Star Trek: TAS 1x13-16
Jul. 6th, 2010 20:42![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
starladyChecking things against Memory Alpha, it appears my files are misnumbered. Let's just get through this, shall we?
1x13, "The Ambergris Element"
I really wanted there to be space whales in this episode, but no joy. Also, anyone hoping to write a Star Trek K/S mermen AU, I'm sorry, the TAS writers got there first. Somehow I'm not surprised that this episode is by the same woman who wrote "The Lorelei Signal," which is still my hands-down hands-up hands-everywhere favorite.
But yes, Kirk and Spock disappear on a water world and reappear on a rocky shore five days later with gills and syndactyly; they've been physiologically altered. (And yes, I totally did think of that DS9 episode where the Great Link turned Odo human; McCoy acts just like Bashir did in the revelation scene. [Obligatory pause to recall Bashir and how cute he was.]) Gills or not, Kirk is still in command, so he and Spock go back down to the oceans to find the deepsmen who did it to them. And then it was all a lot like the first part of TPM where Qui-Gon is trying to reason with the Gungans, except instead of Jar Jar their native helpmeet is an unnamed Aquan female voiced by Majel Barrett.
1x14, "The Slaver Weapon"
This one is the rare instance of a writer stamping the serial numbers onto an original work rather than filing them off a fanfic; given that the writer in this question is Larry Niven, it actually produces one of the most literate episodes to date, though there's quite a lot of useless explanation about "stasis boxes" left behind by the Slaver Empire (seriously?) one bya, when they ruled the galaxy. Whatever! I was more interested in Uhura's statement that she was a champion at the 100-m sprint at the Academy (which is belied by the show animating her running upright; no wonder she gets phasered three times in this episode. Also, reiteration of the "(alien) females are literally brainless" trope means Spock advises her to sit still and shut up when they're captured to try to outwit said aliens, though not before he tells her that he values her intelligence. Fuck you, TAS!). This is also the only TAS episode without Kirk; it says a lot about the animation that I completely failed to notice when two shots of Kirk were accidentally substituted for Sulu.
The aliens are called the Kazan and I spent the whole episode wondering whether they're the same as the Tzenkethi or however that's spelled--I remember Sisko talking about the latter. While I'm mentioning DS9, have my Trek manifesto: SISKO >>> PICARD. Ahem. Apparently their neurotic telepath (no, that's in the script) ranting about Vulcans being flat-teethed herbivores is a relic of the story's original fic background, which is good because whatever Surak says Vulcans evolved as omnivores. Anyway, Spock and Sulu are awesome here, though Uhura's awesome is more theoretical than actual.
Sidenote: I realized that one of the reasons the female characters come off as more awesome here than in TOS is because their designs make them look unimpressed all the time.
1x15, "The Eye of the Beholder"
The Enterprise goes to find a missing science ship crew and findsKirk's old enemy Khan sorry, wrong script! a world where all is not as it seems. They wind up as exhibits in a zoo run by highly evolved telepathic elephant-nosed pink slugs--but their thoughts are too fast, so everyone has to think at them in unison to communicate. The slugs are cute, especially when one takes Scotty hostage inadvertently. Also, is it this episode where Uhura reads Scotty the riot act about not following Kirk's orders, from the command chair, even though he outranks her? That is just how awesome she is, seriously.
1x16, "The Jihad"
This is the one with the big evil eagle. It's really ridiculously cracked out, though you won't escape, in an sf episode labeled "The Jihad," people threatening "A holy war across the galaxy!" Say it again, I dare you. With bonus nonsensical seismology, geology, and Vulcanology! Also, see the TAS writers hate on Wonder Woman in the person of Lara, a random human whom who's an exceptional tracker and who hits on Kirk repeatedly. Of course Kirk turns her down, he has Spock. Actually I was surprised at how obvious the innuendo was. At the end no one can remember anything that happened; I wish I had the same privilege.
1x13, "The Ambergris Element"
I really wanted there to be space whales in this episode, but no joy. Also, anyone hoping to write a Star Trek K/S mermen AU, I'm sorry, the TAS writers got there first. Somehow I'm not surprised that this episode is by the same woman who wrote "The Lorelei Signal," which is still my hands-down hands-up hands-everywhere favorite.
But yes, Kirk and Spock disappear on a water world and reappear on a rocky shore five days later with gills and syndactyly; they've been physiologically altered. (And yes, I totally did think of that DS9 episode where the Great Link turned Odo human; McCoy acts just like Bashir did in the revelation scene. [Obligatory pause to recall Bashir and how cute he was.]) Gills or not, Kirk is still in command, so he and Spock go back down to the oceans to find the deepsmen who did it to them. And then it was all a lot like the first part of TPM where Qui-Gon is trying to reason with the Gungans, except instead of Jar Jar their native helpmeet is an unnamed Aquan female voiced by Majel Barrett.
1x14, "The Slaver Weapon"
This one is the rare instance of a writer stamping the serial numbers onto an original work rather than filing them off a fanfic; given that the writer in this question is Larry Niven, it actually produces one of the most literate episodes to date, though there's quite a lot of useless explanation about "stasis boxes" left behind by the Slaver Empire (seriously?) one bya, when they ruled the galaxy. Whatever! I was more interested in Uhura's statement that she was a champion at the 100-m sprint at the Academy (which is belied by the show animating her running upright; no wonder she gets phasered three times in this episode. Also, reiteration of the "(alien) females are literally brainless" trope means Spock advises her to sit still and shut up when they're captured to try to outwit said aliens, though not before he tells her that he values her intelligence. Fuck you, TAS!). This is also the only TAS episode without Kirk; it says a lot about the animation that I completely failed to notice when two shots of Kirk were accidentally substituted for Sulu.
The aliens are called the Kazan and I spent the whole episode wondering whether they're the same as the Tzenkethi or however that's spelled--I remember Sisko talking about the latter. While I'm mentioning DS9, have my Trek manifesto: SISKO >>> PICARD. Ahem. Apparently their neurotic telepath (no, that's in the script) ranting about Vulcans being flat-teethed herbivores is a relic of the story's original fic background, which is good because whatever Surak says Vulcans evolved as omnivores. Anyway, Spock and Sulu are awesome here, though Uhura's awesome is more theoretical than actual.
Sidenote: I realized that one of the reasons the female characters come off as more awesome here than in TOS is because their designs make them look unimpressed all the time.
1x15, "The Eye of the Beholder"
The Enterprise goes to find a missing science ship crew and finds
1x16, "The Jihad"
This is the one with the big evil eagle. It's really ridiculously cracked out, though you won't escape, in an sf episode labeled "The Jihad," people threatening "A holy war across the galaxy!" Say it again, I dare you. With bonus nonsensical seismology, geology, and Vulcanology! Also, see the TAS writers hate on Wonder Woman in the person of Lara, a random human whom who's an exceptional tracker and who hits on Kirk repeatedly. Of course Kirk turns her down, he has Spock. Actually I was surprised at how obvious the innuendo was. At the end no one can remember anything that happened; I wish I had the same privilege.