Much like with "Errand of Mercy", today we have an episode that I always had trouble remembering. However, a little movie called Star Trek:First Contact made me pay attention a little more. What's the connection? Let's discuss the first appearance of Zefram Cochrane.
Plot:On an isolated asteroid, Kirk finds Zefram Cochrane, inventor of the warp drive, who has been missing for 150 years.
Guest Stars:Glenn Corbett as Zefram Cochrane, Elinor Donahue as Nancy Hedford
Nitpick:The fact that Hedford basically dies when she absorbed by the Comapnion never seems to be a big deal to anyone. Is it because she was going to die anyway? And suffice to say, there was no consent when it did this.
Summary:
Teaser-On a shuttle Kirk, Spock and McCoy are transporting Commissioner Nancy Hedford. She had been called upon to prevent a war but instead contracted a deadly disease. Now she is heading to the Enterprise for treatment. En route the shuttle encounters some sort of strange cloud travelling at warp speed. The cloud pulls the shuttle off course.
Act 1-The shuttle soft lands safely on a planet. The planet is class M so they can survive on it. Kirk, Spock and McCoy go outside to check out where they are, and are still reading the cloud that dragged them to the planet. Suddenly the hear man in the distance, and are surprised when they see he is a human. Strangely the man has never heard of a Federation, and says his name is Cochrane. Cochrane admires the shuttle and says it wont work. There's a dampening field on the planet. Cochrane says he was marooned there, and offers them all a place to stay. Kirk thinks he looks familiar but can't place where. Hedford is going to get more sick if she doesn't get care soon. At his dwelling Hedford begins to run a fever (did I mention she was a rude witch?). Spock then notices a strange cloud outside, hovering nereby. When it vanishes Cochrane tries to pretend it wasn't there. But Kirk insists he explain, so Cochrane explains the cloud is his companion. The companion brought him to the planet the same way 150 years earlier, when he was a dying old man. It saved his life and rejuvenated him. He has no idea what the companion is, it just exists. When he says his first name is Zefram, Kirk realizes it's the discoverer of the warp drive.
Act 2-Cochrane explains he wanted to die in space. And the Companion found him. Hedford begins feeling worse. Kirk asks what they are doing there, and Cochrane says they are there to keep him company. Cochrane had said he would die ot loneliness if he wasn't released, and it brought them instead. Hedford doesn't take it well as her sickness grows. Kirk asks to Spock to find a weapon to use. Cochrane explains that he wants to leave and see the galaxy, as Kirk explains how much they have learned in the last 150 years. Spock is working on the shuttle when the companion appears, and attacks him while damaging the shuttle even more. Cochrane explains that he communicates with the companion on a non verbal level, and says he will help Kirk. As Cochrane communicates Kirk notes that it's clear there is an affection between the two. He says that the companion can't help. McCoy goes to check on Spock and finds him injured. He observed that a component of the companion is simple electricity, and electricity can always be shorted out. They set up a trap for it, even though Cohrane is clearly unhappy at the idea. They talk Cochrane into contacting the companion, and when Spock throws the switch the companion attacks, nearly killing Kirk and Spock.
Act 3-Cochrane calls the companion off in time. McCoy suggests maybe talking to it instead, and Kirk has Spock rig up the universal translator. On the Enterprise, the shuttle is long overdue and they are trying to backtrack its course. They lose the trail but stay on course, all they can do is keep looking. Spock is working on the universal translator which can even approximate the voice of the person. Cochrane calls for the companion again, and this time Kirk tries to talk to it. The companion is clearly female (wow this episode aged well) and it seems to care only for Cochrane's needs. The man (as she calls Cochrane) must continue. So the shuttle crew will never be allowed to leave. Cochrane is repulsed at the dynamic he realizes now exists between him and the companion. McCoy says it obvious that the companion loves him. Cochrane is appalled, which the others can't understand. Hedford is also baffled that he would reject love, something she never achieved. The Enterprise has discovered an asteroid field with several planetoids that can sustain life, so they start looking. Kirk talks to the companion again, and explains that there can never be real love because she and Cochrane are to different. The companion disappears, and moments later a healthy Hedford appears in the doorway.
Act 4-The companion has joined with Hedford, sacrificing her immortality to become human. Cochrane is reluctant at first but then gets excited. The idea of showing her the galaxy excites him. However, she says that is impossible. She cannot leave the planet, and if he leaves he will die in a matter of dies. He chooses to stay with her, now that he sees and touches her he knows that he loves her, and asks Kirk to keep his existence a secret. McCoy asks what's gonna happen to the way Heford was supposed to stop, and Kirk says they will probably find someone else who can do it.
Final Thoughts:zzzzzzz, ugh. Just boring. What else can I say? And yes this is the same Zefram Cochrane from that movie. It's established he was an old man when the Companion found him, and we know Cochrane got more serious after that first meeting with the Vulcans. Not to mention the years of isolation living on the planet. So I have no trouble believing that the young man in this episode is the same old man from that movie. As for the episode, I don't hate it and it isn't awful but man is it slow. It also really has not aged well, for instance in the 1960's a woman character had to be in love with a male character there was no exception. It was even in comic books, where a female would suddenly be in love like flipping a switch. That was all women could do apparently, and we have that here. Once the companion is female, well it has to be love! What else could it be? There are more things that age this but I am neither qualified or inclined to get into how sexual politics in 2021 makes the episode a bit..awkward today. The love story does not work for me since I don't care about these two, even "This Side of Paradise" was a better love story than this.
No comments:
Post a Comment