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Star Trek TAS - Season 2

Star Trek TAS - 2x01 - The Pirates of Orion

Originally Aired: 1974-9-7

Synopsis:
A dreaded disease, choriocytosis, strikes the Enterprise. All except Spock are cured, as the illness is fatal only to Vulcans. [Blu-ray] [DVD]

My Rating - 4

Fan Rating Average - 4.87

Rate episode?

Rating: 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
# Votes: 8 3 2 5 2 12 5 5 3 6 3

Problems
- McCoy calls Spock to sickbay on the intercom, then two cuts later is seen standing next to Kirk!
- Orion is mispronounced in this episode. I can forgive Arex, but none of the others.

Factoids
- This is the first episode to show us an Orion male.

Remarkable Scenes
- The SS Huron. Cool looking ship.
- McCoy and Spock arguing about whether or not green Vulcan blood is better than red human blood.

My Review
This episode creates good continuity with regards to the reference to Spock's blood being copper based. It's also nice to see the Orions for the first time; or at least their men. We've seen Orion slave girls before. It was also a remarkable treat to see another Federation starship, as well as all the effort the crews of both went through to cure Spock. It's a nice demonstration of the respect the Federation holds for their nonhuman members.

No fan commentary yet.

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Star Trek TAS - 2x02 - Bem

Originally Aired: 1974-9-14

Synopsis:
Starfleet, eager to open diplomatic relations with the medically advanced Pandronians, assigns Enterprise to host one of their representatives. [Blu-ray] [DVD]

My Rating - 2

Fan Rating Average - 4.84

Rate episode?

Rating: 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
# Votes: 8 5 6 6 4 4 9 3 4 8 5

Problems
- How are Bem's body parts able to float?

Factoids
- This is the first episode to mention Kirk's middle name, Tiberius. (Four times even.)

Remarkable Scenes
- Kirk and Spock being beamed into midair, then falling into the water below.
- Kirk regarding being captured: "How come we always end up like this?"

My Review
This episode is remarkable in that it once again takes full advantage of the show being of an animated nature. It shows us truly alien aliens; first Bem, then the natives on the planet. Unfortunately very little of interest actually happens in this episode. It's basically the familiar "cast beams down to primitive planet and gets captured" plot, adding nothing new except Bem the pacifist, who adds very little of value to the plot. While I liked our truly alien aliens, they were completely misused.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

  • From Terry A. Hurlbut on 2016-07-15 at 6:19pm:
    Alan Dean Foster, who adapted all the animated episodes to prose, realized the one redeeming value of this particular episode. He expanded on the Bem narrative--greatly. In his version, the Enterprise travels to Pandro (Bem's home world), where Bem and Captain Kirk both have to stretch themselves to the limit to deal with a uniquely Pandronian crisis. (See "Star Trek Long Nine," New York: Del Rey Books, 1977.)

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Star Trek TAS - 2x03 - The Practical Joker

Originally Aired: 1974-9-21

Synopsis:
While studying an asteroid, the Enterprise is attacked by three Romulan vessels which claim that the Federation ship has trespassed into Romulan space. [Blu-ray] [DVD]

My Rating - 5

Fan Rating Average - 4.86

Rate episode?

Rating: 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
# Votes: 25 2 2 4 2 8 11 5 3 23 3

Problems
None

Factoids
- This is the first episode of Star Trek to feature a holodeck, though still called a rec room at this time.

Remarkable Scenes
- Practical jokes happening to the crew.
- Kirk's uniform defaced: KIRK IS A JERK
- The sight of the first working holodeck.
- Kirk tricking the computer into entering the energy field again.

My Review
This episode is remarkable in that it shows more about daily life aboard the Enterprise than virtually any other episode. This is also the first episode to feature a malfunctioning ship's computer as a plot device. However, aside from the nice change of pace and a welcome Romulan appearance, the episode is extremely immature. The episode is above average by TAS standards, but not by much.

No fan commentary yet.

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Star Trek TAS - 2x04 - Albatross

Originally Aired: 1974-9-28

Synopsis:
The Enterprise arrives at Dramia I to deliver medical supplies when Dr. McCoy is arrested for mass slaughter and imprisoned. [Blu-ray] [DVD]

My Rating - 5

Fan Rating Average - 5.1

Rate episode?

Rating: 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
# Votes: 18 2 1 0 3 7 5 11 16 4 4

Problems
None

Factoids
None

Remarkable Scenes
- McCoy demanding to stay and stand trial.
- McCoy: "And I'm ready to get back to some of that monotonous old routine sickbay work." Spock: "Including, I would hope, some of that monotonous old dispensing regular vitamin rations to the crew." McCoy: "What's that supposed to mean?" Spock: "Well, you have been derelicting your duties of late, Doctor." McCoy: "Spock, you know as well as I do what we've all just been through." Spock: "Hippocrates would not have approved of lame excuses, Doctor." McCoy: "Why is that... Jim, whenever I'm in jail again, don't send that Vulcan. Just let me rot."

