Notice who wrote this one? Walter Koenig! Making up for not having Chekov on the series. And you'll notice that Sulu was bitten by a "Retlaw" plant. Spell it backwards.

STUPID CRUDDY SERIES

Let's see if we can keep our criticisms intelligent.

Yes, Digger gets around, doesn't s/he. I've seen him/her on other sites as well.
Maybe if the aforesaid were to explain everything a little more, like why s/he
dislikes this soo much that s/he's willing to get flamed. I'm NOT going to, but I must
admit to a certain annoyance. I wonder if s/he's also Anoynomous from More
Tribbles...

Someone in the episode said that the Retlaw plant is dangers when left alone. Could this be a metaphor for the fact that Walter Koenig gets angry if he is left alone (i.e. not included in TAS).

Yes I've noticed Digger spreads joy wherever he goes. Got a nice pasting from Phil too.

Anyone want to take a stab at fitting a 24 foot Spock into the continuity? Anyone.....Anyone....

Hey Digger, Here's a Quarter. Go down to the clue store and make a purchase!

Well, I doubt that the Amazing Colossal Spock is going to be leaving the planet any time soon. How's he going to fit onto a ship? I suppose they could beam him into the shuttlebay, but how do you feed him? And how do you, er, deal with his waste (yuck!)?

A creature that size would have a much shorter life-span than his normal sized version (great strain on heart, stress on skeleton, harder to feed, etc.). I would assume he died not too many years after his cloning. They probably had to use a few dozen backhoes to dig the grave.....

Shortly after Spock is kipnapped by Keniclius, the
landing party beams back to Enterprise. On the bridge, in birds-eye shot, you see all the stations. Spock appears to be at the science board. Later, in a shot from helm/navigation, you see a red-shirt at the science sttion. This red-shirt must've gone the way of all red-shirts and died. The next shot from helm/navigation shows what appears to be Spock at his science console.

My main problem with this episode is that it reminds me too much of "Spock's Brain". Only it's
more intelligently made.

Oh yeah. Another nit: The Enterprise, which once
crop-dusted the planet Ariana, apparently doesn't
carry any pesticides on board. They have to use
McCoy's granddaddy's formula. (Which works fine
on Terran plants, but alien plants that mimic Rodan?...) 'Sides, why McCoy? Sulu's a botanist.
Doesn't he know any pesticide recipes?

So Sulu beams down to a planet and starts manhandling the plant life? Didn't they teach him better than that at the Academy? Or for that matter, you'd think after Chekov told him about the plants life on the planet Eden, the Lt. would be a little wary of touching an alien plant.

And why didn't the poisonous nature of the plant show up on Sulu's tricorder?

It's surprising that Spock doesn't chastize Bones for pumping Sulu full of medicine that may not work. The Science Officer has commented on that before.

This ep marks the series' second mention of the Eugenics Wars.

"They have to use McCoy's granddaddy's formula." - me

Make that, his "great, great, great grandaddy's" formula.

When McCoy enters the Bridge, he is not wearing a tricorder. Yet in a later closeup, the strap of a tricorder can be seen over his left shoulder.

When Kirk beams down to Phylos the second time, why doesn't he have some security guards with him? The situation has already proven to be hazardous.

When the lights go out in the underground tunnel, it's amazing the landing party doesn't run into a wall or into the flying Rodan plants. Equally strange is that they all manage to stay together.

And given that the landing party was on a floating platform, it's surprising no one broke or sprained their ankles jumping off of it.

An overhead shot of the Bridge while Kirk, Spock and Sulu are on Phylos is well done. The positions of helm and science are occupied by redshirts and Scotty sits in the command chair.

For much of the confrontation between Kirk and Spock 2 and Keniculus 5, the real Mr. Spock is lying on the ground surrounded by Dr. McCoy and Mr. Sulu. However, just before Spock 2 mind melds with Spock, there is a shot of Spock lying on the bed again. When they are mind melding, Spock is again lying on the floor.

Are there tribbles on Phylos? I keep hearing the sound of their purring in the background during the final scenes.

Of course, by all laws of physics, a giant human just isn't possible. But aside from that, why are the clones of Spock and Keniculus gigantic? Humans do not have the capacity to grow that large, so why would the clones be that huge?

Why is Keniculus wearing a skirt? (Okay, a kilt.) One step closer and Kirk and the other members of the landing party will be able to tell if he's wearing any underwear. And for some reason, I doubt that the Roman-like outfit Keniculus was wearing was in style at the time of the Eugenics Wars.

BTW, does anyone know if this ep was in any way incorporated into the Eugenic Wars books?

What I think happened in the "Battlefield" ep of Classic Trek was that they launced probes into that planet's atmosphere.

Why did they not do the same in "TIV?" Remember that a force field was around the planet, preventing them from firing phasers.

This episode bears a striking resemblence to "Spock's Brain".

