83. One of Our Planets Is MissingFORMULA: Obsession + The Doomsday Device + The Immunity Sydrome + Metamorphosis
WHY WE LIKE IT: Some cool visuals and a nod to the past.
WHY WE DON'T: Rather derivative of original series episodes.
REVIEW: One of Our Planets Is Missing (silly title) is a fair action episode that, in a roundabout way, might teach your kids about anatomy (the brain, the digestive system). That it doesn't really rise above that is mainly due to the derivative nature of the plot. Deadly space-faring gas cloud? Been there, done that. Alien thing that eats planets? Likewise. Draining power in the belly of the beast? Sure. A mindmeld is the only way out? Of course. Star Trek wasn't done with any of these concepts by any means, and it may be interesting to watch this episode to see how similar it is to The Motion Picture!
One of Our Planets features some pretty neat visuals, including ship fx that mirror the look of the original series (like the close-in-and-above we always see when breaking the galactic barrier). Bob Wesley from The Ultimate Computer is back for a cameo, which is always fun and interesting. We also meet Chekov's replacement, the alien Lt. Arex. We don't know much about him yet, but he at least looks unusual. I also like that the animated series gives us a chance to look at new parts of the ship, in this case, the inside of the engines.
As for the main dilemma, it's well-handled, and though the entity sounds a lot like the Companion (same universal translator), we realize it's all a misunderstanding due to size. Good mindmeld sequence, though the resolution is all a bit tidy. Where did the creature come from and where does it go? At least there's some tension with Kirk threatening to blow up the Enterprise, and in the ethical dilemma about whether or not to warn Mantilles, the evacuation of its children, etc.
LESSON: Do we really KNOW yeast to be non-sentient?
REWATCHABILITY - Medium: Not a clunker by any means, One of Our Planets works fine, but saddles us with an omnipresent sense of déjà vu.
Comments
Hey folks, you could do a lot worse than mosey on over to Bully's blog today... that Civil War parable is highlarious!