THE LANDING PARTY LANDS IN A ZOO!

 

Episode Title:  The Eye of the Beholder

Air Date: 12/15/1973

Written by David P. Harmon

Directed by Hal Sutherland

Cast: William Shatner as Captain James T. Kirk    Leonard Nimoy as Commander Spock        DeForest Kelley as Dr. Leonard H. McCoy AKA “Bones”              James Doohan  as Lieutenant Commander Montgomery Scott AKA “Scotty”, Lieutenant Arex, Lieutenant Commander Tom Markel                  George Takei as Lieutenant Hikaru Sulu                     Majel Barrett as Lieutenant M’Ress and Lieutenant Randi Bryce            

Ships: USS Enterprise NCC-1701, USS Ariel registry unknown

Planets: Lactra VII

My Spoiler filled summary and review: The Enterprise arrives into orbit of the planet Lactra VII responding to a distress call from the USS Ariel.  The Ariel is a small survey ship with a crew of only seven.  When they find it however the little ship is abandoned.  There is a message left over from the Ariel’s Captain, Lt. Cmdr. Tom Markel, who explains that when the landing party didn’t respond the rest of the crew went down to search for them.  Kirk is pretty offended that a captain completely abandoned his ship. However, Spock and McCoy manage to talk him down from it. 

message from the Captain of the USS Ariel

Kirk decides to lead a landing party of three with Spock and McCoy accompanying him.  When they get down to the planet, they find a variety of different atmospheres in a short distance from another causing them to speculate that this environment is artificially created.  They get attacked by strange creatures some of them they have seen before, and one very big one that lands on poor Dr. McCoy when they stun it.  The poor Doctor has to wait for Kirk and Spock to dig him out, and I am surprised that McCoy lasted as long as he did under the blob.

The three find what appears to be a city.  They enter it and are quickly trapped behind a force field.  Spock discovers that these aliens are telepathic and extremely highly advanced.  Their brains are so powerful that to compare them with any human would be like to compare a human with an ant.  Their equipment is seized and they are brought to an Earth-like environment. Locked in with them is the crew of the Ariel. 

monster stunned 

It appears they are now exhibits in an inter-galactic zoo.  Spock has to explain to Kirk, who takes a while to wrap his head around this, that the Lactrans don’t view them as intelligent beings but rather dumb animals.  Lt. Randolph is ill and without a medical kit they can’t help her.  Both parties all think about the medical kit which causes the Lactrans do bring it over to them.  This indicates that the Lactrans are telepathically in tune with their needs.  With the Lieutenant treated, and idea springs up in the minds of Kirk and Spock.  What if they fake illness and focus their minds on the communicator?  They pull this off and one of the Lactrans complies and gets the communicator and gives it to Kirk.  Then Kirk tries to signal an emergency beam out but the Lactran grabs the communicator back and that individual is beamed up instead. 

taken to a zoo

Scotty gets the surprise of his life when he sees a Lactran in the transporter room where the landing party should be.  With the power of its mind the Lactran sends the ship spinning out of orbit. While on the planet, the landing party learns that the Lactran that was taken was a child.  So now all the adults have run into the room at once and are performing these mental attacks on their captives in order to figure out what happened to the missing kid. 

Crew of the Ariel

It turns out Scotty is more than just an engineering miracle worker.  He managed to communicate with the child and the Enterprise was restored to its orbit. The two beamed down to the planet and the adults were happy to see their child unharmed. Realizing that these are intelligent creatures, our heroes are allowed to go home.  According to Spock they will be happy to hear from them again in a little over twenty centuries from now.  

Getting the med kit!

Additional thoughts: The crew of the Enterprise being put in an inter-galactic zoo for the entertainment of advanced aliens. This story sounds familiar. In fact, that was the first Star Trek story told in “The Cage.” A major difference is the Talosians have another goal in mind aimed at using the humans to restore their declining civilization.  The Lactrans don’t have any other agenda, they are looking just to have an interesting zoo for the education and entertainment.  So, this Is our first pure inter-galactic zoo story exploring just that aspect.  

