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| aPrevReleasedInSeries_Remastered = The Enemy Within (episode)
  
| aPrevReleasedInSeries_Remastered = The Enemy Within (episode)
 
| nSerialAirdate_Remastered = 20080202
  
| nSerialAirdate_Remastered = 20080202
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}}
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}}{{disambiguation|the Gamma Quadrant species|Changeling}}
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{{disambiguation|the Gamma Quadrant species|Changeling}}
−  
 
The ''Enterprise'' finds an ancient interstellar probe from Earth, missing for 265 years, which has somehow mutated into a powerful and intelligent machine bent on sterilizing entire populations that do not meet its standards of perfection.
  
The ''Enterprise'' finds an ancient interstellar probe from Earth, missing for 265 years, which has somehow mutated into a powerful and intelligent machine bent on sterilizing entire populations that do not meet its standards of perfection.
   
 
==Summary==
  
==Summary==
 
===Teaser===
  
===Teaser===
−
The {{USS|Enterprise|NCC-1701}} is ''en route'' to the [[Malurian]] [[star system]], investigating a [[distress call]]. [[Nyota Uhura|Uhura]] has received no response to [[hail]]s on any frequency, even after [[Captain]] [[James T. Kirk|Kirk]] reminds her of a special science team transmitter. However, [[Spock]]'s sensor data contains tragic news: although there should be over four billion Malurians there are no readings of life anywhere in the system. As Kirk and Spock speculate about what could have caused the eradication of life in such a short time, a large bolt of energy comes out of nowhere. Kirk orders [[red alert]], and the object impacts upon the ''Enterprise''{{'}}s [[shields]].
 +
The {{USS|Enterprise|NCC-1701}} is ''en route'' to the [[Malurian]] [[star system]], investigating a [[distress call]]. [[Nyota Uhura|Uhura]] has received no response to [[hail]]s on any frequency, even after [[Captain]] [[James T. Kirk|Kirk]] reminds her of a special science team transmitter. However, [[Spock]]'s sensor data contains tragic news: although there should be over four billion Malurians there are no readings of life anywhere in the system. As Kirk and Spock speculate about what could have caused the eradication of life in such a short time, a large bolt of energy comes out of nowhere. Kirk orders [[red alert]], and the object impacts upon the ''Enterprise''{{'}}s [[shields]].
   
 
===Act One===
  
===Act One===
−
The entire [[crew]] is hurled around, and when things stabilize, [[Montgomery Scott|Scotty]] reports that the shields will stand only three more such impacts, as they have been reduced by 20%. The ''Enterprise''{{'}}s shields continue to be battered by repeated attacks. Finally, after the shields are completely gone and a photon torpedo in response has been completely absorbed, Kirk orders [[Lieutenant]] Uhura to [[hail]] the very small object Spock has identified as the source of attack. The object stops its assault and tries to respond to the hail with an old-style binary code. The crew has some difficulty translating, but eventually succeeds. The object identifies itself as ''[[Nomad]]'', and its mission as "non-hostile." As it is only a fraction over one [[meter]] in length Kirk has it beamed aboard, if only to prevent it from firing on the ship again. Later it is revealed that the object had stopped its assault when it heard Kirk's ''name'', somehow believing that Kirk is its creator.
 +
The entire [[crew]] is hurled around, and when things stabilize, [[Montgomery Scott|Scotty]] reports that the shields will stand only three more such impacts, as they have been reduced by 20%. The ''Enterprise''{{'}}s shields continue to be battered by repeated attacks. Finally, after the shields are completely gone and a photon torpedo in response has been completely absorbed, Kirk orders [[Lieutenant]] Uhura to [[hail]] the very small object Spock has identified as the source of attack. The object stops its assault and tries to respond to the hail with an old-style binary code. The crew has some difficulty translating, but eventually succeeds. The object identifies itself as ''[[Nomad]]'', and its mission as "non-hostile." As it is only a fraction over one [[meter]] in length Kirk has it beamed aboard, if only to prevent it from firing on the ship again. Later it is revealed that the object had stopped its assault when it heard Kirk's ''name'', somehow believing that Kirk is its creator.
   
