Review Text
The Enterprise is called to a mysterious rendezvous, where a representative of the Vedala, the oldest space-faring race known to the Federation, says that something incredibly dangerous to the safety of the galaxy is developing. They've asked for specialists from several different species, including Spock and Kirk, to serve on a dangerous mission.
One specialist is Tchar, prince of the Skorr, a society that has been peaceful for centuries, united by their religion. He explains that Skorr is threatened by the recent theft of the Soul of Alar, a crucial artifact central to their religion. The Skorr government is currently covering up the theft, but it can't for long, and if the populace learns it's gone, the Skorr will inevitably return to their warlike ways and unleash a jihad of destruction upon the galaxy.
The Vedala has assembled a motley crew of alien species with unique skills (you could say this team is the Avengers or Justice League of Star Trek: TAS) to go on a mission to the "mad planet" where the Soul of Alar has been taken and must now be retrieved. (Why it's on this planet or how the Vedala knows this is unclear, although maybe that's explained by the twist at the end.) The Vedala teleports the team to the planet instantly.
There's a lot of TAS world building here, with multiple alien species and characters assembled together in a plot of galactic import. The "mad planet" is more atmospheric than most worlds on TAS, with its violent volcanoes and flowing lava, before the terrain suddenly changes and becomes a frozen tundra. (The team is given an armored vehicle to drive around in and outrun the lava, but it's soon destroyed.) There are some heroics, as when Kirk saves Spock from certain death rather than leaving him behind.
And the team members mostly get to use their specialized skills — though I was unclear on why Lara the Cavewoman was even here, and it's awfully convenient that the Vedala knew that a coward specializing in picking locks would be crucially needed on this mission. At one point the team is attacked by mechanized dragon-bots, who carry off Tchar. (These dragons have exactly the same design as creatures in a previous episode — not because there's a story reason for it, but because it saves costs on new animation). The lock-picker opens a door on a replica of a Skorr temple that has been mysteriously constructed in the middle of this wasteland of a planet.
It's around here that the story reveals its twist. Spock suspects something is amiss and that the mission has been sabotaged, and he's right. Tchar actually engineered the whole crisis, having stolen the Soul of Alar himself because he wants Skorr to go back to its warlike ways. So there's a zero-gravity fight for possession of the artifact. It's the sort of thing that seems like it would be suited to animation versus the limitations of live action in the era of TOS — but the action as written is too ambitious for what the animators are able to pull off within their very extreme limitations, which are once again on full display here.
The idea of a Tchar trying to manufacture a crisis because he thinks his world needs to stand for war rather than peace is an idea that maybe could've gone somewhere, but I'm afraid it's another TAS example of the substance of the story being introduced too late for the story to deal with it, after we've spent so much time on volcanoes, lava, and a cavewoman hitting on Kirk. And Tchar's plan doesn't make sense: Why would he engineer a mission just to sabotage it? Or build this replica temple? Why not just destroy the artifact from the beginning?
At the very least this gives us an adventure full of strange new species and a strange new world. It's kind of epic, in its weird TAS way. So epic that the Vedala insists it never be spoken of again. She sends Kirk and Spock back to the Enterprise two minutes after they left, with the cover story that nothing happened. That's what I call plausible deniability.
Previous episode: The Eye of the Beholder
Next episode: The Pirates of Orion
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8 comments on this post
Elizabeth Palladino
I didn't hate this episode, but it didn't do much for me, either. Kind of meh. As Jammer comments, Tchar's plan doesn't make a whole lot of sense. I thought the armored vehicle they drove around in was cool--too bad it got destroyed. Lara was on the mission as a tracker, although as far as I could see, those skills were never needed. It was annoying the way she kept hitting on Kirk, and he had to politely keep fending her off. She sounded exactly like Mae West, too. ("It's not the men in my life that count---it's the life in my men.") Hee, hee. ("When I'm good, I'm very, very good---but when I'm bad, I'm better.") Anyway, Lara/Mae West was a pest. The green, multi-legged insect who could pick locks was cute, I thought. I wonder as Jammer said, how they knew they would need someone with that specialized skill. The greenie kept insisting he was a coward, but I thought he did pretty well. A watchable, somewhat entertaining episode.
