Wanderlust

2.24 — “The Ultimate Computer”

2.24 — “The Ultimate Computer”

Plot: The Enterprise is selected to test the new Mark 5 computer–an artificial intelligence capable of completely automating a starship and its functions, allowing the crew to be dispensed with. Kirk is honored, but not sure how to take his planned obsolescence. Dr. Richard Daystrom, the Mark 5’s inventor, beams aboard to supervise the proceedings, which are to include war games against a squadron of four other Federation starships. There is a secret the crew don’t know, however: Daystrom has imprinted the computer with his own neural patterns–and Daystrom is insane.

Thoughts: I didn’t write much down while I was watching this episode. I liked the dignity of William Marshall as Dr. Daystrom, and Dr. McCoy’s dialogue at the top of Act I (“They wouldn’t have to replace me. I’d resign because everybody else aboard would be nothing but circuits and memory banks!”). Nevertheless, I think this one has dated worse than other episodes. The paranoia about the advance of computer technology is hard to empathize with, seeing how afraid they are of tech that seems so primitive. We are, of course, already sending robot drones to other worlds.

Would the Mark 5 technology have worked just fine if only Dr. Daystrom had chosen a different brain with which to imprint the computer? Is it really such a curse to peak so early in your career?  I feel sorry for Mark 5; it is playing the role of Frankenstein’s Monster in this episode. The writers missed an opportunity in not developing the machine’s personality. Daystrom is dismissed as deranged for talking of it as his child; but if Mark 5 is sentient that makes this episode something of a tragedy, like the superior episode “The Changeling.”

I’m feeling a bit of Star Trek fatigue at the end of Season Two. Only two more episodes to power through, however, and we’ll take a well deserved end-of-season break.

3 out of 5 bottle shows scripted by D.C. Fontana.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Ultimate_Computer

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4 responses to “2.24 — “The Ultimate Computer””

  1. Randi Cohen Avatar
    Randi Cohen

    Hmmm.  Like you, Kev, I did love that Daystrom is seen as a genius, albeit a narcissistic one.  Not sure how progressive that was in the early 70’s for an African American, but probably somewhat.

    Agree this is a bit dated.  But on the other hand, replace the computer voice with a warm-sounding human voice and a realistic-looking and perhaps charming hologram figure and suddenly the whole episode is much more chilling and interesting.

    I was not sure why they would not keep a full complement of crew onboard in case of malfunction, although it did work out for them in that there were fewer potential casualties of the suicide-by-Starfleet attempt… not very scientific not to have a back-up plan or to anticipate that the trial would definitely yield positive results… or for the other Starfleet captain to somehow assume it is Kirk firing rather than the computer.  

    Anyhow, I did have a hard time sitting through this one, but I don’t think I would have if there had been those technological updates that I mention and if perhaps they had added a bit more to the story… like maybe some flashbacks for Daystrom that would have made his character more 3-dimensional… like maybe if he had been spurned by a woman because who laughed at him for being a “washed-up has-been” or something, or if he had been abused as a child and that this was his way of creating his own child that would not be so vulnerable as he was…

    Agree with Kevin that the purported humanity of the computer and its ultimate suicide at the end could have been touching if it had been played out better.  Human face for the computer would have gone a long way.

    3 out of 5 red herring circuit relays.  

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  2. Kevin Black Avatar
    Kevin Black

    I do think casting Marshall as Daystrom was a significantly progressive move. This episode aired 3/08/68. According to my civil rights calendar from the Equal Justice Initiative of Alabama, on 2/08/68 white state troops fired into a crowd of mostly African American students at South Carolina State College, killing three and injuring 28, after students attempted to desegregate a “white” bowling alley.  Dr. King was assassinated on 4/04/68.

    IMDB says (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0708481/trivia?ref_=tt_trv_trv): In his 1999 essay “Welcome Aboard the Enterprise,” science fiction author Robert J. Sawyer writes, “…the ship’s computers, as seen in “The Ultimate Computer,” were designed by a Nobel-prize-winning black cyberneticist, played with equal dignity by William Marshall. During the era of Martin Luther King and the Watts Riots, it was a powerful, important statement to have the white captain of the Enterprise deferring to black people; as Marshall observed thirty years later, the single most significant thing about his guest-starring role was that he, an African-American, was referred to as “Sir” throughout the episode.”

    (Me again) If anything, I think it’s more progressive to have his character be narcissistic and turn into a villain, rather than playing a “saintly black man” stereotype. This was truly a role that could have been played by anyone. In a less dignified role, William Marshall went on to play Blacula on film in 1972 and 1973.

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  3. Randi Cohen Avatar
    Randi Cohen

    Hahaha!  Thanks for sharing that.  I guess it is a hopeful sign of our progress as a society that the entire episode seems dated and unsurprising now…

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  4. Kevin Black Avatar
    Kevin Black

    Yes, we are making surprising progress in some areas, even as we slide back in others.

    Reply

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