2-3. The Practical Joker.

Trapped in the holodeck (sorry, "recreation room").

THE PLOT

After a narrow escape from a Romulan ambush, the crew of the Enterprise finds itself subjected to a new ordeal: a run of practical jokes. They start small: Trick glasses that splash everyone's uniform when they drink, some food and laundry mishaps. But as the jokes become steadily more regular and destructive, Kirk and Spock realize that they have a serious problem on their hands.

Spock determines that, somehow, the jokes are being created by the Enterprise's main computer. Kirk calls all officers to quarters, intending to run a full diagnostic on the ship. But McCoy, Sulu, and Uhura have just stepped into the ship's rec room to enjoy some holographic leisure time... and the latest practical joke has blocked them from hearing Kirk's summons, as the three crew members find themselves the target of a potentially deadly game!


CHARACTERS

Shatner is allowed to unloose Capt. Ham, as Kirk tricks the computer by feigning terror. Shatner really goes for it. It's a pity this is animated, as I'm sure his facial expressions and bugging eyes (not badly replicated by the artwork) would have been priceless. Beyond that, this episode is one of the better ensemble pieces of the series, with all of the regulars getting something to do.


THOUGHTS

So Kirk's Enterprise now has a precursor to TNG's holodeck? Well, I suppose that's fair enough. This series precedes TNG by more than a decade, after all, and it's certainly believable that the basic technology was introduced during Kirk's time and refined over the following decades. An early Enterprise episode would later establish that holodeck technology existed among other spacefaring races long before Kirk, making it easy enough for me to accept Starfleet adding something along those during the original five-year mission.

I also find it particularly appropriate that the franchise's first ever "holodeck episode" involves it malfunctioning and putting crew members in danger.  From one generation to the next, some things just never change :)

Holodeck or no holodeck, I enjoyed The Practical Joker.  This is a particularly well-paced episode. It moves briskly, but spaces out the action just enough for some nice character bits. The rec room scenes provide strong visual moments as well, with the moment when a holographic blizzard fades into a springtime hedge-maze sticking in my mind.

I've noted in previous reviews how much the animated series has struggled with comedy. The lack of the actors' physicality plus the often stilted voice track editing has led to gags being both mispaced and mistimed, leaving episodes that might have been enormous fun in the live action series falling flat. Here, that manages not to be a problem. Comedy is a strong part of this episode... but this time, the comedy works. The timing is on, the actors are giving their all, and the situations play out in such a way that the incidents are genuinely amusing.

I could carp about the convenience of Spock resolving a nitrous-oxide crisis offscreen in the captain's voice-over, but I'll let it slide. This is a good episode, one where the elements really come together. With a perfectly-judged pace and some terrific character interaction (not generally the animated series' strong suit), this may be one of the most purely enjoyable entries presented.


Rating: 9/10.

Previous Episode: Bem
Next Episode: Albatross

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1-14. The Slaver Weapon.

Spock and Sulu test an advanced alien weapon.

THE PLOT

Spock, Sulu, and Uhura are on a shuttlecraft, carrying a particularly rare and precious cargo: a stasis box from the time of an ancient race known only as The Slavers. In their day, the Slavers dominated the entire galaxy - until their subjects rose up and overthrew them.  All that remains of them are the artifacts found in these stasis boxes, glimpses of a past billions of years old.

When the stasis box glows, indicating the presence of a second box nearby, Spock lands the shuttle on an ice planet to search for this new find. No sooner have they landed than they are ambushed by the Kzinti, a race of carnivorous warriors defeated by humanity centuries earlier. The Kzinti have lured them here for their stasis box.  Now, finding an ancient Slaver weapon inside, they intend to use that power to destroy humanity!


CHARACTERS

Only three regulars are present for this episode: Spock, Sulu, and Uhura. This actually helps. With only the three of them taking up screentime, the script is better able to characterize them. Spock's curiosity about the stasis box overrides his caution, a mistake that leads them into the Kzinti trap. He makes up for this with his quick thinking, guiding Sulu and Uhura to maximize their opportunities for escape. Sulu acts as the spokesman for the group, and he shows an aptitude for unlocking the weapon's secrets. Uhura gets a bit less to do, ultimately being used as a hostage, but she feels more completely written for than she has since Once Upon a Planet.


