“What Are Little Girls Made Of?”

This one confused me because we'd already seen Chapel confess her love for Spock, and suddenly she's got a fiance and she's all excited about that? I tend to focus on relationships, so I didn't mind her conflict, but if you're going to make her a central character, the meat of the episode should have been Chapel's conflictedness. And, geez, maybe just a flicker from Spock at the news that a woman who said she loved him has another guy?

Of course, as a philosophy professor, I'm also very interested in the question--not so much can we exist without emotion (having Vulcans in the ST world effectively wrestles with that), but if you put your intellect into a different body, is it still you? I think this episode came down on the side of no.

^ Indeed. "Dr. Korby was never here."

But was Kirk correct? The android-expression of the Korby personality does seem pretty similar to the later android-expression of Dr. Ira Graves (TNG, "The Schizoid Man"). Picard seems convinced that it is legitimately Graves himself, not a simulacrum, that inhabits Data (but is not able to be transferred again, to the ship's computer). Did Graves improve on Korby's technique? (Was he aware of it? Picard thinks the man-machine "bridge" is unprecedented.) Or does Picard's acquaintance with Data make him open to an interpretation Kirk was not?

I would just like to point out that as a Vulcan Spock was NOT devoid of emotion. He used logic and Vulcan techniques taught to him as a child to CONTROL his emotions. And that was true for full blooded Vulcans as well.

There's a fairly suggestive line in this episode. When Chapel meets Andrea, she immediately becomes suspicious and maybe even a little jealous. Korby says, "Do you think I could love a machine?" which I take to mean "Do you think I could have feelings for a machine?" Chapel asks not "Do you?" but "Did you?" By phrasing the question that way, Chapel is asking Korby if he had sex with Andrea. (This, of course, is before she -- and the audience -- knows that Korby is an android too.)

I noticed that suggestive line, too. Hard not to think suggestive things about Andrea: she was smoking hot and really rocking that suggestive outfit.

Spock had a hint of a grin there at the end. He's getting closer to the character we recognize, but not quite all there yet. Sure, he always had a sardonic nature, but he used it much more drily later on.

Jammer's last observation: "Also, another story so soon after 'The Enemy Within' featuring a duplicated Captain Kirk may be pushing it". In the comments section under that episode's review, I noted that it "is the fourth of the first five episodes in which at least one of the main actors deviates from the typical way they would play their character: either because someone or something was causing them to act nutty, or because they were playing an imposter." So now this makes five of the first seven. I wonder if some viewers in 1966 were starting to see this as almost the premise of the series!

Ruk!!! No kill!!! No kill!!! Ruk!!!! My favorite chapel line Ruk is the rock love him he makes me laugh soooooo hard!!

The "so bad it's good" trope gets invoked too often. When something is bad, it's usually just bad. Many supposedly "so bad it's good" movies are just boring or painful.

This episode is a shining example of something that truly is so bad it's good. In fact, it's one of my favorite TOS episode.

This episode is never, ever boring. Here are just a few highlights.

Dr. Korby's plan is hilariously counterproductive. If he had just told them straight up what was going on, they might not have gone all "robots = evil" on him. There was absolutely no need for him to kill anyone.

Out of nowhere, there is a vampire dressed in what looks like a nightgown my grandma might wear.

The vampire kills Kirk's meager security force. Kirk shows no remorse at all.

Kirk demonstrates his incredible strength by ripping off a stalagmite made of styrofoam. It looks so much like a penis that I seriously think it might have been intentional.

Kirk sits down to eat with Spock. But wait -- it was actually Robot!Kirk all along! WHAT A TWIST.

For no reason, Kirk tries to seduce Andrea in a pretty rapey way. Our hero!

Andrea: "Kiss me."
Robot!Kirk: (with a ridiculous hand gesture) "No: that is illogical."
And then Andrea just shoots him without hesitation.

Classic Star Trek breaking its own rules when it comes to computers, and just not understanding computers in general. We are told that Korby's replication process makes perfect copies. But then he goes on about how robots are superior because they are perfectly logical. You can't have it both ways! Korby's own logic is self-contradictory -- which, according to Star Trek logic, should cause his head to explode or something.

Furthermore, robot!Kirk clearly does not act like human!Kirk. So really, he's just a bad copy, and Korby's process is technically flawed. But that's not supposed to be the point -- indeed, the episode thinks that Korby's process really is technically perfect, but it fails to capture "humanity" or something. Look, guys: if robot!Kirk really does perfectly replicate human:Kirk's brain, then he will act exactly like Kirk. (TNG continued this tradition of flat-out lying about robots, constantly insisting that Data had no emotions when he very clearly did.)

Am I the only one who finds it ironic that Majel Barrett who plays Nurse Chapel, also plays Lwaxana Troi and the android Ruk looks just like Mr. Homn? I know that the actors are different but the minute I saw Ruk I said "Oh wow, it's Mr Homn!".

@AJ

"Am I the only one who finds it ironic that Majel Barrett who plays Nurse Chapel, also plays Lwaxana Troi and the android Ruk looks just like Mr. Homn? I know that the actors are different but the minute I saw Ruk I said 'Oh wow, it's Mr Homn!'"

Apparently other people saw the resemblance too -- both Ted Cassidy (Ruk) and Carel Struycken (Mr. Homn) played Lurch in productions of "The Addams Family," Cassidy in the original series and Struycken in the movies.