 
===Act Two===
  
===Act Two===
  +
[[File:Scotty's dead, Jim.jpg|thumb|"''He's dead, Jim.''"]]
 
Once on board, ''Nomad'' wastes no time investigating the ship, with only Kirk's orders preventing it from having free rein. Knowing how powerful it is, Kirk orders security guards to watch it at all times, but ''Nomad'' is able to evade them. Furthermore, it seems highly [[logic]]ally-minded and gets confused whenever it encounters something illogical; when it hears [[Nyota Uhura|Uhura]] singing ''[[Beyond Antares]]'' on the bridge, and goes to investigate, it is unsatisfied with her explanation of the song's function and wipes her memory, requiring her to be reeducated. Scotty, seeing this, attempts to save Uhura from the probe, but is killed by it, only to be revived by it shortly thereafter.
  
Once on board, ''Nomad'' wastes no time investigating the ship, with only Kirk's orders preventing it from having free rein. Knowing how powerful it is, Kirk orders security guards to watch it at all times, but ''Nomad'' is able to evade them. Furthermore, it seems highly [[logic]]ally-minded and gets confused whenever it encounters something illogical; when it hears [[Nyota Uhura|Uhura]] singing ''[[Beyond Antares]]'' on the bridge, and goes to investigate, it is unsatisfied with her explanation of the song's function and wipes her memory, requiring her to be reeducated. Scotty, seeing this, attempts to save Uhura from the probe, but is killed by it, only to be revived by it shortly thereafter.
   
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This proves disconcerting to Kirk, who orders ''Nomad'' to be guarded and analyzed by Spock. After the analysis, a background check on ''Nomad'' in the ship's data banks, and a mind meld, Spock gets enough details about the probe to fill in the blanks; Originally, ''Nomad'' was built by [[Jackson Roykirk]] for a deep-space extraterrestrial contact mission in [[2002]], but was lost in a meteor shower. During that time, it came into contact with ''[[Tan Ru]]'', an alien probe whose mission was to collect and sterilize soil samples, presumably as a prelude to colonization. The two melded into this new ''Nomad'', combining their technology and missions into one extremely powerful probe bent on sterilizing any imperfect [[lifeform]]s it encounters, using its own perceptions of perfection (i.e. itself) as a measuring stick. As such, it destroyed all life in the Malurian star system but because its original programming was damaged and corrupted in the merger, it erroneously equates Kirk with its creator, not realizing that the two are different people and its creator is, in fact, long dead.
  
This proves disconcerting to Kirk, who orders ''Nomad'' to be guarded and analyzed by Spock. After the analysis, a background check on ''Nomad'' in the ship's data banks, and a mind meld, Spock gets enough details about the probe to fill in the blanks; Originally, ''Nomad'' was built by [[Jackson Roykirk]] for a deep-space extraterrestrial contact mission in [[2002]], but was lost in a meteor shower. During that time, it came into contact with ''[[Tan Ru]]'', an alien probe whose mission was to collect and sterilize soil samples, presumably as a prelude to colonization. The two melded into this new ''Nomad'', combining their technology and missions into one extremely powerful probe bent on sterilizing any imperfect [[lifeform]]s it encounters, using its own perceptions of perfection (i.e. itself) as a measuring stick. As such, it destroyed all life in the Malurian star system but because its original programming was damaged and corrupted in the merger, it erroneously equates Kirk with its creator, not realizing that the two are different people and its creator is, in fact, long dead.
   
−
Unfortunately, the mind meld and an unintentional admittance from Kirk confirms to ''Nomad'' that its creator is an imperfect biological entity, and with that knowledge, it decides to commandeer the ship and execute its prime function. ''Nomad'' escapes from the brig cell Kirk had confined it in, kills two security guards in the process, and turns off all [[life support]] on the ship. With little time left, Kirk comes to recognize ''Nomad'''s refabricated mission and takes a gamble to confront it again.
 +
Unfortunately, the mind meld and an unintentional admittance from Kirk confirms to ''Nomad'' that its creator is an imperfect biological entity, and with that knowledge, it decides to commandeer the ship and execute its prime function. ''Nomad'' escapes from the brig cell Kirk had confined it in, kills two security guards in the process, and turns off all [[life support]] on the ship. With little time left, Kirk comes to recognize ''Nomad'''s refabricated mission and takes a gamble to confront it again.
   
