The Slaver Weapon vs The Pirates of Orion

[Botany Bay]

This week in the TAS episode showdown, we've got :

The Slaver Weapon vs The Pirates of Orion

Watch 'em and vote for the one you think should continue on to the next round. Tell us why also.

Oh, and click on the links to an awesome TAS site with pics from the episodes, downloadable episode wallpapers and info on everything you ever wanted to know about TAS.

[Christopher]

Hmm, this is a tough one. They're both in the top 4-5. It's hard for me to give full credit to "The Slaver Weapon" since it's not an original story, but an adaptation of one of Larry Niven's Known Space novellas. It's good, but the original novella is better. I'm inclined to give more weight to "Pirates" because it's an original work, and not only that, but it was Howard Weinstein's first TV sale and he was 19 at the time, so it's impressive that it's so good. (Plus there's the fact that I know Howie personally, so maybe I should recuse myself anyway.)

"Slaver" definitely deserves note for being the only TAS episode where anyone dies in the course of the story, and one of the few episodes of any Filmation show where that happens. (I think there was an episode of Filmation's '66 Superman where the evil aliens got blown up; there was an episode of the late-'70s Space Sentinels where an elderly villainess died of old age on camera; the '79 Flash Gordon had Hawkmen being disintegrated in flight; and the mid-'80s BraveStarr, Filmation's last show, had three episodes featuring character deaths, treating it with far more weight and sense of tragedy than any of the prior instances.) It's interesting that they allowed Niven to adapt the ending intact rather than toning it down for Saturday morning.

[Warped9]

I agree it's a tough call here, but in the end I'll give the nod to "Slaver Weapon."

[Hambone]

Of the two, "Slaver Weapon" is the more interesting story but as was said above, it's not an original story and doesn't really play out like an episode of Trek should.

"Pirates of Orion" would have made a great live-action episode of TOS. All the elements are there, including a nice nod to "Journey to Babel".

Except, I wish they would have fixed the annoying and continual mis-pronunciation of "Orion".

[King Daniel]

I love both, but I'll go with "Slaver Weapon" because I love the Kzinti. That episode led me to seek out Larry Niven's Ringworld and Known Space books.

It was somewhat heartbreaking to learn that before it's cancellation, Enterprise planned on bringing back the Kzinti in the season five episode "Kilkenny Cats"

[Warped9]

KingDaniel wrote:

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I love both, but I'll go with "Slaver Weapon" because I love the Kzinti. That episode led me to seek out Larry Niven's Ringworld and Known Space books.

Yep. I did the same thing.

[Capt_Pickirk]

KingDaniel wrote:

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It was somewhat heartbreaking to learn that before it's cancellation, Enterprise planned on bringing back the Kzinti in the season five episode "Kilkenny Cats"

Really?? Awww Maan!!

Hmmm. I think I'd have to go with "the Slaver weapon" as well, mostly because the Kzinti are awesome and the fact that it uses Sulu and Uhura as main characters instead of Kirk and McCoy.

Also, what colour were the Kzinti's uniforms supposed to be?? I know they were pink by mistake but I'd really like to know what they were supposed to be like

[SchwEnt]

Yes, this is a really tough one for me. Those two eps are amongst my top TAS faves.

"Slaver" is cool in presenting a TOS eps without Kirk, and having Uhura and Sulu in much larger roles.

"Pirates" is just a great TOS story, love the Kirk/Spock/McCoy stuff, good adventure, a lot of classic TOS elements to me.

Tough choice. Hmmmm...

I'm going with "Pirates".

[Christopher]

Capt_Pickirk wrote:

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Also, what colour were the Kzinti's uniforms supposed to be?? I know they were pink by mistake but I'd really like to know what they were supposed to be like

I don't recall if Niven's original novella mentioned the color. Not a detail that matters much in prose.

[KeepOnTrekking]

"The Slaver Weapon" is a nice episode but, to me, it honestly feels like a generic story with our 3 characters shoehorned into the existing roles. Sulu and Uhura have more screen time but we don't really learn anything new about them either.

"The Pirates of Orion" has an average plot but it has a lot of little character insights along the way. Spock tries to play "superman" again like in "Operation--Annihilate!" but Kirk cuts his duty time in half. McCoy backs Kirk up by claiming it's "Doctor's orders."

McCoy feels the limits of technology upon him again as he tries to cure Spock. It's a nice little nugget of info that supports McCoy's overall distrust of technology that played a big part in his father's death that was shown in ST V.

I give the nod to "Pirates."

[Christopher]

KeepOnTrekking wrote:

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"The Slaver Weapon" is a nice episode but, to me, it honestly feels like a generic story with our 3 characters shoehorned into the existing roles. Sulu and Uhura have more screen time but we don't really learn anything new about them either.

I don't know about the "generic" part, but it's literally true that the three Trek characters were inserted into existing roles: Spock replaced Nessus the Pierson's Puppeteer (also a central player in Ringworld and the recent Fleet of Worlds series by Niven and Edward Lerner) and Sulu & Uhura replaced Jason & Anne Marie Papandreau.

[Basill]

A very tough call for me, since I've always tended to rate the two equally. They've always felt similar to me, though distinct. Also, each has it's gems and it's own flaws. But eventually, I'd have to say the introduction of the Huron tends to give "The Pirates of Orion" the edge for me.

[King Daniel]

Christopher wrote:

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I don't recall if Niven's original novella mentioned the color. Not a detail that matters much in prose.

Since the Kzinti ship was also pink, I'd guess either blood-red or grey.

[Capt_Pickirk]

^ Hmmm. But the Klingon uniforms were Pink as well, weren't they? Maybe the Kzinti were supposed to wear gold and have gold spaceships

[Noname Given]

I've always been a fan of Larry Niven's "Tales of Known Space" - and considering The Slaver Weapon was a Star Trek adaptation (with Spock in the role of the Pupeteer ); it's hands down my favorite TAS episode.