Not a great episode although very much classic Trek in that it poses philosophical questions about androids, eliminating negative emotions, and preserving humans forever through androids -- a true sci-fi episode with a mad scientist aiming to propagate androids to create utopia.
Majel Barrett does a great job acting as Chapel here -- showing her emotions for Korby, jealousy toward Andrea, concern for Kirk.
The story isn't very strong and it has its holes. How does Kirk submit to having an android duplicate of himself made? How does he choke Korby (an adroid) such that the latter is gasping for breath. And I'm never a big fan of episodes where the solution is Kirk convincing an android to destroy itself - funny how Ruk finally realizes what the "equation" was after Kirk talks him through it.
The ending is quite anticlimactic with Korby killing himself and Andrea. Did Kirk magically convince them that they don't need to preserve themselves anymore?
For me, 2/4 stars.

This particular trope of Kirk convincing Ruk to destroy himself is what Jammer calls Kirk Outsmarts the Computer ;) It's a proud Trekkian tradition!

Close to classic Trek: an interesting philosophical premise with some silly story around it that nevertheless is affecting.

@nosewings: yes that was an incredibly phallic stalactite. It even had balls. Tell me that was a coincidence, prop master.

Kirk is such a stone cold lover, he can even seduce an android (I have to say, the "I will kiss you" phaser blast scene is hysterical.)

So, it's heavily implied Korby is banging Andrea. Another progressive thing for 60's tv. Also speaking of Andrea, what happened to the real Andrea? Since the replication process doesn't seem to occur from scratch.

Is the screenwriter the same Robert Bloch who wrote Psycho?

I like how Korby lost some part of his humanity by transferring himself into the robot body. He didn't seem desperate enough to kill himself at the end though, I think it would've made more sense if poor malfunctioning Andreabot offed them both.

Another re-watch -- I do think this is a pretty important episode in terms of the original idea of creating improved androids (ongoing idea in Trek), solving some of humanities problems (with all the flaws, of course). I do think Corby should be referenced in TNG and later Trek episodes for his work on androids.

I decided to up the rating to 2.5/4 stars because of the interesting philosophical issues posed -- the episode has quite a few flaws as I previously mentioned but it does somewhat create an emotional response with Chapel's loss and how Dr. Corby realizes the flaws in his plans. It's not a totally mediocre outing.

Watching the HD remasters you really notice the makeup they put on Kirk and the others!

Anyone else think Corby looks a bit like Trip from Enterprise?

And Lurch there - I was going to ask whether it was the same actor as Mr Homn in TNG only to find the latter actually played Lurch... well, freaking hell XD
(scrolls up and reads other comments - eeyup, AJ!)

An interesting early examination of AI and the philosophy of what it means to exist.

I like Kirk's last line - "Dr. Korby was never here". Korby never achieved a perfect 'download' of himself into the android, so Kirk was correct. Korby lost his humanity.

Good early Trek episode, perhaps not among the best but entertaining nonetheless, and not just for the oddly shaped Kirk rock and creative Andrea costume or even for Ted Cassidy's fun guest turn as Ruk. This is good philosophical Sci-Fi, a foray into what it means to exist and to be yourself. And the final reveal of Korby, with Chapel's tragic loss and the pathetic self-explanation of "Korby," comes across as surprisingly affecting and poignant. I give it 3 or 3 1/2 stars.

Ironic that TOS gives us androids that actually look MORE advanced than Data on TNG supposedly 70 years later in the Trek universe. At this very moment, in 2017, we have androids (see that freaky prototype in Japan) that look and act entirely human. So Data's yellow/green skin and fake eyes on TNT is actually the more primitive design than TOS, where Roddenberry was probably just trying to save money by having androids who looked human. Very intriguing. Incidentally, we'll give Ruk a pass on "looking human," since he was designed by "the old ones" on Korby's planet centuries ago and presumably resembles them rather than human beings.

So all in all, this is a good introduction to androids for the Trek universe, although I personally find "I Mudd" in Season 2 more entertaining if not as thought-provoking as this one. "What Are Little Girls Made Of" also helps develop the TOS characters further, firstly giving us more backstory for Chapel in the only episode where she plays the central role. Secondly, we continue to learn about Kirk's resourcefulness (the methodical way he scraps out of an impossible situation) and the observant qualities of Spock in his budding relationship with Kirk.

And this show has one of the best mic-dropping ends in the Trek universe -- gotta love Andrea's response to being refused a kiss (snap snap) and Kirk's "Dr. Korby was never here" line at the end. And Korby's final monologue, railing at his own limitations as he realizes his lack of compassion/emotion makes him less than the perfect copy he had hoped, is affecting. Some of the cat-and-mouse games in the cavern feel a bit like filler, but the red shirt deaths are iconic, and the closing exchange between Kirk and Spock on the "half-breed" gambit cements their growing bond. Good Star Trek here.

PS -- I disagree with people asserting that the main TOS cast is acting out of character too much in these early episodes before we get to know them. The space phenomena that make our protagonists act out of character is actually a great storytelling device: It helps us learn who these people are in the course of dramatic contrast and conflict, as thoughts like "Kirk isn't like that!" leads us to form conclusions about what Kirk IS like. And so on.

So early TOS ends up "showing rather than telling" by allowing the characters to develop through their interactions with the main plot -- much more like modern movies do (including the Trek reboots) than the long-winded exposition of later Trek spin-offs, i.e. the long-winded speeches Picard is always giving about his values in TNG, especially Season 1. Sometimes the character speeches in later Trek spin-offs are good, but the speechifying ("I am Worf and honor is important to me") gets dull and many key character development moments (i.e. Data on the holodeck) often get relegated to B-stories which sometimes exceed but rarely intersect with the main plot, leaving the shows feeling strangely bifurcated into two unrelated plots or two plots which are poorly balanced (i.e. either the A-story or B-story is incredibly forgettable) or so poorly related that it's hard to remember they share the same episode space.

Trek fan: "At this very moment, in 2017, we have androids (see that freaky prototype in Japan) that look and act entirely human."

