Roger Corby Nitpick

[johcomp]

I'm a newb here, so please excuse me if this has been discussed before but..

If Dr Corby was an android, who didn't even flinch while his hand was being mashed by the door near the end of the ep, isn't it a bit strange that he coughs, splutters and chokes when Kirk is garrotting him about 10 minutes earlier?

Sorry to be a nitpicker, but has anyone else thought this?

 

[Timewalker]

Because we weren't supposed to know earlier that he was an android.

 

[Crewman47]

Wasn't it established that not even Korby knew he was an android and also maybe he was designed with the full intent of acting fully human by the android making machine so that he wouldn't suspect anything.

 

[Ziz]

No, just the opposite. Corby knew he was an android all along, he was trying to convince Kirk and Chapel that it was irrelevant, that he was still "himself" psychologically.

 

[Christopher]

To be a convincing replica of a human, and to speak like a human, an android would need to breathe. Even if having air cut off didn't endanger his life, such an android would still make choking and sputtering noises if trying to talk with a restricted airway.

 

[Ssosmcin]

And with all that, Korby didn't have his androids eat.

 

[Sector 7]

And with all that, Korby didn't have his androids eat.

He didn't wanna clean up the mess.

 

[Supervisor 194]

Dramatic license. Besides, the story and acting carry you through.

 

[Jeri]

I'm a newb here, so please excuse me if this has been discussed before but..

If Dr Corby was an android, who didn't even flinch while his hand was being mashed by the door near the end of the ep, isn't it a bit strange that he coughs, splutters and chokes when Kirk is garrotting him about 10 minutes earlier?

Sorry to be a nitpicker, but has anyone else thought this?

Appendages may be engineered differently than core organs. A lizard, for example, can lose part of its tail and not suffer; but breaking its neck would be fatal. Also, reaction to trauma may be engineered to be different in various parts of an android body.

 

[gastrof]

I suspect Corby was a sneaky manipulator from the start, and that when he and Andrea disappeared, it was really a transporter effect, not a disintegration.

They're currrently (relative time) vacationing on Risa.

He occasionally sells trillium to make a few credits.

 

[Jonas Grumby]

^ I think gastrof's got it right...except for their final destination.

The officials on Risa took one look at Andrea and immediately "upgraded" her and Korby to their exclusive "members only" resort on Wrigley's Pleasure Planet.

 

[Brutal Strudel]

To be a convincing replica of a human, and to speak like a human, an android would need to breathe. Even if having air cut off didn't endanger his life, such an android would still make choking and sputtering noises if trying to talk with a restricted airway.

Plus, the good doctor hadn't revealed he was android yet. The simplest explanation: he was faking so as not to give up the game to Kirk or Chapel.

 

[gastrof]

While I like the "he was faking" idea, the fact remains that Ruk (Rok?) quickly removed the cord from Corby's throat, like it had to be done right away.

Did Corby react in pain when his hand got crushed/torn/mangled? Can't remember. I do recall him holding it up oddly when telling Christine 'This can be fixed', like maybe it wasn't working right.

Maybe they were still vulnerable to some injuries, just for different reasons than a human?

 

[Brutal Strudel]

While I like the "he was faking" idea, the fact remains that Ruk (Rok?) quickly removed the cord from Corby's throat, like it had to be done right away.

Did Corby react in pain when his hand got crushed/torn/mangled? Can't remember. I do recall him holding it up oddly when telling Christine 'This can be fixed', like maybe it wasn't working right.

Maybe they were still vulnerable to some injuries, just for different reasons than a human?

Good point. Was Chapel there when Ruk did it? Ruk was clever, he would then have been playing along for her benefit.

 

[Trevacious]

"Does this make such a difference?!?"

 

[Brutal Strudel]

"Does this make such a difference?!?"

Trevacious, for God's sake, put that away!

Oh, you were quoting the episode. Never mind.

 

[Timo]

Was Chapel there when Ruk did it? Ruk was clever, he would then have been playing along for her benefit.

Yes, Chapel watched the whole exchange - and Korby and Ruk would have seen her watching. After Ruk launched after the escaping Kirk, Korby kept on choking long enough to have Chapel come to him and comfort him. After that, Chapel, too, went after Kirk, and the camera cut away from a still-cackling Korby.

It's perfectly possible that Korby then looked over his shoulder, saw Christine's departing derriere, immediately straightened up, combed back his hair and proceeded to the nearest surveillance station to monitor the chase via CCTV.

OTOH, it would also make dramatic sense if Korby remained incapacitated for a while, and thus failed to see how Ruk showed surprising compassion to Kirk. In that case, we'd have to assume that his android body really was susceptible to throttling.

Timo Saloniemi

 

[bintak]

To be a convincing replica of a human, and to speak like a human, an android would need to breathe. Even if having air cut off didn't endanger his life, such an android would still make choking and sputtering noises if trying to talk with a restricted airway.

I like that explanation very much.

 

[Timo]

However, one wouldn't expect an android to bend over in pain and lean to a wall when his airways were compromised in such a manner, or, say, when one of his hands was crushed. There would be no mechanical reason for the leaning behavior in such a case of limited damage. A more likely way for a hurt android to behave would be to keep walking straight at a brisk pace, while screwing his or her head back on...

The way Korby gets incapacitated by the throttling indicates that he's performing a rather complete imitation of human behavior, either consciously or unconsciously. It's quite possible that his body is either programmed or hardwired to suffer exactly like a human body, despite the mechanical elements: he'd choke and bend over when throttled, and go to an initially pain-tolerant shock when wounded so that his internal circuitry shows. This could be because he anticipated the need to pass for a human, or because this is how the Old Ones wanted all their androids to behave.

Timo Saloniemi