"What Are Little Girls Made Of?"
Captain's Log 1010.6. 0837 hrs.
The Trektastic Voyage continues with "What Are Little Girls Made Of?," an episode that uses the science fiction devices of human duplicates and artificial life to address what it means to be human and how the goals of improving humanity can sometimes go horribly wrong.
The Enterprise is en route to planet Exo III to investigate the fate of Dr. Roger Korby, a robotics specialist who is also Nurse Christine Chapel's fiance. The good doctor has been missing for five years, and Kirk and Spock are grim about his chances of being alive.
Korby contacts the Enterprise, stunning the crew. Kirk beams down with an elated Chapel and two security guards. Chapel and Korby reunite, and Kirk expresses his admiration for Korby, whose work the captain studied in the Academy. Kirk and Chapel quickly learn that Korby has perfected human androids, and after the two Redshirts die, Kirk demands answers. Korby responds by making a duplicate of Kirk, which fools even Christine. Kirk effects one of his patented escapes but is recaptured. He then uses another of his trademark maneuvers, wooing beautiful young women who seem to have little to wear, sowing within the android Andrea the seeds of one emotion in particular: love. Andrea expresses her love for Korby, who Kirk and Christine have just learned is an android himself, and Korby uses Andrea's phaser to vaporize himself and Andrea. Kirk and a distraught Christine return to the Enterprise, where we learn Christine has decided to remain aboard the Enterprise.
This is a powerful episode in its treatment of philosophical issues such as the meaning of humanity and the power of emotions like love and fear. The cinematography and production design help create a frightening, ancient, and claustrophobic underground environment, realistic when one considers that so many planets in the solar system are very likely uninhabitable on the surface. Alan Asherman's classic The Star Trek Compendium notes that episode writer Robert Bloch, himself a noted science fiction writer of the era, was inspired by the writings of horror writer H.P. Lovecraft, and points out that "The Old Ones," the beings who built Ruk and the other androids, were named after Lovecraft's godlike aliens.
We feel for Christine as she feels joy at seeing Korby again, then fear and ultimately sadness when she realizes the man she loved is gone, diminished when he transferred his consciousness into an android duplicate of himself. We also feel for Korby, the "villain" of the piece, whose goal of improving humanity is a noble one, despite his misguided means in attempting to accomplish it.
Echoes of "What Are Little Girls Of?" would resonate in the first Star Trek spin-off, Star Trek: The Next Generation, when we meet Data, an android with great sophistication but who lacks what Korby's own androids did: emotions.
Screencaps for "What Are Little Girls Made Of?"
The episode's title card.
Kirk and Chapel beam down to Exo III's underground facility.
The fearsome Ruk, Korby's ancient android enforcer.
The beautiful Andrea, yet another beautiful woman of Star Trek.
Korby and Chapel reunite.
Kirk and his android duplicate. Kirk would end up being "duplicated" in different ways three times, twice in the original series and once in the final film with the original cast.
Kirk uses his formidable mind and his charm to confuse Andrea with a new emotion: love. Kirk's use of bluffs and his own sensuality to win the day would become a recurring motif in the series.
Korby: more machine now than man.
Korby destroys himself and Andrea, realizing that he's no longer human and no longer loved by a human, only another machine.
Christine decides to remain aboard the Enterprise, distraught though she is over the loss of her love.
The Trektastic Voyage continues with "What Are Little Girls Made Of?," an episode that uses the science fiction devices of human duplicates and artificial life to address what it means to be human and how the goals of improving humanity can sometimes go horribly wrong.
The Enterprise is en route to planet Exo III to investigate the fate of Dr. Roger Korby, a robotics specialist who is also Nurse Christine Chapel's fiance. The good doctor has been missing for five years, and Kirk and Spock are grim about his chances of being alive.
Korby contacts the Enterprise, stunning the crew. Kirk beams down with an elated Chapel and two security guards. Chapel and Korby reunite, and Kirk expresses his admiration for Korby, whose work the captain studied in the Academy. Kirk and Chapel quickly learn that Korby has perfected human androids, and after the two Redshirts die, Kirk demands answers. Korby responds by making a duplicate of Kirk, which fools even Christine. Kirk effects one of his patented escapes but is recaptured. He then uses another of his trademark maneuvers, wooing beautiful young women who seem to have little to wear, sowing within the android Andrea the seeds of one emotion in particular: love. Andrea expresses her love for Korby, who Kirk and Christine have just learned is an android himself, and Korby uses Andrea's phaser to vaporize himself and Andrea. Kirk and a distraught Christine return to the Enterprise, where we learn Christine has decided to remain aboard the Enterprise.
This is a powerful episode in its treatment of philosophical issues such as the meaning of humanity and the power of emotions like love and fear. The cinematography and production design help create a frightening, ancient, and claustrophobic underground environment, realistic when one considers that so many planets in the solar system are very likely uninhabitable on the surface. Alan Asherman's classic The Star Trek Compendium notes that episode writer Robert Bloch, himself a noted science fiction writer of the era, was inspired by the writings of horror writer H.P. Lovecraft, and points out that "The Old Ones," the beings who built Ruk and the other androids, were named after Lovecraft's godlike aliens.
We feel for Christine as she feels joy at seeing Korby again, then fear and ultimately sadness when she realizes the man she loved is gone, diminished when he transferred his consciousness into an android duplicate of himself. We also feel for Korby, the "villain" of the piece, whose goal of improving humanity is a noble one, despite his misguided means in attempting to accomplish it.
Echoes of "What Are Little Girls Of?" would resonate in the first Star Trek spin-off, Star Trek: The Next Generation, when we meet Data, an android with great sophistication but who lacks what Korby's own androids did: emotions.
Screencaps for "What Are Little Girls Made Of?"
The episode's title card.
Kirk and Chapel beam down to Exo III's underground facility.
The fearsome Ruk, Korby's ancient android enforcer.
The beautiful Andrea, yet another beautiful woman of Star Trek.
Korby and Chapel reunite.
Kirk and his android duplicate. Kirk would end up being "duplicated" in different ways three times, twice in the original series and once in the final film with the original cast.
Kirk uses his formidable mind and his charm to confuse Andrea with a new emotion: love. Kirk's use of bluffs and his own sensuality to win the day would become a recurring motif in the series.
Korby: more machine now than man.
Korby destroys himself and Andrea, realizing that he's no longer human and no longer loved by a human, only another machine.
Christine decides to remain aboard the Enterprise, distraught though she is over the loss of her love.
posted by Christopher at 6:43 AM
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