !

Some non canon materials have suggested that at this point in Federation history they were beginning to integrate the fleets of the major member worlds. The Constitution class Enterpise is part of the Earth contingent and the other founding members still have their own ships crewed by their own nationals. Perhaps Sarek is annoyed that Vulcan will no longer have its own ships and crews in the near future. That might make sense for a traditionalist. Enterprise and Discovery have kind of put to rest the idea that the Vulcans are anti-military on principle. Also, Sarek is full of contradictions, a traditionalist who nevertheless married and had a child with a human, then married another human after Amanda passed.

Instead of the danger coming from an outside attack, why not do a sabotage from within? I mean, there's one Orion agent already on the ship, why not have another one covertly continuing the mission after the first one is discovered.

It was one of the first episodes I saw, part of a 4 episode dvd set of the CG remaster I got for Christmas after I saw the 2009 film, a great introduction in my opinion

The Telurite looks horrifying.

You know I wonder would you be doing the Star Trek animated series and all it's weird glory?

Calling this episode the Zelda 1 of Star Trek is somehow the perfect analogy.

.my favorite guests are the two small gold aliens wearing fezzes , pouring that alien drink. They make the scene.

Forgive a little pedantic comment. Like all peoples, the Vulcans aren't monolithic. In "The Immunity Syndrome," we learn that Starfleet had a ship almost entirely crewed by Vulcans. The Intrepid was destroyed by the big space amoeba.

Couldn't they have just played the transport sound effect and shot the scene so we don't see it?

And then we meet the sehlat in Yesteryear and there isn't a dry eye in the house. ;.;

I haven't finished watching, but in case I don't get to see the rest- this is a very thoughtful & intelligent conversation about the episode. Very interesting. And I'm a definite fan of Sarek, but yep it's ok if HE humiliates Spock by dising him in front of his captain & everyone else, but then he corrects Amanda, who absolutely asked permission before saying anything.

"It's basic contrarianism, something you see on the Internet all the time." NO YOU DON'T!

@Lorerunner: This is simultaneously one of your best and one of your worst episodes, it's annoying when you're obsessing over where your camera is pointed and things of that nature, but when you're actually talking about the show, this is some top-notch commentary, with a few great comedy bits.

It's not my favorite, but definitely on my VHS list. Love the character stuff in this one even if the rest is a bit meh.

Maybe i'm wrong but 'Take me out to the Holosuite' (the DS9 episode with the all vulcan crew) was a vulcan ship rather than 'starfleet.' Then again this was during the dominion war at a point where the vulcans would have seen that the dominion's 'peace' is them controlling everything and turning you into just another cog in their war machine. Therefor to preserve any chance at future peace war is the only logical course of action, as regrettable as it is. Plus the Klingons, Federation, Romulans, and up until their assimilation at the point of a sword the Cardassians all agreed the dominion were a major threat. When enemies of that many stripes and that many years of hostilities (keep in mind the klingon and romulan blood feuds based around the kitomher massacre) are ALLIES because of the Dominion, however tenuous, it then becomes the only logical choice to see that maybe there is something going on here... Y'know?

The largest leaps in logic 1) why did the fake Andorian attack Kirk? Attacking the Tellarite ambassador made sense since the aim was to distabilize the negotiations and presumably the vote. But attacking Kirk? The assassin must know that a Starfleet officer would be a harder target that could defend him/ herself. And what exactly is the gain? At this point the assassin should know Sarek would be under supervision (his medical status would of course be unknown to him). 2) That the Orion ship attacked Enterprise. Why? Logically a Orion ship shouldn't have a chance against Enterprise, but I know, what the Orions are was not established yet. Still, what was there to gain from attacking Enterprise? Even if they were succesful the Federation would conclude an outside power just killed a whole Federation delegation, and they would definitely now back the acession of that planet to the Federation.

Thelev , that greasy Andorian " Orion spy". He kills himself at the end after he's caught.

one of the best, problem was when his heat stopped while he was doing surgery on it. Strange mistake

He never saw it coming, damm eye holes

Disagree with some of your criticisms of this one, but that point about Spock being more accepted for who he has chosen to be among humans than he ever could be among Vulcans blew my mind ! That's what I'm here for.

I've got a possibly stupid question. Are there only humans in Starfleet in TOS? Because in Enterprise the Tellarites, Andorians and Vulcans had warships (I know Enterprise was made decades later and has continuity issues) so do all those races have their own branches of Starfleet? I don't see the Andorians giving up their military culture and letting only humans serve in the military.

