“Arena”
“Arena” Finding a Federation base destroyed, Kirk strives to take revenge at any cost, and he pursues the enemy ship to an unknown region of space. The powerful Metrons, however, prevent the imminent battle and make it a duel between Kirk and the hostile Gorn captain. When Kirk refuses to kill the defeated Gorn, the Metrons release the Enterprise and the Gorn ship with the remark that there is hope for the human race. summary by Ex-Astris-Scientia
If I remember correctly, this was the first TOS episode I ever saw. A friend sent me a handful of episodes and it was just a matter of chance that “Arena” was the first one my player opened.
I must say I was very disappointed by the look of it. The Gorn reminded me of the old King-Kong movies, the plot was simple enough and - somehow - I never had any doubts about who was going to win the duel.
On the other hand, the ending satisfied my Star Trek expectations. It was kind of basic value, if you know what I mean. The good will was rewarded, the courage and honor were respected. That’s Star Trek at its best if you ask me. If only there was more to see and more to think about during the episode…
Much later, when I finally got a chance to watch Star Trek “Enterprise”, I thought, in many ways, this very basic episode was similar to a few of the Xindi encounters. Still, too much violence for my taste.