A very simple story. Too simple. There's an intruder who also happens to a shapeshifter and imposter He must be captured.There's also some parallels to TOS show's finale. To my liking that's too much of a mystery episode which I usually don't like due to their physics defying nature. The only thing I really like in this episode is the voice of Carter's fiancee. I'm pretty much turned on ;-)
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParent2017-07-19T19:48:50Z
[5.3/10] Here’s the downside to watching all of the TOS-era cast’s adventures in one continuous stretch. If you were watching these episodes live, it had been four years since Kirk was body-switched in “Turnabout” intruder, about the same amount of time since someone had taken over the ship and ordered it into the neutral zone, and even longer since Nurse Chapel discovered that her fiance was “alive” but not really himself in “What Are Little Girls Made Of?” But for me, it’s been a few weeks or months for each, so “The Survivor” feels like much more of a rehash/mishmash than it might to someone who didn’t have those other shows fresh in their minds.
Still, the episode has a nice enough hook. I love the use of the trope, one often explore by works in the zombie subgenre, that even if you know they’re not real, you can’t bear to kill someone who likes someone you love. The episode certainly underlines that point hard with Anne and the Vendurian who looks like Carter Winston, but it adds at least a touch of depth to the episode.
Though really, there’s plenty of heady stuff in “The Survivor.” It just comes almost exclusively in the third act by which point I was already pretty exhausted with the slow-progressing, reheated elements of the episode. There’s a very interesting notion of the Vendurian experiencing more and more of Winston’s being and emotions as it inhabits his form, to the point that while he died, some of Winston survives. The ensuing possibility of love between the Vendurian and Anne has shades of “Metamorphosis,” one of my favorite TOS episodes.
There’s also an interesting explanation given when Kirk asks the Vendurian why he agreed to spy for the Romulans and lure the Enterprise into the neutral zone where the Romulans could legally seize it. (I, uh, don’t think we’ve ever heard that rule before. Seems short-sighted.) The Vendurian was a plebe on his homeworld, overlooked and underestimated by everyone, so the chance to do something meaningful, to be useful and seen, was something he couldn’t pass up. It ties in nicely to the way that Anne understands and appreciates him.
So why the middling grade for the episode? “The Survivor” takes its good sweet time getting to anything interesting. For the most part its people acting funny, other people acting suspicious, and the show circling the drain of obviousness until all is revealed and the plot knot can be untangled. This is also a particularly bad outing for the animation dept. The Vendurian is a neat design that would be harder to pull off in live action, but much of the episode is spent repeating and badly-splicing pieces of previous footage. It doesn’t help that the Anne/Winston stuff is heavy and emotional and The Animated Series is pretty weak in terms of facial expressions.
Still, this is one of those Star Trek episodes that would be great for someone else to reinterpret someday. (I’m looking at you and your flashy CGI, Discovery.) There’s some great ideas at the core of this one, but they’re hindered by the stultifying execution and weak visuals of it all.