“The Terratin Incident”
Air
Date: November 17, 1973
Mom
Title: “Shrinking Crew”
As per usual, the
Enterprise mission of the week, in this case mapping, is ignored by her Captain
and crew when they discover a non-random signal from a planet of crystal
volcanos.
The reason for the
shrinking is all DNA is being wound tighter, which would make perfect sense if organics
were made of only DNA. However, there’s no time for a biology lesson here, it’s
a crisis!
Basically, this one is
“Wink of an Eye” without the natives being dangerous, or amorous.
Question: If they’re bringing the tiny city to an
“Earth like” planet, won’t its inhabitants be eaten nearly instantaneously by
“Earth like” and “Earth sized” animals?
It’s a wonder, Khan wasn’t
the only past foe who came hunting after his settlement world wasn’t all it was
advertised.
“The
Time Trap”
Air
Date: November 24, 1973
Mom
Title: “Space Bermuda Triangle”
Hey, it’s the first use
of a Klingon cloaking device, something that will become standard in the films
due to lazy writing. Sadly John Colicos
doesn’t return as the now pink clad Kor.
George Takei performs excellently as a Klingon, though. It’s surprising
they never used him in that capacity again.
It’s also surprising
that Kor is now a Starship fleet commander, as his turn as Planetary Governor
ended in a spectacular failure. Maybe
he’s got some strong connections in the Klingon High Command.
There’s no sign of the
Organians when the pitched battle between the Enterprise and Klingon ships
takes place before they get sucked into the Delta Triangle.
Considering the life inside it forces
inhabitants from pretty much every race we’ve met in Trek to total pacifism,
it’s likely the whole thing is a set up by the Andromedan energy invaders to
weaken the peoples of the Milky Way.
Spock’s a little weird
this week, bluffing a mind meld and acting all touchy feely. It must be his
separation from telepathic contact with all Vulcans when in another pocket
dimension. McCoy goes the most violent
and racist we’ve seen him when forced into this situation. The compassionate doctor is much more like
his Captain than he admits.
The Klingons, of course,
betray our fearless crew by leaving an explosive Tylenol on board. Luckily, the
chute last seen early in Season One (“Conscience of the King”) saves the day,
if not the laundry room, once more.
“The
Ambergris Element”
Air
Date: December 1, 1973
Mom
Title: “Kirk and Spock – Fish People”
Because this was made in
the 1970’s instead of last week, the Ocean planet Argo was flooded by
earthquakes and not global warming climate change.
It was cool, though.
Backgrounds are
beautiful in this one too; maybe they were left over from the Aquaman show.
OK, they still had their
whole uniforms and boots on when transformed. That didn’t hinder their underwater mobility at all. It must because the clothing is made of algae.
Hey, I always thought
these underwater “Aquans” were the inspiration for my “Neptunian” Star Trek
action figure. They don’t look anything like the toy.
More importantly why did
Mego go nuts with unique details clothes and parts on an alien they made up,
when their Gorn was an incorrect color repaint of Spidey villain The Lizard’s head on a Klingon body.
Interesting Tech Notes:
The force belts work
underwater, scuba diving must be awesome in the future.
The Enterprise can move
an earthquake’s epicenter with phaser fire. I’m not even going to pretend to
understand that one.
“The
Slaver Weapon”
Air
Date: December 15, 1973
Mom
Title: “Kzinti Cat People”
Ooh, the Sport shuttle!
Groovy!
Since it’s basically a
different universe, Kirk doesn’t fit, and we get an almost unheard of Spock,
Uhura and Sulu story. Spock’s urging to
play along with the Kzinti’s belief that females are dumb, and Uhura’s, “Thank
you,” shows, at a minimum, the two had a long relationship at some point.
Uhura’s eventual, short lived escape is kind
of pointless, but does add character development (her track team past) and
highlight her feistiness even post recapture.
The Stasis boxes are
from the slavers, an advanced civilization a billion years old. That’s even
older than the Andromedans! The way to
find a stasis box is…using a stasis box?
How did they find the first one?
Given the stupid and dangerous nature of the transforming technology, as
it varies between a hair drier and an ocarina, these things probably wiped out
the slavers.
Sulu figures things out from
the weapons side, and Uhura from the A.I. side, causing the Kzinti to become
the first, and ONLY on screen casualties of the animated series. Do not mess with those two.
Hey, I guess Spock was taking notes when Kirk did all those drop kicks!
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