Except this episode isn't sexist nor has the "Spock-bot" walking about

The first time we see Sulu on the ground after being poisoned, there is no tricorder strap across his back. In the next shot, there is.

How does Agmar know what kind of poison is in Sulu's bloodstream? I mean, I know he's a native of Phylos, but surely, like I would assume is true for all planets, there are a variety of poisons on the planet. Agmar would have to somehow know it was the mobile plant that stung Sulu. Yet, I don't think anyone at this point in the ep knows that.

Agmar says Sulu was "bitten" by the Retlaw plant. First of all, a plant with teeth? Teeth? Thorns, yes. And that would mean that Hikaru was stung by the plant. But bitten?

And again, how does Agmar know that it was Retlaw poison coursing through the Lieutenant's bloodstream?

Spock says that according to readings, the Phylosians ancestors used nearly 70% of their brain. How would he know that? The ancestors are dead, corpses, so there wouldn't be any brain activity for the Vulcan to make that sort of determination.

The delta insignia on Sulu's uniform is missing when the swoopers first attack. (And boy does Sulu look way off model in that scene.)

How does McCoy know Keniclius is "definitely human"? He hasn't run a tricorder reading on him. Then again, how many 20 feet tall humans has the Doctor run across, anyway?

Unlike everyone else, Sulu pronounces Keniclius as "Kin-neck-lee-us".

The voice of the ship's computer in this ep is definitely Nichelle Nichol's. Which makes me wonder why Majel Barrett, who was not only the original voice of the computer, but also one of the ones contributing her voice to the series, wasn't tapped to recreate that role?

A couple of questions about the Keniclius clones: Are they made from the cells of the original Keniclius or the previous clone generation? If the latter, then wouldn't there be some deterioration or imperfections the way a copy of a copy deteriorates?

Scotty's voice as he says, "Aye, sir. But I don't like it" has an odd sound to it. Like it was recorded under different conditions than Mr. Scott's other lines in the scene.

While I realize the Phylosians are now sterile, shouldn't it be possible for Keniclius to create clones of Agmar and his people, too?

Why did Keniclius dress Spock Two in a replica of his Starfleet uniform? Why not a robe of some kind? Or something else entirely?

While much of Spock's head is paler in color because of the glow from the posts on the bed, the filter mask is its normal color.

This episode marks the first mention of the Kzinti, who would be spotlighted in the ep, "The Slaver Weapon".

"Live long and prosper."

Just before "Spock 2" does the Vukcan Mind Touch, the real Mr. Spock is on the floor in Sulu's arms. Just then, confusingly enough, Keniclius breaks the stasis chamber surrounding the real Spock...who is now on a table! Then...to confuse the situation further, the real Spock is seen on the floor again....WITHOUT Sulu!

How did the real Spock get back and forth so quickly?

Sorry, John. I pointed out that nit in my Monday, February 10th, 2003 post. Good catch, though.

"Live long and prosper."

OOPS! I should have read the previous nits more closely. That's what I get for being lazy.

Benn- no, I didn't catch any references in the Eugenics Wars books, but the most recent Strange New Worlds short story collection did have a tale about Archer's ancestor who served in the wars negotiating with the real Keniclius to cease fire and allow a school full of children to be evacuated...

In my opinion, this is how "Spock's Brain" SHOULD HAVE been.

The Agony Booth has posted a recap of this episode at http://www.agonybooth.com/recaps/Star_Trek/the_animated_series/The_Infinite_Vulcan.aspx

I know they point it out in this episode but it does indeed seem terribly ignorant for a man of Keniclius intellect that he doesn't consider that there have been many changes in the galaxy over the centuries since he's been on Phylos. What exactly was his plan to impose peace upon the galaxy,seems to me that if this was attempted by an army of these plant aliens all it would do would be to create conflict? For an advanced civilization,weren't the simple looking rocket ships the plant people had rather primitive & cliche looking? Kirk states that there is peace in the galaxy,but really there is only partial peace when you consider the Klingons & Romulans.How does such a species with fragile looking "arms" develop tools & such to become so advanced? I realize that Keniclius inadvertently contaminated the race on Phylos & then worked very hard to save them,but would he truly be someone that the plant people would defer to totally & follow? If this race is fearful of aliens as stated does it make sense that they would want to hop into their spacships & travel to other planets even to impose peace?

The sound effect for Sulu's tricorder as he scans the Retlaw plant is the one normally used for Spock's scanner on the bridge.

The Phylosians have a dampening field that can easily neutralize phaser beams. Too bad Kirk didn't think of asking them for the blueprints before he left.

If Keniclius was someone from the Eugenics war, how the heck did he end up on Phylos, a planet at the edge of the galaxy? Earth ships of that time didn't have anywhere close to the range or speed needed to get that far.

Giant Spock appeared to be a scaled up version of the original in all aspects. His voice should therefore have been much deeper than the original's because his larger throat and vocal cords would have produced much lower frequency sounds.