What? No we don't. There's nothing that *really* looks human. Close enough to be uncanny, but that's a valley short of passing.

The behavior, of course, is much harder and much farther away.

Okay, I know not to expect much from a 50 yeard old low budget series, but sheesh, the sets were cheap, the costumes absurd and the acting wooden. Also got to love how things in most Star Trek episodes keep gettings utterly vaporized without even leaving a scorch mark... Hate to say it but this episode was pretty bad.

(year, getting)

Korby wasted his Android Kirk. If the real Kirk’s memory is in the copy then Korby has access to top secret Starfleet info. He could sell that intel to the Romulans for a pretty penny.

Trek fan: “So Data's yellow/green skin and fake eyes on TNT is actually the more primitive design than TOS, where Roddenberry was probably just trying to save money by having androids who looked human.”

The technology to make Data (and Lore) have natural pigmentation existed, but Dr. Soong purposely made them that way so they’d stand out.

I liked the wintery atmosphere of this episode. This was Trek's first iceplanet, and the establishing shots, broad windows offering views of snowscapes, and deep tunnels leading to underground alcoves, really lend a nice, cosy-but-clausterphobic ambience. Reminds me a bit of "The Thing".

Ruk, the giant, bald, broadshouldered being was also quite impressive, and features some excellent makeup. Nurse Chapel - I'd forgotten how smouldering she was - also gets a chance to do some real acting. I also like that Kirk immediately calls for a security team when he beams down and begins to grow suspicious. It's touches like this which elevate the episode above a somewhat familiar Frankenstein/ForbiddenPlanet/CloneKirk tropes.

Something I always wondered about this episode - they beam down to the icy snowball world of Exo III, temperatures at 100 degrees below zero - shouldn't they have worn jackets or something? Chapel's in a miniskirt for goodness sakes!

I will forever enjoy this episode because of the presence of Sherry Jackson. Trek has had a lot of beautiful women as both regulars and guests across all of its series, but few if any are as stunning as Sherry.

It's interesting to me that Chapel's primary dramatic function for most of the series was to be in love with Spock, who was emotionless, and then here it's revealed that her fiance wants to replace humanity with emotionless androids. And these are the two men that Chapel chooses to love.

This says something about her, though I'm not sure just what.

where's susan calvin when you need her? dammit jim, you're a starship captain, not a robopsychologist!

The Andrea-sexpot part was just cringe worthy, especially Kirk "turning her" with the power of his sexy manliness.

But setting that aside (because what else is there to do?), a decent ep, if fairly slow moving (it took Korby forever to reveal his plan to give humanity immortality through androids).

The Nurse Chapel character development was good. And her hair is a lot nicer.

This feels like vintage Star Trek, which is pretty good in my book. I liked the thug Ruk who threw Kirk around like a ragdoll. He added to the feeling that this whole episode was a chapter out of old monster movie -- which is great casting because as others pointed out he played Lurch in the Addams Family.

One thing that especially worked was Kirk trying to tease out the emotions of each android. The love from Andrea, the jealousy from Ruk, and the pride from Korby. Majel Barret was also great with her quips, which helped make her an excellent costar in an episode which is more or less a story about her lost love gone mad.

Of course, I agree with the others that this was cheesy what with the Kirk-flirting that looked like it inspired the Fembot scene from Austin Powers. The phaser special effects were also odd, and it oddly felt like people were getting vaporized because their scene was done but not for any real story reason.

Nevertheless, the basic idea that people could somehow be replicated entirely in lab is a good subject to tackle, and the way each android felt creepily off-human - like the Uncanny Valley in action - was a real treat.

(not)rewatching the old episodes. I think many of them are more or less new for me.
It is kind of hard to get past the silliness of it all. Quite a few scenes where I laughed out loud (I know, I know, I could have written lol to save time but the pandemic has given me plenty so I can AND will spare the time to write laughing out loud as it was meant to be written long ago, saving time is the enemy right now. Everything has to be drawn out as long as possible. Wasting time is the the right move. No matter what, we cannot fall into boredom because we have literally done everything. That could be the end... So stretch, waste, slow down as much as possible. Your sanity is on the line!)

I still find the female uniforms distracting. I don't care if everybody runs around naked but these super short skirts really take me out of every scene. Lots of pelvic inflammations on the enterprise, I guess.

Lots of androids aka synth in this episode. Not as twins though. I guess that came later. I'm kind of reminded of the Orville. The thing is and what NuTrek is sadly lacking is that positive feeling. People are not broken and sad or traumatized. They are just people flying around in space doing things that they find fulfilling. mhhh yeah give the good stuff...

I cannot really say anything of substance about the episode. Sure back then that wasn't possible/thinkable but this should have been a two parter. There is far too much going on. The whole Kirk/android is the captain is not used appropriately. AndroidKirk beams onto the ship, then reacts completely out of character to tip Spock of and immediately leaves. Bad writing. I guess there will be other episodes where we see a replaced Kirk (there is the misogynistic episode where a women takes Kirk's place and cannot keep it together for 5 minutes before mega PMSing. I'm looking forward to that one (Kirk behaving like the "womenpeople" will surely be entertaining)). Sorry, I'm past my second glass of wine... ehhh what else... I don't know. Kirk is so convincing he basically reprograms the androids through talking which is pretty stupid. There is so much more to say but I'm not one who could write these really long in depth reviews.

2 1/2 penis shaped stalactites pieces

Picard season 1 seems to get a lot of influence from this one

As noted above, this really is the 'Kirk hits a monster with a stryofoam dong' episode. It actually appears to break in half - Ruk seems to be pushing it towards Kirk so you can't see the bottom has fallen off. Kirk seducing an Android is basically Austin Powers and the fembots though that was actually trying to be cringeworthy for humor.

