JAMES T. KIRK, A CAPTAIN WHO OBEYS THE PRIME DIRECTIVE

 

Introduction

There are many myths about Captain Kirk, which is an odd thing considering he is a fictional character.  Nevertheless, there are a number of common misconceptions with the character’s popular image that don’t exist as part of the source material.  One example is what is typically dubbed “Shatner speak.”  This is explained as the act of talking as if there is a period after the end of every word.  This is most famous satirized by Jim Carrey during his time with Saturday Night Live.  Another myth is that he is frequent rule breaker, who does whatever he feels is right regardless of orders.  This is even popularized by the show itself most recently in the series Lower Decks where frequent rule-breaker Beckett Mariner calls herself a “Kirk-type” to justify her actions.  Then there of course the classical claim that he is a crazy womanizer as popularized most recently by the pregnant “Kirk was here” cosplayers.

  One of interesting things about the Star Trek franchise is it is so large that many fans, if not most, come into it sideways.  They don’t start at the beginning they start at whatever series was on when they begin watching.  When they come across the original series it is basically history for them.  It is not at all unusual to see on Star Trek fan forums this question posted, “So I just started watching the original series, pretty good so far, when does the whole Shatner-speak start?  I am almost through the first season and I haven’t seen it yet.” There are a few scenes where Kirk does talk slowly however these are normally in situations where the Captain has to be careful with his words.  He is in diplomatic situation or something similar.  The best example I think of is Kirk’s first scene with Khan in “The Wrath of Khan.”  

Over the years there have been many articles debunking these many myths.  Larry Womack of the Huffington Post wrote a great article in 2013 titled, In Defense of (the Original) James T. Kirk, where he tackles Kirk’s reputation of being a rule breaker and womanizer in the aftermath of the Kelvin Universe Star Trek films’ version of Captain Kirk, and John E Price of Medium wrote a similar piece called You Either Believe in Yourself or You Don’t: Star Trek Discovery, James T. Kirk, and the Power of Traditional Memory. Internet essayist and Star Trek enthusiast Steve Shives created a great video in 2018 titled Is Captain Kirk Actually a Womanizer to which he takes down that myth flat.

The myth that I want to tackle is the one that states Captain Kirk is not only a rule breaker but that he repeatedly violates Starfleet’s General Order Number One: The Prime Directive.  (As if you couldn’t tell that by the title.) As all fans know, the Prime Directive states that Starfleet will not interfere in the internal development of a foreign society, and if said society has not yet developed warp drive Starfleet is not even allowed to let that society know that Starfleet and the Federation exist.  The reason the Prime Directive exists is the Federation does not want the exploration of the universe to have the same devastating effect on alien societies that European exploration and colonization did to the many aboriginal societies of Earth.  However, it has it has its drawbacks and some would argue that Prime Directive itself is immoral.  For if a Starfleet vessel were to discover a world that was like 1930s Earth where fascist regimes were engaged in genocide of persecuted peoples.  Then that vessel would not do a thing to stop it.

"No identification of self or mission. No interference with the social development of said planet. No references to space, or the fact that there are other worlds, or more advanced civilizations." Dr. McCoy in "Bread and Circuses"

Kirk’s reputation of ignoring the Prime Directive is a recognized trait of his character and is mentioned both within Star Trek (Remember Janeway’s quote about 23^rd century officers being quick to draw their phasers and slow to invoke the Prime Directive?) and without.  There was an episode of JAG where the character Bud Roberts was able to get information from a terrorist by going over Star Trek trivia.  The incident is initiated by an argument over Kirk’s violation of the Prime Directive to which Bud says Kirk did “all the time.”

This is a myth.  Kirk only violated the Prime Directive once.  Yes, that is right I said it.  He only did it once, and it was under an extreme situation.  Now I know what you are thinking: “I have seen Star Trek X-number of times and I saw him violate the Prime Directive X-number of times much higher than 1.”  I know but you’re wrong and with that let’s go over Kirk’s relationship with the Prime Directive.             

When the Captain is Clearly Obeying

People are so caught up calling out Kirk for allegedly violating the Prime Directive that they forget how much he is a defender of it.  A good example of Kirk obeying is the episode “Bread and Circuses.”  In this episode the Enterprise travels to one of the many fake Earths that they encounter during Star Trek’s classical run.  On this fake Earth they find that the Roman Empire has survived until the 20^th century and they now have their gladiator games on TV.  A Federation merchant ship was stranded on the planet and Kirk is looking to retrieve them.  While they are there, they find some underground rebels.  After hanging out with the rebels they are captured by Roman authorities and taken to the Proconsul.  It turns out the Merchant Captain told the Proconsul everything about Starfleet and the Federation, including the Prime Directive.  In this episode Kirk has the means and the motive to overwhelm the Romans of Fake Earth with fire power and take the Federation citizens there by force.  However, Captain Kirk is restrained the by the Prime Directive, understanding that he and his crew will have to come up with a less direct way of getting the actions that they desire accomplished.  Which they do, they manage to remove the Federation elements from the Fake Earth with no one from the general population being the wiser.

