The Enterprise is used as the testing ground for a revolutionary new type of computer device (the M-5), developed by master computer developer and programmer Richard Daystrom (William Marshall), for the purpose of testing whether a computer can handle every function of a starship. When the concept is tested during Federation war games, however, the project goes drastically wrong.
The subject of obsession has been handled many times on the series (e.g., Operation: Annihilate; The Doomsday Machine; and, of course, Obsession), as has the conflict between mechanization and humanity, and this episode does a fairly good job in balancing by using its counterbalancing performances from Shatner and Marshall. Shatner effectively conveys the anguish of human work being replaced by an unthinking, unfeeling machine in his interaction with Daystrom, his nicely conveyed helplessness when the computer takes complete command away (and when all hell breaks loose), and his scene with McCoy (where he references John Masefield's "Sea Fever") is quite poignant. From the other side, watching Marshall as his almost obnoxious confidence crumbles from beneath him is just as potent -- and believable under the circumstances. Indeed, what some regard as "overacting" from Marshall is entirely in character coming from a man who resents living off of his reputation, and who compensates with unabashed bravado; his eventual breakdown, where he effectively speaks to the M-5 as though he were trying to save his own child's life presents its own fascinating questions about what Daystrom has sacrificed to become the revered figure he is.
The supporting performances are fine, and both Nimoy and Kelley get in some nice work. On the writing side, D.C. Fontana's script leaves some big questions in the credibility department as to why Starfleet would use the M-5 in war games with a ship with a full armament, when it presumably had not been tested in other circumstances requiring more than simply linear judgment. Nonetheless, these flaws are more than compensated for by the effective human story underlying it.
While it may not rate quite as highly as The Doomsday Machine (or William Windom's performance in it), The Ultimate Computer and Marshall are definitely worth watching.
The subject of obsession has been handled many times on the series (e.g., Operation: Annihilate; The Doomsday Machine; and, of course, Obsession), as has the conflict between mechanization and humanity, and this episode does a fairly good job in balancing by using its counterbalancing performances from Shatner and Marshall. Shatner effectively conveys the anguish of human work being replaced by an unthinking, unfeeling machine in his interaction with Daystrom, his nicely conveyed helplessness when the computer takes complete command away (and when all hell breaks loose), and his scene with McCoy (where he references John Masefield's "Sea Fever") is quite poignant. From the other side, watching Marshall as his almost obnoxious confidence crumbles from beneath him is just as potent -- and believable under the circumstances. Indeed, what some regard as "overacting" from Marshall is entirely in character coming from a man who resents living off of his reputation, and who compensates with unabashed bravado; his eventual breakdown, where he effectively speaks to the M-5 as though he were trying to save his own child's life presents its own fascinating questions about what Daystrom has sacrificed to become the revered figure he is.
The supporting performances are fine, and both Nimoy and Kelley get in some nice work. On the writing side, D.C. Fontana's script leaves some big questions in the credibility department as to why Starfleet would use the M-5 in war games with a ship with a full armament, when it presumably had not been tested in other circumstances requiring more than simply linear judgment. Nonetheless, these flaws are more than compensated for by the effective human story underlying it.
While it may not rate quite as highly as The Doomsday Machine (or William Windom's performance in it), The Ultimate Computer and Marshall are definitely worth watching.