The Ultimate Computer - episode #53
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The Ultimate Computer - episode #53
THE ULTIMATE COMPUTER (2nd season; episode #53)
Directed by John Meredyth Lucas / writers: D. C. Fontana, Laurence N. Wolf
Air Date: 03/08/68
At about the same time as HAL (2001:A Space Odyssey) was behaving strangely for a computer, there was...the M-5! There's a bit of hyperbole involved in this episode's title; the M-5 is just the next step in 23rd-century computers. On the other hand, 24th-century computers on TNG are just slight variations on the standard computers of TOS, so, in some ways, M-5 was a peak which was never advanced on, just discontinued before it could wreak more havoc (shades of The Terminator films!). The inventor of the M-5 is Dr. Daystrom (William Marshall).
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Under the test guidelines of this story, the Enterprise is emptied of all but 20 personnel; the new M-5 computer is plugged in, running standard ship's operations, i.e. navigation and entering into orbit around a planet. Later, the plan is to test the M-5 in war games against a quartet of starships, to see how the machine does in battle (note that military exercises still dominate the testing of new technology, as in most films). It's man vs. machine; it's human workers vs. the automated line; it's about becoming...obsolete. Some of this reminded me of an episode on the TNG show, the one where Dr.Crusher found herself on an Enterprise increasingly devoid of people, until only she and Capt. Picard remain in charge, the rest of the ship run automatically. Automation seems to make sense for a few seconds, but then you realize there's the absurdity of all those empty cabins; what's the point of a huge ship, manned by only a few people, the rest of it always empty except maybe when you have a bunch of guests on board? This is what Daystrom seems to be proposing; he speaks of other glorious pursuits men can aspire to rather than running about in space. But, exploration of space is the ultimate glory for mankind. Daystrom can't win this one - it's absurd.
Kirk has some doubtful moments before the M-5 proves to be unreliable; the reference to 'Capt.Dunsel' is particularly awkward and McCoy steps in for the viewer as we start to feel actual pity for this beleaguered captain, reduced to rambling about old sailing ships in his cabin. The story revolves around the goals and aspirations of two men: Kirk and Daystrom. Kirk's career appears to be winding down very quickly in the 1st act, replaced by machinery, while Daystrom's appears to be gaining a 2nd wind after years of stagnation. It becomes about the personal needs of these two men, what they need to feel functional, to be useful.
I sensed a calculated lack of tact on Kirk's part later, when the tables are turned and his job appears safe again; McCoy tells him that Daystrom is on the verge of a nervous breakdown - so what does Kirk do? He picks that moment to tell the tottering genius that his child must die. Of course, this sends Daystrom over the edge, into total madness. Daystrom's story continues a pattern of what happens to other famous personages in the 23rd century when they run across Kirk - they either go crazy or are killed.
The actor, Marshall, was suitably imposing as the 'wrapped too tightly' computer genius - especially in that memorable scene of him towering over Kirk, ranting away (Marshall was quite tall, about 6'5"). Kirk's quick solution to the whole mess is the weakest part, since we've seen it before (Return of the Archons and The Changeling above), but this episode may also explain why the computer systems in the 24th century, on the TNG show, were essentially the same: no chance of having that situation where you need to talk a computer out of killing hundreds of Starfleet personnel. BoG's Score: 8 out of 10
Last edited by BoG on Sun May 03, 2015 2:09 am; edited 4 times in total
Ultimate Computer full episode
CLASSIC TREK QUOTES:
Daystrom: "Twenty years of groping to prove the things I'd done before were not accidents... seminars and lectures to rows of fools who couldn't begin to understand my systems... colleagues, laughing behind my back at the 'Boy Wonder;' and becoming famous, building on my work – building on my work!"
Daystrom: "I'm going to show you – I'm going to show all of you. It takes... 430 people to command a starship; with this, you don't need any. Man need no longer die in space, or on some alien world. Men can live and go on to achieve greater things than fact-finding and dying for galactic space, which is neither ours to give nor to take."
Daystrom: "Twenty years of groping to prove the things I'd done before were not accidents... seminars and lectures to rows of fools who couldn't begin to understand my systems... colleagues, laughing behind my back at the 'Boy Wonder;' and becoming famous, building on my work – building on my work!"
Daystrom: "I'm going to show you – I'm going to show all of you. It takes... 430 people to command a starship; with this, you don't need any. Man need no longer die in space, or on some alien world. Men can live and go on to achieve greater things than fact-finding and dying for galactic space, which is neither ours to give nor to take."
Last edited by BoG on Sun May 03, 2015 2:11 am; edited 2 times in total
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