Rahul
Nothing too profound here as much of the episode feels like padding with adventures on the mad planet and ultimately Tchar's plan is foiled, though it is questionable to begin with. Was he hoping to just eliminate another team that was trying to rescue the Soul of Alar before alerting the rest of his race that it is stolen so that he can start his Jihad? Why hasn't he started his Jihad already?
The team members had all kinds of personalities and special skills and were enjoyable enough to watch. Lara flirting with Kirk felt out of place. The premise is an interesting one, like Indiana Jones, but the bulk of the story which is the adventure to get to the Soul of Alar could not be done enough justice due to the short length of the episode and the animation.
Perhaps more could have been made of Kirk's suspicions -- he suggested they rest at one point, but nobody agreed with him and that went nowhere. The writing was a bit weak and Tchar's plan seemed highly questionable.
2*
Trek fan
Three stars for me. I love the epic quest here and the colorful supporting characters. The plot is a bit simplistic but fun.
Black Oat
I didn't care for this one. Jammer already listed all of the biggest problems with the story. It's really a shame that they went with an almost entirely new cast for this episode. This was the perfect opportunity to give Arex, M'Ress, and the rest of the crew into a story together.
This was written by Stephen Kandel who was an extremely prolific tv writer. He did all the Mudd episodes for Trek. He also did 6 episodes of Mission Impossible which probably explains the genesis of this episode. He also wrote one of my favorite Adam West Batman episodes "True or False-Face."
David Gerold, of Tribbles fame, provided the voice of the little green pill bug alien. He says he was paid 75 bucks for his work, which is about 560 dollars in today's money.
DarK Kirk
I agree with Trek Fan. The story has great potential and I like the idea of a 200 billion army in 2 years. It could have been re-made with better visual effects and fleshed out. It feels like it would have or should have been a season 4 episode.
The Queen
Sure, this story could have been better, but it wasn't so bad, and I had to givee it an extra star solely for the beauty of the Tchar, which I couldn't stop looking at.
Bryan
Lara the Cavewoman: flawless sense of direction, hopeless behind the wheel.
Proud Capitalist Pig
Not only does Tchar’s plan not make a lot of sense, but the entire expedition doesn’t really make a hell of a lot of sense either. A hazardous trek across a treacherous planet when there are such things as shuttles and transporters? But I kid.
I thought the reason that Lara was on the expedition was perfectly clear--for starters, if this were a live-action show, the answer would be “ratings,” and she’d have been played by a knockout smokeshow. She’s simply there to be horny and flirt with Kirk. (@Elizabeth Palladino, thank you! I was wracking my brain trying to pinpoint who Lara’s voice and mannerisms reminded me of. Mae West it is.) Kirk is all professional this time, but you can tell he’d be game in a less urgent circumstance. Just look at his reaction when Lara immediately volunteers to accompany him while he decides to head off alone for a bit. The animators have gotten better at big emotional shots at this point.
Deactivating gravity that was artificially generated by technology is one thing, but a “gravity neutralizer?!” That is some freaky science! How much does the damn thing cost?
Sure, there’s a little subtext here about obsolete warrior cultures having to manufacture a new crisis in order to stay relevant. I don’t think that’s a message that even needs to be presented though--it’s way too obvious. Star Trek is often guilty of this. Here, that would be a lot to ask for 24-minute episodic television series anyway. Even if they had gone somewhere with this, I could just imagine how trite and preachy it would have been.
To me, this was the definition of completely mindless entertainment. It earns points only for the creative designs of the various aliens, one or two decent lines from Lara Mae West, and finally the existence of my personal favorite guest character, Sord the Badass.
Sord’s gems:
“This planet just gets on your nerves.”
“Hurry, small one.”
“I’m not built for that sort of thing.”
“No offense, little ones, but let me tackle him.”
Speak Freely:
Lara -- “You ever quote anything besides statistics, Vulcan?”
Spock -- “Yes. But philosophy and poetry are not appropriate here.”
[You tell her, Spock. I’m beginning to like you more.]
My Grade: D
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