From Newsgroup: alt.tv.star-trek.tos   
   From Address: jphalt@gmail.com   
   Subject: Beyond the Farthest Star (TAS): my review   
      
   BEYOND THE FARTHEST STAR: PLOT   
      
   The Enterprise follows a radio message out into unknown space, beyond   
   the edge of the galaxy. The message is coming from an ancient alien   
   ship of incredible design. The ship has been caught in the   
   gravitational pull of a collapsed star.   
      
   Kirk leads a party over to the ship, and discovers that its crew   
   deliberately sabotaged their own ship in order to contain a malevolent   
   alien life form. The intruder is still alive, and it isn't long before   
   it is threatening Kirk and his men. The Enterprise beams them back -   
   but when they come back aboard, the alien follows them!   
      
      
   CHARACTERS   
      
   In a slight departure from my reviews of the live action series, I   
   will probably simply do one-paragraph summaries of this nature the   
   animated episodes. Given the short running time, I doubt the character   
   material in the average episode will call for more than this.   
      
   Certainly, this episode doesn't offer much room for character   
   development beyond the regulars simply filling their roles within the   
   plot. Nobody feels out of character, though there is a vaguely stilted   
   quality to some of the performances - most notably and disappointingly   
   from DeForest Kelly, who doesn't seem entirely comfortable doing voice   
   work. Amusingly, Kirk is given a moment of animated ham, elbowing Mr.   
   Kyle out of the way to heroically attempt to beam the creature back   
   into space. I guess the captain figured this was too important to   
   leave operating the slider to an underling.   
      
      
   THOUGHTS   
      
   The opening credits clearly signal this as a direct continuation of   
   the 1960s series. The titles are pretty much the same as the TOS   
   titles, save for a change in the theme music. Even the new theme is   
   clearly designed to evoke the old one.   
      
   Animation is extremely basic, with frequent pans over still frames or   
   still shots in which only a character's mouth is moving. That's not to   
   say that it's visually weak, however. The animation is crude, but many   
   of the still frames are striking. The alien ship is particularly   
   impressive, with both its exterior and what we see of the interior   
   showing imagination and a considerable sense of scale.   
      
   The first half of Beyond the Farthest Star is really quite good. The   
   exploration of the alien ship is intriguing. The sense of the regulars   
   exploring something truly alien is something that was too often absent   
   from TOS' later episodes, and it is well-realized here. From a   
   dramatic standpoint, almost everything works up until the creature   
   infests Enterprise at about the 15 minute mark.   
      
   Unfortunately, the quality dips substantially after that point, with   
   rushed pacing stifling any of the tension the situation should   
   command. There's simply too much plot for 25 minutes. After a nicely   
   measured pace for the first half of the show, the episode is left to   
   spend its second half rushing from crisis to crisis. With no pauses,   
   there's no chance for any real tension to build, and therefore no real   
   sense of satisfaction when Kirk manages to defeat the creature.   
      
   The "life support belts" also end up being a problem. Not in the first   
   half of the show, mind you. As a substitute for spacesuits, they're an   
   economical way for the animators to visually show which character is   
   which without having to resort to extreme close-ups. So far, so good.   
      
   But in the second half, these belts become personal shields. Scotty is   
   saved from being crushed by his life support belt. Spock and Kirk are   
   able to sustain direct phaser hits thanks to their belts. They become   
   all-purpose Plot Devices, and are radically overused in this show. I   
   just hope future episodes won't resort to these "personal shields" to   
   the extent that I fear will end up being the case.   
      
   With a rushed second half and an all-purpose gadget, this opening   
   episode ends up being a very mixed bag. I liked the first half of the   
   show a lot, and I think there's potential in the series based on that.   
   But the second half really needed some restructuring to allow the plot   
   to more comfortably fit the short running time.   
      
   And I would love to see the life support belts all vanish in a   
   transporter accident between now and Episode Two. But that's probably   
   too much to ask.   
      
      
      
   Rating: 5/10.   
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