THOUGHTS

Larry Niven, the kind of noted science fiction writer you'd have expected to see writing Star Trek back in its original run, pens this adaptation of The Soft Weapon, one of his own short stories. There is some strain. Niven's backstory involving the Slavers and the Kzinti is not an entirely comfortable fit with the Trek universe. But given the overall quality of this expertly-paced script, I find myself easily able to squint and overlook the joins.

The action is confined to just three settings: the shuttlecraft, the Kzinti ship, and the surface of the planet. Save for having to make the Kzinti more human-like in appearance, this episode would have been entirely feasible even on a TOS Season Three budget. The main problem involves the Kzinti trying to figure out how to use the weapon, and the resolution directly pays off that problem.

Arguably, this does put the regulars in the position of being spectators. A couple of escape attempts keep them alive in the plot, but they are mainly there to comment on the Kzinti and the weapon.  Still, that is enough to give them a role in the story, and I found the way in which Spock reasons his way out of the Slavers' final trap to be an effective bit of writing. Anything more would probably overload the episode, given the constrained timeslot.  As it stands, this is a perfectly-paced adventure story, highly entertaining and with some actual sense of threat for the regulars (a rarity, in the animated series).

Finally: Is this the only animated series episode in which characters are actually killed? Even if it wasn't such a good piece of animated science fiction already, I'd be tempted to give it full marks for that alone...


Rating: 10/10.

Previous Episode: The Ambergris Element
Next Episode: The Eye of the Beholder 

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1-9. Once Upon a Planet.

Uhura, in a rare moment of relaxation.

THE PLOT

In need of rest, the Enterprise returns to the Shore Leave Planet. But things have changed. Dr. McCoy's reverie in a Southern plantation is interrupted by the Queen of Hearts, screaming at her playing card soldiers for the doctor's head. He requests an emergency beam-up. But Uhura, who has been enjoying sitting by a lake, is taken captive!

Kirk, Spock, McCoy, and Sulu beam back to the planet to search for and rescue Uhura. They quickly lose contact with the ship.  Worse, they discover that their weapons are inoperative. Meanwhile, Uhura finds herself the prisoner of the planet's master computer, which has become aware and no longer wishes to be the slave of every visitor. Its plan for escape? To seize control of the Enterprise!


CHARACTERS

This episode probably does the best job of any of the animated series yet in balancing the cast. Every major character except for Nurse Chapel is featured, and every one of them gets something to do! The character interplay continues to improve among all the cast members, with McCoy, Scotty, Uhura, and even Sulu getting some nice bits in this episode. Finally, to keep his track record going, Kirk talks a computer into submission again - though this time, not into actually self-destructing.


THOUGHTS

A direct sequel to Shore Leave, in much the way that More Troubles, More Tribbles was a direct sequel to The Trouble with Tribbles. I liked this one better, though. It manages to be a sequel, evoking much of the atmosphere and setup of the original, without slipping into simply being a repeat of the original. Somewhat oddly for a children's cartoon, Once Upon a Planet actually feels darker and more threatening than Shore Leave did. This time, the planet is out to get the crew - and there is actually some sense of threat.

In terms of pacing, this is one of the animated series' best offerings. It cuts between three strands of action: Kirk's landing party, Scotty on the Enterprise, and Uhura and the computer. The script cuts between the strands in a way that builds tension, and all threads are brought together at the end to good effect. Despite having three strands, it also is a rare TAS episode that never feels rushed. It moves along, but there are little character beats woven into the dialogue that keep the pace just right. Probably because the character work is stronger than in most episodes, the voice acting is noticeably above-average for the series.

This episode is quite a bit better-animated than average, with the animators perhaps rising to the visual lure of giving life to so many strange sights.  There is one unfortunate exception, however. Near the end, when Kirk and Spock are talking the master computer down, there's a moment in which we see Kirk and Spock. We hear Leonard Nimoy's voice... but Spock's lips are not moving. Oops!

That one moment of sloppiness aside, this is a highly entertaining episode, one that builds well on its live action predecessor. Shore Leave was one of my favorite live action episodes, and probably my very favorite "light" episode. This may not be its equal, but it's a fitting companion piece.  One of the best of the animated series so far.


Rating: 9/10.

Previous Episode: The Magicks of Megas-Tu

Next Episode: Mudd's Passion

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1-7. The Infinite Vulcan.

"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.

Previous Episode: The Survivor

Next Episode: The Magicks of Megas-Tu

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