Review
| Series : |
The Animated Series |
Rating : |
 |
| Disc No : |
3 |
Episode : |
6 |
| First Aired : |
13 Oct 1973 |
Stardate : |
5143.3 |
| Director : |
Hal Sutherland |
Year : |
2268 |
| Writers : |
James Schmerer |
Season : |
1 |
|
| Guest Cast : |
|
|
|
| YATI : |
In one scene Lieutenant Nored's insignia is shown on the wrong side of her uniform. |
| Great Moment : |
The non-violent resolution. |
| Body Count : |
|
| Factoid : |
This is the first TAS episode to feature Lieutenant M'Ress. My year for this episode is estimated from the Stardate; it is one of a group of TAS episodes set between 'The Empath' and 'The Mark of Gideon'. |
Plotline
The Enterprise discovers long-lost philanthropist Carter Winston on board a damaged ship near the Romulan Neutral Zone. His fiancée, Lieutenant Anne Nored, is an Enterprise crewmember who is overjoyed to be reunited with Winston. Unfortunately, Winston is actually a Vendorian, a shapeshifting alien life form. Impersonating Kirk, Winston orders the Enterprise into the Neutral Zone and then disables the ship. Can anything save the crew from a Romulan attack?
Analysis
A fairly by-the-numbers episode with shades of many TOS outings, this one is mostly interesting because of the alien involved. Although we've seen many shape shifters over the years, I don't hink Trek has ever explored the idea of a shape shifter which actually becomes the thing it imitates mentally as well as physically. It's a nice concept, and it provides an interesting non-violent way to resolve the situation. The idea that Winston could imitate a deflector shield is a little strange; as I recall the novelisation suggests that he is in fact imitating not the shield itself but the machine which generates it, something that makes a lot more sense.