Kirk is trying to find a way out of this mess without violating the Prime Directive

Another example is the episode “The Paradise Syndrome.” In this episode Kirk loses his memory and for a while is living with a Native American tribe whose ancestors were placed on this planet by the ancient Preservers.  There Kirk falls in love with a local woman named Miramanee and marries her.  When Kirk fails the tribe in a major way, they turn on him and stone him as a fraud, Miramanee tries to save him and is killed as a result.  Once Kirk’s memory is restored, he does not go back to the tribe and explain to them why they were wrong and blame them for killing Miramanee.  He recognizes the Prime Directive and ceases all contact with those people. He doesn’t even bother to explain to them how to turn on the Preserver device.

He interferes here but stops when his memory returns

Someone Else Already Interfered

The first batch of Captain Kirk’s so-called “violations” are actually already covered in an established portion of Starfleet law.  That if interference on an alien culture has already happened then a Starfleet crew is allowed to correct the imbalance, try to expunge the interference, or cut the losses and make the best out of a bad situation. The first of these can be seen in the episode “A Private Little War” here Captain Kirk returns to a planet named Neural that he once visited as a young lieutenant, I am assuming before he ran into the vampire cloud, only to discover that the Klingons have shown up and armed the villagers with advanced weaponry and sent them to attack the hill people. Upon confirming the Klingons involvement Kirk arms and trains the hill people with the same weapons that Klingons provided the villagers.  Kirk isn’t breaking the Prime Directive here; he is giving the planet a course correction due to Klingon interference.

Looks like we already have interference

  The next example of this is “A Piece of the Action.”  In this episode the Enterprise travels to the planet Sigma Iotia II.  The planet was last visited by the Horizon over a century ago. At the time the Prime Directive had yet to be established and the crew thought nothing about leaving behind a book called The Chicago Mobs of the Twenties, along with some manuals about early twentieth century technology.  Now the entire population of the planet is living a world based of the gang culture of Prohibition-era Chicago.  Instead of leaving Kirk decides to undo some of the damage done by the accidental interference.  He gathers all the gangs, impresses them with his technology and fire power of his ship, and informs them that the Federation is “taking over” as “the prime operator.”  All the gangs will now have to get in line, Kirk then reorganizes their entire government for them.  

Not good!

The third case of this is one not caused by a slight error but one caused by extreme stupidity.  In the episode “Patterns of Force” a historian named John Gill travels the planet Ekos and finds it divided by war and chaos.  Amid this chaos the award-winning historian decided what this planet truly needs is some Nazism.  Nope, not kidding that is what he did.  Naturally, when the Enterprise arrives, they are shocked to say the least.  So, as such Captain Kirk and Spock go to the planet and after some great difficulty find Gill, who was no a prisoner and puppet figurehead by his deputy, they have him give a public confession and turn on his party.  The leave the planet in the hands of two allies they feel they can trust and leave.    

Exposing the Nazis

Finally, we have the episode “Omega Glory” where Captain Ronald Tracey of the Exter goes to Omega IV.  Omega IV is another one of those Fake Earth, this one where the Cold War got hot the world was destroyed and the survivors are still fighting each other even though they don’t remember why.  Tracey becomes convinced he can become immortal on this planet so he tried to aid one side by helping them fight their war by using phasers.  Kirk having discovered this moves to stop him and then helps the people of Omega IV correctly interpret their own “holy words.” With Tracey now their prisoner, Kirk and crew leave.

Its the captain with the phaser who is breaking the rules.

That Depends What Your Definition of “Developing” is

In other cases where Kirk appears to violate the Prime Directive, he doesn’t due to some creative reading of the text.  The Prime Directive states that they shall not interfere with the internal development of another culture.  Kirk reasons if the culture isn’t doing any developing then all bets are off.  I am also convinced that by the TNG era this interpretation has been eliminated via legislation.  Kind of like how Kirk led his own away missions but by the TNG era the regulations forbade a captain from doing that.