@Cloudane, I don't know about Korby, but if you want someone who looked a lot like Trip, check out Paul Carr from "Where no Man has Gone Before."

https://www.google.com/search?q=Paul+Carr+star+trek&source=lnms&tbm=isch

Also, why do they call this episode "Little Girls"? All the robots - except one - are boys! I guess it's just really hard to see anything beyond Andrea's glorious side-boob.

Speaking of which, @Vanessa, I think it goes even further than "implied" that robot Korby and robot Andrea are reverse ratcheting.

To wit:

KORBY: Christine, you must realise an android's like a computer. It does only what I program. As a trained scientist yourself, you must realise that.

CHAPEL: Given a mechanical Doctor Brown, a mechanical geisha would be no more difficult.

Geisha. Nurse Chapel calls it out plainly.

NTTAWWT.

@ Mal,

"Also, why do they call this episode "Little Girls"? All the robots - except one - are boys!"

It's a reference to the nursery rhyme, wherein girls are made of "sugar and spice and everything nice." Since the plot is about how beings of different construction (robot vs human) can still apparently understand desire in a similar way, the nature of what we are 'made of' is relevant to the theme. And it also seems that one thing the episode is saying is that robot or human, they both love the same girl, whatever she is made of. i.e. that being female (and everything nice) trumps on some level whether she is humanoid or machine. And I think this idea is generally applicable to other TOS episodes, where Kirk's view of sex is that women are a universal constant regardless of race (or species). It's obviously a heteronormative idea but nevertheless I think very forward-thinking in terms of the idea that girls are awesome and we should understand that they are *all* awesome, not just white women.

I believe those who didn't actually experience the sixties will find the attitudes towards men's and women's societal roles quite dismal. For those of us who did live through these years, it all seemed quite proper and normal at the time.

We grew up, we gained experience, we either changed or grew bitter because we refused to.

I think the android/human argument here is disguising societal roles in general, as many of TOS episodes do, though some more hamhandedly than others.

The struggle to remain human, even in the face of rapid evolutionary and technological changes, is also apparent.

As we all continue to evolve, even as we achieve this or that year's enlightenment, may we retain our own humanity as well and either forgive the Old Ones, or at least not cast too scornful an eye because time moves through us all.

I always found this episode highly watchable and still do.

I liked the little moment in Act 1 where Uhura hugged Chapel before she left the bridge to beam down to the planet. It was a nice, small touch that showed a bit of human sympathy and decency.

I don’t have much to say that has not already been said. Just that there are some great philosophical “sci-fi” ideas about the nature of true humanity versus logic of androids. B the episode is so laughably dated in its production values (those polystyrene sets!), plus some way OTT acting...
Entertaining no doubt particularly to see an “android “ straight out of the Addams Family. We are beginning though to see the Enterprise in its comforting series familiarity.

At the risk of sounding like a horny adolescent, Andrea, daammnn! Did Shatner have a hand in creating the costume? Or the script? "Kiss me," indeed.

Two Kirk's in as many episodes!
The Styrofoam penis shaped rock is hilarious!
Ruk was quite the Adams' Family monster.

An entertaining 50 minutes with some interesting ideas about what it means to be human / an android.

Very good episode, and so great to see Majel Barrett in a role that is not annoying. Laid the foundation for androids in TNG and beyond. Bonus for having Lurch in there (I also thought it was Mr. Homm at first).

My only gripe is how repetitive the ideas are in the TOS. The episode before this is about yet another duplicate of Kirk...I mean you literally have back-to-back episodes about Kirk playing an alternative Kirk and himself. Before that, there were back-to-back episodes about humans who had secrets/abilities that no one knew about.

Looking at TOS as someone who grew up in the 90s, the effects look cheap and the technology is laughable. However, it was the strength of the characters and the acting that really carried the show. You could never have a Harry Kim or Neelix on TOS because their crappy characters would have sunk the show.

@Skater777

"My only gripe is how repetitive the ideas are in the TOS. The episode before this is about yet another duplicate of Kirk...I mean you literally have back-to-back episodes about Kirk playing an alternative Kirk and himself. Before that, there were back-to-back episodes about humans who had secrets/abilities that no one knew about."

I think it's for sure more nuanced than how you put it. There are some general themes that run throughout TOS like liberation/emancipation, dealing with more advanced aliens, examining the human condition etc. But what appears to be repetitive here are plot mechanics, I'd say. Like "The Enemy Within" and this episode, yes they do have duplicate Kirks and they come in quick succession of each other, but the stories told are very different. Similarly for "Where No Man Has Gone Before" and "Charlie X" -- it's not simply about dealing with a human who has acquired incredible powers putting the ship/crew in danger (though that is a large part of the plot dynamics). I think the showrunners for TOS struggled with the order of the episodes.

"it was the strength of the characters and the acting that really carried the show. You could never have a Harry Kim or Neelix on TOS because their crappy characters would have sunk the show."

This is spot on, I'd say, though I'd add that it was also the stories/themes/ideas that carried the show. I don't know if the special effects etc. impressed people in the 60s/70s but I don't think that was ever meant to be one of the pillars of classic Trek like it is for nu-Trek. Some of the visuals/studio sets/backdrops of TOS still impress me -- the vintage nature of the 60s vision of the future.

This one is surprisingly prescient for the 1960’s. It’s more relevant today with global billionaire elitists actually talking about one day transferring their souls/consciousness into artificial bodies to prolong their lives. One thing Star Trek seems to often do well is put up horrifying mirrors to our current issues and challenges, even ones that seem hokey at first glance, in sort of a Twilight Zone or Black Mirror way.

