Star Trek: The Animated Series S2E02 – The Pirates Of Orion

The Animated Series returns for its second season with The Pirates of Orion, an episode title that might promise a healthy amount of swashbuckle but ends up instead delivering a ticking clock medical procedural instead.

The crisis kicks off when Spock contracts choriocytosis, a disease that is fatal to Vulcans but harmless to humans after an outbreak occurs on the ship and apparently zero precautions are taken to protect the ship’s only Vulcan crewmember. With only days to find a cure, the Enterprise races to intercept a shipment of the needed medication, only for the supply ship to be raided by Orion pirates. The crew must track down the stolen medicine and navigate the Orions’ duplicitous nature.

The ticking-clock peril of Spock’s condition feels thin, even for a twenty-minute episode, with the sense of urgency undermined by the episode’s predictable resolution. The Orions, meanwhile, are depicted as calculating and self-interested, reinforcing their status as opportunists rather than outright villains, although but their interpretation of their neutrality is more worthy of exploration than the cure-Spock-plotline. The portrayal of the Orions differs significantly from The Original Series (although we only got to see their slave girls in that series) and later Star Trek series, as does the oddly pronounced “Orion,” which deviates from how it is said elsewhere in the franchise.

Visually, Pirates of Orion benefits from the animated format’s ability to embrace unique alien designs and vibrant space settings. The Orion ships, in particular, have a distinct look that helps set them apart from the more familiar Federation and Klingon vessels. Of course, the animation remains somewhat stiff in places, particularly in action sequences, a limitation that continues from the first season.

The Pirates of Orion is a decidedly unremarkable episode with which to start the second season and on the strength of this season premiere, it’s no real surprise that the series wouldn’t last more than a handful of episodes more. Even the cast can’t muster much enthusiasm for the script, with both Shatner and Kelley mumbling their way through the uninspired dialogue.