Title :
The Survivor
Series :
Rating :
Overall Ep :
6
First Aired :
13 Oct 1973
Stardate :
5143.3
Director :
Year :
Writers :
Season Ep :
YATI :
In one scene Lieutenant Nored's insignia is shown on the wrong side of her uniform.
Great Moment :
The non-violent resolution.
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.
Special Edition
