TOS: This Side of Paradise

             This side of paradise is more of a straight scifi story than we have seen for a while. It is also the first of many times (other that one time in the pilot) that Spock gets to feel emotions. The Enterprise is checking in on a colony that should have been wiped out by a rare form of radiation, but when they arrive they find everyone in perfect health tending their crops. And not only that, they find a woman who fell in love with Spock six years ago. 
             Despite the idyllic appearance of the colony, something seems off. There are no animals, and when McCoy starts medical exams he finds they aren't just perfect, they have regrown appendixes and other incurable damage. Kirk contacts Starfleet, and they order the colony evacuated. Meanwhile Spock's female friend has convinced him to follow her into a field with some strange flowers, when he approaches one of them explodes spores all over him and suddenly he is filled with emotions. He falls in love with the woman and refuses to come back to the ship. 
             Kirk confronts Spock with Sulu, but before they can take him away they are also hit with the spores, only they have no effect on the captain. Returning to the colony Kirk finds the plants have been beamed about the ship and all his crew have abandoned their stations and are beaming down to join the colony. Kirk beams back up and finds himself alone on the ship. Just as he is giving up hope he is hit by spores and this time it works. But just as he is packing he has an emotional outburst with overwhelms the effects of the spores and he realizes strong emotions neutralize their effect.
             Now all he has to do is get Spock mad and not be killed by his superhuman strength. Kirk beams Spock aboard and manages to avoid injury. They come up with a plan to drive everyone on the planet crazy with a sound through the communicators (yeah, doesn't seem likely). Of course it works and the colonists realize they have been wasting their lives being happy like chumps.

             Episode Review: Not the most exciting story, but at least it holds together well. Seeing Spock in love is certainly interesting. Also McCoy apparently gets extra southern when he is on the spores. The spores are probably best remembered by the cheesy props, but this one manages to be interesting enough to avoid turning into pure camp.

6 out of 10