The Best Episodes of Star Trek Season 3

Episode Rankings

1. #1 Fan Favorite
   

   5.7/10(4138 votes)

   #1 - Spock's Brain

   S3:E19/20/1968

   An alien female beams aboard the ship and, after incapacitating the rest of the crew, surgically removes Spock's brain. Kirk and the crew have just hours to locate and replace it before Spock's body dies.

   Director:Marc Daniels

   Writer:Gene L. Coon

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   Director:Marc Daniels

   Writer:Gene L. Coon
2. 

   8.4/10(4456 votes)

   #2 - The Enterprise Incident

   S3:E29/27/1968

   The crew of the Enterprise are on a secret mission to steal a Romulan cloaking device.

   Director:John Meredyth Lucas

   Writer:D.C. Fontana

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   Director:John Meredyth Lucas

   Writer:D.C. Fontana
3. 

   6.7/10(3793 votes)

   #3 - The Paradise Syndrome

   S3:E310/4/1968

   An alien device on a primitive planet erases Captain Kirk's memory, and he begins a new life with the planet's indigenous people.

   Director:Jud Taylor

   Writer:Margaret Armen

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   Director:Jud Taylor

   Writer:Margaret Armen
4. 

   5.2/10(3885 votes)

   #4 - And the Children Shall Lead

   S3:E410/11/1968

   On a distant planet, Kirk, Spock and McCoy find a scientific team dead, and their children who, unknown to the crew, have great powers at their disposal.

   Director:Marvin J. Chomsky

   Writer:Edward J. Lakso

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   Director:Marvin J. Chomsky

   Writer:Edward J. Lakso
5. 

   6.9/10(3690 votes)

   #5 - Is There in Truth No Beauty?

   S3:E510/18/1968

   The Enterprise travels with an alien ambassador whose appearance induces madness.

   Director:Ralph Senensky

   Writer:Jean Lisette Aroeste

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   Director:Ralph Senensky

   Writer:Jean Lisette Aroeste
6. 

   7.2/10(3872 votes)

   #6 - Spectre of the Gun

   S3:E610/25/1968

   Having been found trespassers into Melkotian space, Captain Kirk and his companions are sent to die in a re-enactment of the gunfight at the O.K. Corral.

   Director:Vincent McEveety

   Writers:Gene L. Coon, Leroy Cronin

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   Director:Vincent McEveety

   Writers:Gene L. Coon, Leroy Cronin
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7. 

   7.7/10(3832 votes)

   #7 - Day of the Dove

   S3:E711/1/1968

   An alien force drives the crew of the Enterprise into brutal conflict with the Klingons.

   Director:Marvin J. Chomsky

   Writer:Jerome Bixby

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   Director:Marvin J. Chomsky

   Writer:Jerome Bixby
8. 

   7.1/10(3590 votes)

   #8 - For the World Is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky

   S3:E811/8/1968

   The crew of the Enterprise rush to stop an asteroid from colliding with a Federation world, but discover the asteroid is actually an inhabited generation ship.

   Director:Anton Leader

   Writer:Rik Vollaerts

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   Director:Anton Leader

   Writer:Rik Vollaerts
9. 

   8.0/10(3915 votes)

   #9 - The Tholian Web

   S3:E911/15/1968

   Captain Kirk is caught between dimensions while the crew of the Enterprise works to retrieve him. All the while, the Tholians demand that the Enterprise leave their space.

   Directors:Ralph Senensky, Herb Wallerstein

   Writers:Judy Burns, Chet Richards

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   Directors:Ralph Senensky, Herb Wallerstein

   Writers:Judy Burns, Chet Richards
10. 

    6.5/10(3776 votes)

    #10 - Plato's Stepchildren

    S3:E1011/22/1968

    The crew of the Enterprise encounters an ageless and sadistic race of humanoids with the power of telekinesis and who claim to have organized their society around Ancient Greek ideals.

    Director:David Alexander

    Writer:Meyer Dolinsky

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    Director:David Alexander

    Writer:Meyer Dolinsky
11. 

    7.3/10(3631 votes)

    #11 - Wink of an Eye

    S3:E1111/29/1968

    Invisible "time-accelerated" aliens take over the Enterprise and attempt to abduct the crew for use as "genetic stock".

    Director:Jud Taylor

    Writers:Gene L. Coon, Arthur Heinemann

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    Director:Jud Taylor

    Writers:Gene L. Coon, Arthur Heinemann
12. 

    6.5/10(3645 votes)

    #12 - The Empath

    S3:E1212/6/1968

    While visiting a doomed planet, the landing party is subject to torturous experiments by powerful aliens.

    Director:John Erman

    Writer:Joyce Muskat

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    Director:John Erman

    Writer:Joyce Muskat
13. 

