For reasons that are obvious only to them, many Trek fans place this lively, colorful, musical episode at the top of their "Worst Of Star Trek" lists, which is, I think, wrong. Whether or not you like the original songs that are performed in this episode has no direct bearing on how good the story is. This is in fact a very interesting and important episode which reveals some wonderful new things about Captain Kirk, Commander Spock, and especially Ensign Chekov.
For those who are looking for evidence of red-hot heterosexuality aboard Kirk's Enterprise, this episode should be one of your favorites, since Pavel Chekov pretty clearly is carrying a torch for the pretty brunette du jour, Irina - one of evil Dr. Sevrin's devotees.
Note also this is one of the two episodes where Lt. Palmer takes Lt. Uhura's place on the bridge, for reasons unexplained.
Early in the episode, the space-hippies insult Kirk by calling him Herbert, and he doesn't know how to react. Spock greets the space-hippies by making their magic gesture for "ONE" and declaiming that he is "not Herbert", which delights them (and us). Later, Spock explains to Kirk (for us) that to be Herbert is a bad thing: it means you are limited and rigid in your thinking. Kirk's reaction to this information is very interesting. To Spock, he promises to try to be less rigid in his thinking, as if acknowledging the fault in himself! This is particularly interesting, partially because Kirk is in fact one of the more broad-minded and generously tolerant fictional heroes ever... but apparently he believes in becoming ~even more so~.
Several times in this episode it's shown rather plainly that Spock is sympathetic to the space-hippies. He disapproves of Dr. Sevrin, but he doesn't disapprove of their desire to find and live in Eden, and in fact, he volunteers to help them, ~with Jim's permission~. Spock never goes off on his own in this episode, but he does presume to green-light Adam's request for a jam session, without running it by Kirk first. Spock delights his shipmates (and us) by joining in with his Vulcan lyre for one brief tune.
Kirk's under orders to treat his "guests" gently, and he is in fact very cordial, generous, and patient with them. Kirk doesn't hate them or behave hatefully toward them: he is as polite and tolerant as he can be. Nevertheless, Kirk is definitely a guy who respects his superiors, obeys his orders, and generally respects the law. The only time Kirk and the hippies are at odds is when they flout the law. Captain Kirk is the resident authority figure, and he stays focused throughout the episode on obeying his orders and fulfilling his mission... so, there's no evidence of the mythological rebel-Kirk here.
As for evidence of the mythological red-hot-heterosexual-horndog-playboy Kirk, uh, no. Sorry. Better luck next episode. There is nothing vaguely heterosexual-looking going on between Kirk and any of the ladies. Spock also shows virtually no interest in any women in this episode... as per usual.
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