The Animated Series 1x7 "The Infinite Vulcan"

rating: *

Memory Alpha summary

There are a number of notable things to talk about concerning "Infinite Vulcan," but before I do, let's just get this out of the way: this is not really all that great an episode.

Okay!  The first notable aspect is that it's written by Walter Koenig, who's otherwise known as Chekov.  Chekov and/or Koenig do not appear in the series, which makes this the closest to a Chekov and/or Koenig fix you're going to get if you make the effort to watch it at all.  It speaks to Koenig's versatility and adaptability that he wrote an episode of Star Trek.  No other regular can say that in any incarnation.  A few directed, had story credit, but none wrote anything directly.

The second is that this is a Eugenics Wars-related episode.  Eugenics Wars, as in Khan ("Space Seed" from the original series, Wrath of Khan, Into Darkness), a three-episode suite from Enterprise ("Borderland," "Cold Station 12," and "The Augments") and even three from Deep Space Nine ("Doctor Bashir, I Presume?" and the tangentially-related "Statistical Probabilities" and "Chrysalis").  This is one of those classic elements of franchise lore that has never been able to be addressed directly (when Voyager visited 1996 in the two-part "Future's End," there was no mention at all, surely one of the great missed opportunities).  The unrelated WWIII is sometimes confused with it, and has been featured far more directly (I won't go into that here).

Khan, obviously, is the most famous element of the Eugenics Wars.  "Infinite Vulcan" features another veteran.  He's, ah, no Khan.

Actually, the episode uses this valuable setup to...redo "Spock's Brain," basically.  Yeah.  So that happened.  Data was collected ("The Most Toys"), and so was Seven ("Think Tank"), so it only figures that it would happen at least twice to Spock.  The Eugenics Wars guy decides Spock is the best specimen to continue his legacy.  This involves...duplicating him.  And making him...bigger.

via Visionary Trek

The only reason this ever worked, and perhaps works better in "Infinite Vulcan" than "Spock's Brain" (insofar as you never hear how horrible "Vulcan" is and you never stop hearing how horrible "Brain" is) is because of Leonard Nimoy.  He can sell anything.  It helps a great deal that this scenario is animated.  No attempt is made to alter Nimoy's voice in relation to the size increase, and that probably helps, too.  In my "Brain" review, I suggested it wasn't really worth getting so upset about, as fans have for fifty years.  If all of my correlating here makes you think "Vulcan" really is another "Brain," the same goes here.

Far, far more unfortunate is the silly Eugenics Wars guy.  I have no idea why Koenig, or someone else revising his work, thought this was a great way to use the Eugenics Wars.  It was not.  But this was back in the days when any Star Trek was more than anyone could ask.  Truly embracing the emerging franchise's potential wouldn't come til later.

four quarter analysis

franchise * series * essential * character

notable guest-stars:

Nichelle Nichols

James Doohan

The Animated Series 1x6 "The Survivor"

rating: ***

Memory Alpha summary

From Khan and Cochrane in the original series to Emory Erickson in Enterprise (inventor of the transporter as seen in "Daedalus"), "The Survivor" follows a considerable franchise tradition of featuring the crew interacting with notable figures from Star Trek's fictional future history.  This time it's Carter Winston, a noted civilian who worked to spread the cause of humanity in space.

As usual, the circumstances are less than ideal, but the way "Survivor" handles these particular circumstances serves as one of the better illustrations of the series' potential.  Winston has been replaced by a shape-shifter, one of the many to precede Deep Space Nine's Odo and for the record have no relation to the Founders (another would be the Chameloid from Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country).

via the Viewscreen. Besides, Odo hates that color (except on Kira).

The fake Winston's been employed as a Romulan agent, thereby bringing another layer of significance to the episode.  But he proves invaluable when his morals get the best of him, thanks to Winston's fiancee, who helps him see things the way Winston himself would have.

A nuanced episode filled with a bunch of interesting elements, and it features this timeless quip from Spock as well: "[...]Two Doctor McCoys just might bring the level of medical efficiency on this ship up to acceptable levels."  Zing!

The episode also features the debut of feline communications officer M'Ress, one of several elements unique to the series for somewhat obvious reasons.  Also, the only canon reference to McCoy's daughter Joanna.

four quarter analysis
franchise * series * essential * character

notable guest-stars:
Nichelle Nichols
Majel Roddenberry
James Doohan
Ted Knight

The Animated Series 1x5 "More Tribbles, More Troubles"

rating: ***

Memory Alpha summary

Far less known than the Deep Space Nine revisit ("Trials and Tribble-ations") of the classic episode "The Trouble with Tribbles," here's "More Tribbles, More Troubles" for you!

Once again, Kirk has Tribbles and Klingons and Cyrano Jones (as with his live action appearance, portrayed by Stanley Adams, a rarity for the series) to contend with, as well as a "Tribble predator" that's the episode's most obvious concession to the expanded capabilities of animation.  Although the less spoken about that the better.

via Star Trek

While much of the series can feel a little disconnected from the rest of the franchise, no matter how similar its approach to the original live action adventures, "More Tribbles" is so close to a hugely familiar episode, a direct sequel even, with a number of callbacks without becoming cloying about it, that it's an excellent opportunity to sample the series.  It's not one of the best episodes, but it's positively memorable.

four quarter analysis

franchise * series * essential * character

notable guest-stars:

James Doohan

Stanley Adams

The Animated Series 1x4 "The Lorelei Signal"

rating: *

Memory Alpha summary

This is the "space sirens" episode.  You remember sirens from The Odyssey, surely?

