 |
| The Changeling |
| Production Number |
37 |
| Air Date (US) |
1967-09-29 |
| Season |
2 |
| DVD Disc No. |
1 |
| Rating |
 |
 |
|
| |
Cast:
William Shatner as James T. Kirk
Leonard Nimoy as Spock
DeForest Kelley as Leonard H. McCoy
James Doohan as Montgomery Scott
Walter Koenig as Pavel Andreievich Chekov
Nichelle Nichols as Uhura
George Takei as Hikaru Sulu
Guest Cast:
Blaisdell Makee as Mr. Singh
Vic Perrin as Nomad's voice
Creative Staff:
Director: Marc Daniels
Written By: John Meredyth Lucas
|
|
|
| Description |
The U.S.S. Enterprise is sent to investigate the destruction of the Malurian system and its four billion inhabitants. When it arrives at the coordinates, the starship itself is threatened by a space going, self-contained computer/probe calling itself Nomad. When Kirk identifies himself by name, Nomad mistakes him for "The Kirk," and thinks him to be his creator.
Nomad is beamed aboard the U.S.S. Enterprise and promptly erases Uhura's memory and kills Scotty, claiming that neither life form was perfect. At Kirk's demand Nomad repairs "the unit Scott," bringing him back to life.
Spock attempts a Vulcan mind meld with Nomad and learns that it was created on Earth in the twenty-first century by scientist Jackson Roykirk. Nomad's program was to seek out new life and report back to Earth. Damaged in space by a meteor, Nomad drifted until it found Tan Ru, an alien probe designed to sterilize soil. Using their self-repair systems, the two probes combined themselves into one. Nomad's programming was damaged and by joining with Tan Ru's now believes its mission is to seek out life and destroy anything that it does not believe perfect.
Kirk convinces Nomad that it had mistaken him, Captain James T. Kirk, for Nomad's creator, Jackson Roykirk, thus making Nomad imperfect and a candidate for "sterilization." A confused Nomad begins to self-destruct, exploding just after Kirk beams the changeling into space. Kirk checks on Uhura's progress after the attack by Nomad. McCoy informs him that her brain is undamaged and she must simply "relearn" what the probe erased.
|
| |
| Trivia |
The voice of Nomad was provided by Vic Perrin, who was heard as the voice of the baby-like Balok in "The Corbomite Maneuver". If you look very closely at the diagram of the Enterprise on the engineering set of Star Trek: The Next Generation, you will see a small Nomad on its side on one of the decks in the saucer section!
In this episode, Scotty becomes the third crewman to die and return to life (McCoy dies in "Shore Leave" and Kirk dies in "Amok Time") |
|
