1.11 — “The Terratin Incident”
Plot: The Enterprise is diverted from a scientific research survey mission by an unexpected transmission from a reportedly uninhabited world. After establishing orbit, the ship is bombarded with rays from the surface of the planet. The crew soon discovers that they are all shrinking, slowly at first, but at an ever-accelerating rate.
Thoughts: It’s good to see TAS sticking to its mission to do stories which, for practical and budgetary reasons, could not have been filmed for TOS. This episode is very fun, and creative. The slowly-shrinking crew makes for interesting, unexpected visuals. Knowing about the limited budget for the animation, we probably shouldn’t nitpick the scale and continuity mistakes. The shrinking presents interesting problems and the dilemmas, like how the crew will continue to operate the ship’s equipment.
I like how, initially having no other reference points, the first reaction of the crew is to believe that the ship was expanding. I appreciate when the writers reach beyond what is already established and show us new things about the operation of the ship, like the strange reference animals used in sick bay, or the electric eye control used for the turbolift door. Also, we get to see where the dilithium crystals are installed in the engine room! What do you know, they are behind a glass barrier in a sealed room that looks a bit like the one Spock later enters to save the ship in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan.
The plot resolution is classic Star Trek. What initially appeared to be hostility is a misunderstanding. The need for a military defense is obviated by the development of new understandings that allow both sides to cooperate and become better off. These kinds of stories aren’t made very often today, not even in Star Trek (thank you J.J. Abrams).
Actually, “The Terratin Incident” would make a great plot for a new movie in the reboot series. They would have the budget and the technology to do the shrinking crew/expanding Enterprise properly. They could reformulate, retag, and expand on the scenes. It would make for an essentially nonviolent story which is still very visual and has plenty of room for creativity and the exploration of things we’ve never seen or thought of before. That would really be something.
4.5 out of 5 gossamer mice and halo fish.
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