My Review
Demos is exceedingly stupid to expect to be able to sneak aboard the Enterprise unnoticed when the hangar doors mysteriously opened before his eyes for no apparent reason. *rolls eyes* That said, the general idea that McCoy accidentally caused a plague on an alien world and now must stand trial for it is interesting. As well, I liked the Dramians, in that they were once again truly alien looking aliens. Another nice detail is McCoy's miracle cure. It wasn't quite the unrealistic miracle cure cliche we're familiar with. I liked the realistic, though convenient method by which the cure was discovered and the ensuing peaceful ending.

No fan commentary yet.

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Star Trek TAS - 2x05 - How Sharper Than a Serpent's Tooth

Originally Aired: 1974-10-5

Synopsis:
While tracking a probe, the Enterprise encounters an alien vessel that is surrounded by an energy field which proceeds to encompass the Federation ship. [Blu-ray] [DVD]

My Rating - 2

Fan Rating Average - 1.23

Rate episode?

Rating: 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
# Votes: 241 1 7 3 3 0 3 2 5 20 7

Problems
None

Factoids
- This episode's title is from Shakespeare's King Lear, Act I, Scene 4.
- Sulu is remarkably absent from this episode. Replaced by Walking Bear because they conveniently needed a Native American in this episode.

Remarkable Scenes
- Kirk telling the Native American god "we don't need you anymore."
- Spock: "Vulcan was visited by alien beings. They left much wiser."
- Kirk: "How sharper than a serpent's tooth it is to have a thankless child."

My Review
The addition of Ensign Walking Bear is bittersweet. On one hand, it's nice to see more racial diversity on the show. On the other hand, the character was entirely forced. He only appears on this episode, and only because they needed a native American for the purpose of the plot. This is already a cliche, several guest characters are added in various Star Trek series just for one episode to serve some overly simplistic purpose and we never see them again. Once again, the Enterprise encounters another space traveler who once visited Earth and posed as a god, which is also becoming a cliche. Unfortunately, the entire plot was recycled and offers absolutely nothing new. God alien realizes Earth isn't as primitive as it once was. God alien realizes it's not as powerful as it once was. The only redeeming quality is the episode once again features alien looking aliens.

No fan commentary yet.

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Star Trek TAS - 2x06 - The Counter-Clock Incident

Originally Aired: 1974-10-12

Synopsis:
A hyper accelerated alien ship drags the Enterprise into a nova and both arrive in an antimatter universe where time flows backwards. [Blu-ray] [DVD]

My Rating - 0

Fan Rating Average - 4.2

Rate episode?

Rating: 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
# Votes: 9 6 2 2 3 9 4 2 3 2 4

Problems
- Sarah April claimed to be the first doctor on board a ship with warp drive. This is simply untrue. She's not old enough. Besides, the SS Bonaventure was established in a previous episode as the "first ship with warp drive," which also is not entirely correct. So her statement contradicts multiple conflicting episodes!
- How could Sarah's flower have rejuvenated so completely? Did the pedals which fell off fly back onto the plant or did it grow new ones or something?
- Among the numerous nonsensical qualities of the alternate universe, how can a woman give birth to an old man? A baby weighing less than 10lb is already painful enough. How would she give birth to a 100lb+ person?
- According to the map of the galaxy shown in this episode, the Enterprise traveled an impossible distance in mere minutes or hours.
- Why did the clothes of the crew members shrink with them as they became younger?
- Once again the transporter is a miracle cure for aging...
- Why would Robert and Sarah April choose to go back to being old?

Factoids
- This episode is a candidate for my "Worst Episode of TAS Award."
- This episode establishes that Robert April was the first captain of the Enterprise and that Sarah April was the first doctor of the Enterprise.
- This is one of many episodes to mention Babel but never actually go there.
- The Enterprise sets a speed record in this episode, traveling at warp 22+! Though not under its own power.

Remarkable Scenes
- The Enterprise crew growing younger.

My Review
A universe where time flows backwards is interesting, but the implementation in this episode is extremely poor. There are a number of logical and technical problems, some of the major of which I've documented in the problems section. Most interesting is the ship's crew growing younger, with Robert and Sarah April being given a chance to reprise their positions on the Enterprise. Once again the transporter becomes the miracle cure for an age related problem. Finally, I really don't understand Robert and Sarah April's decision not to remain young. Did they really want to die decades sooner than they had to? A totally unfit end to a series which never really found its way.

The following are comments submitted by my readers.

  • From MarkMcC on 2008-11-30 at 10:24pm:
    Regarding giving birth to a 100+lb person, I guess people in that universe start off dead, spring to life as an old person and gradually get younger. Then when they're close to death (as an infant) they pop back up into their mother's womb and die when the egg defertilizes?

    This is followed by the person's parents having backwards sex - it's probably best not to think too hard about how that works in practice!

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