Episode Title: What Are Little Girls Made Of?
Air Date: 10/20/1966
Written by Robert
Bloch
Directed by James
Goldstone
Cast: William
Shatner as Captain James T. Kirk
Leonard Nimoy as Lieutenant Commander Spock Nichelle Nichols as Lieutenant Nyota Uhura Eddie Paskey as
Lieutenant Leslie Majel Barrett as Nurse Christine
Chapel Vince Deadrick Sr. as
Crewman Matthews Budd
Albright as Crewman Rayburn
Michael Strong as Dr. Roger Korby
Sherry Jackson as Andrea Ted
Cassidy as Ruk Harry Basch as Dr.
Brown
Ships: USS
Enterprise NCC-1701
Planets: Exo-III
My Spoiler filled
summary and review: *Special Notice
in addition to Star Trek spoilers this review will also contain spoilers for
the film The Sixth Sense (1999)* The Enterprise
is heading towards the planet Exo-III an ice world whose star has been going
dim. If history is any guide that will mean trouble. They are trying to find a Dr. Roger Korby a
famous scientist whose expertise is researching planets that are home to dead
civilizations and discovering their medical knowledge for use in the Federation. Dr. Korby hasn’t been heard from in the five
years since he went to this planet.
Nurse Chapel had been engaged to Dr. Korby before he left on his mission
and his disappearance is part of the reason she joined Star Fleet.
The Enterprise gets a surprise communication
from Dr. Korby, they are all happy to hear he is alive but surprised by his
request. He asks that Captain Kirk beam
down alone because there is sensitive material that must not be shared with
just anyone. Korby relents however when
he learns that Chapel is aboard the Enterprise
and allows her to come down as well.
 |
| Enterprise crew happy to hear Dr. Korby is alive. |
When
Kirk and Chapel beam down however they find no one to great them, Kirk tells Chapel
not to be too concerned but he nevertheless calls up to the ship and orders two
security personnel to come down. Two
red shirts beam down as we Star Trek
fans know that means we have to get two coffins ready. Kirk has one of the men stay behind and has
the other come with him and Nurse Chapel exploring the underground tunnel, which
has a steep and dangerous cliff.
 |
| Kirk loses one of his red shirts! |
They then run into Dr. Brown, Dr. Korby’s
assistant, who for some reason doesn’t recognize Chapel. He accepts who she is when they tell him but Chapel
still feels there is something odd about him that she cannot quite figure out. As one of the security officers falls down the
cliff. Captain Kirk and Nurse Chapel run up to the ledge looking over to see if
perhaps it there was a lower ledge that he could’ve fallen on. Brown insists that the security man who fell
over the ledge is now dead. What Kirk
and Chapel don’t realize at this point is that the man did not fall he was
pushed by a rather strange looking fellow.
Kirk communicates with his remaining security personnel and tells him to
contact the Enterprise routinely. After they go off communicator however the
same strange man kills that member of Kirk’s security team.
 |
| Ruk, red shirt hunter! |
The two officers finally meet with Korby and
Nurse Chapel embraces her lost fiancé. Korby
is very energetic and friendly he is generally excited to see them and of
course very excited to see Nurse Chapel.
Korby also introduces them to an assistant of his name Andrea, a
beautiful and scantily clad woman. Kirk
insists he needs to get in contact with his security man and reestablish
contact with his ship; however Korby is unwilling to let Kirk do that. He explains that he has work here that cannot
be seen by just anyone. With that Brown pulls his phaser on Captain Kirk. Kirk
grabs his phaser and takes Andrea as a hostage as he tries to escape. Brown moves in on him and Kirk fires blasting
Brown both killing him revealing him to be an android. Ruk arrives and subdues Kirk.
Korby explains that Ruk is a sophisticated alien android built by the world’s original inhabitants. He found Ruk and has now programmed the android to protect his work at all costs. It was then that Korby had to explain to Kirk that with that mandate he had killed both of Kirk’s security officers. In
addition to Ruk, Korby also built other androids to use as his
assistants. One of these was Brown, a
copy of a real assistant he once had, and the other is Andrea. Korby goes in length explain how wonderful
Andrea is showing that her skin is soft and that she is warm even has a
pulse.
 |
| Isn't my creation so sexy!?! |
 |
| Korby showing Andrea's skills on Captain Kirk for Nurse Chapel |
Later Korby decides to show Nurse
Chapel how they make androids by making a duplicate of Captain
Kirk. He brings Chapel into the android
making room and we see Kirk strapped into the device completely naked with the
exception of his bounds covering his private areas. This makes one wonder how exactly they got
Kirk into this contraption I am assuming that Ruk put him in their off-camera,
which is to be had probably would’ve been hilarious to watch. As he’s being duplicated Kirk focuses his
mind on an insult targeting Mr. Spock.
