Star Trek: The Animated Series Season 1, Episode 7: “The Infinite Vulcan”

Synopsis: On a previously unknown planet, the crew of the Enterprise finds intelligent plant life and a giant clone.

This episode was written by Walter Koenig, the actor best known for his role of Pavel Chekov in Star Trek: The Original Series, the films based on those characters, and his role of Alfred Bester in Babylon 5.

In an interesting concept of how myopic our concept of what sentient life is in “The Infinite Vulcan” the landing party on a newly discovered planet find an intelligent alien race that is flora instead of fauna. And when they do find fauna life, it is in the form of a giant human clone. This brings a whole new meaning to the term “vegetative state” as all the plant-based life on the planet are mobile and some of them communicate through a voder, or translator device. The native race, the Phylos, were almost wiped out by disease when a human scientist came to their planet over 200 years earlier; an echo of what happened to the indigenous peoples of the American continents when the Europeans first arrived. However, their leader, Agmar tells the landing party that the human, Dr. Stavos Keniclius tried to help them find a cure for the plague that he inadvertently brought to the planet. They have also collaborated on the idea of sending out a space force to patrol the galaxy in the pursuit of peace, and Mr. Spock is kidnapped and cloned in this effort, because his “Vulcan-Human blend of wisdom, sense of order, durability and strength is the finest the Master has ever found.”

Captain James T. Kirk needs to convince them that peace is already a reality in the galaxy and that this mission is no longer necessary. Although initially disheartened, Keniclius decides that finding a way to save the planet will be his new mission in life. That Kirk, with the aid of Spock were able to convince Keniclius to pursue a new goal is an embodiment of the Logos conscious ego being moved by the emotions of Eros to change, and to find a new direction. This is what happens when the conscious ego integrates bits of the unconscious into the persona to make a psyche stronger.

Original post created 12 April 2021