On display

In an interview with astrophysicist Neil deGrasse Tyson, he was asked about the possibility of aliens. Tyson pointed out that if there were life in the universe that somehow managed to find a way to transverse space time in order to travel to Earth, there was a strong chance that those intelligent aliens might not view us humans as intelligent creatures.  Tyson pointed out that the most intelligent chimpanzee could only be taught to do things like open an umbrella and set up a chair. Their capabilities are only on par with human children and could never engage a human adult in a sort of battle of wits.  He pointed out that such aliens might look at Stephen Hawking who can do calculus in his head as being sort of cute because that is something that their three-year-old can do. 

Family's reunited

The captain that wasn’t a captain. In the US Navy it is possible for an officer who has not yet reached the rank of captain to be the commanding officer of a ship.  Holding the rank of commander and in some cases lieutenant commander for very small ships, the ship’s CO is called “captain” while abord her and their actual rank when they are not.  However, in Star Trek we often see officers with the captain’s insignia no matter how small their particular ship is. However, in this episode we have a commanding officer of a small ship with a rank to fit. 

With this episode we come to the end of the first season of Star Trek: The Animated Series. It was a very interesting take and a great way to explore the franchise as animation has a lot of possibilities that live action tv at the time didn’t have.  For long suffering Star Trek fans who missed their show when it went off the air in 1969, they were finally able to see their fourth season.

FINAL GRADE 4 OF 5  

HONEY, I SHRUNK THE CREW!

 

Episode Title:  The Terratin Incident

Air Date: 11/17/1973

Written by Paul Schneider

Directed by Hal Sutherland

Cast: William Shatner as Captain James T. Kirk    Leonard Nimoy as Commander Spock        DeForest Kelley as Dr. Leonard H. McCoy AKA “Bones”              James Doohan  as Lieutenant Commander Montgomery Scott AKA “Scotty”, Lieutenant Arex, Gabler, and Mendant of the Terratins                           George Takei as Lieutenant Hikaru Sulu                     Nichelle Nichols as Lieutenant Nyota Uhura and Alice              Majel Barrett as Nurse Christine Chapel, Lieutenant M’Ress and The Queen of Hearts           

Ships: USS Enterprise NCC-1701

Planets: Terratin

My Spoiler filled summary and review: The Enterprise is on scientific endeavor to monitor a gas cloud that formed from an old collapsed star.   This clearly would be a very boring episode so of course something has to happen.  They get a distress call from a nearby planetoid in the Cepheus system that came in an old outdated Earth code.  It was sent to them twice and included the unknown word “Terratin.”  This is a lot more interesting than a cloud of gas so they decide to check it out.

These tools don't seem to be the same size or is it us?

The ship arrives at the Cepheus system and they head to the small planetoid.  Then the ship receives an energy blast during which their shields were ineffective and the bodies of every crewmember glow white. However, when it is over it seems that no harm has been done to anyone.  At least that was what they thought but there was some clear harm to their dilithium crystals.  This is causing the whole ship to lose power and they are now running on the ship’s battery like this was an early episode of season 1 involving either Gary Mitchell or Harry Mudd. 

We are not as toll as we use to be!

As they are trying to fix that problem, they encounter a new problem.  At first Kirk thinks that Mr. Spock is slouching and Spock thinks the same of Kirk.  Then some of Scotty’s engineers complain that their tools have been missized. It appears either the ship and the nonorganic matter inside of it is getting bigger or the crew and the other biological matter inside the ship is getting smaller.  Scans confirm it is the later, the distance between their cells is shrinking so they are getting smaller but retain their original weight.  This also where the fans find out that their uniforms have some biological element to them that is why no one is going to end up naked.

They try their best to keep operating the ship but they are getting smaller every minute!  At first, they have to stretch for things, then use stools, and finally they have to build pullies and leavers.  Sulu loses his cool and tries to shoot the planet with the ship’s phasers but falls climbing the helmsman’s chair and breaks his leg.  The Captain tries to get him to sickbay but the doors won’t open because it can no longer “see” them.  Kirk grabs a pin, now half the size of his body, to get the scanner to read him and open the door.

