The Ultimate Computer (bad ending?)

[PCz911]

By the way, I thought William Marshall did a great job portraying Daystrom.

I totally agree. Marshall's performance really made daystrom be a sympathetic character to me. As for characters with melt downs, i never like commodore decker, a bit too far over the top, but daystrom ... You really felt for the guy even as he went off the reservation.

 

[Richard Baker]

The 'happy trio endings' do jar at times- perhaps it is gallows humor.

The Catspaw "Jackson is dead" line makes that episode though- it does show how any death of a crewman can affect Kirk.

 

[Hypaspist]

The 'happy trio endings' do jar at times- perhaps it is gallows humor.

The Catspaw "Jackson is dead" line makes that episode though- it does show how any death of a crewman can affect Kirk.

I think you're right on both points. It's kind of a fine line between caring for your men but understanding the inherently hazardous nature of Starfleet.

Daystrom is clearly mad, and is a tragic and sympathetic character. It's almost like he loves his creation so much that he was become somehow blind to the value of the human mind and soul. When I saw the show as a kid, I was just like 'send that moron to prison!' but now I think it's actually a little bit better than that.

 

[DarthPipes]

The 'happy trio endings' do jar at times- perhaps it is gallows humor.

The Catspaw "Jackson is dead" line makes that episode though- it does show how any death of a crewman can affect Kirk.

Yeah, a lot of shows at the time and later on had these kind of "happy endings." I can excuse some of it though...people respond differently to these kind of things and humor can help you get through it.

The "happy ending" I find infuriating is "By Any Other Name." An episode I like to be sure but it ends with Kirk pretty much promisng to let the Kelvans find a planet to settle on. He pretty much ignores the fact that their leader, Rojan, turned his yeoman into a cube and crushed her. Rojan and his group of crybabies murdered a member of his crew in cold blood and Kirk is going to let them settle happily on a planet? Now I understand, Kirk had to give them something in order for them to surrender control of their ship and turn the crew back into people. But after that is done, Kirk should have thrown them in the brig for the murder of Yeoman Thompson.

The way Starfleet went about business sometimes was bizarre. Romulans attack and destroy four bases along the Neutral Zone (one attack Kirk practically witnesses) and the Enterprise still has to debate about going after them.

 

[Noname Given]

The way Starfleet went about business sometimes was bizarre. Romulans attack and destroy four bases along the Neutral Zone (one attack Kirk practically witnesses) and the Enterprise still has to debate about going after them.

^^^
That was just more a statement on how nation politics work in general (You can see it's still relevant today with the whole Ukraine situation). The bottom line was that the Federation didn't want to have another war with the Romulan Empire -- period; and they were going to go out of their way to make sure such a war didn't start; (which yes, is ridiculous because if the Romulans truly wanted a war, they'd just invade and start conquering territory; and the Federation would have to do something at that point.)

I say that because even in the episode you have Spock stating the fact that the Romulans DID break the treaty first; with McCoy's retort that once the Enterprise is in the Neutral Zone, the Romulans can claim the Federation did.

The only thing that renders the conversation moot at the time is someone stating "They're (the Romulans) still on our side of the Zone..."; and Kirk responding, "Let's get them while they are!"

 

[CrazyMatt]

Perhaps the most egregious ending is "Wink Of An Eye." Deela tells Kirk the Scalosians will simply die out, solving everyone's problems. Kirk's reply? NOTHING!

 

[Noname Given]

Perhaps the most egregious ending is "Wink Of An Eye." Deela tells Kirk the Scalosians will simply die out, solving everyone's problems. Kirk's reply? NOTHING!

It's called the Prime Directive (aka Non-Interference).

 

[Unicron]

Yeah, he makes this ep. It has a theme, too, one of several anti-technology loss-of-humanity eps in TOS.

 

[ZapBrannigan]

Additional happy endings that bug me are "The Apple," "Obsession" and "The Changeling." Lots of guards get killed and it's forgotten.

Plus, in "Obsession" we have just destroyed a lush planet, incinerated a whole biosphere, a feat made vivid in the remastered version. Then it's all smiles and upbeat music plays as the ship sails off to its next mission.

I still love the show.

 

[Maurice]

...The bottom line was that the Federation didn't want to have another war with the Romulan Empire -- period; and they were going to go out of their way to make sure such a war didn't start; (which yes, is ridiculous because if the Romulans truly wanted a war, they'd just invade and start conquering territory; and the Federation would have to do something at that point.)

Maybe I'm not grokking your point, but the Romulans didn't "want" war per se, they were testing to see if they were now "the strong", which, in their philosophy would be "the signal for war". For them to get away with destroying the outposts and get home would mean the Federation is weak, as would the destruction of the Enterprise. (Bones is speculating about "a setup" in terms of going into the Zone because the Romulans aren't shown to be trying this.) Ultimately, the failure of the "Praetor's finest flagship" to return home meant they were not "the strong" ergo, not the time for war.

 

[HIjol]

From Social Sensibilities to Censoring to Available Technology to Computers/No Computers to Logistics/Limits on Special Effects to a Thousand Other Things, I pose this question to us all...

...do we forget, sometimes, that the TOS we are watching and writing about is 50 Years Old?

...what WAS accomplished in that milieu was amazing and iconic and a MILLION other things...

...seems to me, that was worth saying at this juncture...

...I have said it before, and I will say it again, a hundred times...what a privilege it is to be a part of a board with such knowledge and investment and passion for this thing we call "Star Trek"...

Huzzah to you all!

 

[Mr. Hengist]

The natural dramatic circle in "Ultimate Computer" would have been to have Daystrom sacrificing his life to defeat the M-5.

Of course then Shatner/Kirk wouldn't have had one of his more notorious hammy "Talk the Computer To Death" moments.