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| Sunday, August 10, 2008 09:25 AM |
| On the Viewer - Star Trek: The Animated Series, Disc Two |
 by Fëanor |
(Read my review of disc one of this series here.)
Disc two of the DVD collection of this wonderfully entertaining TV show opens up with a very strange episode called "The Infinite Vulcan." It was written by Walter Koenig, which was kind of a surprise, as he's one of the only cast members who did not return to provide the voice of his character in the series. I guess he was okay with writing, though. Anyway, the crew is exploring a newly discovered planet when Sulu rather unwisely picks up a cute walking plant, which then poisons him. It's a fast-acting poison and Dr. McCoy has no time to analyze it to determine an antidote - Sulu is almost certainly going to die. But then some plant-like aliens approach and offer to help. Some of the others are reluctant to let them touch Sulu at first, but they're clearly his only hope for survival, and their administrations do indeed save his life. It turns out they were nearly wiped out by a plague brought to their planet by a Terran scientist named Dr. Starros Keniclius, who left Earth hundreds of years ago during the genetic wars (of which Khan was a part) to wander the galaxy in search of the perfect genetic specimen, whom he hoped to clone and turn into a galactic peacemaker. It turns out Keniclius is still alive on the planet - or at least, a fifth generation version of him is. He's cloned himself each time he was about to die, so he could carry on his work. For no particular reason, the clone is also gigantic. Upon meeting Spock, he becomes convinced he's finally found his long sought-after perfect specimen, so he kidnaps him. Unfortunately, the cloning process requires the original to die. Will everybody's favorite Vulcan be killed so his giant copy can roam the galaxy, stopping wars wherever they start??
It sounds insane... because it is! Of course, eventually things work out and the group convinces Keniclius Five to use his science and abilities to cure diseases instead of to build an army of giant Spocks, because after all, there's already peace in the Federation, so the army wouldn't even be all that useful. And also, WTF?
Definitely not my favorite episode of the series, but certainly amusing. It's not very often you get to see a giant Spock roaming around, after all.
Next up is an episode nearly as insane called "The Magics of Megas-Tu." While exploring the center of the galaxy, the Enterprise is caught in some kind of anomaly that busts all the ship's systems and leaves them entirely crippled, while also apparently transporting them to some other universe. A jovial fellow named Lucien who looks rather like a faun shows up, fixes everything, and transports the major characters on the bridge to his own planet, Megas-Tu. In this universe, and on this planet, magic is commonplace. All you have to do is will a thing to happen, and it will happen. In fact, the Megans once came to Earth and tried to help humans, but were persecuted as witches, and so returned to their own universe in disgust and horror. Lucien is inclined to forgive them, but the other Megans are pissed and when they find out Terrans have invaded their universe, decide to put them on trial for the crimes of humanity.
If this sounds familiar, you're probably thinking of "Encounter at Farpoint," the first episode of ST:TNG. I wonder if they were mining the animated series for plot ideas, and that's how they came up with Q and so forth? Anyways, the whole concept of a universe based on magic, while kind of cool, is a bit silly, as is the way it's handled here. But it's still a fun episode with some neat ideas, and it involves Captain Kirk getting into a giant magical duel versus a race of wizards with the life of Lucifer in the balance, which is undeniably awesome.
Third on the disc is "Once Upon a Planet," wherein the Enterprise returns to the pleasure planet from "Shore Leave" to have some... shore leave. Now they think they know how the planet works and that everything will be fine and dandy, but little do they know the Keeper of the planet has since died, and the computer that controls everything has decided it doesn't want to just bring pleasure to visitors anymore - it wants to kick ass and go on a joyride around the galaxy! The first step in its plan? Kidnap Uhura!
It was cool to revisit the "Shore Leave" planet and get a follow-up on that story, while also getting a closer look at how the planet works. Again, not the best episode ever, as the dangerous self-aware computer bit is a pretty old sci-fi trope, but fun enough, especially that ending shot of Dr. McCoy and (I think) Sulu having a picnic with Alice and a dragon.