Landmark episode! Monumental even. DC Fontana at her finest.⭐️⭐️⭐️ Fontana is to Vulcans what Moore was to Klingons. 🔹Politics: The UFP is in the TOS era more like the UN (it was the only model then) so the members are still totally autonomous. So Vulcans are exploring too but I believe in their own ships as we saw in ENT. (By the TNG era the UFP would be more like the EU.) Which explains why, almost 200 years after 1st contact, a Terran doctor would still know so little about Vulcan physiology. 🔹I know McCoy sometimes seems nasty with Spock, but as I watch the show, I think it’s deserved. It’s not the logic he is railing against, it’s Vulcan rude snobbishness. They may think they’ve controlled all their emotions but actually it’s redirected as hubris and prudishness. I’ve always thought that Vulcan wasn’t a democracy but a technocracy. So a family’s standing needs to be protected by keeping a prestigious position in the hierarchy within the family. Spock “leaving” would irritate Sarek but he’d of course cover it with a thick veneer of coldness. I respectfully disagree: being cold to the point of rudeness to one’s children is most illogical. It will drive them to continue even further in the direction/behaviour you disapprove. Fascinating !🖖🏼

My mind canon has the tellerites actually wearing masks. The masks resemble their faces, but this explains the visible eye holes.

Loving the new set up. Have you changed camera aswell? It looks a lot clearer

You and Tasha Yar have something in common, @Lorerunner - she likes hard Data too!

And of course the Na'kuhl were behind the whole thing, but fortunately Temporal Agent Poopy of the USS Pants was there to save the day! I do love the STO TOS era episodes.

Amanda is marrIed to a Vulcan and yet she still has issues with that one key aspect of Vulcans. Its more of that typical problem you see with characters discussing things they should already know or should have dealt with and learned to handle long beforehand. It's great for drama, but you know they shouldn't still have a problem with it after so much time. Come on lady, you knew what you were getting into.

34:39 "I like hard Data." - Lorerunner It was pronounced Data, not data. Can't be unheard.

Spock is actually comfortable with both sides of his nature in ST: TWOK; that is a mature character. We then see him have to rebuild his character (in subsequent films) because of that unfortunate "death" thing...

Even though Kirk has been to Vulcan, for the wedding; Spock's parents weren't there. Kirk does asertain that Spock's family, must be important, since Ta'Poul was officiating, but they are never mentioned by name nor by photo, so of course Kirk doesn't know them on site. So it is understandable that Kirk didn't realize, that Sarak and Amanda are Spock's parents. However, I do agree, that Kirk shouldn't have put Spock on the spot, in front of strangers, but asked him privately if he wanted to go and visit his parents.

Yeah, it seems Starfleet is a human thing at this point in time, with mostly humans manning the ships. Which is interesting that the humans basically is the navy of the Federation.

i prefer the new setup

Well, it appears you are using a higher definition camera. And you're one of those rare people who actually becomes more handsome at higher resolution

It always felt, to me at least, that the Orion part of the plot was tacked onto this story just to make this a threat of the week. Like, if there was a small polishing pass on the story to make the Orion part flow naturally into the story...maybe reuse a ship model like the Romulan T'liss Frigate (yeah it's an STO reference but it's better then just the original title of "Romulan Bird of Prey") but either slightly repainted or some other bit of 60's television trickery. Just something other then a spinning light and a remaster about fifty years later to make a ship.

Real talk: I don't watch these videos, I listen to them. It would make zero difference to me, what you put on the screen. If you wanna tinker with the picture for your own sake, go for it. And I won't be surprised if a lot of people actually watch it, I'll just silently consider them weird for it.

16:25 Enterprise, or The Animated Series?

The setup isn't bad. And I won't say it's my favorite, but ToS? I have a hard time actually finding anything that is GREAT. That isn't me condemning things, but at the same time? As you said, the dilimah just..... MEH. Frankly I LOVE the character stuff. Anyway you're literally dead on straight for the first fourish minutes.

I love the wider political view of the Federation in this one

Me being who I am, the costumes and makeup are most of what I like about this episode, especially a certain pink-skinned space babe, who is one of the few hot alien chicks on Star Trek NOT to be mashed on by Jim Kirk at any point (at least not onscreen). I also like to headcanon that the tall black guys in the hooded robes are actually Ligonians, just because I'll take any excuse to remind people who hate "Code of Honor" that not everyone does.

Bill O'Reilly reference?

Sarek hated Star Fleet

Well, I can’t say that I enjoyed this ‘rumination,’ as JTB has been my favorite episode...since 1972 when I was barely a teenager. Call me old school. I watched Trek for the characters and what was being said through the stories, not the fight scenes or special effects or to tear everything apart. To each his own, though. I don’t accept anything after Star Trek IV as canon. I much prefer fanfic from the “olden days” where we all understood what was and was not canon. The subsequent reiterations of Trek have destroyed so much of that. The only good thing I can see in TNG is Mark Lenard’s performances. He should have gotten an award for at least one of those. And they didn’t even send him part II of the script for Unification, so he only found out about Sarek’s death at a convention where it was shown. Can we say “disrespectful”?

Tellerites are supposed to be highly arguementive , and act superior.

Unfortunately the terrible Telarite Make-up allways pulls me out of this actualy great Episode.

If your mouse fucks up or you're off centre it's probably best to fix it and do another take instead of announcing to your audience that you're barely putting effort into your presentation. It's already just you talking to a camera, about as bare bones as you can get, doing another take when you have technical errors is basically the least you could do with your full time job.