Sunday 13 July 2008

Star Trek: TOS 2.24 - The Ultimate Computer

Review 52 - Episode 53

The One with the computer with a mind of it's own.

Good episode this, though a couple of things let it down. Commodore Wesley comes across as a total buffoon, even though the characters all love him. First he makes almost all the crew leave the ship, then he insults Kirk with his Captain Dunsel remark and finally he's so thick he thinks Kirk is firing at his fleet of ships, even though he knows the experimental computer is running the ship. I mean, for fucks sake, this guy is a complete moron and he riled me up everytime he was on screen. Daystrom is also idiotically blind when it comes to M-5, but I'll let that go as he was supposed to be a bit crazy at this point.

The good scenes involve Kirk facing his possible future without a starship and talking to Bones about it over a drink (McCoy's always drinking in these episodes!) There's also a lovely subtle little scene with Spock and Kirk, where Spock, who has defended M-5 and Daystrom, tell's Jim he has no desire to serve under a computer. No big histrionics, just a nice quiet speech. Shatners good this episode as well, facing his impending retirement. There are also lines here reminiscent of Star Trek 5, especially the poem, which is nice.

Needless to say, the computer goes mental, starts attacking ships and Kirk talks it to death as he has many times before. It's also a shame the fleet is old reused footage of the Enterprise (not to mention space seed).

D.C Fontana for me can do no wrong and a lot of Trek's success should lie at her feet. She absolutely nails these characters.

3/5

Overall Star Trek Franchise Rating so far: 156/260

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