First example of this is in the episode “Miri.”  This episode is also famous for giving us our first-of-many Fake Earths.  The Enterprise arrives at this fake Earth only to discover that they took a dramatic turn from the real Earth in their version of the 1960s.  Trying to extend their natural lives into the centuries, they failed miserably and caused every adult on the planet to turn into a rabid monster that would tear things apart then quickly die.  The children did get the life extension but when they reached a point where their biological age leads them into puberty and they turn into monsters too.  Captain Kirk not only has McCoy discover away to save the landing party from the virus but he gives it to the kids and Starfleet sends teams to help the children rebuild their society.  Fake Earth culture was a frozen corpse so Kirk decided to interfere. 

This culture clearly stopped working

The second of example of this is the classic episode “The Return of the Archons.”  Here Captain Kirk and his crew travel to the planet Beta III and encounter a society that is ruled and managed by a computer.  Most people are kept in an altered mental state where they came to be part of “the body.” Those who are not are quickly made that way upon discovery.  There is evidence that this society was more advanced until a ruler named Landru created the “the body” to prevent war and bloodshed.  Kirk decides that this society is stagnant under the rule of a machine and decided to break the people free. He leaves behind some advisors to help that now free Betans to take control once again.

Weird state!

This is repeated in the second season episode “The Apple.” One on hand the episode is a clone of the pervious one discussed a society has come under the rule of computer who keeps the people in a primitive state.  There are some key differences however. Where Landru kept his people trapped in a 19^th century type society where Vaal keeps them in a Garden of Eden state.  Like before Kirk determines that this society is stagnant and not developing.  Kirk ends up destroying Vaal freeing the people to control their own destiny.

Explaining orders from Vaal!

When Starfleet Command Decides to Ignore the Prime Directive

Then there are times where Starfleet Command and the Federation decide to override the Prime Directive in certain situations.  The first example of this is the episode “Errand of Mercy.”  This is the episode that was the first appearance of the Klingons.  War has been declared between the two powers.  Starfleet recognizes the strategic location of Organian system.  As such we no longer care if they are a bunch of pre-warp primitives.  It’s not our fault the Klingons are coming anyway so Organians aren’t going to be allowed to develop naturally so this is a primitive planet is going to get a sudden upgrade.  Call it a preemptive.  It turns out the reverse happened far from the Federation and Klingon Empire dictating to the Organians, the Organians revel themselves to be gods and dictate to the two space powers.  Treaty is forced upon them and peace is saved.

When you realize they are the ones doing the telling!

The second time we see this is in the episode “Friday’s Child.”  In this case contact has been made with the natives of Capella IV in a mission that did not involve the Enterprise but one that Dr. McCoy participated in.  The reason Starfleet authorized such contact is the planet is bursting with dilithium crystals.  When the Federation sees a planet that produces dilithium crystals like this they get the same feeling that the United States does when they find an oil rich nation: that is a nation that can use some “freedom.”  Starfleet looks at Capella IV as one that can use some “advancement.” To be fair Starfleet wants this to be a voluntary transaction and they are not conquering them.  In the end with the new leader, Leonard James Akaar, enthroned Starfleet will probably have an easier time. 

Yes, we have your crystals

Speaking of involuntary we have the episode “Spretre of the Gun.”  Starfleet wants contact with the Melkotians so bad that they won’t let Kirk take “no” for an answer.  The Enterprise heads to Melkos and when the Melkotians demand they leave, Kirk’s orders tell him he must proceed anyway.  This ends up with the landing party stuck in a Western.  It’s a strange episode. 

Go Away!

The One Time Kirk Did Violate the Prime Directive

There was this one time that Captain Kirk did out right violate the Prime Directive.  That was in the episode “A Taste of Armageddon.” In this episode the Enterprise is on a diplomatic mission to the planets Eminiar VII and Vendikar.  The two worlds claim to have been at war over centuries although there is no evidence of any such thing on the surface.  It turns out they fight their war in a computer simulation.  This gives them all the casualties with none of the destruction of infrastructure.  This also means that the war where people die not only doesn’t stop it never slows down.  When the simulation is made all of those reported “killed” must report to disintegration chamber to have their vaporized and recorded as such.  They also tell the Captain that his ship was one of the casualties and therefore his entire crew must submit to be killed.  Now at this point Kirk could just escape, return to the Enterprise, and get the hell out of there.  However, he has another plan in mind.  He decides to destroy their machines and force them to fight their war for real.  Panicking at the thought of all the coming destruction the leaders of Eminiar VII agree to have Ambassador Fox agree to open negotiations with Vendikar. 

"I'm going to teach you to fight your war for real"

Now let’s be clear, there was no outside interference from either aliens, such as Klingons, or stupid humans who messed up something that Kirk had to correct.  The society was not failing to develop, in fact the whole purpose for this set-up was to allow for the society to continue to grow despite the war.  There was no command from Starfleet to ignore the Prime Directive.  Kirk just decided that he didn’t like what these people were doing so he was going to end it.  Why did Starfleet get away with it?  A novel I once read—that I can’t recall the name of—stated that the Federation was so horrified at what was being described that they chose to look the other way on the matter.