But the most outrageously fun episode is yet to come, in the form of "Mudd's Passion!" Yes, here we get another returning character: the slimy, conniving Harry Mudd; the actor who played him is also back, as is the writer of both original Harry Mudd episodes. We last left Harry trapped on a planet full of robots in the episode "I, Mudd," but since then he's managed to steal a ship and escape, and now the Enterprise crew have tracked him to a mining planet where he's trying to sell love crystals to the populace. They expose his fraud and throw him in the brig. The plan is to take him back to civilization where he'll go on trial for his crimes, but Mudd sees Nurse Chapel's sad longing for Mr. Spock and manages to talk her into trying his love crystals on the Vulcan. It's all part of his plan to escape, but it leads to him and Chapel stranded on a planet threatened by giant alien rock monsters, while the crew of the ship are falling all over themselves in a daze of love, thanks to the fact that some of Mudd's love crystals got into the air vents. Yep, they actually work!
This was another great revisitation of an old storyline. The plot is clever and entertaining, Mudd is a wonderful character, and it was hilarious to see Spock ardently charging after his lady love, not to mention all the other characters acting in similarly goofy ways. Probably one of my favorites on the disc.
Next up is "The Terratin Incident," which opens with the Enterprise performing scientific observations of a dead star - a pretty boring mission for them. So when they get a mysterious transmission, in a code hundreds of years old, from a nearby system - a transmission which includes the baffling word "Terratin" repeated twice - Kirk is quick to go check it out, despite the fact that McCoy thinks it's all a waste of time. (I do love how well they've nailed down all the characters.) As they arrive, Spock notices an odd energy wave emanating from the planet, and suggests they hang back while he analyzes its effect, but everything seems to be working fine and nobody seems hurt, so Kirk orders them to enter orbit. But then they're struck full force by the energy wave, which fries their dilithium crystals, and leads to an even stranger phenomenon - the ship is expanding! Or is it instead that everyone inside of it is getting smaller?
This is another story it would have been impossibly difficult and expensive to do in the live-action show (how do you believably make it appear as if your entire cast has shrunk?), but which is easily and entertainingly told through animation. As in other episodes, the transporter is used as the slightly disappointing, deus ex machina solution, and the ultimate explanation of the mystery, with the race of tiny people and their shrinking ray, is a little silly. But there are some great character moments, some cool ideas, and the episode is packed with wonderful visuals involving the crew clambering over their suddenly gigantic buttons and instruments.
The final episode on this disc is "The Time Trap," which at first seems like it's going to be a retread of "The Lorelei Signal" from the first disc, as it opens in almost exactly the same way, with the Enterprise exploring a sector of space where many starships have disappeared over the years. But this time they find themselves facing off against their old enemy, the Klingon commander Kor. A battle begins, but ends nearly as quickly, as Kor's ship, the Klothos, vanishes. But two more Klingon ships remain and seem ready to carry on the fight, so the Enterprise follows the Klothos into the space-time warp. There they find a strange Sargasso Sea of lost ships. In this place time passes very slowly, and dilithium crystals are quickly drained of energy. The crewmembers of the various ships have over time resigned themselves to their fate and developed a nearly perfect society where there is no violence. Kirk, however, is not one to resign himself to his fate, and so mobilizes everyone on board to discover a way to escape, despite the fact that no ship ever has. After watching the Klingons attempt to get out, Spock comes up with an idea, but it will require the Klingons and humans to work together. Can the Klingons be trusted? And why is Spock acting so strangely all the sudden?
I really enjoy the title of this episode because for some reason it really seems to hearken back to the original series for me. The idea of a starship Sargasso Sea is also quite neat, and it's cool how the council of aliens includes members of almost every alien species we've seen in the Star Trek universe - including a hot green dancing girl from Orion! Plus Commander Kor is back, Spock gets to act goofy again, and it's a classic Federation vs. Klingons plot. Good times.
I think there were probably some better episodes on the first disc, but this disc is still extremely fun and entertaining. Looking forward to the next one! |
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