A lot of people will likely compare “Level 5 Transporter Accident” to “Spock’s Brain” from The Original Series. And yes, I did think about the latter episode while watching the former. This was a good example of how to do a ridiculous premise correctly.
“Spock’s Brain” was an episode that took itself seriously despite its ridiculous premise. It was an attempt at making a serious commentary on gender politics. And it failed. The premise was simply too ridiculous to bear the weight of its own seriousness and quite frankly, the writers and actors were trapped by their own misogynist attitudes to be able to comment effectively on the roles of men and women in society. This seriousness created a lot of unintentionally hilarious moments, like when the female priestess screams, “Brain and brain! What is brain!” The only really effective part of the episode is the comedic button at the end where Spock begins talking incessantly about the society which he has been observing and McCoy openly complains that he should have never reconnected his vocal cords.
“Level 5 Transporter Accident” embraced the silliness and had fun with it and becomes a delightfully silly comedy - equal parts stupid and clever. While it doesn’t move the show’s plot forward, it does remind us of the ongoing character arcs and plants subtle seeds that point the future as a we move closer to the status quo of the original series. But nothing is done that is so serious that it will overwhelm the humor of the episode. They even give us a tiny little concession at the end to help the ridiculousness go down more easily.
