TAS: Season One, Episode One

Star Trek

The Animated Series
Season One, Episode One
Beyond The Farthest Star
[original airdate: 09|08|1973]
[spoilers ahoy!]

The intro is different (after Kirk recites the "where no man has gone before" bit) which is kind of nice. The ship looks nice animated, but I can't say the same about this overhead shot of the crew.

I admit, I *am* intrigued by the presence of a unique looking fellow on the bridge with what appears to be three arms.

And of course, something's going wrong in the first fifteen seconds of the actual episode. No one was surprised. The animation is through Filmation (same as He-Man. It looks similar to Scooby Doo as well, but i'm not sure), and so far isn't too terrible.

Ah yes, the screen shaking and chords to let you know SOMETHING. HAPPENED. SIR.

 [This will not be the first time this happens]

Hypergravity Mister Spock? You don't say. Negative star mass? FULL REVERSE THRUST.

[also what happened to Mr 3 arms???]

Looks like Uhura's gone from this next scene oops. NO GOOD SIR WE'RE STILL FALLING TOWARD IT. OH NO. Goddammit Spock no one gave you permission to count down.

So ninety-three seconds, then Uhura has the radio make weird static, and now we're at forty seconds. Trek math, man.

NINE SECONDS? JFC Spock.

Annnnnnnnnnd now we're safely in orbit. Shouldn't we have tried that, y'know, FIRST? No no, don't ask. Don't think about it.

And now you think you can slingshot from the planet? Good grief. And Uhura's like HEY THE RADIO'S SQUEALING AGAIN SIR LET ME DO MY JOB PLEASE

[That eyeliner will still kill a man.]

 Okay, so there's something in space reading out radio signals, and you decide it's a good idea to go alongside BEFORE taking any readings.

Y'all know this might be MURDEROUS space-lilies right?

[pretty tho, lbr]

WAIT IS THIS SOME OF THE MUSHROOMS FROM DISCOVERY??? (Nope)

"It's a starship! But unlike any I've ever seen!" HOW THE FUCK WOULD YOU KNOW, BONES? Also what the heck are you doing here anyway? Jim didn't call.

How do you know that it's harder and lighter than any known metal if you don't know what metal it is? AGH.

ITS THREE HUNDRED MILLION YEARS OLD??? Wat

"To touch even a starship with grace and beauty?" UHURA DO NOT SPEAK LIKE THAT ABOUT THE ENTERPRISE IN FRONT OF YOUR CAPTAIN. We've gotten into fights over less in regards to her.

Also Kirk's wearing a long dress here because they didn't color his pants properly. OOPS.

OKay I want a life-support belt. Did they ever have these on the main show? I don't remember.

[touch the belllllllts. Spock why are you using your middle finger]

Well, at least the scenery's pretty. It looks like it's colored with colored pencils, but they did a good job.

SPUN METAL? Okay that's pretty fricken rad. The yellow glow around everyone is weird, but oh well, I guess it's so you know that the life-support is on.

[damn Spock chill would you]

DUN DUN DUN. So the crew of the ship might've destroyed it themselves? Daaaaang. Also that outline is distracting! Sometimes it looks like a photoshop airbrush and sometimes it looks like someone took a big fat yellow highlighter like *SQUEAKSQUEAK* there, perfect.

So there IS something coming from it. HOW ODD.

 [Guys this is my album cover! Oh no who let Sybok get ahold of this, dammit!]

"Wands". Okay Spock. Those are tentacles, lets not be euphemistic here.

"This is creepy, I feel like I'm being watched!" "Me too!" "Gentlemen, stop being primitive for two seconds, would you please?"

"BUT SPOCK."

Wow, rude. Rather than even try to see if the lock could be opened, Spock just fuckin phases it. DAMMIT SPOCK.

Uh oh. There's rayguns! And everything looks like it's functioning. (For some reason this reminds me of Marvin the Martian's stuff) Both air and gravity within two points of Earth normal?

CONVENIENT.