"Planning their break out!"

Conclusion

                In conclusion I hope I have convinced you that far from being a rebel, Captain Kirk was in fact a defender of Starfleet highest command. The exceptions are just that, exceptions, the reason there happens be so much is because writers need drama to have characters go through in order to give us a story.

 

THE ONLY NORMAL ONE ON THE SHIP!

 

As a kid watching the Star Trek 25^th Anniversary Special, I remember Deforest Kelley describing the character of Dr. McCoy as the only normal person on board the ship.  This is a such a great characterization of the Doctor.  He is an old country doctor who all this alien world stuff is still kind of new for him.  He often has to slap Kirk and Spock back into reality often.   

McCoy escorting a Yeoman who has had a rough time!

Some of my favorite “normal” moments for Dr. McCoy are as follows.  “One of these days I would like to beam down and say ‘Behold, I am the Archangel Gabriel’” from the episode “Bread and Circuses.” In the episode “Return to Tomorrow” Kirk is all in on Sargon’s plan to take control of their bodies and use them to accomplish their tasks and McCoy is only one pointing out what dangerous and strange idea this is.  In “All of Our Yesterdays,” Spock explains to Kirk that they are in some sort of artic environment to which McCoy replies “he means it’s cold.”

McCoy sharing a cure made into a drink!

Doctor McCoy also happens to be the GOAT of his profession.  I cannot think of any doctor in the Star Trek universe that is better than him.  He comes up with a cure for the naked virus, which was infecting the Enterprise’s entire crew and had killed an entire crew of the space station they had visited, all while the ship was doing a death spiral towards the planet.  When McCoy was on Miri’s fake Earth, he was able to cure a disease that had wiped out her entire planet’s population. He was able to cure the aging sickness, while himself being infected with it, just in time to treat Captain Kirk so he could save the ship from the Romulans.  He found a way to pull Kirk out of Flash time, and developed a device so the miners of Ardana won’t be infected with brain damage from doing their jobs.  There was also the time McCoy consulted ancient medical text and prevented Kirk and Spock from having to live their lives as talking fish.

Spock and McCoy give the Captain their concerns

However, there was never a medical miracle performed by the good Doctor like the one we saw in “The Devil in the Dark.”  In this episode McCoy must cure a silicon-based lifeform.  After first shouting, “I am a doctor, not a bricklayer” he then got to work.  McCoy pulls the only thing he can think of and tries to use concrete to patch up the poor Horta.  It works and he cures her.  McCoy afterward is stunned by his own awesomeness, proclaiming he could probably cure a rainy day.  
 

McCoy has a hard time getting over the fact that he is awesome!

Lastly, I would like to defend the good doctor on one common charge.  That is the accusation that he is some sort of bigot.  Now I will acknowledge that sometimes he can be ethnocentric, which is usually used by writers as having him and Spock play opposites in Kirk’s moral dilemmas, a good example is “The Apple.”  However, what people are often taking a back by is when he lays on Spock for being a Vulcan.  There are a couple of points I want to make about this.  Although there are many definitions of racism, one of the important ones is the combination of bigotry and power.  Classic example is white people harassing black people in a society, such as ours, that long promoted white supremacy. There is none of that in the Federation.  Vulcan was not conquered and its people put into a subordinate place.  McCoy making fun of Spock’s Vulcaness is more equivalent to an Englishman making for a Frenchman for being French, with also the Frenchman giving equal grief to the Englishman back, and with each party speaking in jest.   

McCoy with Spock often presented two sides of an argument to Kirk.

This brings me to my second point that is those who tally up all the mean things McCoy says to Spock about Vulcans and being Vulcan often tend to ignore all the times Spock says to McCoy (and everyone else) equally mean statements about humans and being human. Spock says just as much anti-human stuff as McCoy’s anti-Vulcan stuff.  I would also add you only see McCoy say things to Spock in order to tease him.  McCoy doesn’t say these types of things to Sarek, T’Pau, or any other Vulcan he meets.

Getting to know Spock's parents!

McCoy stands alone as the greatest doctor in all of Star Trek if not of all science fiction.

SPOCK WILL GO WHERE HE CAN BE A VULCAN!

               

             There is probably no character that is more representative of Star Trek than Mr. Spock.  Oh, classic Star Trek itself may have been the Captain Kirk show, but when people think of the series the character who comes to mind is Mr. Spock.  It is his alien nature and appearance.  Those Vulcan ears, the eyebrows, the genius level intellect, his commitment to logic, the stoic demeaner, and the classic blue uniform all made for a legendary character.  He is a character that has meant a lot to a lot of people. 

