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| "With my giant Spock clone, the universe will be mine!" |
THE PLOT
While surveying a newly discovered planet, Kirk, Spock, McCoy, and Sulu discover the Phylosians, a race of intelligent plantlife. The Phylosians recognize human beings, after having been almost wiped out by human disease long ago. But the human whose bacteria decimated their population also worked to save them, which earned him their loyalty.
At this point, the flying plant dragons (no, I'm not making up the flying plant dragons) attack out of nowhere, whisking Spock away to "The Master." No, not Roger Delgado in Doctor Who, more's the pity. Just a giant guy in a loincloth who is evidently a clone of a long dead scientist. He wants Spock's brain to complete his work. But if Kirk and his crew can't recover Spock soon, not only will the Vulcan die, but the freedom of the entire galaxy will be threatened by giant Vulcan clones and talking plants. And flying plant dragons, one presumes.
CHARACTERS
Sulu, the botanist, doesn't even think to take precautions before handling a strange alien plant and ends up getting poisoned. Kirk makes a long speech about how peaceful the Federation is, while McCoy draws on his Southern roots to deliver up some weed killer. Nichelle Nichols intones her lines in a bored tone of voice, and given the lines in question, I can't say that I blame her. In short: Characterization is not a strong point.
THOUGHTS
Though Pavel Chekov does not appear in the animated series, Walter Koenig got to participate by writing one episode - this one. Sadly, it turns out we'd have been better off if he'd had no involvement with the series at all, because The Infinite Vulcan ends up being even worse than The Lorelai Signal.
More Tribbles, More Troubles may have been an overly-familiar rehash of a TOS classic, but at least it was an amusing show that recycled one of the original series' best. Here, we get another rehash. See if this plot sounds familiar: Spock is kidnapped by mysterious aliens and held in a subterranean lair, where his mental energies are channeled to further his kidnappers' interests. Yes, that's right: Mr. Chekov has rewritten Spock's Brain, only with intelligent plants taking the place of beautiful women. It is not an improvement.
Though I appreciate the budgetary need to recycle artwork wherever possible, this episode sees a particularly bad example. After Spock is kidnapped, Kirk and his remaining crew go back to the the Enterprise to try to deal with the situation. As Kirk, Scotty, and Sulu discuss options to rescue Spock, we can clearly see in the background of every wide shot... Spock, at his science station. Call off the rescue, Jim - he appears to have escaped all on his own!
The climax involves Kirk getting onto a soapbox and preaching to a giant Spock double while Sulu wrestles with a plant and declares himself "inscrutable." In case that isn't enough to provoke groans, Kirk replies that Sulu is "the most scrutable man" he knows.
At least on that note, the episode has the good grace to end. Who'd have thought 23 minutes could seem so long?
Rating: 1/10.
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