Personally, I’m normally all for technological advancement and proactive innovation that will make our lives better. If there’s money to be made, this Pig endorses it--with one exception: “sentient” AI. That’s my red line. Science fiction has adequately warned us over the years about exactly what will happen if we invent machines that can think for themselves without any input from us--in some way, they will eventually decide biological life is obsolete and possibly enslave or more likely exterminate it. Hell, Lurch even states this in dialogue within this very episode. Unless we collectively agree to restrict any form of artificial intelligence to the “dumb” variety--robots performing menial tasks and strictly unable to “grow” beyond their programming, and software capable of nothing more than suggesting playlists and organizing schedules--we’re pretty much done for. Some kind of international treaty banning the development of this technology would probably be necessary (and this is not without precedent).

But of course, who am I kidding. Probably only a few years from now, someone working for Mr. Musk (despite his warnings about “summoning the demon”) or some lonely mouth-breather deep in a secret underground lab in America, China, Russia or Korea will create a Frankenstein monster. In short order, it will be revealed “by accident,” and suddenly the new arms race will be on. I give us fifty years, tops.

I like how this episode drops the other shoe and reveals that Roger Korby is no longer a “he,” but an “it.” As I mentioned above, there’s already talk about prolonging life by transferring a person’s consciousness into an artificial body, or “golem” if you will. “What Are Little Girls Made Of?” shows us pretty viscerally how great of an idea that will turn out to be.

So I appreciate how Star Trek seems to come down on the side of humanity on this one, however flawed we might be. The writing here is fairly thoughtful, and the acting was pretty amusing--hammy Shatner pays his dues and I liked Majel Barrett’s turn as Nurse Chapel. I agree with some above commenters that it’s nice to see some other characters get some love in this show as it makes the ship seem more lived-in.

Best line:
Spock -- “I was dismayed by your use of the term “half-breed,” Captain.”

My Grade: B+

@Proud Capitalist Pig
>Unless we collectively agree to restrict any form of artificial intelligence to the “dumb” variety--robots performing menial tasks and strictly unable to “grow” beyond their programming...

I think we may have to create robots to replace us eventually because our planet won't last forever and life as we know it is not suited to space travel. Artificial life has a better chance of surviving the void of space and exploring the galaxy.

In the short term I agree with you that artificial life shouldn't be made sentient or to have emotions. I think we will have to build robots that can learn like humans in order to replace many occupations but they can't develop too much. There needs to be balance.

Happy birthday William Ware Theiss, the designer of Andrea’s outfit. Thank you from boys and men everywhere!

This episode was interesting. Helped that Andrea was hot!

This episode seems to be the initial original series installment of android vs human vs feelings. It's too bad that the majority of episodes end up with the androids losing.

This is such a fun episode, it was never one of my favorites, but it really is the first “Trek” of the initial TOS episodes so far. Here we have all the glorious cliches:

- Red shirt massacre!
- The raw power of Kirk’s sexyosity, even emotionless android babes can’t resist him!
- Kirk’s amazing destructive logic loops, Ruk never stood a chance.

So many TOS tropes seen for the first time, I love it. Also, possibly the funniest scene ever:

“Kiss me” “Illogical” ZAPP. Brilliant.

There’s also the ever present philosophical issues and fantastic character beats that represent the bread and butter of TOS, but for me this episode is all about the fun.

@Idh2023:

I also enjoy this episode for the fun of it, but always with some disappointment. It raises some really intriguing questions, for example: just think that, like Korby, you can preserve a your mind in an android body – would that still be you? Given Chapel’s horror and Kirk’s line “Doctor Korby was never here”, I guess the answer here is “no”, but I think this could have used some discussion. Does their refusal have an ethical background? Or do they simply object to Korby’s plan to introduce his androids in human societies, drawing profit from someone else’s invention and ignoring the risks? We can only speculate. Of course there’s nothing inherently wrong with episodes which raise more questions than they answer – most TOS episodes do. My problem here is that here they don’t even really try and instead they spent the time on flirting, kissing, running around and fighting – it feels like a wasted opportunity.

@lannion

The philosophical potential is definitely a bit short changed in this episode, I agree. Normally that would bug me more, but for some reason this episode just hits me in the “goofy fun” department of my brain, and I accept it on those terms.
It still does some thought provoking work of course. The idea that the pursuit of perfection is an inherently destructive, even dehumanizing, affair is pretty potent stuff. Or the notion that technology will invariably destroy its creator, unless of course your name is Jim Kirk and you can run logic circles around it;)
But I prefer to value this episode as a trend setter in the Trek universe, pushing redshirts into bottomless pits with abandon!

Randomizer:

I guess newbie86 will be up to this one soon. Without a rewatch, I'd say what's remarkable for this one is that it's the first foray AI for the franchise, and that it gives Chapel some backstory and agency and character (besides the Spock thing) for the first and, as far as TOS goes, mostly only time. It's kind of a Frankenstein story, kind of Gothic with Kirby making some scary robots in its scary cave, and I think its feel is kind of cool and spooky, but I've always had a hard time quite latching onto it (I've seen it more than once but don't remember what exactly happened).

Being a ST newbie and fresh from a TNG run, it’s hard not to see this episode as a sort of opposite to what Data is. Data is the Pinocchio figure, a machine wanting to become more like a human being. Here we have Korby, a human being wanting to become more like a machine. Not only himself but he had quite a plan for the rest of humanity, didn’t he? I suppose he must, otherwise he would fail to be a compelling villain. All villains have a plan for humanity, like Kirk points out during the dinner scene.