    7.0/10(3640 votes)

    #13 - Elaan of Troyius

    S3:E1312/20/1968

    The USS Enterprise ferries a spoiled princess whose betrothal to a royal Troyian is hoped will bring peace to a star system at war.

    Director:John Meredyth Lucas

    Writer:John Meredyth Lucas

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    Director:John Meredyth Lucas

    Writer:John Meredyth Lucas
14. 

    6.9/10(3558 votes)

    #14 - Whom Gods Destroy

    S3:E141/3/1969

    Captain Kirk faces off with a demented shape-shifting starship captain determined to control the universe.

    Director:Herb Wallerstein

    Writers:Jerry Sohl, Lee Erwin

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    Director:Herb Wallerstein

    Writers:Jerry Sohl, Lee Erwin
15. 

    7.1/10(3742 votes)

    #15 - Let That Be Your Last Battlefield

    S3:E151/10/1969

    The Enterprise encounters two duo-chromatic and mutually belligerent aliens who put the ship in the middle of their old conflict.

    Directors:Jud Taylor, Herb Wallerstein

    Writers:Gene L. Coon, Oliver Crawford, Leroy Cronin

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    Directors:Jud Taylor, Herb Wallerstein

    Writers:Gene L. Coon, Oliver Crawford, Leroy Cronin
16. 

    6.5/10(3455 votes)

    #16 - The Mark of Gideon

    S3:E161/17/1969

    A race of overpopulated aliens abduct Captain Kirk to solve their problem.

    Director:Jud Taylor

    Writers:Stanley Adams, George F. Slavin

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    Director:Jud Taylor

    Writers:Stanley Adams, George F. Slavin
17. 

    6.5/10(3380 votes)

    #17 - That Which Survives

    S3:E171/24/1969

    Kirk, McCoy, and Sulu are stranded on a barren planet where a mysterious woman attempts to kill them one at a time, while the Enterprise must travel halfway across the galaxy to rescue them.

    Director:Herb Wallerstein

    Writers:D.C. Fontana, John Meredyth Lucas

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    Director:Herb Wallerstein

    Writers:D.C. Fontana, John Meredyth Lucas
18. 

    6.2/10(3331 votes)

    #18 - The Lights of Zetar

    S3:E181/31/1969

    Strange incorporeal aliens threaten the Memory Alpha station and the Enterprise.

    Director:Herbert Kenwith

    Writers:Shari Lewis, Jeremy Tarcher

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    Director:Herbert Kenwith

    Writers:Shari Lewis, Jeremy Tarcher
19. 

    7.3/10(3719 votes)

    #19 - Requiem for Methuselah

    S3:E192/14/1969

    The crew of the Enterprise encounter an immortal human in this science fiction variation on Shakespeare's The Tempest.

    Director:Murray Golden

    Writer:Jerome Bixby

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    Director:Murray Golden

    Writer:Jerome Bixby
20. 

    5.4/10(3912 votes)

    #20 - The Way to Eden

    S3:E202/21/1969

    The Enterprise picks up a group of space "hippies" looking for Eden.

    Director:David Alexander

    Writers:D.C. Fontana, Arthur Heinemann

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    Director:David Alexander

    Writers:D.C. Fontana, Arthur Heinemann
21. 

    7.1/10(3467 votes)

    #21 - The Cloud Minders

    S3:E212/28/1969

    Captain Kirk races against time to acquire plague-fighting minerals from a world in the midst of a civil uprising against a grievous social class disparity.

    Director:Jud Taylor

    Writers:Oliver Crawford, David Gerrold, Margaret Armen

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    Director:Jud Taylor

    Writers:Oliver Crawford, David Gerrold, Margaret Armen
22. 

    6.6/10(3492 votes)

    #22 - The Savage Curtain

    S3:E223/7/1969

    Aliens force Captain Kirk and First Officer Spock to join forces with "Abraham Lincoln" and "Surak" to battle villains in a contest of good vs. evil.

    Director:Herschel Daugherty

    Writers:Gene Roddenberry, Arthur Heinemann

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    Director:Herschel Daugherty

    Writers:Gene Roddenberry, Arthur Heinemann
23. 

    8.1/10(3900 votes)

    #23 - All Our Yesterdays

    S3:E233/14/1969

    Kirk, Spock and McCoy are trapped in two parts of another planet's past - a world threatened with destruction when its sun goes supernova.

    Director:Marvin J. Chomsky

    Writer:Jean Lisette Aroeste

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    Director:Marvin J. Chomsky

    Writer:Jean Lisette Aroeste
24. 

    6.8/10(3438 votes)

    #24 - Turnabout Intruder

    S3:E246/3/1969

    The Enterprise is in danger when Janice Lester, one of Kirk's former lovers, steals his body.

    Director:Herb Wallerstein

    Writers:Gene Roddenberry, Arthur Singer

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    Director:Herb Wallerstein

    Writers:Gene Roddenberry, Arthur Singer