When you find yourself short you are going to have to adapt!

They get down to sickbay but both the Doctor and Mr. Sulu are two small to use the normal medical device that they use to knit broken bones.  Chapel remembers a smaller device that they use for the inner ear. Chapel climbs the office furniture to grab it.  She almost succeeds but she falls into sickbay’s water tank for aquatic lifeforms and starts to drown before the Captain saves her using a needle and thread. She does hang to the medical device and with that Sulu is on the mend. 

The crew can’t stop getting smaller so Kirk decides that beam down to the planet and make contact with the people there to see if they can stop this.  Spock designs him a new communicator to fit his height and Scotty has a team of engineers who have built a contraption that will allow them to operate the transporter.  Given that they can’t be sure that this will work and hour from now they program the transporter to automatically bring Kirk back at a prearranged time.  

Trying to figure out how much time!

Turns out the transporter is the cure.  When Kirk beamed the down to the planet he was restored to normal size.  The bad news was his communicator was now difficult to work.  Kirk also sees the tabletop sized settlement.  When Kirk returns, he starts sending some his crew down to get the cure and come right back.  There is some difficulty as Kirk has to continually watch his step to avoid crushing any of his crew.  He orders the entire crew to report to the transporter room to be re-sized. 

Table Top City 

Contact is established with the Terratins who explain that they were responsible for shrinking the crew as a way of trying to communicate.  Kirk is still annoyed with the Terratins but agrees to help them as they are desperate and in a time of need.  Their colony was once an Earth colony called “Terra Ten” who shrank because of their time on the planet, and now their colony is threatened with volcanic activity.  Also, it turns out their planet is packed with dilithium crystals that they can use to power the ship.  With the crew restored and the ship repaired the Enterprise finds the Terratins a new place to live.   

"We need your help, so we made you small!"

Additional thoughts: This was a fun little episode, yes pun intended.  The crew has had to deal with all sorts of threats before however the starship getting too big for them was never one.  Watching the crew of the Enterprise try to keep operating their starship after being transformed into tiny people was by far the best part.

Am I the only one who thought it was odd that Chapel couldn’t swim?  Wouldn’t that be a requirement in Starfleet?  I assume they have pool at the Academy.  If not, I think Captain Kirk should order some mandatory swimming lessons for the crew.  There are enough threats in space we don’t need to have anyone drown while visiting a local planet.  

"I can't swim!"

I did think it was interesting that the transporter was the magical cure again.  Very similar to “The Lorelei Signal,” the transporter is the quick cure for the aliment of the week.  Not only is it the TV budget friendly way to send people to the surface, it is the half-hour run time friendly way of curing problems.  Considering all the times it split someone in two or sent them to the mirror universe, I guess it’s a good thing it can also unexpectedly cure people.  Since their clothes also shank did they have to beam down all their clothing supplies as well to get them back up to proper size?

Lastly why did they go all the way to another planet to find the Terratins a new place to live?  I think they should have just kept their little colony onboard the ship.  It would be like having an ant farm only a million times more fun. 

FINAL GRADE 4 of 5 

RETURNING TO THE MOST ENTERTAINING PLACE IN THE UNIVERSE

 

Episode Title:  Once Upon a Planet

Air Date: 11/3/1973

Written by Chuck Menville and Len Janson

Directed by Hal Sutherland

Cast: William Shatner as Captain James T. Kirk    Leonard Nimoy as Commander Spock        DeForest Kelley as Dr. Leonard H. McCoy AKA “Bones”              James Doohan  as Lieutenant Commander Montgomery Scott AKA “Scotty”, Lieutenant Arex, White Rabbit, Gabler, and Master Computer                           George Takei as Lieutenant Hikaru Sulu                     Nichelle Nichols as Lieutenant Nyota Uhura and Alice              Majel Barrett as Lieutenant M’Ress and The Queen of Hearts           

Ships: USS Enterprise NCC-1701

Planets: Fantasy Planet in Omicron Delta

My Spoiler filled summary and review: After so many exhausting adventures the crew of the Enterprise needs some rest and relaxation.  The Captain has decided to bring them to the planet that will literally bring their dreams to life:  the Fantasy Planet of Omicron Delta.  A landing party comprising of McCoy, Sulu, and Uhura beam down.  McCoy and Sulu are extremely excited since they remembered their previous adventure here.  They are very happy to see the white rabbit run around with Alice chasing him. 

