When arriving at a station, a Commodore arrives onboard the Enterprise to tell Kirk that his ship is going be involved in testing a new computer, M-5, designed to run a starship autonomously, with just a skeleton crew staying on board during a series of manoeuvres and war games. The computer has been made by the famous inventor Richard Daystrom, who has revolutionised computing and the M5 promises to make human crews in Starfleet redundant. So, what can possibly go wrong?
****
Computer technology has been a popular topic for science fiction over the decades, with the ethical issues about artificial intelligence and how to control it discussed by most famously Isaac Asimov[1].
"The Ultimate Computer" is a tale of what happens when you allow a scientific genius free reign and forget to peer-review his work, as the Enterprise find themselves in an escalating situation in a ship they don't control. The story was also written at a time when factory mechanisation was putting American workers out of a job.
It's definitely a very enjoyable episode - and a tightly contained one to boot - taking place pretty much entirely on the main ship with a few extra scenes clearly using the same set, done to save money[2]. I will say that it falls somewhat apart at the end, with the main threat resolved by a method that wouldn't pass muster to a modern coder.
The regulars are all present and correct; James Doohan even does two extra voice roles as the M-5 computer and an off-screen commodore. Spock in particular is on very fine form, getting in some excellent jibes at McCoy, particular in the final scene. Kirk's command decisions are mostly brilliant, although I wonder why he didn't threaten to put Daystrom in the brig for not doing as he was told.
Richard Daystrom is played by African-American actor William Marshall, who was deeply moved to get a role where he played a highly respected genius that even Kirk looks up to. His voice is brilliant (he did a lot of Shakespeare) and he does a great job portraying a character who is clearly falling apart. The fact that the Daystrom Institute becomes a fairly big thing despite the events of this episode suggests that some form of cover-up happened, but it is not made explicit. However, the 50 minutes overall is well-paced and not wasted.
A highlight of this episode is the action, which is a bit odd because there's very little of it actually shown on screen - stock footage was used in the original version and the CGI is fairly limited in the remastered one. Whereas today's Trek shows would show us all the detail in 4K, we're often reliant on the cast relaying the action by verbal report on the bridge, more akin to a submarine movie. It works remarkably well and more shows should use that instead of reaching for things like stock footage in my honest opinion.
Oh, and because this is TOS, a redshirt buys the farm as usual. Plus ça change...
****
Conclusion
A solidly good Star Trek story that kind of falls down a bit at the end, but is still enjoyable.
8/10
[1] During my writing of this, I learned that he was rather 'handsy' towards women at conventions etc. The fact that this was known and broadly tolerated by many speaks volumes of a world we have only partly left behind.
[2] Bottle episodes often are.
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