The Survivor (TAS episode)
Encyclopedia
"The Survivor" is an episode of Star Trek: The Animated Series
Star Trek: The Animated Series
Star Trek: The Animated Series is an animated science fiction television series set in the Star Trek universe following the events of Star Trek: The Original Series of the 1960s...

.

Plot

While patrolling near the Romulan Neutral Zone, the U.S.S. Enterprise
USS Enterprise (NCC-1701)
The USS Enterprise, NCC-1701, is a fictional starship in the Star Trek media franchise. The original Star Trek series depicts her crew's mission "to explore strange new worlds; to seek out new life and new civilizations; to boldly go where no man has gone before" under the command of Captain James...

 finds a ship manned by Carter Winston, a Federation citizen and philanthropist who has been missing for five years.

Winston turns out really to be a Vendorian, an alien species that can transform its shape at will and dupes the crew to board the Enterprise. Once aboard, Winston renders Kirk unconscious, takes the Captain's form and orders Sulu to steer the Enterprise into the Neutral Zone, where Romulan warbirds lie in wait. When the real Kirk eventually regains consciousness, he orders the Enterprise to get out of the Romulan Neutral Zone at Warp 8. The Vendorian who has been shapeshifting himself into other members of the Enterprise's crew eventually reveals himself to Lieutenant Anne Nored, Carter Winston's fiancee who happens to serve aboard the Enterprise, that the real Winston is dead but that since he has absorbed Carter's feelings for her, he can love her.

Around this time, the Romulans attack the Enterprise and the Vendorian—realizing that his actions have placed the ship in danger—decides to betray his Romulan masters for love. He takes the form of the Enterprise's main deflector shield and the Romulans retreat. The Vendorian is arrested and would face trial but Kirk informs him that his actions to protect the Enterprise would be taken into consideration. Nored informs the Vendorian that he is very much similar to Winston and would like to have a life on Earth—possibly together with her. When McCoy jokes that if the Vendorian had turned himself into a second Spock "it would have been too much to take", Spock quickly replies that "two Dr. McCoys just might bring the level of medical efficiency on this ship to acceptable levels."

Commentary

Although its use of a shape-changing alien and a lost love had already been explored in the original series episode The Man Trap, 'The Survivor' is regarded by some entertainment critics to be an intriguing Trek animated episode; while "the shape-changing alien is a familiar genre (and Trekkian trope), the romantic twist in which the Vendorian spy betrays his Romulan masters for love is a nice surprise." Edward Gross, the senior editor of Cinescape Magazine, rates 'The Survivor' as "an above-average episode" that "definitely has the feeling of a live-action [Star Trek] show."

External links

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