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