This is another example of The animated Star Trek at it's best. I found this to be most satisfying.
I'm afraid I don't remember much about this episode; what did you like about it, Kail?
McCoy calls Spock from sickbay, but the next scene shows McCoy on the bridge!
Kirk and captain O`Shea both call the freighter the SS Huron, but written on the ship is "USS Huron".
Captain o`Shea of the Huron has no sleeve insignia, but the other Huron crewmembers have.
Arex constantly leaps from the library computer to the nav station while the Enterprise is chasing the Orion ship.
Everyone pronounces Orion as O-ree-on, but episodes of Classic Trek have it pronounced O-RI-on.
Kirk is fighting with the Orion, then he`s running as he says "Scotty, Energize!" and then suddenly he`s fighting with the Orion again!
Kirk says they ahve the Orion ship in tow, but the exterior scene shows they haven`t.
O-RI-on is the correct pronunciation.
I don't know Mike, it was just a good adventure, lots of mindless action.
Was it just me or did the Starfleet insignia on the crew on the other ship look a little different? Two of that crew sounded remarkably like Sulu and Chapel...
When Scotty says "Lock on to the dilithium" I thought just the bag containing it would be beamed up, so there was no chance of the alien detonating it. Then he could have beamed Kirk and the alien up.
And doesn't the alien actually press the button at one point? Or did a transporter lock negate the detonation?
Was it just me or did the Starfleet insignia on the crew on the other ship look a little different?
On the original series all starships had their own insignia. It wasn't until the movies that they all adapted the Enterprise symbol throughout starfleet.
Two of that crew sounded remarkably like Sulu and Chapel...
To save costs, the cast did most of the 'guest' voices.
Yes, I knew about the voices - just wondered why the creators didn't think we'd notice.
The crew of Epsilon Nine had different insignia, so the adoption of the Enterprise insignia for use by all happened between TMP and WOK.
Methinks the Orion military's been reading way too
many comic books! Didja notice how the Orion
pirates looked a lot like extras from a
superheroes' conventio
Methinks the Orion military's been reading way too
many comic books! Didja notice how the Orion
pirates looked a lot like extras from a
superheroes' convention?
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My favourite animated episode. Three things stand out:
1. We get to see the Orion males and their interestingly-designed ship (in Journey to Babel the ship was just a spot of light in the distance)
2. We see another TOS-era starship, the USS Huron, of a totally different design to the Enterprise.
3. For once, it's Spock who comes down with the deadly disease and everyone else who's all right, instead of the other way around!
I agree, a very good episode.
"We see another TOS-era starship, the USS Huron, of a totally different design to the Enterprise."
I wish the series had done more of this, new ships. With animation it would have been easy.
"Frigate-class phasers." I'm pretty sure that's the line, reporting to Kirk the armament of the Orion ship. I'm almost certain it's the first time the series acknowledged that there were different classes of ships in Star Fleet. Warships, I mean. (The frigate has to be a Star Fleet ship, or else they would have said 'Romulan disruptors' or something.)
Anyway, I liked this one a lot for the Huron, the notion revealed at last that the Federation had economic activity, the tension of finding the raiders in time, and the cat-and-mouse of tracking them down in that system. And then only to face the fact that the Enterprise being so powerful relative to the pirate ship was meaningless, since they couldn't just blow it up-- they needed that medicine and had to bargain for it.
The ending was silly, of course, with Kirk somehow able to jump the Orion before the guy could push a button on his chest, but I liked the sophistication of the plot with the Orions preferring death to exposure of their piracy.
This is one of the few TAS eps not directed by Hal Sutherland. It was, instead, directed by Bill Reed. Sutherland is still credited at the end of the ep.
Why does Kirk call Sickbay when McCoy's on the Bridge? Shouldn't Bones examine Spock before summoning Sickbay?
After telling Kirk he wished to God he was wrong about his diagnosis of Spock, McCoy goes to work at one of his medical computer stations in Sickbay. His delta insignia is missing.
Closed captioning avers that McCoy is saying "The infection enters the bloodstream." It sounds to me that McCoy is saying, "The inflection enters the bloodstream."
Hm. Since last season, the voice of the ship's computers has changed. It's more metallic now.
This is the second time the Potempkin has been mentioned in TREK. The first time was in the ep, "The Ultimate Computer".
The Huron's construction number is "NCC-F1913". This is the second ship in TAS to have a letter other an "N" or a "C" in its contruction number. Did any of the other series have a ship with such a number? (Other Star Trek: Enterprise's Enterprise.)
I don't know how significant it is, but in 1913, Lake Huron was subject to what was known as "The Great Storm". Read more about it here.
I believe Captain O'Shea is the first Starfleet officer we've seen who had a beard. All others have been clean shaven.
The Sickbay scanner used to monitor Spock's health is not the same as the medical scanners located above the beds in Sickbay. It's one we've never seen before in the series.
Only O'Shea survived? His helmsman and communications officers died in the Orion attack? That would bring the TAS death toll to 9 (or ten, depending on whether Telepath died in "The Slaver Weapon"). That's a very high body count for a 1970s cartoon series.