When the process is complete there is a duplicate Captain Kirk.
 |
| Android making time! |
To show his android’s effectiveness
Korby uses the duplicate of Captain Kirk to have a conversation with Christine
Chapel, when Chapel asked the android, thinking he is Captain Kirk, not to ask
her to betray Korby the android Kirk reveals himself by pointing out that
androids do not eat. Then Korby enters
with the real Captain Kirk so that Kirk can both see the uselessness of trying
to get Chapel to join him and how effective the android is. It is clear now what Korby’s long-term plan
is he plans to go to a small Federation colony and eventually use androids to replace all leaders with duplicates loyal to him and allowing the government
to run according to his vision. He
thinks if he is running everything he has better priorities and will make the
universe a better place.
Kirk pulling up a plate engages
with his android duplicate. Kirk, having already dealt with a double of himself, doesn’t seem the least bit phased by the presence of his doppelgänger. In fact it was probably something of a
relief to see a duplicate of himself who was not made out of parts of his
actual being that pulled out of him by transporter. This time Kirk faces a duplicate while in full command of his own facilities and mind. During the
conversation it is clear that the android does possess his memory. The android can recall details of his life,
journey, and even recall details of Captain Kirk’s brother. The details he recalls on Kirk’s brother
include his full name, how many children he has, and his present work
assignment. The conversation did to
have about a brief spat about food that was interesting, but I also think could’ve
been a tad bit funnier.
Kirk: Unlike androids I do need to eat.
Android Kirk: You’re weakness sir, not mine.
Kirk: Food is one of life’s pleasures. It is a shame you’ll never enjoy it, sir.
Android Kirk: Ah, but I will never starve, sir. More importantly I will never have to waste my time pooping.
Kirk: To drop a big load can be both an immense relief and another one of life’s great pleasures.
Android Kirk: Yes sir, but I will never be stuck on a broken turbo lift with a case of diarrhea.
Kirk: Okay that’s a good point. But I would argue that you may have the better body but I do better mind.
Android Kirk: Do you have any idea how many calculations I can make it a single second?
Kirk: Can you calculate how quickly I’m going to talk you and your friends in the killing each other? For you have forgotten that I, Captain Kirk, am the bane of all artificial intelligence as you will soon see.
 |
| "I have faced off against me before!" |
Korby uses the android Kirk to go aboard the Enterprise and gather information on the planet they can use. While there the artificial Kirk encounters Mr. Spock. Fake Kirk insults Mr. Spock with Kirk’s last thought before duplication. This is enough to trigger Mr. Spock to realize that this is not the real Captain Kirk, and he orders the formation of a security team to go down to the planet.
 |
| The Bane of All AI, begins his work on Ruk! |
After his encounter with his own
duplicate Kirk notices the androids are not as unemotional as Korby seems to
think. He notices that Ruk is not
pleased with Korby’s way of doing things.
Kirk speaks with him long enough to get him to realize that he had once
betrayed his original makers in the he can do the same thing again with Korby. This sets Ruk against Korby and Korby has to
vaporize Ruk with the phaser. Kirk then
manages to seduce the love robot Andrea.
This leads her to approach the android Kirk with the same intention and
when she is rejected she vaporizes him just like Korby did with Ruk. With that two of the androids have been
destroyed.
Kirk goes to confront Korby during
the scuffle Korby is damaged it is revealed that he himself is an android. He tries explained that although he is an
android body he is in fact the real Korby, and tries to prove it but realize
every time he tries to answer a question he processes it in the way that
android would think. As he tries to tell
Christine Chapel that he still the same person and not an android, Andrea shows
up and kisses him and uses her phaser to vaporize them both simultaneously.
 |
| The not real Dr. Korby |
The episode ends with Mr. Spock and
his security team to the rescue where they find Captain Kirk and Nurse
Chapel. When Mr. Spock asked about Dr.
Korby Kirk responds with a statement “Korby was never here.”
Additional thoughts:
In 1999 I was in a movie theater with my
father and two sisters watching the film The
Sixth Sense. At the scene where Oliva
Williams drops Bruce Willis’s wedding ring my father yelled out in the middle
of the theater, “He’s dead! He’s been dead this whole #$%%$# time!” The funny thing was no one else in the
theater objected they just nodded their heads in agreement. The whole theater was equally shocked and my
father was voicing the collective opinion of the audience. In the words of President Theodore Roosevelt
he was saying what everyone was thinking and he was saying of the loudest.
