Hugely important episode in so many ways in real life, not just in the Trek universe. How many young black children in the 1960s had their first view of a distinguished respected black scientist from this episode. In many interviews adults in their 60s today reflect back on this episode as pivotal for the respect Kirk showed to Daystrom.
Do think though that the impact of the portrayal as singular as it was, was mitigated at all by revelation of his paranoia, and as McCoy typified it, perhaps insanity. A portrayal of an extremely positive image, but one when all the layers have been peeled away, ultimately a mad one.
On the other hand, one could look at the source of his bitterness, rage, and eventual loss of perspective and control as the result of his previous work being belittled and mocked, at least as he perceived it, which while certainly not put in racial terms contemporaneously, might very well have been a life experience that was meant to convey a resonance that black viewers would likely well identify with and, in fact, see as a rationale for Daystrom's evolving sense of being under attack by, if not the greater society, than more tellingly, by his peers.
What do you think?
Marshall by the way, was quite a distinguished actor, always displaying an imposing gravitas. He also was an opera singer, I believe.
Several stupid things make it only a 7 for me. Third, Wesley. He's written as an idiot, i.e. thinking Kirk is responsible for what the M5 is doing, given he knows a) Kirk personally, that b) M5 is an experimental system, and c) they forced most of Kirk's crew off the ship, leaving him short-handed. The first conclusion he ought to have come to when hit with full phasers is that M5 was malfunctioning, then, when no one shut it off, assumed that M5 had incapacitated or killed the crew.
But at least he had the brains, intuition, or whatever to recognize that the vulnerability that Enterprise appeared to be presenting itself as being in, was somehow inconsistent with how the ship had pursued and attacked its prey, to the extent that he thought it borderline plausible that what he was seeing was not simply a ploy. Does he deserve any props for that rather than being logical and attempting to end the series?
The computer voice is one of those times when most viewers have no idea it's Jimmy. The additional starships and exciting space battle are great, but kind of a missed opportunity in the CBS remastered version.
I've not seen it. Does it actually show damage to the destroyed ships, not their just being tilted like marionettes with their strings having been severed?
The relevance of the episode's issue--machines replacing man--was prescient; this was emerging as a serious concern in the mid-20th century, and recent history supports the theory that as time passes and technology advances, this will become an ever more immediate and disconcerting subject.
In reading this, I'm struck by an interesting echo of Cogley's defense of Kirk and actual life view. I think I always found his character unrealistic in holding such opinions centuries after the influence of computers on all aspects of experience became omnipresent. It's interesting that you point out the reasonableness perhaps, that such an attitude at this point in the future, might not be such an outlier.
