We continue on with "The Survivor". No, we're not talking immunity challenges--it's Carter Winston, a philanthropist who's been missing for five years. Of course, his fiancee is a crewman on the Enterprise. He meets and promptly breaks up with her. McCoy can't figure out why his instruments are out of whack. We learn "Carter" is actually a shape-changing Vendorian, who takes out Kirk, assumes his shape, and orders the ship into the Neutral Zone. The real Captain arrives later, and countermands the order.
Carter attacks McCoy and takes his form. Kirk asks for a medical exam, and "McCoy" says he's busy. Spock asks about Carter's exam, and wonders if an error was made. McCoy's lack of a caustic reaction makes Spock suspicious, so they return to sickbay, and find the real McCoy waking up. Kirk notices that there's a new examining table. He threatens to drop acid on the "table", and Carter transforms. A fight ensues, and the Vendorian escapes. The fiancee tries to take him out as he turns into Winston, but can't bring herself to do so.
Two Romulan cruisers arrive, and call for surrender. The Vendorian is a spy for the Romulans! Carter sabotages the ship and tries to escape thru the hangar bay. Carter and the fiancee have a tender moment and he does some exposition--he has absorbed the real Carter's memories. The Romulans attack, and demand surrender. A deflector shield comes back up. Space battles ensue--we learn the "deflector shield" is actually the Vendorian, who has switched sides. More exposition, then the Vendorian is taken into custody. Spock and McCoy trade barbs as wacky music takes us out.
Some things to look for:
- Kyle vs. Carter Winston--battle of the mustaches
- McCoy mentions his daughter--as far as I know, she's never brought up again except in ST novels
- Carter is voiced by Ted Knight--a Filmation regular who did a lot of voiceover work while being a regular on the Mary Tyler Moore show
- The Vendorian looks like a mix of a squid and a chess piece.
- We get a lot of the classic shot from this series--one character way in the foreground and another way in the background. It looks like an 80's music video.
- Kirk mentions, but we don't see, Lt. M'ress until later in the episode. She's a catlike humanoid who subs for Uhura. In the first long shot, Uhura is clearly in her regular chair.
- During the fight, Kirk appears to attack the camera
- The deflector shield controls apparently use a lot of wires
Remember, you can play along by watching the show on Netflix!