"The Changeling"
The Enterprise is investigating the mysterious and catastrophic loss of all life in the Mallurian system when it's subject to an intense attack from an alien craft. The Enterprise hails the craft and in doing so stops the attack. Kirk has the craft brought aboard, and the crew learns that it is in fact Nomad, a space probe launched from Earth in the early years of the 21st century. Spock is perplexed, since it's original mission was to seek out new life forms. Nomad informs Kirk that its mission is to eradicate inferior biological lifeforms, and that it believes he is its creator. Spock learns from the ship's computers that Nomad thinks James Kirk is Nomad creator Jackson Roykirk, a fact that has spared the lives of the Enterprise crew thus far. Nomad tours the Enterprise, and intrigued by Uhura's singing, asks her what singing is. Her answer is less than satisfactory, and Nomad erases her mind. Scotty intervenes at the last minute but is killed by Nomad. Spock mind melds with Nomad and learns that Nomad was badly damaged but merged with an alien probe named Tan-Ru, whose mission was to seek out and sterilize soil samples as a prelude to colonization. Nomad and Tan-Ru's missions were merged into its current destructive purpose. Nomad "repairs" Scotty by bringing him back to life while McCoy and Chapel re-educate Uhura. When Nomad realizes Kirk isn't who it believed him to be, Nomad prepares to wipe out the crew and adapt the ship for its mission. Kirk uses Nomad's programming and logic against it, causing it to malfunction when it realizes it was in error when it didn't recognize who Kirk really was. Kirk has Nomad beamed into space, where it self-destructs, and Spock laments the loss of the scientific knowledge it has amassed in its lifetime.
Story
"The Changeling" is a classic Trek story and is beloved by fans of the original series. The story of a rogue machine intelligence seeking its creator would resurface in the first Star Trek feature film, "Star Trek: The Motion Picture," with an old Voyager probe standing in for Nomad. The story here is faced paced and keeps the viewer of the edge of his seat, wondering how the Enterprise crew will survive the threat of Nomad. The only issue I take with "The Changeling" is the way in which Uhura's re-education is portrayed after Nomad mindwipes her. It seems sexist and must have been slightly degrading to Nichelle Nichols, and it's hard to believe that re-educating an adult could be so easy even in the 23rd century. It seems to me that this plot point should have been dropped altogether or handled much differently. There are also some odd references in this episode, which show that apparently, the writing staff was still fleshing elements of the Trekverse out. For example, the Enterprise's shields withstand Nomad's attack, described as the equivalent of "99 of our photon torpedoes." This seems a little far-fetched. Are we to believe that the Enterprise can hang around in a firefight after such a beating? Surely there'd be no enemies to give them a run for their money, unless a whole bunch of folks ganged up on the ship. And then Scotty states that Nomad has accelerated the Enterprise to "Warp 15," a number later established to be impossible to reach. Later episodes of other Trek series would establish that warp 9.99 is the ultimate threshold of warp velocity. These are minor points, but for Trek fans, these details add to the texture of the Trek mythology and so they stand out.
Action
"The Changeling"starts off with action: the Enterprise under a fearsome attack from an unknown and deadly foe. That action only increases as the episode goes on, and we're treated to the death of a few Redshirts, the mindwipe of Uhura, the blasting of Scotty, and the peril of the Enterprise being propelled to tremendous speeds by Nomad. There's not a whole lot of talking in this episode and the suspense never lets up. This is one of Trek's best action episodes.
Performances
The cast really does a great job reacting to a large prop in the form of Nomad. The interaction between the Big 3 is well done here, and Doohan gets to shine here as Scotty.
Trektastic Moments
"The Changeling" is itself a Trektastic moment, due to a classic Trek story and great interactions between the crew of the Enterprise. They also face a dire threat to the galaxy and manage to defeat it, no small feat but something that would become part of the job for the crew of the Enterprise as time went on. There's also the death of a few Redshirts, which is the nickname given to the red-shirt wearing security agents who often meet horrid deaths in episodes of classic Star Trek. Nomad blasts four of these poor bastards in this episode alone.
Overall
A solid story, suspense, and great action. Another classic Trek episode in the excellent second series of the show. A+
The episode's title card.
Nomad beams aboard the Enterprise for a visit.
Nomad offs a few Redshirts, a Trek staple beloved by fans.
Story
"The Changeling" is a classic Trek story and is beloved by fans of the original series. The story of a rogue machine intelligence seeking its creator would resurface in the first Star Trek feature film, "Star Trek: The Motion Picture," with an old Voyager probe standing in for Nomad. The story here is faced paced and keeps the viewer of the edge of his seat, wondering how the Enterprise crew will survive the threat of Nomad. The only issue I take with "The Changeling" is the way in which Uhura's re-education is portrayed after Nomad mindwipes her. It seems sexist and must have been slightly degrading to Nichelle Nichols, and it's hard to believe that re-educating an adult could be so easy even in the 23rd century. It seems to me that this plot point should have been dropped altogether or handled much differently. There are also some odd references in this episode, which show that apparently, the writing staff was still fleshing elements of the Trekverse out. For example, the Enterprise's shields withstand Nomad's attack, described as the equivalent of "99 of our photon torpedoes." This seems a little far-fetched. Are we to believe that the Enterprise can hang around in a firefight after such a beating? Surely there'd be no enemies to give them a run for their money, unless a whole bunch of folks ganged up on the ship. And then Scotty states that Nomad has accelerated the Enterprise to "Warp 15," a number later established to be impossible to reach. Later episodes of other Trek series would establish that warp 9.99 is the ultimate threshold of warp velocity. These are minor points, but for Trek fans, these details add to the texture of the Trek mythology and so they stand out.
Action
"The Changeling"starts off with action: the Enterprise under a fearsome attack from an unknown and deadly foe. That action only increases as the episode goes on, and we're treated to the death of a few Redshirts, the mindwipe of Uhura, the blasting of Scotty, and the peril of the Enterprise being propelled to tremendous speeds by Nomad. There's not a whole lot of talking in this episode and the suspense never lets up. This is one of Trek's best action episodes.
Performances
The cast really does a great job reacting to a large prop in the form of Nomad. The interaction between the Big 3 is well done here, and Doohan gets to shine here as Scotty.
Trektastic Moments
"The Changeling" is itself a Trektastic moment, due to a classic Trek story and great interactions between the crew of the Enterprise. They also face a dire threat to the galaxy and manage to defeat it, no small feat but something that would become part of the job for the crew of the Enterprise as time went on. There's also the death of a few Redshirts, which is the nickname given to the red-shirt wearing security agents who often meet horrid deaths in episodes of classic Star Trek. Nomad blasts four of these poor bastards in this episode alone.
Overall
A solid story, suspense, and great action. Another classic Trek episode in the excellent second series of the show. A+
The episode's title card.
Nomad beams aboard the Enterprise for a visit.
Nomad offs a few Redshirts, a Trek staple beloved by fans.
posted by Christopher at 8:16 PM
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