THE MAN TRAP
"The Man Trap" was the first episode of Star Trek that was aired on NBC.  It was actually the third episode made (if you include "The Cage"), but NBC showed it first to introduce viewers to the new show.  It contains all the best elements:  action, drama, human emotion, gadgets.

This episode was such an early one that not all of the characters had been fully rounded out yet, and some of the sound effects were very sci-fi sounding.  Also, McCoy refers to Sickbay as "the dispensary," which sounds kind of strange when you see it.  Regardless, this is a great episode.

What made it so great?  First, we had our first look at a somewhat exotic, alien world were two people, a scientist and his wife, both live--totally by themselves on this entire planet--where they continously take archeological surveys of their surroundings.  They've been there five years doing this. 

Mysteriously crewmen keep getting knocked off by an unseen force which leaves suction cup marks on the face, and removes salt from the body, which McCoy doesn't even consider right away.  Kirk is going crazy trying to figure out what's going on as the creature gets on board the Enterprise and starts eliminating crewmen and seducing others.  A poignant scene is when the creature takes the form of a handsome black man and attempts to seduce Uhura by talking in Swahili.  This scene happens right after two white crewmen enter the turbolift as she exits it, and make kind of a visual pass at her, which she amusedly shakes her head as she continues on her way.  This quick little scene sets up the fact that she prefers a male member of her own race.  The entire scene with those crewmembers and the posing creature makes for a great piece of character analysis on the part of Uhura.

It's also interesting to watch as the creature takes the form of Doctor McCoy.  A very nice acting job here, because all of his mannerisms and actions change during this portion of the show.  Funny how Spock didn't notice the change, as the creature-as-McCoy explained in the briefing room that the creature was merely trying to survive and was acting naturally.

Finally the creature shows itself near the end.  This is the point when Nancy (the creature) attempts to suck the salt out of Kirk while McCoy stands watching, holding the phaser, still not believing that Nancy was capable of killing.  Spock is there too, watching helplessly because he had already tried to stop her and was thrown across the room.  When McCoy realizes it's not Nancy, he shoots her with his phaser.  This is a Pure Star Trek Moment.
And what a creature it is!  Great costume design here, as a scary-looking alien that actually gains sympathy.  It is the last of its kind, the only one left; killing it would make it extinct.  But it's dangerous and won't stop killing crewmembers.  The creature has already killed everything else on its own planet, and started going extinct because of it.  Social issues such as these were a favorite in the Star Trek universe.
We also get a great corridor scene during the Uhura/creature incident.  They are standing next to an intercom, just down the hall from a turbolift, and throughout the scene, crewmembers come and go in the turbolift.  Here we see activity inside the ship as various crewmembers go about their business.  Also, as the creature roams the ship, we see more crew activities as different aspects of ship operations are very briefly explored.  The best episodes are the ones that don't limit the set locations to only one or two places in the ship.  The Enterprise is a big ship:  it's fun to see many different locations.
Technically speaking, there are some good gadget parts.  Spock uses his instruments to scan the planet surface looking for the missing Nancy.  Uhura borders on flirting with Spock when she asks him how the moon was on planet Vulcan and, and did he ever watch the setting sun.  (As an aside, the bridge crew was waiting to hear from the landing party, and I would think that this was a moment of "down time," where, at the moment, they didn't have anything to do.  And just as anybody does in any social setting, whether in an office or a starship, one person just starts talking to another to pass the time.  So, Uhura talks to her boss.)  Uhura says that if she sits at the communications console any longer, she would go out of her mind.  Interesting choice of words on her part, after all, she was doing her job.

McCoy uses his medical scanner on the scientist.  His device emits an incredibly loud sound effect here.  I kept expecting to hear Kirk say, "Bones will you please turn that thing down?


Overall, a standout episode especially given that it was made so early on.  The first season had some standout episodes.  It seemed that as they made more, things went downhill, especially in the third season, when Roddenberry stepped down as executive producer. 

If you want to see good Star Trek, watch "The Man Trap."
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