Spock's Brain - TOS

 Plot:  An alien female played by Marj Dusay beams aboard the Enterprise and, after incapacitating the rest of the crew, surgically removes Spock's brain. Captain Kirk and the crew have just hours to locate and restore it before Spock's body dies.

Best Quote: 

Dr. McCoy: I knew it was wrong. I shouldn't have done it.

Captain James T. Kirk: What's that?

Dr. McCoy: I should have never reconnected his mouth.

Captain James T. Kirk: Well, we took the risk, Doctor.

Most Unintentionally Funny line:

Kirk: What have you done with Spock's brain?

Guest Star: Not much to say. Marj Dusay looks sexy in her outfit and boots, but there's not much she can do with lines like: "Brain? What..is..Brain?"  Rating ** 1/2  

Shatner:  Although we get some Grade A No.1 Shatner Ham during Kirk's attacks of pain,  Shatner gives a suprisingly serious and energetic performance. Given the silliness of the script, he deserves applause.  Rating ***

Spock/McCoy:  The acting of Kelly and Nimoy is the highlight of the episode, reaching its peak in the last scenes where McCoy must perform brain surgery on Spock. Nimoy perfectly portrays a mind controlled body and disembodied "brain", while McCoy is suitably concerned about doing an almost impossible task. Like Shatner, these two actors speak the ridiculous dialogue with so much sincerity/skill one can only admire them.  Rating ***

Supporting Characters:   Sulu, Checkov, Uhura, and Scottie are all given a few lines, but mostly stay in the background 

Overall Rating:  I reluctantly included this episode in my 12 worst episode list. There are a lot, lot, worse episodes. While its very juvenile and silly, it moves at a fast clip, is  well acted, and has lots of  humor, both intentional and unintentional. Unlike the other "Worst episodes", its neither boring nor badly executed. And the brain surgery scene and the scene where Kirk must choose which planet to land were engaging.  If only the rest of the story wasn't so incredibly stupid!  And the cheapness of the sets and custumes was off-putting.  At bottom though the script is to blame. You simply can't make a serious episode while uttering nonsense like "where is Spock's Brain?" or  "We must find his brain".    Rating:  **