From Newsgroup: alt.tv.star-trek.tos   
   From Address: jphalt@gmail.com   
   Subject: The Jihad (TAS): my review   
      
   THE JIHAD: PLOT   
   The Vedala, the oldest-known race in the galaxy, call on Kirk and Spock to   
   join an expedition of highly skilled members of disparate alien races on a   
   perilous mission. They will be transported to a world known as "the mad   
   planet," to recover a stolen artifact belonging to the Skorr. If the artifact   
   is not retrieved before its theft is discovered, then it will drive the Skorr   
   to a holy war against the entire galaxy!   
   CHARACTERS   
   The child-friendly animated series has afforded Kirk very little chance to   
   flirt with "Space Babes." This episode remedies that, as Kirk enjoys some   
   nicely suggestive banter with Lara (Jane Webb), a scout who flatly tells him   
   that she finds him attractive. During the mission, Kirk only allows things to   
   go so far. When Lara suggests they take a rest to make some "green memories,"   
   as she puts it, Kirk declines, telling her that he's already made quite a few   
   such memories... an unusual exchange to find in a Saturday morning cartoon!   
   THOUGHTS   
   The animated series' first season finale is also one of the series' better   
   episodes, if short of the series' very best. It's an episode that would   
   probably play quite well to gamers, as you have Kirk and Spock teamed with a   
   set of characters who owe more than a little to the heroic fantasy tradition.   
   With their comrades including a thief, a scout, and a warrior, all on a quest   
   to retrieve a precious item, it's practically a Star Trek/Dungeons & Dragons   
   crossover!   
   I found it rather fun to watch, though it doesn't have as much of an authentic   
   Trek feel as many of the other animated episodes have had. Trek veteran   
   Stephan Kandel writes a fast-paced story in a reasonably imaginative setting.   
   He moves the characters swiftly from one peril to the next, but doesn't make   
   the mistake of pacing this too frenetically. There are pauses for character   
   exchanges (notably between Kirk and Lara), and the crises are given a couple   
   of minutes each to register before being resolved. A late-in-the-day twist is   
   not too hard to spot, but was probably quite surprising to the child audience   
   of the day.   
   On the whole, an energetic, fast-paced 25 minutes, which passes in an   
   eyeblink. Deduct at least one point from my score if you're particularly   
   bothered when TAS episodes just don't feel much like Trek. But otherwise, this   
   is definitely entertaining viewing.   
   Rating: 8/10.    
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