The Time Trap

DVD, Star Trek: The Animated Series (The Time Trap)

For most of this episode the story takes place in an alternate universe or 'a pocket in the garment of time' as it was eloquently expressed by one of those trapped within it, but for all the oddness in the standard characters from our time or universe, it's almost as if they were from an alternate reality of their own! The biggest standout is Commander Kor's return, but he looks nothing like the round-faced, grinning villain with pointy whiskers that we saw in 'TOS' ('Errand of Mercy'), which first introduced the Klingons. He actually looks a lot more like Kang, one of the big three from the series, so I wonder what their mindset was there - maybe they got mixed up? Either way, we don't even get John Colicos back to voice his character as they had with Roger C. Carmel and Harry Mudd, with what sounded to me like James Doohan performing the voice among others in the episode, and it didn't even sound the way Kor talked! It all begins with the Enterprise rashly exploring this Bermuda Triangle of space known as the Delta Triangle, in which ships have gone missing for years. At the same time a trio of Klingon vessels springs a surprise attack, but Kor's ship, the Klothos (later to become canon in 'Once More Unto The Breach' on 'DS9,' the character's final appearance in Trek), vanishes and Kirk takes the risk of heading straight for where it had been to verify a theory that apparently just occurred to him out of nowhere!

This reckless behaviour isn't the only odd thing about the moment as he commands Sulu to go to Warp 8 and head for where the Klingon ship was, yet it was close enough to fire on the Enterprise, so going to that speed would surely overshoot the spot by some considerable margin, wouldn't it? Kirk's decision-making isn't the only character flaw in the episode as Spock suddenly becomes jovial and friendly with the Klingons, not strange in itself since you realise he must be up to something when he goes over and warmly puts his hands on Kor and his aide's shoulders - I assumed he was planting some kind of listening bug to hear their plans, but we soon find out that he was doing something akin to a mind meld, his touch able to briefly read the Klingons' minds and learn their evil intentions! Now I know Vulcans are touch telepaths and their skills have never been fully explained, but this would seem to be a bit of a leap from what we'd seen before, where it was a fairly involved process of the fingers being placed on the face of the person whose mind was being joined. It's not like he even touches bare skin, so it was a bit of a liberty to make up this ability, even if it was lightly defined and he just got a sense of what they were thinking rather than actually sharing minds. It was a power too far, and one among many such inconsistencies I can imagine deciding Roddenberry on not wanting 'TAS' to be considered canon when all was said and done.

There's also the issue of the first ever starship to use warp drive: the USS Bonaventure. This would be quite an addition to canon and wouldn't necessarily conflict with 'TOS,' but of course we later saw the film 'First Contact' establish the Phoenix as the first Earth warp ship. Even if they actually meant the first proper starship that wouldn't work because the Franklin ('Star Trek Beyond's errant contribution to confusing the issue), and the Enterprise NX-01 look nothing like it, so unless the Bonaventure was a design that was then discarded, but decades later brought back as the basis for the Constitution-class, it doesn't make sense. It's also a USS, which means a Federation ship, and we know there were warp-capable vessels before that. It really has little impact on the story other than to reinforce the idea that ships have been going missing here for a very long time, centuries even. Of course, back then they didn't know when the Federation had been established or even exactly when the series was set, but as I say, maybe 'TAS' actually occurs in an alternate universe itself!

They make use of the voice cast with Nichelle Nichols getting to play at least a couple of other roles to Uhura (the Orion woman and the Caitian-like Megan, and possibly the Klingon woman?), while George Takei is Sulu, but also gets to be the other Klingon Captain, and James Doohan, as well as being Scotty and Kor, is the apparent leader of the Elysian (Alesian?), group that comprises one hundred and twenty-three races who have all been trapped and chose to create a new organisation of peace. That was a typically Trek idea and one that would be seen again in the similar 'Voyager' story, 'The Void,' in which the ship is trapped in a void and Captain Janeway starts a mini-Federation for protection and to mount an escape. So it's a good idea and portrayed well in this case, mainly from a visual standpoint as we get a great selection of familiar and new 'TOS' races: the aforementioned Orion (who, for some reason, amusingly goes around in her underwear the whole time!), a Tellarite, Vulcan, Andorian, even a Gorn and one of those green jellyfish head creatures (Philosian?), from 'The Infinite Vulcan.' One of their number even looks like it could be a Xindi Insectoid, which would be a fun retcon! The biggest question is over the main guy: is he a Romulan? He has the V-shaped haircut that suggests he would be, as well as a Roman toga uniform that could be meant to represent one from a different era (as they all live much longer in this pocket).

The real question is what his true name is - I don't mean any secret Romulan name they never tell outsiders (if 'Picard' is to be believed), but his standard monicker since I counted four different variations on how it was said, an example of what it's like recording lines separately as that means there isn't as much consistency in pronunciation! First I thought it was Sy-rius, then Zurius, then Zarius, and finally, Sarius! The man of a thousand names? I also found it interesting to note apparent humans who wore Starfleet-like outfits that could also have been meant as a uniform from the past (there's a woman with white top and blue trimmings who has a starburst badge). They could of course have been from other organisations than Starfleet, but I like the idea of attempting to fill in the design lineage, even if it was subsequently abandoned by 'TAS' not being considered officially part of the history - mind you, nowadays even when things are a part of the official history, in fact created the whole thing in the first place, it's discarded for a 'new visual aesthetic' because poor modern people can't take a Sixties cut of clothing (see the woes of 'DSC' where they completely upended the logical progression from 'The Cage' to Trek's second pilot and onto the main series).

The colour and variety of the aliens presented was the kind of thing it was difficult for the parent series to achieve, not that they never tried, with 'Journey To Babel' an excellent example of the menagerie of aliens that could be created on their budget, and this is very much in that spirit and makes the episode more entertaining than merely being about entrapment in some anomaly. The addition of the Klingons is equally promising, especially as in the end the Enterprise and the Klothos have to work together to achieve the escape. It didn't quite ring true that the other ships hadn't been able to accomplish something similar, especially as there were many more of them, but we can get around this nitpick by saying that Spock and his calculations were essential to the attempt (the great intelligence and computational power of Vulcans is something else that has been overlooked by current gen Trek in favour of showing emotion and beards! Will Vulcans ever again be given the respect they deserve?). Another alternative is that Sirius, or whatever his name was, or perhaps even that Orion girl, were actually ensuring the status quo and sabotaged previous escape attempts because they liked what had been created (much like Alixus did in 'Paradise' on 'DS9').

There's one other story point that doesn't make a lot of sense, which is Scotty saying the Dilithium crystals will run out in two days! If they'd added a line about the journey into the Delta Triangles having drained the crystals extensively then that would be okay, but it just comes out of nowhere. That's the problem with the series, it often is too cartoonish, though I suspect it's far more adult in its intelligence and story approach than the new animated series' that are being made and about which I've heard extremely questionable choices, but it shouldn't be a surprise after what they did with 'DSC' and 'Picard.' Once again I find myself warming to this series as a far better example of what Trek was and should be, very different from what it has become. It may not stack up compared to live action Treks, but side by side with versions that have gone so far from the history, continuity, design and moral content that drew people to it in the first place, it's a joy and one I'm glad to be getting back into after a year's break.

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