We're now in the very short second season of ST:TAS (just six episodes). This episode was written by Howard Weinstein who later wrote ST comics at DC and was later involved in ST: The Voyage Home.
There's an outbreak of choriocytosis on the Enterprise--not an issue for most of the crew, except for Spock. McCoy discovers it will kill him in days. Of course, there's a cure, so they're off to Beta Canopus to get it. They need to do a handoff from another ship to get it to Spock in time. We get an actual character moment as Kirk and McCoy talk about possibly losing Spock.
The SS Huron, a freighter, is on its way to meet the Enterprise with the cure. A strange ship attacks them! They call for help, and the Enterprise finds the Huron damaged with minimal life support. Meanwhile, Spock is close to death. Kirk, Scotty, Chapel, Arex, and Uhura beam over to the Huron to find the crew knocked out and the hold empty. They search for evidence of the attacker--the sensor tapes from the Huron show they can track their ship from its radioactivity. The trail ends in an asteroid belt, which explode upon impact. They find the strange ship--it's Orion pirates! Kirk demands they turn over the their cargo, and the Orions refuse. Kirk offers to let the whole thing slide if they give him the drugs, and they agree--if they do it face-to-face on an asteroid. Kirk agrees. The Orions are desperate to keep their neutrality, so they plan to blow up themselves and the Enterprise with the unstable asteroid. Kirk beams down with the Orion, who tells Kirk about his plan, so there's a scuffle. Scotty beams up both of them just in time. The Orion captain tries to commit suicide, but is stopped, and orders his ship to surrender--since the neutrality is over with anyway. McCoy gives Spock the drug, and they trade barbs to play us out.
Some things to look for:
- When Spock collapses on the ship, Kirk calls for sickbay--although McCoy is standing next to him
- The appearance of the SS Huron is the first time was see a current Federation ship of a different class than the Enterprise. This doesn't happen again until the USS Reliant appears in Wrath of Khan.
- Speaking of the Huron, you'll see "USS Huron" on the ship's hull, although it's referenced multiple times as "SS Huron". The ship seems awfully ungainly--it guess being streamlined doesn't matter in space.
- Again, McCoy seems to be bi-locating--he calls the bridge on the intercom but is standing next to Kirk on the bridge a moment later
- "Evasive maneuvers" for the Orion looks like weaving from side to side--probably not effective in space
- TAS must not have a pronunciation key in the script--everyone says "Oh-REE-on" instead of "Oh-Ri-On"
- Did the Orions steal their uniforms and ship from Flash Gordon?
- Kirk references the "Babel Conference", where Orion pirates were referenced but never seen in TOS episode "Journey to Babel"
- The Orion second officer sounds like Arnold Stang for a moment
- More bi-locating from McCoy--the last scene is in sickbay, then on the bridge, then back to sickbay
Remember, you can play along by watching the show on Netflix!