But enough about that.  If "Lorelei Signal" is significant or worth talking about at all, it's not for the elements that make it look like one of the worst possible episodes to sell you on the series, but rather its heavy focus on the female members of the crew.  Uhura takes command of the ship after all the male officers are compromised by a society of aliens who seem to come straight from...the worst episodes of Next Generation's first season.

Yes, Uhura in command!  Your one and only opportunity to see that happen!

via Mister Comfy Pants (let's just forget about that, shall we?)

The downside is that the episode, whether considered subsequently or not, also heavily features Nichelle Nichols in voice work for other characters in the episode.  A voice actor she is not.  Majel Roddenberry is not much better, and she's got a bunch of voices, too.  Which means if you want to enjoy and/or appreciate this rare Uhura spotlight, there's a very tall price to pay.  I was originally going to make this one of the rare episodes I wouldn't recommend for any reason, but "Lorelei" is at least significant even if it also happens to be tough to watch.

All that being said, not until Voyager would there be an opportunity for women in Star Trek to so thoroughly grab the spotlight.  Any lingering concerns on how the franchise viewed the female sex in its earliest years at least has the making of an argument with this episode.

four quarter analysis

franchise * series * essential * character

notable guest-stars:

Nichelle Nichols

Majel Roddenberry

James Doohan

Before the reviews continue, the mission restated...

My position as a Star Trek fan, and as reviewer here at Star Trek Fan Companion, is that it's nonsense to take any part of the franchise less seriously than any other part.  Traditionally this has not been the case.  Partisans of the original series have long maintained that it can't be topped.  During its peak, The Next Generation was untouchable.  Deep Space Nine fans believe it's unquestionably the greatest.  Voyager and Enterprise tend to suffer from perennially-denied franchise fatigue.  The fact is, anyone loves Star Trek because they acknowledge it's generally quality programming.  That doesn't change because the cast or the series does.  There are five series, six if you included the animated one, which Star Trek Fan Companion does.

Those original series partisans are aging.  Next year it'll be fifty years since the first episode broadcast.  The series doesn't age well across the board.  Newer fans will find that harder and harder to overlook.  Early Next Generation is the same, and we're approaching thirty years for its first episode.  Time marches on.  But Star Trek remains worth watching, in part because there have been so many episodes.  It's become a rich tapestry, perhaps easier to appreciate now that there isn't an overwhelming number of new episodes airing each year.

Patterns in storytelling were a thing that wearied fans during Voyager and Enterprise.  Yet they become an evocative strength, once you realize that they allow fans to truly compare and contrast the different approaches that have been taken over the years, no matter how similar.  Even the flow of competing spaceship-based programming has ebbed.  The uniqueness of the Star Trek formula begins to recede the more you're able to concentrate on the characters that inhabit it.

So I approach my reviews in an effort to guide fans into this strange new world.  That's what the idea of the criteria is all about.  I always start with how relevant the given episode is to the series itself.  Then, is it important or fruitfully reflect other material from the greater franchise?  And is it somehow essential, to either the series or franchise, or perhaps even both?  Finally, does it feature a given character that helps guide the fan into the experience?

I assume if you want to watch Star Trek at all, you've already decided it's probably worth your time.  Too often, Star Trek fans have taken an adversarial approach, assuming an episode is terrible until proven otherwise.  Or is just plain terrible.  It's not even from their favorite series!  I have my favorite series, too, but I don't let that get in the way of my reviews.  What would be the point?

I could use other criteria.  I could be more in-depth.  But that's why I include synopsis links.  If you want to know the story beats, you can find that elsewhere.  If you simply want to know about a given episode, how its significance can be explained, Star Trek Fan Companion is your ideal destination.

Why Justin Lin is perfect for Star Trek 3

Next year Star Trek 3 will be released, in conjunction with the fiftieth anniversary of the franchise.  Previously under the helm of screenwriter and would-be first time director Roberto Orci, it was recently announced that Justin Lin has taken over.

This is a very good thing.  Let me explain why.

Lin is best known for his work in the Fast and the Furious franchise.  He began, curiously enough, with the third installment, 2006's Tokyo Drift, and continued on with 2009's Fast & Furious, 2011's Fast Five, and 2013's Fast & Furious 6, famously integrating cast members introduced in the 2001 original, The Fast and the Furious, 2003's 2 Fast 2 Furious, and his own Tokyo Drift in a series that has become increasingly popular.

The nature of that popularity might seem odd to outsiders, who might assume it's all just a bunch of dumb characters driving fast cars, and thus thoroughly inapplicable to Star Trek.  From the first film, though, this was always a series about family, and that theme has grown with each new film, particularly under Lin's care.  Intricate continuity also plays a vital role in the series, which was something Lin reinforced with Tokyo Drift, which was set years ahead of later entries, until the present caught up with it at the end of Fast & Furious 6.

Don't those sound like attributes you'd love for a director of Star Trek to value, particularly one following in the footsteps of J.J. Abrams, who had similar ambitions in his two films?  With rumors circulating that William Shatner will somehow be involved, Lin seems perfect for the job on all scores.

Beyond these elements, there's also the fact that Star Trek has always been one of the most ethnically-integrated pop culture vehicles.  The closest anyone has come, and arguably even improved on, is the Fast and the Furious franchise.

Sounding better, right?  Besides, as strong as it may seem for a bunch of car thieves, Lin has a great deal of experience with characters who possess a strong moral compass thanks to these movies.  And hey, as a special bonus for those particular Star Trek fans, the bad guy in Fast & Furious was named Braga...