Metamorphosis

Just rewatched this episode, I'm not ashamed to say that it always leaves tears in my eyes. It's such a moving story. Star Trek at its best.

 

It, and "Is There in Truth..." are high on my list of favorites.

 

"Metamorphosis" is probably one of my ten favorite TOS episodes, though it does have its share of weak points. Glenn Corbett comes across as rather wimpy as the rejuvenated Zefram Cochrane. And I don't quite buy his disgust and revulsion when told that the noncorporeal Companion is female and loves him. I mean, I could understand if it was a slimy buglike thing with tentacles, but it's just a cloud, for Christ's sake -- it doesn't even have a body!

I like the idea of Commissioner Nancy Hedford and the Companion merging into a single entity -- very science-fictiony, for lack of a better term. But that creates a rather large plot hole. If Kirk and crew kept mum about what happened, how did they explain Hedford's disappearance?

One plus is the lushly melodic score by George Duning, who also did music for "Return to Tomorrow," "Is There In Truth No Beauty?" and "The Empath."

 

The Commish was dying. Kirk and crew just had to say that she died. They didn't want to share the shuttle with a rotting corpse, so they spaced her body.

 

Shuttlecraft have no apparent airlock.

 

That might be a factor in my liking it. Is There in Truth... may be my favorite Trek score.

 

Better to just stick to the truth as much as possible. The shuttle was marooned on a planetoid, she died before the Enterprise found us, so we buried her on the planetoid . . . .

 

Why stop there? The truth could carry farther than that.

"We were stranded on a planetoid. It turned out this was because a weird space monster had grabbed us. It took possession of Commissioner Hedford's body. As far as we could determine, nothing at all was left of Hedford herself. At that point, we managed to withdraw and, well, here we are."

Timo Saloniemi

 

"We were stranded on a planetoid, Commissioner Hedford died, and since we were running out of food ..."

 

“With a body full of Sakuro's disease germs? Eccch!”

 

Hmm. The problem there is that some curious scientist is bound to want to investigate this reported new life-form, or Starfleet is going to want to do something about this dangerous creature that is hijacking Starfleet shuttles. Or, worse yet, Hedford's family isn't going to believe that she can't be saved and demand some sort of rescue mission. Or at least have lots of awkward questions for Kirk about how their sister or daughter came to be left behind.

Yes, I know that Nancy claimed to have a loveless existence, but she seemed to be talking about romantic love. She's bound to have a concerned family somewhere, who are probably going to want more of an explanation than "Oh, she was possessed by an alien cloud, so we ditched her on a planetoid."

Since she was already dying anyway, why muddy the waters by mentioning the Companion? Just report that some sort of weird ionized cloud threw the shuttle off-course and she died of a fever before she could rescued. Simple, straightforward, and no loose ends.

 

The problem of a navigation hazard would still remain - unless we assume that the route our heroes took from Epsilon Canaris III to the Enterprise was an exceptional one, and nobody else could reasonably be expected to use it again. But Starfleet and the Federation did seem to be taking an interest in the affairs of that planet. Could Cochrane and the Companion hope to hide from a navigational hazards survey that checked out the asteroid belt?

Kirk being forced to dump the body would be a reasonable explanation if the shuttle run was expected to last for more than a few days, or ended up lasting that long due to the diversion. But the episode doesn't give that impression. And even the stardates given seem to comply for once, showing only about point five units of progress from our heroes' first attempt at taming the Companion (Hedford was still quite alive at that point) to their eventual rescue. Kirk would probably have to alter these details for his log, and for Scotty's - assuming Scotty didn't inform Starfleet already during the search.

Timo Saloniemi

 

"We dropped her off on Ceti Alpha V, so she could open diplomatic relations with Khan."

 

It was really normal. There was a level of intimacy there that he thought was not sexual. Assuming you're straight, imagine if your best buddy, the one to whom you tell everything, suddenly reached over and kissed you hard on the mouth. Suddenly your conception of the entire relationship, from inception on, changes. You feel betrayed and violated. You feel like your entire relationship with this person, who has shared your intimate thoughts, has been a lie.
Makes sense to me.

 

^ "So, Spock, about that Vulcan mind-meld thing you're always doing . . . ?"

 

^ it has been posited. A lot.

 

I'm glad somebody mentioned this episode, because I was just going to add it to the "underrated episodes" thread.

I love this episode! Definitely in my top 3 of all time!

Everything about this episode is of the highest quality.

-set design had an actual alien feel to it. Looked better than average for Star Trek.
-Commissioner Hedford is by far the best looking Trek Babe of all time, IMHO.
-good acting all around
-the theme of being isolated and alone was handled very well.
-i have a thing for sci-fi where lead characters are stranded by themselves, or at least deprived of human contact (e.g. Robert Silverberg books such as Thorns, Dying Inside, Book of Skulls, Man in the Maze, etc.)
-the ending reminds me of my favorite Star Trek movie, the motion picture (TMP)
-has a stand alone quality about it, as if it could've been an episode of the twilight zone or a cool movie.
-i think somebody alread mentioned the music. But sometime Star Trek could really surprise you with its music.
-overall, I think it's just a cool episode. I know it's cliche to say, but this would've made for a good sci-fi show, Star Trek or not. It was just interesting love story.

 

A great and moving ep, one that always satisfies. The music and the acting (especially "The Big Three") are top-notch.

 

Elinor Donahue was certainly pretty, but better looking than Susan Oliver? Sally Kellerman? Sherry Jackson? Marianna Hill? Barbara Anderson? Joan Collins? Leslie Parrish? Barbara Luna? Celeste Yarnall? Julie Newmar? Nancy Kovack? Barbara Bouchet? Diana Muldaur? Joanne Linville? Sabrina Scharf? Yvonne Craig? France Nuyen? Lee Meriwether? Mariette Hartley?

 

Since you asked. Sally Kellerman, ugly. Susan Oliver, ugly. Sherry Jackon, pretty cute. Joan Collins, okay she's pretty sexy. Julie Newmar, blech. Diana Muldaur, you've got to be kidding me. (Sorry, Dr. Pulaski). Nancy Kovack, scary looking. Lee Meriwether, stunningly gorgeous, but not as cute as Hedford. Joan Linville, you've got be kidding. You asked. I like what I like.