 
===Act Four===
  
===Act Four===
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*''"Captain's log, stardate 3541.9. The presence of ''Nomad'' aboard my ship has become nightmarish. Now, it apparently means to return to Earth. Once there, it would automatically destroy all life."''
  
*''"Captain's log, stardate 3541.9. The presence of ''Nomad'' aboard my ship has become nightmarish. Now, it apparently means to return to Earth. Once there, it would automatically destroy all life."''
   
−
==Memorable Quotes==
 +
==Memorable quotes==
 
"''This is one of your units, creator?''"<br />
 
"''This is one of your units, creator?''"<br />
 
"''Yes, he is.''"<br />
 
"''Yes, he is.''"<br />
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"''You are the Creator.''"<br />
  
"''You are the Creator.''"<br />
−
"''You're wrong! Jackson Roykirk, your creator, is dead! You have mistaken me for him, you are in error! You did not discover your mistake, you have made two errors. You are flawed and imperfect. And you have not corrected by sterilization, you have made three errors!"''
 +
"''You're wrong! Jackson Roykirk, your creator, is dead! You have mistaken me for him, you are in error! You did not discover your mistake, you have made two errors. You are flawed and imperfect. And you have not corrected by sterilization, you have made three errors!"''
 
: - '''Nomad''', sent into a logic feedback loop by '''Kirk'''
  
: - '''Nomad''', sent into a logic feedback loop by '''Kirk'''
   
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==Background information==
  
==Background information==
 
* Although never credited, this episode &ndash; which depicted an Earth-launched space probe that acquires almost unimaginable powers in the course of the search for its "Creator" &ndash; became the inspiration behind the [[Star Trek: The Motion Picture|first ''Star Trek'' film]]. (It also inspired "The Questor Tapes", a 1974 series pilot written by [[Gene Roddenberry]] and [[Gene L. Coon]] which also featured a robot with a damaged memory who searched for its creator.) For this reason, some fans have appended to ''[[Star Trek: The Motion Picture]]'' the punning subtitle "Where ''Nomad'' Has Gone Before." (''[[Star Trek: The Original Series 365]]'', p. 188)
  
* Although never credited, this episode &ndash; which depicted an Earth-launched space probe that acquires almost unimaginable powers in the course of the search for its "Creator" &ndash; became the inspiration behind the [[Star Trek: The Motion Picture|first ''Star Trek'' film]]. (It also inspired "The Questor Tapes", a 1974 series pilot written by [[Gene Roddenberry]] and [[Gene L. Coon]] which also featured a robot with a damaged memory who searched for its creator.) For this reason, some fans have appended to ''[[Star Trek: The Motion Picture]]'' the punning subtitle "Where ''Nomad'' Has Gone Before." (''[[Star Trek: The Original Series 365]]'', p. 188)
−
* Also never credited, the idea behind this episode was inspired by the last episode of the original ''The Outer Limits''. That episode, called "The Probe" (with [[Janos Prohaska]], in a Horta-like rubber suit, and [[Mark Richman]]), featured an alien automated probe which headed for Earth after apparently encountering one of our deep space exploration devices. As in the ''Trek'' episode, the probe nearly kills everyone because of its imperative to sterilize. {{incite|Needs a citation that this was intentional}}
 +
* Also never credited, the idea behind this episode was inspired by the last episode of the original ''The Outer Limits''. That episode, called "The Probe" (with [[Janos Prohaska]], in a Horta-like rubber suit, and [[Mark Richman]]), featured an alien automated probe which headed for Earth after apparently encountering one of our deep space exploration devices. As in the ''Trek'' episode, the probe nearly kills everyone because of its imperative to sterilize. {{incite|Needs a citation that this was intentional}}
 
* Director [[Marc Daniels]] portrays [[Jackson Roykirk]] in the photograph, wearing Scotty's [[dress uniform]].
  
