'The Ultimate Computer' is an above-average episode of 'Star Trek' and benefits greatly by the presence of William H. Marshall as Dr. Richard Daystrom, a brilliant computer expert. Marshall is an imposing figure, six foot five, with a marvelously deep bass voice. He is quite convincing, both in the early going as a somewhat vain inventor, and even more so later, when it appears he is going mad. Daystrom's latest project, the M-5 computer, is to be tested on the Enterprise. Its purpose, simply put, is to replace man in most areas of ship operation, particularly the captain. Kirk, as one might imagine, is less than thrilled at the prospect but reluctantly goes along. At first, the M-5 performs well at a number of routine tasks, executing them faster than a human crew could. But then things start to go wrong, culminating in a series of 'war games' with other starships that the M-5 treats as the real thing, firing on and crippling the other ships with full phasers. It won't allow itself to be 'turned off,' so Kirk must instead rely on the time-tested technique of talking it to death. While well-paced and decently written (by D.C Fontana and Laurence Wolf), 'The Ultimate Computer' sees Kirk unnecessarily belittled by a fellow officer, and then even blamed for the murderous attacks by the same officer later. (Does it never occur to Commodore Wesley that maybe, just maybe, the M-5 might be responsible, since it is being tested?) That aside, this is a fine entry in the series and stands as an example of the show when it was at a peak of creativity and consistency.
Review of The Ultimate Computer
