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| Lucien uses his powers to show the Enterprise crew his domain. |
THE PLOT
The Enterprise, dispatched to conduct a survey of the forces at the exact center of the galaxy, finds itself pulled into the equivalent of a "space whirlpool." The ship and its crew are taken out of time and space entirely, transported to Megas-Tu. This is the domain of Lucien - a creature with goat legs and horns, who has awesome power to bend matter to his will!
CHARACTERS
Spock continues to indulge in Spock-Logic, insisting that it is not logical for Enterprise's life support systems to be working even after they clearly have been restored. He actually says they "can't" be working - hardly logical, once it's blatantly obvious that they are! He is the first member of the crew to realize that if magic is a part of the make-up of Megas-Tu, then the Enterprise crew must also be capable of using it.
James Doohan's performance as Lucien is quite good. It's a very... large performance, but one which suits the role. Finally, Kirk's ability to show compassion ends up being tested at the end - in a bit that's more or less a direct riff on Arena, and is probably the weakest single part of the episode.
THOUGHTS
The Rotoscoped Enterprise really does look splendid in all of these animated episodes. The only problem with such a good-looking ship is that it does have a way of highlighting some of the cheap animation surrounding it. That's very true here, as the Enterprise is buffetted by some cheap looking sparkles before being pulled through a psychedilic tunnel (well, it was the '70's). Not that I'd want the ship to look cheap - looking at the wonderfully drawn-over Enterprise is one of the animated series' consistent pleasures - but the contrast does stand out during moments in which the ship is doing something other than simply flying through space.
I enjoyed this episode a great deal more than The Infinite Vulcan. I've always had a soft spot for shows with a hint of the surreal, particularly when they're willing to go a bit nuts with those concepts. The Magicks of Megas-Tu isn't just a little nuts - It's utterly bonkers! Being the early '70's, I would not be at all surprised if psychedelic drugs actually did a play a factor in the episode's construction. Still, it's fun and imaginative, and I enjoyed it on that basis.
The first half of the show is great fun, with Lucien's introduction and the bizarre surface of Megas-Tu proving to be engagingly insane. When Kirk and his crew are put on trial, however, it becomes much more conventional. Here's where the recurring issue of rushed pacing also rears its head, as the entire trial is underdeveloped. The writers dash through this portion of the story at a gallop, before resolving everything with some speechifying by Kirk.
Still, though I had issues with the last part of the show, I enjoyed
the episode overall. And it really brings home how hypersensitive certain elements of the
public have become. Can you imagine a Saturday morning cartoon today involving a
Satanic guest character (one presented sympathetically at that)? Let alone one which shows the main
characters saving themselves through witchcraft - complete with having the series'
most popular character drawing a pentagram? Somehow, I don't think
so...
Rating: 6/10.
Rating: 6/10.
Review Index
My sister commented similiarly about the animated Transformers The Movie from 1986. Particularly the death of Optimus Prime and of Starscream who was killed by Galvatron ( my favourite Nimoy voice performance ). Prime got a great death and Starscream a ruthless one even by adult standards. She said no way would her daughter see cartoons like that today. She says it is a shame because she gets frustrated at the amount of cartoons nowadays which have become so anemic that they talk down to children. TAS had very interesting and mature stories and The Magicks Of Megus-Tu's take on the devil is my personal favourite idea of that show yet even a cartoon film that offed characters to sell toys like Transformers could treat children like people in their own right. Its a shame. I will be showing my own daughter older cartoons when she is a little older so she can have some quality storys come her way.
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