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| The Ultimate Computer |
| Production Number |
53 |
| Air Date (US) |
1968-03-08 |
| Season |
2 |
| DVD Disc No. |
6 |
| Rating |
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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:
William Marshall as Dr. Richard Daystrom
Barry Russo as Commodore Robert Wesley
Creative Staff:
Director: John Meredyth Lucas
Teleplay By: D. C. Fontana
Story By: Laurence N. Wolfe
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| Description |
The U.S.S. Enterprise is chosen to be the test ship for the new M-5 multitronic computer system, a computer meant to be able to run a starship without human intervention. Also aboard for the test is Dr. Richard Daystrom, the inventor of the M-5 and an obsessive and unstable individual.
Initially the M-5 performs well, but when it decides to destroy a robot freighter, Kirk orders the test canceled. The M-5, however, protects itself and makes it impossible for it to be disconnected. The computer becomes increasingly erratic, a result of Dr. Daystrom's decision to impress his engram onto the computer as part of its programming. Starting a scheduled war games drill, M-5 uses the full arsenal of the U.S.S. Enterprise to attack four other Federation starships.
In a last-ditch appeal to the M-5, Kirk makes the computer realize that it has committed the sin of murder. Since Dr. Daystrom would be ethically abhorred at such an act, the M-5 is equally penitent and tries to commit suicide by leaving the U.S.S. Enterprise defenseless against a counter-attack by the remaining other starships. At the last moment, Spock and Scott are able to finish disconnecting the M-5 unit. Kirk keeps the shields down, gambling successfully that the attacking ships would not fire on an undefended vessel. Restoring communications next, the fleet is called off.
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| Trivia |
Barry Russo (Commodore Robert "Bob" Wesley) was previously seen in "The Devil in the Dark." Gene Roddenberry used Bob Wesley as a pseudonym early in his career (his middle name was Wesley and his brother's name is Bob).
William Marshall (Dr. Richard Daystrom) later gained film notoriety as Blacula. |
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