Star Trek TOS The Way to Eden. S3 E20

Synopsis
The Enterprise is sent to retrieve a small group of idealists who have stolen a space ship intent on finding the planet of Eden, a mythical idyllic location that is free from the technological influence of the Federation.  Among the group is Tango Rad, the son of a Federation ambassador, and their leader Dr Sevrin, a famed for his research in acoustics, communications, and electronics.  The Enterprise does locate the stolen ship but the group refuses to acquiesce when they are caught in a tractor beam.  Scotty is able to transport them off the ship before it explodes.

Once on board, they prove to be an unruly and unreasonable group, but Spock seems familiar enough with their traditions to begin a conversation.  Kirk sends them down to sick bay for a thorough checkup but they prove resistant.

  
Analysis
In reviewing the original series, I have specifically avoided any cultural context from the 60's when they were written and broadcast.  While these episodes would be appreciated differently in the context of what was happening at the time, I can only understand them from my own personal perspective.  The goal is not to attempt to appreciate them for what they represented to previous audiences, but to explore what they offer to me, in the present day.


For their time, they reflected the struggle of the culture, but they also represented a relatively young medium.  Serialized television of this style was young, since the 1950s.  Color television was an innovation of the middle 60's.  Realistic science fiction was an inspiration of the 60's, with imaginations fueled by the Apollo space program.  And the cultural awareness of race, war, equality, and youth was reaching an importance that was novel for the 20th century.

But to a viewer in 2017, the medium has had decades to explore how to tell stories in this medium, and has educated audiences in conventions and practices that were unknown to naive audiences huddled around their small, usually black and white screens. The amount of story we can tell to modern audiences in an hour is much greater than the 60's audience was accustomed to, and the mere novelty of showing colorful and bizarre images on the screen was an entertainment that just doesn't hold the same appeal to modern audiences.

All the preceding is why I find it so difficult to analyze this particular episode.  This more than any other seemed to rely on the understanding of the day