Wednesday, May 13, 2015

Star Trek: The Terratin Incident

My friends and I are embarking on a new journey to watch all 22 episodes of Star Trek's animated series.  We'll be posting on Wednesdays.  All are welcome to join us for all or parts of our adventure. 

Episode: "The Terratin Incident"
Series: Star Trek: The Animated Series
Season 1, Episode 11
Original Air Date: November 17, 1973
via Wikipedia
"The Terratin Incident" is an homage to Jonathan Swift's Gulliver's Travels.  While approaching an unknown planet, the Enterprise is attacked with an energy beam.  The beam damages the all-important dilithium crystals and, even stranger, causes the crew to shrink.  Thankfully, our friends discover in time that the transporter can help them revert to their original size.  When Kirk beams down to the planet, he encounters a colony of Terratins, Earth descendants who, due to radiation, only grow to a sixteenth of an inch in size.  Turns out, they were just trying to get the Enterprise's attention.

The shrinking is fun.  My favorite part of the episode, though, is when the entire Terratin city is beamed aboard the ship, then picked up with one human hand.

*****
via Memory Alpha
Lieutenant Frank Gabler is one of Scotty's best engineers.  "The Terratin Incident" marks the third of his four appearances in The Animated Series.  Alan Dean Foster gave him his first name in a short story adaptation of "Once Upon a Planet."  Gabler is voiced by James Doohan.

If you would care to join us for all or part of our travels, sign on to the list below.  Please visit the other participants.  Next week: "The Time Trap."


25 comments:

  1. Interesting story. I do hope the Terratins were relocated to a planet without anteaters. Their retention of earthly mass at 1/16 inch would make them an excellent source of protein.

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  2. I think everyone's glossed over Gabler's appearances. Thanks for pointing him out.

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  3. This sounds like a very interesting episode which I don't remember at all. I wonder what else is on that planet

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    1. We don't get to see much beyond the city. The Terratins are trying to get away due to volcano activity.

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  4. It is nice to see/hear that James Doohan did quite a bit of voice work.

    cheers, parsnip

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  5. I'm looking forward to reviewing this one and Doohan was a master of voices

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  6. Majel Barrett did a great job voicing Christine Chapel. Her emotional display of concern over the Enterprises escaped animals was rather touching.

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    1. The animals are a sweet part of the story... until she falls in the fish tank!

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  7. The shrinking sounds fun. I think this is an episode I would really enjoy. :)
    ~Jess

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  8. I'd like to see a different take on Gulliver's Travels. Looks like an interesting episode.

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  9. It's not just like Gulliver's Travels but also like the movie The Incredible Shrinking Woman. I remember seeing that on VHS as a kid and loving it.... I also remember being horrified when she almost fell into the sink's garbage disposal.

    Hopefully there were no garbage disposals on the Enterprise.

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    1. Nice reference! Nurse Chapel does fall in a fish tank - that parts a bit anxious.

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    2. ha, ha! That is too funny that something similar happened in Star Trek!
      Of course, Star Trek came nearly 10 years before The Incredible Shrinking Woman, so Star Trek was the original story with the shrinking plot.... well, maybe Gulliver's Travels was.

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    3. And, of course... Alice in Wonderland. Drink me!

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    4. Yes, of course! Down the rabbit hole....

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    5. And the most obvious of them all-- Fantastic Voyage!!
      It should be obvious because it is right in front of my face with the video game I am currently developing....

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    6. I've never seen Fantastic Voyage. Isaac Asimov did the novelization and I love him so I meet seek that out at some point.

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  10. I did not know there was a animated version of Star Trek, it sounds interesting as I enjoyed the original show.

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    1. I think the animated series is satisfying for those who know the originals. Animation provided the writers a broader canvas (pun intended).

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