Since their first literary appearance in Homer’s Odyssey, sirens have been luring men astray with their deadly voices in many a pop fiction. Homer and his crew were forced to float passed the singing snare, but Kirk and his band of space sailors were sent to the doomed site intentionally. While investigating the mysterious disappearance … More Siren Songs in Space, TAS: S1E4 “The Lorelei Signal”
A planet eating space blob terrorizes the galaxy and the Enterprise must intercept it before it reaches a densely populated Federation colony. Comprising an unusual combination of matter and energy, the deadly space cloud at first appears to be some natural formation with an undesirable planet-destroying effect. Without much evidence, Spock concludes that the mass … More Tornado, Amoeba, Brain TAS: S1E3 “One of Our Planets is Missing”
The original Enterprise crew is back! Continuing their adventures right where they left off, The Animated Series exchanges Kirk’s five-year mission for an ongoing ‘star charting’ expedition, now rendered in a budget-friendly Hanna Barbara campiness. Aside from the obvious switch into the toonverse, and a shorter run time, there is no real difference between the … More The Ultimate Parasite, TAS: S1E1 “Beyond the Farthest Star”
In 1968, an influential new book blew society’s collective mind. The Population Bomb, by husband and wife team Paul and Anne Ehrlich, predicted a world in which hundreds of millions of people would starve to death in the 1970s, despite anything we may do to stop it. If you’re reading this in the far future … More Population Dud, TOS: S3E16 “The Mark of Gideon”
The many possibilities for life often stretch beyond our imaginations. Just when we think we have a basic understanding of how it all works, biology throws a platypus into the mix. From bizarre animal bodies to bacteria surviving under the most inhospitable conditions, life simply pushes against the impossible. However, even with seemingly endless variety, … More The Laws of Existence, TOS: S2E18 “The Immunity Syndrome”
When Spock experiences the pon farr, a period of intense physical and psychological stress preceding Vulcan mating, he must journey back to his planet to marry his fiancé or he will die. The accompanying ceremony is elaborate, culturally significant, and ancient. The ritual also allows Spock’s potential mate to challenge the offer and choose another husband. In this rare … More Traditional Liberation, TOS: S2E1 “Amok Time”
Plants are seldom the feature of most SciFi stories, which is a shame considering their vast diversity of interesting characteristics. In this early episode, we meet an extra-terrestrial plant, as opposed to the usual bipedal, fin-faced Star Trek alien. Travelling to Omicron Ceti III, the Enterprise crew expected its Federation colony to have perished from … More Sup-Planted, TOS: S1E24 “This Side of Paradise”
Hopeless Trekkie 