I agree with Jammer and the people here talking about the more philosophical implications of the plot but I feel like while the question is posed elegantly, the plot’s answer to its own conundrum is rather coarse and forced down our throats. How quickly these perfectly logical beings turn violent and incoherent! How easily Kirk breaks their logic apart and shows humanity is clearly superior! I’m not saying I didn’t like it, I actually enjoyed this one quite a bit, but!

But it suffers from “humans win because humans wrote the script” syndrome. I’m sure this trope must have a name but that’s how I personally call it. This happens quite often with the Borg as well and so many other aliens and other forms of life humanity encounter in the worlds of fantasy.

I know deep down those stories are about mythologizing our faith in our ability to overcome our own shortcomings, our ability to evolve as a society and individuals, and the aliens and androids are just ourselves behind a veil (what else could it be?) but I don’t know, I feel like a creature of pure logic should be more… logical. The superior lifeform starts to destroy itself haphazardly, Kirk barely did anything, it was like pushing a house of cards. I didn’t feel like there was a threat here at all! Comparing this episode with Charlie X, where the menace is wonderfully laid out to the point of becoming an effective horror story, this one looks rather childish. Still, pretty entertaining!

And thanks to AJ and his comment from 2015 I now realize Nurse Chapel and Lwaxana Troi are both played by the same actor. Boy I’m terrible with faces! I didn’t see it at all!

@William B Yup here I am, I decided to watch it in the order the episodes aired instead of production order like I’ve read some people here did/do. Btw I quite enjoy your comments! Just read the one you wrote for "Where No Man Has Gone Before" and I enjoyed the approach of reading the story as being less that power corrupts as that power attracts the corruptible. I feel like you put more effort into smoothing out some of these plots than the writers ever did.

I’m a huge fan of TOS, and loved Ted Cassidy as Ruk, and Andrea’s costume.

Otherwise this episode is only good when campy (the penis stalactite) or iconic (red shirts being inexplicably left alone to die).

Sadly, most of the rest of it borders on unwatchable now. This episode certainly has not aged well, unlike, say, “The Way to Eden”, which, while not a great episode, has definitely improved with time.

Just started the episode, but I found the dialogue between Spock and Chapel amusing. Because of SNW, Chapel would know for a fact that Spock was once engaged. Although, you could say that she is just teasing him with that question.

Lots to like and it sets the foundation for future quintessential Trek but the actual storytelling is disappointingly muddled and contradictory. Korby is first introduced by passionately kissing Korby, or at least it's evidently passionate enough to convince Chapel that he's the real deal. But by the end Korby can't come up with a single gesture or statement to convince her of his authentic humanity? How quickly everyone forgets! Korby also seemingly wants to have his cake and eat it too: insistent til the end that he and his kind enjoy the full spectrum of humanity yet thinking he is somehow superior because they're not susceptible to their humanity ever running awry.

The theme of the episode -- that there be can no "superior" alternative to humanity augmented through addition or subtraction by overzealous scientists -- seems somewhat undermined because it is those petty all-too-human jealousies and resentments that Korby thinks he has removed, which end up rearing their ugly heads in Andrea and becomes the fly in the ointment that causes his plans to topple like a house of cards. It makes you wonder if only he had done his job better he might have been vindicated.. but that would be contrary to the whole point of the show!

Just want to say a few words about Nurse Chapel. As a kid watching these episodes, my impression of her was that her character was meant to be a "plain jane" type and not really attractive. I was very wrong. Now that I'm old and rewatching the series, I can see that Nurse Chapel was gorgeous! She looks great in this episode, beautiful and statuesque. And Majel Barrett deserves a lot of credit for the performance; it was excellent.

OK, enough about her appearance. The episode is overall just ok, not one of the best, but good enough to watch. Star Trek in my mind has about 10 or 15 elite episodes, maybe 5 clunkers, and a bunch of episodes like this that are fine.

This was always one of my favorites as a kid watching syndicated reruns after school. Now I can see more flaws, but I still have a soft spot for it.

Kirk takes it on the chin, and everywhere else in this episode. Good old romance drama, android races, imposters, this has it all. It has some stuff that would be repeated too many times like good erathglings gone bad after a sojourn in space, etc. Still, I'll go with 3 stars

Not really a new observation that Uhura, Chekov, and Sulu didn't get much to do on the show, but it just occurred to me that we really know more about Nurse Chapel and even Kevin Riley than we do about the secondary crew.

We bag on Travis for being sidelined on Enterprise, but he got way more to do than those guys.

ATB123 wrote:
"Just want to say a few words about Nurse Chapel. As a kid watching these episodes, my impression of her was that her character was meant to be a "plain jane" type and not really attractive. I was very wrong. Now that I'm old and rewatching the series, I can see that Nurse Chapel was gorgeous! She looks great in this episode, beautiful and statuesque. And Majel Barrett deserves a lot of credit for the performance; it was excellent."

I mostly agree and after watching this episode again, I'm a little sad that Christine didn't have a better, more important role in Star Trek other than dutiful nurse.

I do have a couple of issues with her performance though.

First, the jealousy when it comes to Andrea, the mechanical geisha. I love that description by the way. Nurses deal with all kinds of unusual human behavior and see things the rest of us can only groan at. I very much doubt that just because it's the 23rd century, that kind of thing isn't going on.

Korby's on a planet for I don't know how many years. He created a robot and is fiddling around with it. So what? I don't understand being jealous of a female android, no matter how marvelous she is. I'm assuming there's an "off" button somewhere. That alone should make Christine take a hard look at her feelings.

Second, while she's immediately jealous, the thing she should be, "suspicious", doesn't surface until late into the episode. I would think her suspicions about Korby would have kicked in right after he requested additional people be beamed down. I have to stop right here because I wondered why Korby didn't have Ruk grab the two security guards and put them on ice until he could make duplicates.