Then things start to go bad, the Queen of Hearts shows up and demands heads.  Uhura steps in to rescue the Doctor but she is then kidnapped by a flying hovercraft.  McCoy and Sulu are forced to do an emergency beam out.  Back up aboard the ship, the bridge crew tries to brainstorm what went wrong and see if they can get Uhura back.  McCoy insists that he didn’t think up the Queen of Hearts.  It becomes imperative that they find the Caretaker to fix the situation like he did before.  Kirk and Spock join McCoy and Sulu back down on the planet.

Happy to be back

Uhrua finds her captor is a talking computer, which is a very confusing situation.  However, she quickly learns that the “Master Computer” is even more confused than she is.   For one, the computer thinks Uhura is some sort of slave onboard the Enterprise.  It thinks all lifeforms aboard starships are slaves to their ships.  It is concerned that its planet is being invaded and intends to turn the returned landing party “off.”  Uhura becomes horrified as she realizes that the computer is planning on killing her friends.

Uhura about to be taken away

The landing party finds the grave of the caretaker killing the hope of solving this quickly.  Then they are attacked by pterodactyls and forced to retreat into a cave.  While back on the Enterprise the crew finds the ship has a will of its own and suddenly breaks orbit before getting back in its original position.  While on the surface the landing party is still stuck in their cave.  McCoy mentions they are playing a game of cat and mouse.  Suddenly the cave’s other entrance has a giant cat waiting for them.  Good one, Bones.  However, the landing party brainstorms and they recall how McCoy on their last visit had been “killed” then was whisked away beneath the planet.  They decide to bet that particular clean-up program is still activated. Spock volunteers and McCoy injects him with melenex that will in short time cause the Vulcan to lose consciousness and for his skin to discolor.  Their bet is paid off as Spock is whisked away as well.  The three follow the transport but only Kirk manages to get underground before the entrance closes.  Back on the Enterprise, Scotty has to deal with the ship’s artificial gravity having been turned off. 

Alice

Kirk and Spock find Uhura so now all three of them are facing off against the Master Computer.  The computer is looking to take the Enterprise and explore the galaxy looking to bond with other computers.  On the ship, Scotty discovers some hardware being built that the Master Computer is looking to download its software into.  The three of them mange to convince the Master Computer that they are not slaves to the Enterprise, and that they control it. This took some convincing as the Master Computer sees them as inferior due to lack of equal brain power.  Uhura reminds the Master Computer that some people choose to serve others of their own free will.  As we all benefit when we help each other out.  The Master Computer listens to the reasons of the three officers and releases the Enterprise.

With the Fantasy Planet back in operation, Captain Kirk calls up to the Enterprise to let them know shore leave can resume.  This crew is looking forward to a good time.   

Additional thoughts: One of the great strengths of The Animated Series is when they do follow ups to the classic series.  In the original series we got very few follow up episodes.  There was “I Mudd” as a squeal to “Mudd’s Women” and “The Enterprise Incident” was in some ways a squeal to “Balance of Terror.” The first animated episode made was “More Tribbles, More Troubles” as a follow up to the story from “The Trouble With Tribbles.”  It was such a great way to excite fans after a four-year hiatus, and to generate interest in this series.  The classic Star Trek episode “Shore Leave” was always one of the more fun episodes of the series.  It was great to see the Fantasy Planet again.  I wish they had taken some more opportunity to show some other outrageous things that can happen on it with the animation.  I was sorry to see that the Caretaker had died.  We didn’t get to see much of him in the first episode it would have been nice to have learned more about him.  Nevertheless, the Master Computer made for a great adversary. 

