The Ultimate Computer by: D.C. Fontana, from a story by: Laurence N. Wolfe, and directed by: John Meredyth Lucas

 

“The Ultimate Computer” is written by D.C. Fontana, from a story by Laurence N. Wolfe, and is directed by John Meredyth Lucas.  It was filmed under production code 53, was the 24^th episode of Star Trek Season 2, the 53^rd episode of Star Trek, and was broadcast on March 8, 1968.

 

The concept of a computer gaining sentience was nothing new by the time Star Trek decided to essentially riff on the concept in its purest form in “The Ultimate Computer”.  Star Trek itself had already done several sentient living computer episodes like in “A Taste of Armageddon” and “The Return of the Archons”, but “The Ultimate Computer” works because it distills the narrative down to its most basic components, adds a very small supporting cast so the focus can squarely be on the characters that we have already grown to love over nearly two seasons of television, and confined it completely to the Enterprise (this final point was also largely a budget saver, but one that was incredibly effective).  D.C. Fontana provided the script from an outline from Laurence N. Wolfe, giving it to Star Trek by way of Ray Bradbury of all people, Wolfe being a mathematician and not a writer so much of this review will be referring to largely Fontana’s work which is what actually made the script work.  Wolfe’s outline was largely concerned with both a fascination and fear of what computers could become, taking some heavy inspiration from contemporaries Isaac Asimov and Arthur C. Clarke, but it is Fontana’s contribution of allowing this story to focus its first half largely on the fear of being replaced by a computer or just general automation.  The premise of the episode sees the Enterprise outfitted with the M5 computer so the crew can become a barebones crew of 20, much of the tension of thee first half coming from the fact that the M5 is incredibly effective.  Now this is a little incongruous with the post-capitalist world that Star Trek has setup, as much of “The Ultimate Computer” is playing on fears due to capitalism leading to profit increases under the lie of increasing efficiency.

 

William Shatner gives genuinely one of his best performances throughout the episode, but especially in the first half where Kirk has to grapple with the mounting evidence that the M5 computer could easily run the Enterprise with no human input.  DeForest Kelley as McCoy gets this excellent moment where he provides Kirk with a very strong drink and some advice, all while Leonard Nimoy’s Spock has seemingly been taken in with the logic and use of the computer.  McCoy’s encouragement throughout the episode is fascinating, musing on the fact that nobody really seems to care about automation until it is too late and that James T. Kirk is the one who generally would make the right, human calls in high stress situations.  Nimoy’s switch as Spock is also fascinating, as soon as the M5 shows itself to be a completely logical machine and thus ignoring the logic of protecting potential life by destroying an automated freighter speaks so much to who Spock is as a character.  Spock is not apathetic to the value of life or people, despite his apparent lack of emotion that Star Trek has shown time and time again to be mostly a show he puts on to appear as more Vulcan than he really is.

 

The M5’s malfunction is not some malicious sentience of seeing humans as ineffective a la HAL-9000, but the ruthless efficiency of threat elimination and productivity for the Enterprise’s mission.  The big reveal is that its creator, Dr. Richard Daystrom, played by William Marshall, imprinted his own brain on the computer so it would be able to make these decisions, about halfway through the episode locking out the crew based on this brain pattern.  William Marshall’s portrayal of Daystrom is fascinating as he is nothing but cooperative until it becomes clear that his building of the M5 was a total failure, triggering this mental breakdown, but like many villains on Star Trek, Daystrom is allowed to live, if sedated and being sent for mental health recuperation as he is still a person.  It’s a nice fate and the way Marshall plays the character is utterly fascinating, using his rather tall stature to give this imposing sense of knowledge above the characters he interacts with, but still making the nervous breakdown.  Daystrom is able to rationalize many of the M5’s decisions of cutting power in areas of the ship that aren’t currently in use including the sickbay, or even locking out the crew from turning it off in places, but that slide happens quite well.  Shatner’s admonishing Daystrom when it turns out the M5 kills the crew of an entire ship while injuring and killing other crews.  It’s a burst of righteous fury which is played perfectly.

 

Overall, despite “The Ultimate Computer” coming initially from a mathematician, D.C. Fontana has once again worked her magic on a script, bringing out the best elements and producer John Meredyth Lucas taking over directing duties makes this first an intense character study and then an excellent thriller.  While there are some elements that are far too predictable for this sort of a story, even in terms of what Star Trek has done before, it’s an excellent example of what the show does best and gives its cast some amazing little moments throughout to really reflect the themes of the episode.  8/10.