Back to Christine. Even after Captain Kirk is duplicated, instead of seeing the real truth about this guy and being horrified, she has this conversation with robotKirk:

CHAPEL: I know it doesn't make sense. What he's done may seem wrong, but he is Roger Korby, whatever he seems to be doing.
KIRK2: Unless something's gone wrong with his mind.
CHAPEL: No. You're forgetting how well I know him. He's as sane as you or I.
KIRK2: Nurse, if I gave you a direct order to betray him
CHAPEL: Please, don't ask me to make that choice. I'd much rather you push me off the same precipice where Matthews died.

What the hell? Christine, you don't know Korby as well as you think! Remember, there's a at least a five year time lapse here. People change. If they are human, that is.

Granted this is the robot who would run to Korby with any information he learns. However, things are going south very fast. Let him hotfoot it to Korby. Speaking of Korby, is deceiving the love of your life appropriate here? He talks about answering all questions, gives Christine authority over Ruk, truth and trust, then sends robotKirk to fool her?

I would have liked Chapel to take more chances and help the real Kirk rather than portraying the damsel in distress for most of the episode. It is to her credit that the truth finally does dawn on her. I suppose I could chalk it up to my view that Kirk and Andrea have much more chemistry, and he.... I can't believe I'm actually saying this, does resist Andrea's kiss when he orders her to kiss him.

Christine and Dr. Korby have no chemistry whatsoever.

I really like that, at the beginning of the episode, Spock comments that the sun has been fading for half a million years. That is realism, and a change from Star Trek's annoying habit of breaking down catastrophes, (i.e., supernovas), exploding in a matter of hours.

Kirk, asking Spock if Korby could still be alive after five years in front of Chapel. That was really tacky.

Peremensoe wrote:
"Indeed. "Dr. Korby was never here."

But was Kirk correct?"

Yes. I think the real Dr. Korby was killed long ago after Ruk figured out how to make a duplicate. We saw how Captain Kirk was duplicated, right down to his memories. There was never any indication that a human consciousness could be transferred into a host body. So how did it happen with Korby?

Also, how was his duplicate not like the original? According to Korby, his legs were frozen. Only his brain was functioning. The injuries, just like any scar or imperfection, should have been copied. Theoretically, RobotKorby would have been created with fake frostbite and therefore, could not walk. But then. putting him in a wheelchair for the episode might have been an interesting twist.

I always laugh at the technology that duplicates Kirk, though. How does spinning a big pile of mud around at high speed create a perfect copy instead of a mess? The creative team could have certainly come up with something better than that. But then we don't get to see Kirk nude and they almost went a little too far with that.

"Return to Tomorrow", like this episode, deals with androids. For all of the "seeding of planets" that Sargon talks about, it's strange that this planet's technology wasn't reviewed. Sargon placed his consciousness in the Enterprise. Why not make his inhabiting worthwhile by taking a look at the background and planet specs. These androids experienced feelings, something Thalassa and Sargon's creation couldn't do. It was the very quality Thalassa was looking for.

Would Thalassa mind looking like Andrea? I doubt it.

Despite some goofiness, I could sit and watch this episode over again. It's actually rather fun in a weird sort of way.

"Kirk, asking Spock if Korby could still be alive after five years in front of Chapel. That was really tacky."

I think it's an interesting character moment. Spock is much more careful about sparing Chapel's feelings than Kirk.


"There was never any indication that a human consciousness could be transferred into a host body. So how did it happen with Korby?"

Korby covers this at one point:

"What you saw was only a machine, Only half of what I could've accomplished, Do you understand? By continuing the process I could've transferred you, your very consciousness into that android. Your soul, if you wish."



You asked Kirk saying "Dr. Korby was never here." You agreed with him, but I'm not so sure. I think Korby killed himself once he realized the horror of what he'd done. A human response. I could be totally wrong about that though.

Oh, I also think that Kirk saying Korby was never there is for Chapel's benefit. At the beginning Kirk tactlessly says something about Korby being dead in front of Chapel, in the middle he asks but doesn't order her to choose duty over love, and by the end he's learned to respect her feelings. A little character arc for Kirk.

""Korby covers this at one point:

"What you saw was only a machine, Only half of what I could've accomplished, Do you understand? By continuing the process I could've transferred you, your very consciousness into that android. Your soul, if you wish.""

There's no other way to say this: I goofed.

""You asked Kirk saying "Dr. Korby was never here." You agreed with him, but I'm not so sure. I think Korby killed himself once he realized the horror of what he'd done. A human response. I could be totally wrong about that though.""

I was focused on how Korby reacts and was convinced that he was an android from the beginning. The first thing I noticed happened aboard the ship. Kirk tells Dr. Korby there will be two in the landing party. Christine does her "Hello Roger" thing and then there's a notable pause before Korby acknowledges her. Then Spock takes it from there and asks Christine if she recognizes the voice. Another very strange question for the viewer. Her answer was a little strange too. After asking Spock if he's ever been engaged, she concurs it is Dr. Korby. I presume this answer is to provoke the viewer into believing she's hopelessly in love so she'd know Roger's voice anywhere. But there is still doubt.

A similar thing happens after Kirk and Christine beam down and meet Brown. He doesn't seem to recognize her, even after she calls him that silly nickname, 'Brownie'. I assume Brown was such a close friend that he got a nickname in the first place. But he acts like he didn't know her. He pauses, notably, after which he calls her by name.

Christine tries to excuse Brown's forgetfulness, but that just seems to be another element to make the viewer wonder what's going on.