Getting some chess and saving the Captain at the same time!

       From his first appearance over fifty years ago Spock has always been representative of the cultural outsider.  He is the only Vulcan aboard the USS Enterprise.  Despite being part of that family there is always this thing that makes him stand a part.  Spock can never let his hair down, so to speak, even with his closest friends he always has to be the one who is in control, a Vulcan.  It is in his nature to sacrifice comfort for his identity.  Although he is technically half-human, he sees himself always as a Vulcan.  He only brings up his human half when it is relevant and it seldom is.   

Kirk won't take bigotry from Stiles

        From time to time, we see Spock have to deal with bigotry against Vulcans from petty humans.  Lt. Stiles who questioned his loyalty in “Balance of Terror” or Lt. Boma who questioned his basic decency because Spock was more concerned for living people than corpses in “The Galileo Seven.” However, we learn in the episode “Journey to Babel” that the worst bulling that Mr. Spock endured came not from humans but from other Vulcans.  Since he was the product of a Vulcan father and a human mother he was commonly viewed as a half-breed amongst his own people. While adult Vulcans keep their emotions under control the same cannot be said for Vulcan school children who viciously attacked him. Spock always identified as a Vulcan despite his half-human side, yet those who were his peers did not let him be a Vulcan.  Every time they attacked him, these young Vulcans betrayed their own philosophy of IDIC, yet hatred always seems to win over principle. 

Spock's career choice earns him the bitterness of his father

        In response, although he won on merit a place at the Vulcan Science Academy, he declines it in favor of an appointment to Starfleet Academy.  This will start a feud with his father that will last almost two decades but it doesn’t matter. He flees Vulcan to head the Earth where he will join Starfleet and be primarily with humans.  The funny part is Spock’s decision to be a part of something that surrounds himself with humans is not an embrace of his mother’s people nor an exploration into his humanity.  Spock has chosen to live among humans so that he can be a Vulcan.  For when humans see him, they see someone who is Vulcan.  Every moment he is among them reaffirms his identity even when confronted by bigots such as Stiles and Boma.  It is why every argument he makes with McCoy, in a way, McCoy has to lose because every insult McCoy can come up with will always sound like a compliment to Spock.  

"Go ahead, call me green blooded." 

        It is interesting that we learn in “Amok Time” that Spock had become on his own homeworld, a legend amongst his people.  His adventures first with Captain Pike then with Captain Kirk have made Mr. Spock a household name.  The child once bullied and rejected had become revered, like Rudolf the Red-nosed Reindeer who achieved status with his fellow reindeer when he helped Santa save Christmas, Mr. Spock achieved fame and appreciation on Vulcan.  Ironically this ends up costing him his marriage. T’Pring whose family overlooked Spock’s half-humanness and agree to a marriage, became so concerned with her betrothed’s fame that she sought comfort in another an attempted to use ritual rights to get Spock to fight Kirk.

Spock's lady number 1

Spock's lady number 2

        When it comes to women, Mr. Spock seem to share his father’s taste and goes for the more human type.  He actually cheated on T’Pring with Leila Kalomi during his time on Earth.  Once under the influence of spores he was going to live with her on Omicron Ceti III as seen in the episode “This Side of Paradise.”  During the episode “The Cloud Minders” Spock hooks up with Droxine, the described “work or art.”  That was just a one-time fling, a chance for the writers to confirm he doesn’t need to wait seven years.  This will be useful for Spock meets his own version of Edith Keeler in Zarabeth from “All of Yesterdays.”  Granted those last two weren’t human but they were more in the human direction than Vulcan.  The most Vulcan-like woman Spock ever found himself falling for was the Lady Romulan Fleet Commander in “The Enterprise Incident.” It was too bad he had to betray her because they were getting along great.

Spock's lady number 3

        

Spock's lady number 4

Outside of romance, when it comes to pure friendship I don’t know if there has ever been a better trio of friends on television than Kirk, Spock, and McCoy.  The three of them share this amazing bond that the actors of William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, and Deforest Kelley bring to life.  It is always fascinating the three of them whether they are just hanging out on leave or about the save the galaxy form an impending threat.  The three of them clearly appreciate the skills that each one has, and is free to criticize each other when any one of them feels it is necessary. 

Spock's lady number 5

     

I would like to dedicate this post to the late and great Leonard Nimoy.  One of the great regrets of my life is never been able to meet this incredible induvial who brought Mr. Spock to life for us for almost fifty years. Other actors may pick up the role to add something to it, but Leonard Nimoy will always be Mr. Spock.   

