What Are Little Girls Made Of? - episode #10
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What Are Little Girls Made Of? - episode #10
WHAT ARE LITTLE GIRLS MADE OF? (1st season, episode#10)
- Directed by James Goldstone // writer: Robert Bloch
Writer Robert Bloch managed to impart his feel for the macabre in a science fiction TV show and the result was a meditation on exploring what may pass for the soul or the mind of a human being. Are we humans just glorified computer programs? Are we more than the sum of our parts? There's a contingent of Trek fans who do not like this episode; I was never clear on the reasons; maybe it disturbed them. This was an early blueprint on androids, later explored with the character of Data on TNG, from 1987 to 2002. But this leaned towards the conception of Lore, Data's evil twin; however, it's not a depiction of simply evil, just science going awry, of going sideways.
The questions posed above are explored by Dr. Korby (Michael Strong), missing for 5 years on a frozen planet. The audience finds out that nurse Chapel is his fiancee (and she carries a secret passion for Spock...but never mind). Kirk probably learned around this time the dangers of beaming down on his own (with Chapel); he does call down a couple of security guards later (red-shirts), but they're quickly disposed of by Ruk, a towering android played by Ted Cassidy. The scenes of Cassidy tossing Shatner around like some toy still carry an eye-popping visual charge. Another android is the female-shaped Andrea, played by the perfectly formed Sherry Jackson (she/it gets a look of obvious envy from Chapel, quite amusing). Kirk's misplaced trust in Korby, who turns out to be not quite all there, soon results in him being a guinea pig in Korby's efforts on android creation.
This story is another sample of some long dead civilization being uncovered by the humans of the 23rd century, opening the door to potentially new scientific advances. This hints of such technology scattered all over the galaxy, waiting to be found, following up on the themes of Forbidden Planet. Kirk represents the side of thought that such technology is unethical and best left alone. There's a chilling tone throughout most of the episode, including the scene where Kirk meets his doppelganger (a plot thread in a couple of other episodes). But it really becomes chilling at the conclusion, due to a shocking revelation and tragic results for a regular character. Kirk's last line before leaving the planet stays in the mind for awhile afterward. BoG's Score: 8 out of 10
Here's a detailed blog review of the episode: http://wlswarts.blogspot.com/2010/09/joys-of-androids-revealed-in-what-are.html
Extra Trek Trivia: a couple of years after appearing in this episode, actors Strong and Cassidy both appeared in an episode of Mannix, "To Kill a Writer." They also died just about a year apart - Cassidy in 1979, Strong in 1980. Sherry Jackson posed for a Playboy pictorial around the same time or soon after she acted in this TOS episode, which was published in the August 1967 issue (see ABOVE).
Last edited by BoG on Wed Dec 10, 2014 7:13 pm; edited 5 times in total
What are Little Girls full episode
CLASSIC TREK QUOTES:
Ruk: "THAT was the equation! Existence! Survival... must... cancel out... programming!"
_____________
Kirk Android: "Mind your own business, Mister Spock! I'm sick of your half-breed interference - do you hear?!"
Two Kirks for the Price of One ! Supply the caption...?
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