1/2
And then it came to pass that Hoffman would begin reviewing The Animated Series. First, to answer a few questions. No, I’ve never seen any of these before. Yes, it is a little embarrassing to admit watching Saturday Morning Cartoons. How does one review these episodes? I’m not exactly sure. . .let’s just take it as it comes.
The first thing I immidiately recognize is that this is a lot less awful than it could have been. In fact, in some ways, these episodes are quite similar to “regular” Trek. They are half the length, but not dumbed-down too much. The main thing that is lacking is the humor, the humanity. I suppose in an effort to streamline things for 30 minutes, those elements were the first to get cut. What we have instead is simply plot plot plot. The benefits, though, are that the design gets kinda wild, like on the “pod starship” on this first episode.
In “Beyond The Farthest Star” the Enterprise is tricked into orbit around a dying star. There, a malevolent being (visualized as green smoke) will take over the ship. We know this because, in a surprisingly confusing red herring move, Kirk & co. first inspect a dead but highly advanced starship that is also in orbit. Soon the green-smoke being is on the Enterprise and Kirk must pretend that they would rather self-destruct (as the other ship did) than give haven to the monster.
Frankly, this episode is a little confusing. I don’t know whether this is a good thing (proving the Animated Series may not be as simplistic as I feared) or a bad thing (production was rushed and haphazard.) I will take a cautious wait-and-see approach.