SUCH A CRIME! POOR LT SULU WAS STAR TREK’S MOST UNDERUSED CHARACTER

 Just recently I had finished my last review for the original Star Trek series.  Watching and reviewing all the episodes was an extremely fun project and I enjoyed every minute of it. Star Trek and all of its spinoffs tend to be shows with an ensemble cast of numerous characters with unique backstories.  Despite this, episodes generally will focus more heavily on one or two characters.  I decided to track this by tagging each episode according to the character that it most strongly features. 

For example, if an episode was about Captain Kirk, it would tag it a “Kirk-Themed Episode.”  If that same episode featured Mr. Spock as either the second most important character of the main story or the central character of a clear and important ‘B-plot’ then I would also tag it a “Spock Sub-Themed Episode.”  Now if the episode was about Spock with Dr. McCoy playing the second most important or the central character of ‘B-plot’ then the episode is tagged a “Spock Themed Episode” and “McCoy Sub-Themed Episode” respectively.   For the purpose of this post, I’ll just be referring to these as “the Most Important Character” and “the 2^nd Most Important Character.”

Deciding who is “the 2^nd Most Important Character” is sometimes a lot harder then picking out the most important.  Often times two characters can be competing for the role, also trying to decide how much weight to assign a ‘B-plot’ can also be a challenge.  One important rule I have is this distinction can only be given to a member or former member of the crew.  Otherwise, the alien threat of week would often dominate.  (When I get into the series with civilians onboard ship, I may alter this policy slightly.)

There are a grand total of 80 episodes of the original series.  That is counting the original pilot “The Cage” and both parts of “The Menagerie” as separate episodes.  That is a bit of stretch as we are getting three episodes out of one story, but it is what it is.  This gives us one hundred sixty slots for characters to fall into.  Eighty for the Most Important Character and eighty for the 2^nd Most Important Character. 

So, let’s see the characters that made up the core of these episodes.    

Captain James T. Kirk

                It should come as no surprise that the most heavily featured character is the Captain of the Enterprise himself, James T. Kirk.  After the title card “Star Trek” the next one we see is “Staring William Shatner.” The good Captain is the Most Important Character in a grand total of sixty out of the eighty episodes. 75% of the stories told in Star Trek’s original run were all about Captain Kirk.  And if the Captain having three out of every four episodes is not enough, in the remaining twenty Captain Kirk is the 2^nd Most Important Character fourteen times.  Thus, in a total of eighty episodes Captain Kirk is one of the top two characters in seventy-four of them.  Fans clearly got their fair share of Captain Kirk.  

The Episodes Where Captain Kirk is the Most Important Character

"The Corbomite Maneuver"; "Mudd's Women"; "The Enemy Within"; "The Naked Time"; "Charlie X"; "Balance of Terror"; "Dagger of the Mind"; "Miri"; "The Conscience of the King"; "Court Martial";   "Shore Leave"; "The Squire of Gothos"; "Arena"; "The Alternative Factor"; "Tomorrow Is Yesterday"; "The Return of the Archons"; "A Taste of Armageddon"; "Space Seed"; "The Devil in the Dark";      "Errand of Mercy"; "The City on the Edge of Forever"; "Operation: Annihilate!"; "Catspaw"; "Metamorphosis"; "Who Mourns for Adonais?"; "The Doomsday Machine"; "The Changeling";            "The Apple"; "Mirror, Mirror"; "The Deadly Years"; "I, Mudd"; "The Trouble with Tribbles";              "Bread and Circuses"; "A Private Little War"; "The Gamesters of Triskelion"; "Obsession";                   "The Immunity Syndrome"; "A Piece of the Action"; "By Any Other Name"; "Patterns of Force";          "The Ultimate Computer"; "The Omega Glory"; "Assignment: Earth"; "Spectre of the Gun";            "Elaan of Troyius"; "The Paradise Syndrome"; "And the Children Shall Lead"; "Spock's Brain";              "The Empath"; "Day of the Dove"; "Plato's Stepchildren"; "Wink of an Eye"; "That Which Survives";       "Let That Be Your Last Battlefield"; "Whom Gods Destroy"; "The Mark of Gideon";                   "The Cloud Minders"; "Requiem for Methuselah"; "The Savage Curtain"; "Turnabout Intruder"

The Episodes Where Captain Kirk is the 2^nd Most Important Character

"Where No Man Has Gone Before"; "The Man Trap"; "What Are Little Girls Made Of?”;                         "The Galileo Seven"; "This Side of Paradise"; "Amok Time"; "Wolf in the Fold"; "Journey to Babel"; "Return to Tomorrow"; "The Enterprise Incident"; "Is There in Truth No Beauty?";                                  "For theWorld Is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky"; "The Lights of Zetar"; "All Our Yesterdays"

