The
Changeling was the third episode of Season Two but is not considered
one of the greatest episodes of that season. It even escaped my radar at
first. I first read about it in the Star Trek Compendium
but it wasn’t until the episode popped up on a VHS collection my mother
had been getting that I even watched it. But I watched it, and loved
it! I think it maybe one of the most watched episodes for me, I have
seen it a million times!Yeah it’s a simple bottle/Kirk beats the
computer episode. But I still enjoy the heck out of it. Why?
Plot Synopsis:
The Enterprise is investigating the apparent destruction of an entire solar system
when suddenly they find themselves under attack. Theship is lucky to
survive, but the attack is broken off after Captain Kirk sends out a
message to the unknown assailant. Suddenly the assailant, calling itself
Nomad, contacts the Enterprise and requests to come aboard.
Nomad
is beamed aboard and is a small but smart machine only a few meters
tall. It explains that it stopped its attack because the creatoris on
board, Captain Kirk.
Spock discovers that Nomad has confused James Kirkwith his real
creator, Jackson Roykirk, who has been dead for years. Nomad is a probe
launched in 2002, which was presumed lost after a meteor collision.
After Nomad arrives on the Bridge and mind wipes Uhura and nearly kills
Scotty, Spock discovers that it had been badly damaged and was drifting
in deep space. An alien probe merged with it and the new Nomad took on a
new directive-sterilize and destroy all biological life forms the unit
deems is imperfect.
When Kirk accidentally reveals that he himself is an imperfect life form,
the probe takes over the ship and sets it on a course for its
launchpoint. Earth. Nomad then shuts down the life support on the vessel
and stopslistening to Kirk’s orders. Kirk finally confronts Nomad and
manages to dump cold hard logic
on the unit. By convincing Nomad that he is not perfect (as evidence by
the mistake of thinking Kirk was his creator added to never realizing
his error), Nomad exercises his prime function and begins to sterilize
himself. Kirk and Spock barely beam Nomad off the ship before it
explodes.
Guest Stars:
The only real guest star
was the amazing Vic Perrin as the voice of Nomad. Best known as the
Control Voice from Outer Limits. He was also the voice of Sinestro in
the old Superfriends show. If you are a fan of the classic Trek
seriesyou should be familiar with his voice. He was Metron in “Arena”
and also appeared in the flesh in the classic “Mirror, Mirror”. But give
him credit, he manages to convince us the piece of plastic could
actually be a major threat by delivering the lines in such a manner that
you have to take it seriously.
Episode Pro's :
There
are some great scenes in thisepisode. One where Spock mind melds with
Nomad. Gotta love Leonard Nimoy’s acting. But the best scene is the
final one, probably one of my favorite Kirkmoments ever. He just throws
cold logic at Nomad, and Nomad just doesn’t know what to do with this
information. It’s handled brilliantly, and Kirk does such a good job
that even Spock has to commend him for his dazzling display of logic.
You also have to laugh at a gag with Scotty. Nomad kills Scotty, and
then brings him back to life. When Scotty asks what Nomad did to him,
Kirk says McCoy will explain. The look on Spock’s face is priceless.
Episode Con's :
The
only complaint I guess is that this is a bottle show. I actually love
bottle shows, but a lot of people don’t. This is also a great red shirt
episode, we see Scotty get blasted by Nomad and is hurled across the
Bridge. But when four red shirt security guards are blasted they are killed instantly.
"Fast Forward" Moment:
There
is one scene I never liked.Nomad heard Uhura singing and in order to
understand why she is doing that, he wipes all knowledge from her mind.
She has no brain damage and can be reeducated.And so we get a cute scene
of her being reeducated by Nurse Chapel. I don’t know, maybe it’s
because I was such a fan of the character but I never cared for that
scene. But as I say, that could just be me.
Final Thoughts:
There
isn’t much else I can say.Season Two of this show was so great that
even a mediocre episode comes out real strong. Every character gets
something to do (except Chekov), the action scenes are good and there
are even some laughs to be found. Plus the way the problem is resolved
just works great unlike other Kirk vs the computer episodes where the
final speech sounds hammy and, to be fair, a little stupid. Finally, the
other thing that helps this episode is the music which really does a
fantastic job of keeping the suspense going.
Hmm,
it’s hard to call this “overrated”Trek if I end up talking about an
episode which is generally liked. So next time, a different episode I
like which I promise puts me in a very large minority.
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