Jammer's Reviews

After being pulled into the gravitational field of a dead star on the edge of the galaxy, the Enterprise discovers a large and mysterious vessel that Spock estimates has been here for "300 million years." It has no crew, but is broadcasting an ancient radio signal.

The landing party of Kirk, Spock, and McCoy, wearing "life support belts" (a device that allows the characters to be in space without requiring the use of EV suits that would require additional character-drawn animation) boards the ship to investigate its origins. After some exploring, the team finds an ancient log that warns of a mysterious lifeform. Spock discovers that the lifeform exists as a magnetic entity and it appears the ship was abandoned to trap the entity on board so it couldn't roam free to other worlds.

"Beyond the Farthest Star" allowed me to recalibrate with the rhythms of TOS-era Trek, but, unfortunately, it feels more plodding than the live-action TOS usually did. The nature of the extremely limited animation for a Saturday-morning production means all the nuance of performance that we would get from the actors is completely absent. We get the voice work, which is welcome, but make no mistake: This is no substitute for TOS.

The animation, spare as it is, does allow this series to think bigger and grander than what could've been possible on the live-action series. The massive interiors of the alien spacecraft are framed against a tiny silhouetted landing party. The designs are bold and peculiar in a way practical sets could never be. And replacing Chekov as the navigator (Walter Koenig wasn't hired as a voice actor in order to save on the budget) is Lt. Arex, a three-armed alien with a design that's not a million miles from E.T.

The episode takes a turn toward some TOS-style ship-in-jeopardy "action" after the team returns to the Enterprise and discovers the magnetic entity has returned with them and found a way to start taking control of the ship's systems. It frequently demands "Obey me!" in a voice that might best be described as "sniveling." This sort of action is not a strong point on a show that's so limited in its ability to depict movement. (Quick aside: This episode might be worth showing my kids, solely so I can use the "Obey me!" line on them for the rest of their lives.)

The most striking — and simultaneously hokey — moment in "Beyond the Farthest Star" is when the alien presence is left marooned on the dead star following the crew's struggle against it. The voice exclaims "sooooo loooooonely" as the Enterprise warps away and leaves it behind. The idea that this alien presence, stranded for some 300 million years, ends up marooned yet again, is a hauntingly poignant concept, even if James Doohan (*) sells it in the most cartoonish way. Alas, the story presents us this moment and then, with an almost cruelly indifferent haste, cuts away, as the Enterprise heads off to its next adventure.

* Doohan is probably the MVP of TAS, having provided a variety of different voices for many, many guest characters that all had their own distinctiveness to them. Even if this voice didn't work, I don't want to minimize Doohan's voice work, which is generally excellent.

Next episode: Yesteryear

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