Cmdr. Spock

                The next most featured character is the probably the most visually popular of the whole series if not the franchise.  Leonard Nimoy who played Mr. Spock was also the only other actor who appeared in the opening credits for all three seasons.  Out of the twenty remaining episodes that Captain Kirk did not have to top spot, our dear Mr. Spock takes up ten of them.  He is even more prolific when it comes to being in the number two slot.  There Mr. Spock has thirty-four of the sixty-six spots that were remaining, over half.  It was Edith Keeler who pointed out that Mr. Spock mostly belonged at Captain Kirk’s side.

The Episodes Where Mr. Spock is the Most Important Character

"The Galileo Seven"; "The Menagerie, Part I”; "This Side of Paradise"; "Amok Time";              "Journey to Babel"; "The Enterprise Incident"; "Is There in Truth No Beauty?"; "The Tholian Web"; "The Way to Eden"; "All Our Yesterdays"

The Episodes Where Mr. Spock is the 2^nd Most Important Character

"The Enemy Within"; "Balance of Terror"; "The Conscience of the King"; "Court Martial";              "The Menagerie, Part II”; "The Squire of Gothos"; "Arena"; "The Alternative Factor";                         "Tomorrow Is Yesterday"; "The Return of the Archons"; "The Devil in the Dark"; "Errand of Mercy"; “Operation: Annihilate!”;                         "The Doomsday Machine"; "The Changeling"; "I,Mudd"; "The Gamesters of Triskelion"; "The Immunity Syndrome"; "A Piece of the Action";                         "By Any Other Name"; "Patterns of Force";          "The Ultimate Computer"; "The Omega Glory"; "Assignment: Earth"; "The Paradise Syndrome";   "Day of the Dove"; "Wink of an Eye";                "That Which Survives";                "Let That Be Your Last Battlefield";         "The Mark of Gideon"; "The Cloud Minders";         "Requiem for Methuselah"; "The Savage Curtain"; "Turnabout Intruder"

Dr. Leonard H. McCoy AKA Bones

                It is the good country doctor who is next on our list.  Deforest Kelley is the only other actor to appear on the opening credits, joining Shatner and Nimoy in season 2.  The three characters of Kirk, Spock, and McCoy make up Star Trek’s holy trinity so it should be no surprise that he is the next one getting our attention.  Dr. McCoy had a total of four episodes out of the ten that were remaining where he was the most important character.  He has also taken third place for the number of episodes where he is takes the 2^nd spot with a total of thirteen.

The Episodes Where Dr. McCoy is the Most Important Character

                               "The Man Trap"; "Friday's Child"; "Return to Tomorrow";                                       "For the World Is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky"

The Episodes Where Dr. McCoy is the 2^nd Most Important Character

"Mudd's Women"; "The Naked Time"; "Miri"; "Shore Leave"; "The City on the Edge of Forever"; "Metamorphosis"; "The Deadly Years"; "A Private Little War"; "And the Children Shall Lead";        "Spock's Brain"; "The Empath"; "The Tholian Web"; "Plato's Stepchildren"

Captain Christopher Pike

                The predecessor of Captain Kirk, only made three appearances and all about the same story.  However, he is always in the top two even when he couldn’t walk or talk.  He was the main character in two episodes and the number two character for one.

The Episodes Where Captain Pike is the Most Important Character

"The Cage"; "The Menagerie, Part II”

The Episodes Where Captain Pike is the 2^nd Most Important Character

"The Menagerie, Part I”

Lt. Cmdr. Montgomery Scott AKA Scotty

The great engineer Star Trek’s Scotty.  The funny thing is when Scotty is in the forefront it has almost nothing to do with his engineering skills.  The one time he is the star he is the suspect of a murder investigation and in the six times he is in the second slot he is normally on the bridge of the Enterprise trying to maintain order while the Captain is on an away mission with the other stars. In a way Scotty is king of the ‘b-plot.’

The Episode Where Mr. Scott is the Most Important Character

"Wolf in the Fold"

The Episodes Where Mr. Scott is the 2^nd Most Important Character

"A Taste of Armageddon"; "Friday's Child"; "The Apple"; "Bread and Circuses"; "Elaan of Troyius";  “Whom Gods Destroy"  

Lt. Cmdr. Gary Mitchell

                The character only made one appearance in the series and what an appearance it was.  It was so good it convinced the network to carry the show.  However, Mr. Mitchell would not return.