What
makes a good twist? To me it has to be something that most people won’t see
coming but when you watch it again it seems so obvious that you feel like a
fool for not having seen it. So what
about this twist in the revelation of Korby?
When viewing these episodes for this blog I tried my best to clear my
head of all my vast Star Trek
knowledge. I tried to consider each of these
episodes fresh as if I were watching them for the first time and not to take
any element from later in the series or franchise into the review. (I do allow myself to take previous episodes
already reviewed and apply the knowledge of them to the episode being
reviewed.) Now this doesn’t always work
in the end of the day I’m a diehard Star
Trek fan who has these episodes many times.
For example when this episode starts and Nurse Chapel asked Mr. Spock if
he’s ever been engaged I want to raise an eyebrow with Mr. Spock seeing as I
already know the answer to that question.
Or when reviewing The Corobmite Maneuver I couldn’t help but wonder
where the First Federation had gone to in the Star Trek franchise. However, I think the Korby reveal was an
excellent plot twist.
When
the viewer first meets Korby the character is animate. He is very lively, smiles a lot, and he can
be very charming. These characteristics
are stark contrast to the characters we introduced to and who we know are androids
such as Ruk, Brown, Andrea, and ultimately the android Kirk. There are also some great red herrings to
throw us off. When we first meet the
character of Brown he’s introduced to us as somebody who Christine Chapel knows
from her past but immediately she realizes something wrong with him. When it’s android status is revealed we now
have an android based on a real human who as a consequence of it being an
android can’t fully imitate its human model.
In addition to that when the android Kirk is created we see an android
that has a completely different identity of the person it was created
from. Android Kirk is aware he’s not the
real Kirk and only pretends to be to fool the crew. Korby always acts as the real Korby. Then there is how Korby’s always describes
the androids as not having willpower, emotions, or any thought of their own.
However
as one continues to watch the episode there are some cracks that start to show
that after the reveal you feel silly for not picking up on. The major clue is how Korby’s wrong about the
androids. He speaks of them having no
minds and emotions. He often talks about
how they have no choice but to obey him.
Yet we see this is not true. Rok
clearly feels frustration at the direction of Korby’s leadership and annoyance at his mercy; Andrea the lover
bot android is clearly hurt by Korby's now rejection of her in his embrace of Nurse
Christine Chapel; and finally there is android Kirk who feels “at home” on the Enterprise. The android Kirk also develops some of the
mannerisms of the man he’s based on, unlike Brown.
Even
though it’s not directly stated it becomes clear to the viewer what happened to
the real Korby. After losing his
assistant he did manage to survive and find the underground cavern with the
android making facility. He was able to
reawaken Rok and re-program the android to help him activate the machines. In order to continue his legacy Korby
arranges to make his android duplicate but dies during the duplication
process. When the android Korby awakes
he comes to the conclusion that his mind had just entered a new body. He thinks he is the real Korby with an
android body and he continues to think himself as a separate thing from the
androids he creates. His assistant Brown
was already dead during the duplication process so there was no mind for that
android to copy. Since there was a still
living Captain Kirk during his duplication process his android always knew he
was a copy and never presumed he was the genuine article. Korby learning he was fake was an incredible
dramatic moment.
The
best part the episode for me is this was the first episode where they introduce one
of my favorite traits of Captain James T Kirk: the bane of all artificial
intelligence. Right now I’m violating my
rule of clearing my head of what I know of the franchise but this is something
we will see again from the good Captain.
When encountering forms of artificial intelligence Kirk will simply
outsmart them by playing divide and conquer as he does here or simply talk the
artificial intelligence into committing suicide. This is an actual trait of Captain Kirk has
as much as slow speaking lines, making out/having sex with
beautiful and sometimes alien women, or rule breaking. Except the difference between this and those
other things is this is not an exaggeration this is an actual demonstrated
trait that he will use again and again.
What is amazing is not only that Kirk does it but he will often do it
easily. In this particular episode was almost like he had a tolerance of how
much he would let the androids annoy him and them he decided to let loose and
turn them against each other destroying all of them.
When I
first began this blog I looked ahead at some of the episodes that I would see
in the first season and got excited when it came to seeing some of my
favorites. For example I really enjoyed
writing the last review and I had looked forward to viewing that episode
for the review. This episode and the next two
coming up were on the list of episodes that did not really excite me too much, however
I found myself really enjoying this episode as I watched it and that was a great
and pleasant surprise. I am hoping that trend
will continue.
FINAL GRADE 4 of 5
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