Boy, Spock's and O'Shea's medical beds are very close together, aren't they? A little too close, I'd say. There's no space for McCoy or Nurse Chapel to get between them if they needed to.
When Kirk orders Sulu to lay in a course to find the Orion ship, Lt. Arex cannot be seen at the Science Station, even though that's where he was just a moment ago.
The Enterprise is on its way after the Orion ship. Kirk heads to Sickbay. Why is Spock on a different bed than the last time we saw him? In his condition, should Bones be moving Spock around so much?
According to this ep, McCoy's been practicing medicine for 25 years.
"Hard to port"? The Orion ship attacked from starboard. That means Kirk ordered the Enterprise to face the wrong way. Unless he wanted to run from the Orions.
Kirk gives the stardate for "Journey to Babel" as "stardate 3850.3." I dunno. Maybe it ended on that stardate. But it began on stardate 3842.3
Oh, that's just great. Kirk and the Orion Captain beamed up without the needed drug.
The Orion ship must've had a small crew for all of them to fit in the Enterprise's brig.
One moment Kirk is listening to McCoy and Spock argue in Sickbay, the next the argument ends on the Bridge then back again.
"Live long and prosper."
When McCoy summons Spock to Sickbay, the camera changes over to Kirk on his command chair...WITH MCCOY STANDING RIGHT NEXT TO HIM!
(As Benn pointed out above, this nit happened in the opposite manner a few minutes before)
Beta Canopus... ugh!
Astronomically the Greek prefix is supposed to refer* to the brightness of a star in it's constellation (at the time of its designation). Canopus is not a constellation, it is a star, also known as Alpha Carinae (the brightest star in the constellation Carina).
* There are exceptions, of course.
Why is Spock knocking on the door? Don't they have a deedle-type sound to let the person know someone is outside?
The pirates say to surrender the cargo or be destroyed.
Wouldn't destroying them also destroy the cargo?
Ugh... another asteroid thicket... and an explosive one at that.
Must have been newly created since otherwise the whole thing would have blown itself to smithereens.
Soooooo... these pirates attacked a Starfleet vessel & crew, stole its cargo, & Kirk offers to let them go free with the dilithium crystals & not report them to Starfleet if they just hand over the medicine.
Uh-huh... thank goodness the pirates decided to double-cross Kirk or justice never would have been served.
I wonder if he included that proposed deal in his report to Starfleet?
It still amazes me that while wearing the life support belt that such tools as tricorders,communicators & phasers can be operated perfectly & the belt's powerful force field in no way interferes with any of them. It looked like the Orion captain did indeed press the button on his belt to activate the bomb while he was laying on the ground & Kirk was some distance away from him,so how come it did not work? Why didn't Kirk keep the channel open on his communicator so that Scotty could hear the conversation between both Kirk & the Orion captain? Once the Orion told Kirk about his bomb Scott could have ordered the transporter operator to beam the device into space.One of the things I always enjoyed about the original Star Trek live action show was that all the Federation starships had their own unique insignia badge.We see here that the Huron crew has their own specialized badge.I wish they had continued this tradition in the Trek movies & spin-off TV shows instead of having not only all Federation ships adopt the Enterprise's delta design but also have the delta symbol represent the Federation itself.
I have possible explanations for some of the nits in this episode:
Benn - Since last season, the voice of the ship's computers has changed. It's more metallic now. This could be an experimental setting.
"Hard to port"? The Orion ship attacked from starboard. That means Kirk ordered the Enterprise to face the wrong way. Unless he wanted to run from the Orions. Turning to port will allow Enterprise to present a smaller target in less time than turning to starboard, which would increase the target area for the pirate's weapons.
Oh, that's just great. Kirk and the Orion Captain beamed up without the needed drug. The drug could have been beamed directly to sickbay by another transporter pad.
The Orion ship must've had a small crew for all of them to fit in the Enterprise's brig. Depends on how many detention cells they have.
Kmorgan - The pirates say to surrender the cargo or be destroyed. Wouldn't destroying them also destroy the cargo? Not necessarily - it may be possible to retrieve the cargo from the wreckage after the ship is destroyed.
When the Orion ensign tells the lieutenant that Kirk and the Orion captain are gone, the lieutenant sounds like he's on helium when he replies "Gone?" but his other lines sound normal.
Near the beginning of the episode when Kirk calls for a ship, he says "Get me Starfleet Lieutenant," as if he's asking FOR a Starfleet lieutenant. Maybe someone left a comma out of the script.
"This is the second time the Potempkin has been mentioned in TREK. The first time was in the ep, "The Ultimate Computer"." - Benn
It was also mentioned in "Turnabout Intruder."
Time was of the essence for getting the medication, so why did a fast starship like the Potemkin transfer it to the slower cargo ship Huron instead of delivering it itself?
The Orion lieutenant said that the asteroid could not be detonated with phasers, it had to be done by "a powerful explosive right on the asteroid's surface." But earlier, it was shown that those asteroids have a hair trigger and explode simply by bumping into each other.
Why did the Huron store the medication in its cargo bay? Wouldn't putting it in its sickbay have been a lot more appropriate?