The Episode Where Gary Mitchell is the Most Important Character

"Where No Man Has Gone Before"

Nurse Christine Chapel

                Normally Nurse Chapel would be Dr. McCoy’s helper in sickbay, and what a helper she was as don’t recall seeing many other nurses.  When she wasn’t doing that, she was carrying a torch for Mr. Spock.  However, she did have a single episode that was all her own.

The Episode Where Nurse Chapel is the Most Important Character

"What Are Little Girls Made Of?”

Lt.  Mira Romaine

                The last character to have a Star Trek episode about them is a bit of a surprise.  Like Mr. Mitchell it is her only appearance but unlike him it is not very memorable.

The Episode Where Lt. Romaine is the Most Important Character

"The Lights of Zetar"

Lt. Nyota Uhura

                Everyone’s favorite communications officer and many people’s childhood crush.  Lt. Uhura left quite an impression.  In a time where Jim Crow had only recently been made illegal, Lt. Uhura was flying to the stars.  In addition to running her station, she was also shown to have engineering talents, and would take over the helm in emergencies.  The actress Nichelle Nichols famously thought about leaving but was talked out of it by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.  She was never the star of an episode but she was in the second slot for two.

The Episodes Where Lt. Uhura is the 2^nd Most Important Character

"Mirror, Mirror"; "The Trouble with Tribbles"

Ensign Pavel Chekov

                Created in the second season to answer Russian critics that the first people in space didn’t have anyone on the Enterprise.  Ensign Chekov provided youth, enthusiasm, humor with his poor understanding of history.  Like Uhura he never had an episode of his own but he was in the second slot for two.

The Episodes Where Ensign Chekov is the 2^nd Most Important Character

"Spectre of the Gun"; "The Way to Eden"

Number One

                The original first officer of the Enterprise was gone so fast we never learned her name. She will get one in a later series coming out this year but for a long time she was just “Number One.”  Yet, because of her Majel Barrett appears on this list twice.

The Episode Where “Number One” is the 2^nd Most Important Character

"The Cage"

Lt. Bailey

                This poor sap got to sit in Gary Michell’s chair right after he died, no wonder he was so nervous.  One and done but the second most important that day.

The Episode Where Lt. Bailey is the 2^nd Most Important Character

"The Corbomite Maneuver"

Yeoman Janice Rand

                A character gone way too soon.  One of the very few franchise characters who was reoccurring and not a commissioned officer and the only one in this series.  After she left, Captain Kirk had revolving door of Yeoman.  Before she left, she was once the 2^nd most important. 

The Episode Where Yeoman Rand is the 2^nd Most Important Character

"Charlie X"

 

Dr. Helen Noel

                Of all the one-off characters Dr. Noel is by far my favorite.  An old flame of Kirk’s who now is on his ship—and he hates it.  I always like to see other doctors and engineers who aren’t the chief of their department.  She is also as sexy as hell.

The Episode Where Dr. Noel is the 2^nd Most Important Character

"Dagger of the Mind"

 

Lt. Marla McGivers

                Lt. McGivers is the ship’s historian who forgets to sew on her lieutenant’s stripes. She became the girlfriend of Khan Noonien Singh.  That status would lead her into trouble.

The Episode Where Lt. McGivers is the 2^nd Most Important Character

"Space Seed”

Lt. DeSalle

                Lt. DeSalle had made a single appearance on the show before moving on to become Scotty’s Assistant Chief Engineer.  As so he is left in Scotty’s usual place on the bridge and gets his own ‘b-plot.’

 The Episode Where Lt. DeSalle is the 2^nd Most Important Character

"Catspaw”

Lt. Carolyn Palamas

                Like McGivers before her she was an historian who became the arm candy of a powerful man.  However, where McGivres fell for superhuman, Palmas, one ups her by dating a god.  Still, she is only the second most important character in this episode.

The Episode Where Lt. Palamas is the 2^nd Most Important Character

"Who Mourns for Adonais?"

Ensign Garrovick

                Of all the one-off characters that got to be the star or co-star of an episode this one is my least favorite.  He is given an important connection to Captain Kirk only then we never see him again.  I really think they should have given this story to either Sulu, Chekov, or Uhura.

The Episode Where Ensign Garrovick is the 2^nd Most Important Character

“Obsession”

POOR SULU!

                Sulu is such a fun character.  He fences and his does botany.  He always has something important to contribute to discussions.  There are several times where he has to take command of the ship in dangerous circumstances, which normally got Scotty all sorts of time in the 2^nd slot.  Yet, Sulu is never the most important or 2^nd most important character and that is a shame.  Interestingly the first book I reviewed for this site had him as the 2^nd most important crew member of that story.