INTERFERENCE?

DRAINED WEAPONS?

WE'RE TRAPPED HERE?

WE MAGICALLY FOUND THE SOURCE OF THE INTERFERENCE IN TWO SECONDS??

Say it with me now, kids:

"That is right, Mister Scott. No known form of life." And then, the doors.

Let's just hope it keeps whatever it is out. And now the radio transmitter is making nice, creepy noises. "It seems to keep repeating! I wonder what it's saying"

Y'all apparently didn't hear the word "danger" in there, did you??? "I may be able to geet a translation!"

Of course.

Where's our actual communications specialist, thanks?

So they got a malevolent lifeform somehow? And decided to destroy their own ship. OKAY. And then the room explodes.

Okay Mister Kyle has the BEST mustache. Never seen him before but I like him and his 'stache. And clearly still voiced by James Doohan.

TOO LATE KIRK but damn did you have to just shove that guy onto the floor? Geez that green fog just took over everything!

MURDERFOG. I think I remember this episode of TOS

 [Wolf in the Fold. Sorry for potato]

Annnnd cue evil laughter from the ship's speaker on the transporter controls. Nope.

A higher than normal magnetic flux, and a creepy looking showerhead above you guys. Oh shit son. Something shut down all life support on decks five and six!!

I'm not sure if I actually like this ship just automatically going to red alert.

Wait, you said there's trouble in the engineering core, but then you send Bones? DON'T YOU HAVE A REPAIR CREW ALREADY? Don't think about it, don't think about it...

 [At least Scotty got a happy ending. RIP Mace, Sunshine]

Well, at least someone's here to tell the captain Scotty won't last long this way.

MOVE, says Kirk, urgently. "Yes sir," they say, walking away.

I think I like the part best where the cutter is NOWHERE NEAR Scotty. At least they got him free (of course they got him free, there's no tension here you know he'll live, you've seen Star Trek Six)

Oh no they're targeting the alien ship without their consent! RUDE. And blew it up. Told you this episode has everything.

Uh oh, it's rooting through the storage banks too? Did Control find them out here? Nnnnooo somehow that means it's taking control of the ship...? Okay so, maybe y'all need to stop leaving instruction manuals for starships on the starships. God, watching Kirk's mouth move is mesmerizing.

[watching Kirk's mouth move like]

Bones stop being a Debbie Downer would you? "All it has to do is outlast us."

LMAO wtf. The showerhead finally starts talking, and it's like "I've been waiting, for a ship like you ♫"

ALL OF THEM? That's a problem. How tf do you absorb all of the memory banks? More likely it deleted them when it was done.

DAMN. Shot Kirk right in the nipples. And then shot Spock in the nipples too. So rude.

[I am reminded]

Kirk what are you doinggg? Using your belt somehow. Interesting. Did they actually hire the Dalek voice for this thing??? No, just James Doohan.

They're talking and it's ignoring them? I'm confused. Pretty neat how it works, though. Using the controls of a ship like the mind of a human uses the body.

Uhura just here in the screen to be our reactions, looking side to side and then widening her eyes. Ahahaha jesus.

Okay, now they're being smart. Using Spock's mind to complete calculations so the creature doesn't know.

Plot the course Mr Sulu. With my face extremely close to the screen. It's okay, that makes the command mean more.

Lol Kirk over here looking back and forth suspiciously. Good thing this machine doesn't know crap. Yes hit that BIG RED BUTTON!

LOve how Kirk goes back and forth between wearing the belt and not. But major kudos to this guy withstanding the laser beam right now because ouch. Damn, that was nuts. I mean completely fricken insane. Green fog vanishes, and then the ship!

And then it's fine??? What.

Dear god that is depressing. Dammit Jimmy, how dare you tweak my heartstrings over this monster of the week. :C

Annnnd over. Not too terrible I suppose, it seems pretty standard material for a Trekisode. I'd put this one at a 7/10. Not too many errors, not too weird of a story. My favorite one is up next though!