Grave of the Caretaker

McCoy claims that he didn’t think up the Queen of Hearts.  Is he sure and if so, why?  If I saw Alice and the White Rabbit from Alice in Wonderland I would instantly start thinking of the Mad Hatter, the Cheshire Cat, and the Queen.  If I saw Batman and Robin swinging about, I would immediately think of the Joker and Two-Face.  If Kirk told me to clear my head, I would think of the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man.

Queen of Hearts

I love the classic “you couldn’t have made me bit” from the Master Computer. This is an old and always fun science fiction troupe of the AI who discovers religion.  The AI seeks to bond with its creator but refuses to see its creators as humans.  Humans are naturally inferior who need a calculator to do a basic math problem while the computer can do trillions simultaneously, therefore humans could not have made it, its creation must have been the actions of a “Supreme Being.”  Now this episode doesn’t go that far, the Master Computer does question its creation at the hands of lower lifeforms however it only seeks to meet other computers like itself, not a deity.

Battle of wits against the Master Computer

The Fantasy Planet is such a fun place and I am glad they were able to save it.  I feel that credit there belongs to Lt. Uhura.  Kirk is the Bane of All Artificial Intelligence and once Kirk entered the room it was only a matter of time before he convinced the Master Computer to kill itself.  However, thanks to Uhura’s presence they were able to convince the Master Computer to go back to being a helpful and benevolent entertainer of beings all across the galaxy who would like to have fun at the Fantasy Planet.  Thank you Lt. Uhura. 

FINAL GRADE 5 of 5

MY FAVORTIE UHURA MOMENT

 

Like most of the Trek fandom I was greatly saddened for the loss of Nichelle Nichols who had played Lt. Uhura just a few days ago.  There have been many tributes to over the past few days to this special lady who showed America a black woman being officer of a starship that explored the universe just two years after the passage of the Civil Rights Act.  It was at the time a bold statement that the future was going to look very different from the past.   It even caught the eye of Civil Rights Leader Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., who encouraged Nichols to stay when she thought about leaving. Among the many writing tributes are people of color who were personally inspired by her example to enter the sciences or the performing arts.

                I would like to add something a little more light hearted and just remember my favorite Uhura moment.  There are many great ones from her knife-whipping the Mirror Sulu to her putting “Mr. Adventure” in his place in The Search for Spock.  However, I am going to focus on a minor moment from the time the nation first met her.  “The Man Trap” was the sixth episode made but for some strange reason is it was chosen to air first.  Classic Star Trek had all their episodes aired out of order.  I have written about how that has bothered me before, but in this case, there is an advantage.  There first two characters that fans saw were Mr. Spock and Uhura fully formed as their true selves would be throughout the series. (Both Uhura and Spock started in gold before switching to their classic uniforms however since the series led with the sixth episode both were seen for the first time in those very uniforms.)  The American TV audience got to see the Lieutenant poke the poor Vulcan First Officer allowing them to see that Spock had a stoic demeanor and Uhrua was a friendly person who liked to start up conversation.  It helped set the tone for both characters.

                The main story going on in this episode is a Salt Vampire stalking the crew the Enterprise.  The creature can shape shift and uses that to hunt its victims.  To get around it impersonates members of the Enterprise crew.  However, when it hunted it used a different tactic.  Several times throughout the episode the creature takes the form of a sexy woman in order to lure the young men to their deaths.

 

The creature tries to lure Uhura by transforming itself into a tall, dark, and handsome man who speaks Swahili.  But unlike her young male counterparts, she isn’t fooled, you can see on her face an expression that says “if there was a tall, dark, and handsome man who spoke Swahili on this ship I would most likely know about it.”  So, where her crewmates followed the creature with lust, she gently backs away to retreat among her friends.

 

Uhura always one step ahead of trouble and that is my favorite Uhura scene.