""Oh, I also think that Kirk saying Korby was never there is for Chapel's benefit. At the beginning Kirk tactlessly says something about Korby being dead in front of Chapel, in the middle he asks but doesn't order her to choose duty

I don't know, Kirk's view of women often leaves a lot to be desired. I'm not sure if it was a redemption tactic, or if he believed like Christine: Everything Dr. Korby did in those cabins proved he wasn't Dr. Korby. Christine discovered the truth and maybe she learned a few things about herself too. There is no doubt she was reluctant at first, but she is the heroine of the episode.

I know when I was reading through this thread, a question came up about whether a person would still be that same person if they decided to transfer their conscience into a machine. At first, I was inclined to say that they would be the same, but thinking about that further, I don't know how the conscience could stay the same. I don't think that would be possible.

While Sargon and Thalassa talked of oblivion because feelings were too tempting, maybe instead they were thinking of the temptations that might occur and become real, should they inhabit an android machine,

""I think it's an interesting character moment. Spock is much more careful about sparing Chapel's feelings than Kirk.""

Leonard Nimoy really took the character of Spock to new heights at times. He doesn't have to say a thing. His compassion and tact speak louder than words in that scene.

Everything Dr. Korby did in those caverns proved he wasn't Dr. Korby.

I proofread my post and still missed that this sentence was supposed to be about caverns.

"the oddly shaped Kirk rock"

If Kirk had made a habit of separating phallic protrusions from the cavern walls, he could have been described as getting his rocks off.

I'm confused as to how to interpret Korby's last scene. Is he a robot that thought he was a man? A man in a robot's body who realizes that he's crossed a moral boundary? Why did he kill himself? Why did he kill Andrea? Why did he say Andrea was incapable of love? Was she?

Brownie was based on a real person - was Andrea? Why does Brownie feel less advanced than Korby?


Questions like this eat at me until I grow so frustrated that I sour on an episode.




There are some nice character moments in the first scene. Twice onboard the Enterprise Kirk puts a damper on Chapel's optimism regarding Korby being alive. I interpret this as him trying to keep her from being too crushed when the inevitable bad news arrived. When they get the message from Korby and beam down this gets reversed; Chapel is disappointed that Roger isn't there and Kirk gives her reason for optimism.

I also liked how, when asked by Kirk what the odds are of Korby surviving, Spock refrains from his usual impossibly exact estimations and instead looks behind Kirk without answering. He's looking at Chapel, but the camera never pulls back or cuts to her. I also note the quick congratulatory kiss Uhura gives Chapel as she's stepping towards the turbolift.


Small, subtle, characterization. We've lost that on Trek.

Still thinking about the ending.


Korby 2.0 views Brownie and Andrea as nothing more than machines. "A thing, not a woman" as he puts it. Incapable of real emotions. Andrea was constructed to be a sex doll/lab assistant. Korby says he built Brown with Ruk's aid. Korby needed an assistant, so who better than Brown 2.0? I don't think "Brownie" actually remembered Chapel. He knew she was beaming down so it was a simple deduction. Both are just 'bots. No mind transference involved in either case.

My belief: Korby 2.0 is "just" a robot, but there is still a lot of Korby in him. I don't think Korby 2.0 is evil. His immediate goal is to get off Exo III without Starfleet finding out what he and his assisants are. If he were evil, he would just copy and kill Kirk. He's sticking to his principles by trying to persuade Kirk. Ruk, Brown, and Andrea show no compunction about killing. Korby in contrast does - until the end of the episode when he tells Andrea to get a weapon and "deal" with an intruder. He then threatens Kirk with a phaser. "Survival must cancel out programming!"

When Kirk, and then Chapel, confront Korby 2.0 with the fact that everything he's been doing proves he can't be the real Korby he's shattered. He knows that something is wrong. Korby 1.0 would never kill. He surrenders his weapon to Kirk. Korby's last line of defense is that he, unlike Andrea, can love. That proves he's human. But then Andrea says she loves him and he realizes that his love for Christine is just another part of his programming. Knowing what he is, he accepts the fact he and the other androids will almost inevitably kill so he destroys himself and Andrea.


At the beginning of the episode Kirk does not believe that Korby is alive. When Chapel expresses optimism that Korby could be alive Kirk tries to temper her expectations. I assume it's an attempt to cushion her from what he sees as an inevitable disappointment. When they beam down to find that Korby isn't at the designated meeting place, Chapel is worried and disappointed. Now Kirk tries to reassure her. Protecting her again. I think this may be important when thinking about the episode's ending. Remember how Spock looked over Kirk's shoulder towards Chapel when Kirk asked him to calculate the odds of Korby's survival in the opening scene? Well, at the end, Spock asks "Where's Dr. Korby?" and Kirk glances at Chapel before answering "Dr. Korby was never here." I think at that point Kirk may have believed that there was more of the original Korby in that metal shell than he previously thought. Of course, he would never tell Chapel that.

I think one takeaway might be not so much that there's some binary of human vs "a thing", but rather than these robotic storehouses of human form and memory are at best a monstrous Frankenstein's monster. Even if Korby possessed some of the original's love and compassion, it was certainly also mixed with a certain amount of robotic uncaring, so that these elements were in conflict. In Ruk's case maybe there was more machine than man, so to speak, and so we could wonder what the ratio is in each copy. But would a 20% human really be human at all? Is immortality in an artificial body any preservation of the real person? I could see the argument that the fraction of the person remaining in the robot is even more horrible than if there was none.

Anyhow, despite not being my favorite episode at least it asks the question which it never occurred to anyone in ST: Picard (S1, mind you) to even realize was an issue.

I think things like procreation, aging, and mortality are essential elements to what makes humans human, so even if a robot duplicated a human right down to its "soul" it would begin to lose touch with its humanity from that moment on.