Introduction

“The Infinite Vulcan” is the seventh episode of the first season of the American animated science fiction television series Star Trek: The Animated Series.

It first aired on NBC on 20 October 1973, and was written by Original Series cast member Walter Koenig.

It was the actor’s only involvement in the series, as he had not been hired to voice Pavel Chekov in the animated version due to budgetary limitations.

With “The Infinite Vulcan”, Koenig became the first member of the Star Trek cast to write an episode for the franchise. As with the rest of the first season, the episode was directed by Hal Sutherland.

Set in the 23rd century, the series follows the adventures of Captain James T. Kirk (voiced by William Shatner) and the crew of the Starfleet starship Enterprise. In this episode, the crew visit a planet inhabited by plant-based lifeforms and must save the life of Science Officer Spock (voiced by Leonard Nimoy) after he is abducted by a giant clone of Dr. Stavos Keniclius (voiced by James Doohan).

Koenig was hired to write the script after some of his work was passed from Susan Sackett to series creator Gene Roddenberry. Koenig found the writing process for the episode unenjoyable, due to the number of re-writes required. Further additions were made by Roddenberry, including talking vegetables as characters. When the producers offered him a second episode, Koenig turned it down. “The Infinite Vulcan” received a mixed reception from critics, who suggested that the writing could have been better, but others included it in lists of the best episodes of The Animated Series.

This episode was the first episode of Star Trek to be written by a Star Trek actor.

Outline

On stardate 5554.4, while exploring the newly discovered planet Phylos for possible Federation colonization, Lt. Sulu (voiced by George Takei) picks up a walking plant, called a Retlaw, and is poisoned by a stinger. The alien species that inhabit the planet, who are plantlike beings, approach the Enterprise landing party and their leader, Agmar (voiced by James Doohan), saves Sulu’s life. From them the crew discovers that most of the Phylosians were nearly wiped out by a mild terrestrial disease that acted as a plague, brought to the planet by Dr. Stavos Keniclius (voiced by James Doohan), a Terran scientist who had survived Earth’s Eugenics Wars.

A giant clone of Keniclius, named Keniclius Five, kidnaps First Officer Spock (voiced by Leonard Nimoy). He believes the galaxy is as war-ravaged as Earth was when he left it. He plans to enforce peace on the galaxy with the aid of a fleet of Phylosian ships and a giant clone of Spock that he’s created, at the expense of the original Spock’s life. The newly awakened giant Spock clone uses his Vulcan telepathic abilities to mind meld with his original self and save his life. The two Spocks, in concert with Captain James T. Kirk (voiced by William Shatner), convince Keniclius that the need for his plan no longer exists. Spock Two and Dr. Keniclius Five devote themselves to restoring the Phylosian civilisation as the original departs with his shipmates.

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Production & Filming Details

• Director(s): Hal Sutherland.
• Writer(s): Walter Koenig.
• Release Date: 20 October 1973.
• Running Time: 30 minutes.
• Country: US.
• Language: English.