Air
Date: September 29, 1973
Mom
Title: “Women Take Command of the Enterprise”
Looks like we’ve landed on a better organized version of the “Spock’s Brain” world; with left over ancient alien tech placing the women in charge. Instead of home growing their Morgs on this Doctor Seuss looking world in the Taurean system, the space sirens steal them from passing ships. They’ve been able to do this for generations because the Enterprise is apparently the only craft to ever enter their system with any women on it. Then again, since the men will be dead in four years, and the Sirens capture new men every twenty seven years, maybe there’s more going on here than atrocious math skills?
This episode gets a
great deal of credit for being the only time Lieutenant Uhura is unquestionably
in command. However, just like most of
the animated series, the women don’t come off all that well.
Spock’s musical ability
helps them gain access to the computer chamber, and the Vulcan science officer
is still the one who solves this week’s problems after the armed ladies beam
down.
McCoy helps too because
of his never ending collection of stimulants.
The male crewmembers are
rescued, and the Sirens vow to change their ways, basically because they get
convinced that becoming someone’s little wife is preferable to immortality.
Oh yeah, fantastic
episode for empowering women.
Then again, writer
Margaret Armen gave us Shahna, Miramanee and Droxine in the Original
series. None of those made any great
strides for feminism. She’d go on to
turn the captain into a fish, which isn’t really a great stride for anyone.
“More
Tribbles, More Troubles”
Air
Date: October 6, 1973
Mom
Title: “They’re Baaaaa-aack”
We’re back on Station
K-7 in a tale written by David Gerrold and Stanley Adams is back as Cyrano
Jones. Granted the Klingon reactions would
have been much funnier if Michel Pataki and William Campbell returned.
(Particularly Koloth’s ending, “Don’t do that again…ever.”)
Also, the Tribbles probably shouldn’t have
been pink, and neither should the Klingons for that matter. Casting changes and color blind directors
aside, it’s still a triumphant return to one of the great Trek comedies.
How about that? This is
where the Klingon stasis beam in Star Fleet Battles comes from. All the more reason to accept this series as
cannon.
Wow, after everything
they went through, the Quadrotriticale didn’t work, leading to the delivery of
(what else?) Quintotriticale. They
certainly can’t afford to lose the grain again. The limited animation forces a
lack of facial expressions and aside glances, which make this episode seem a
little more serious at times than its predecessor. They do, however, do the extra mile and give
Kirk a facial reaction to Scotty’s concluding Tribble pun. Gerrold’s knack for running gags also runs
true to form.
Still no sign of the
Organians in this conflict with the Klingons.
Clearly, the invasion plan has progressed enough to remove their need to
fool everyone.
It’s obvious that
turning the story originally intended to be a season four follow up to the
season two classic into a shorter cartoon left some holes in the narrative.
If Cyrano managed to
escape Station K-7 in the middle of his 17.9 year sentence to steal a glommer
from a Klingon lab, why did he return?
More importantly, if
everyone was OK with brining a Tribble predator on to eat the little fuzzballs,
why not save the time and effort? Set
phasers for “vaporize” and apart from figuring out how to cleanse the joint of
the stench of burning fur, it would have been clean in no time.
Starfleet safety
protocols are unchanged. A little jostling of the Enterprise knocks over the
sealed containers of valuable grain causing them to spill their contents all
over the deck. We pack Mayonnaise more securely than that with current
technology.
McCoy’s genius gets
underplayed in the comedy of giant piñata Tribbles this time out, which is
unfortunate. Bones invented the “safe
tribble!” Any time a tribble is seen
after this point, the fact that it isn’t burying the location in its progeny is
due to the good Doctor’s medical knowledge.
“The Survivor”
Air
Date: October 20, 1973
Mom
Title: “Shapeshifter Fiancée”
Wait, traders are allowed passage through the Romulan neutral zone? I think Starfleet Academy programmed the Kobayashi Maru simulation on the wrong side of the Federation. Especially since we see here that even in animation, it’s cheaper for the Romulans to fly Klingon ships.
Yes, cheap animation can
be a problem. Unless the alien brought a
friend who remains at large, Scotty is somehow on the bridge while he’s making
repairs in engineering.
It’s delayed a few years
from “Way to Eden,” but McCoy’s daughter Joanna’s existence is established
here.
True to form for Trek
duplicate stories, the other two of the Big Three instantly recognize the Fake
McCoy for what he is.
That Winston is a heck
of a shape shifter isn’t he? He turned into
an energy shield! Or perhaps his true
form isn’t a crazy flailing jellyfish thing, but a non-corporeal space cloud
being. Yes, the Andromedan’s have
captured another member of Starfleet.
“The
Infinite Vulcan”
Air
Date: October 20, 1973
Mom
Title: “Giant Spock”
Since this episode was
written by Walter Koenig, Chekov’s buddy Sulu gets to accompany the Big Three
for the beam down to the plant based planet.
Sulu’s botany background shows up lends a logical explanation to this
choice, and the author lends his reversed first name to the walking “Retlaw”
plant.
The bad guy is a clone
of yet another survivor from Kahn’s time, coming from the same background. Oddly, no one is concerned that he’s left
alone with a giant, somewhat altered Mr. Spock on a planet of expansionist
plants with a Dalek like view of the universe.
There are some
connections to familiar territory. Scotty at the conn means a viable technical
solution is found. It’s the only other
time we see the Enterprise phasers set for stun. (Sadly doing nothing.)
Sweetly, Spock returns to himself due to the sound of Uhura’s voice.
Bones’s penchant for
having massive stocks of unusual items is also seen again. We learn he’s got
the stores to produce copious amounts of weed killer. Maybe that’s why they
weren’t worried about who or what was being left behind. With all life forms on the planet being
plant based, McCoy’s spray probably eliminated everything living there.
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