* Director [[Marc Daniels]] portrays [[Jackson Roykirk]] in the photograph, wearing Scotty's [[dress uniform]].
 
* Eddie Paskey is seen in a gold shirt in this episode so he would match the standard stock footage screen shot with George Takei and an extra's left shoulder. In {{e|The Corbomite Maneuver}} he is seen wearing gold in the corridor during Kirk-to-crew announcements (the same shot was recycled in many episodes, including {{e|The Menagerie, Part I}} and {{e|Assignment: Earth}}). Paskey also appears in a red technician's jumpsuit in the [[main engineering]] scenes.
  
* Eddie Paskey is seen in a gold shirt in this episode so he would match the standard stock footage screen shot with George Takei and an extra's left shoulder. In {{e|The Corbomite Maneuver}} he is seen wearing gold in the corridor during Kirk-to-crew announcements (the same shot was recycled in many episodes, including {{e|The Menagerie, Part I}} and {{e|Assignment: Earth}}). Paskey also appears in a red technician's jumpsuit in the [[main engineering]] scenes.
Line 116: Line 117:
 
* [[William Blackburn]] appears in three different uniform colors in this episode: his usual gold (as [[Hadley]]), a blue uniform in a corridor scene, and in a red technician's jumpsuit in main engineering.
  
* [[William Blackburn]] appears in three different uniform colors in this episode: his usual gold (as [[Hadley]]), a blue uniform in a corridor scene, and in a red technician's jumpsuit in main engineering.
 
* After ''Nomad'' explodes, William Shatner quickly raises his hand to the camera as the scene fades away. An outtake of this scene is incorporated into the [[blooper reel]] of the show's second season: At one point, Shatner turns to the camera and declares, "''Listen, about that bacon &ndash; no, really!''" and then appears to swallow something, presumably medication for an upset stomach. His comment follows an earlier outtake that shows him sitting in the captain's chair on the bridge and confiding, "''No, listen, that bacon is really bad... it just stays with you all day.''"
  
* After ''Nomad'' explodes, William Shatner quickly raises his hand to the camera as the scene fades away. An outtake of this scene is incorporated into the [[blooper reel]] of the show's second season: At one point, Shatner turns to the camera and declares, "''Listen, about that bacon &ndash; no, really!''" and then appears to swallow something, presumably medication for an upset stomach. His comment follows an earlier outtake that shows him sitting in the captain's chair on the bridge and confiding, "''No, listen, that bacon is really bad... it just stays with you all day.''"
−
* Also in the blooper reel: When Shatner tells ''Nomad'' that the ''Enterprise'' is prepared to beam it aboard, James Doohan says, "''But captain &ndash; you forgot all about the environment and all that stuff. Do you want to really do that?''" A grinning Doohan steps out of camera frame, leaving a slightly perplexed Shatner behind, bemusedly shaking his head. Doohan did not deliberately ruin the take, however. It was already ruined since Shatner actually did forget to say the dialog concerning the environment.
 +
* Also in the blooper reel: When Shatner tells ''Nomad'' that the ''Enterprise'' is prepared to beam it aboard, James Doohan says, "''But captain &ndash; you forgot all about the environment and all that stuff. Do you want to really do that?''" A grinning Doohan steps out of camera frame, leaving a slightly perplexed Shatner behind, bemusedly shaking his head. Doohan did not deliberately ruin the take, however. It was already ruined since Shatner actually did forget to say the dialogue concerning the environment.
 
* Footage of ''Nomad'' exiting the turbolift is recycled to show him leaving sickbay.
  
* Footage of ''Nomad'' exiting the turbolift is recycled to show him leaving sickbay.
−
* When the two security guards shoot ''Nomad'' for not obeying them, the visual effects artists apparently used the door frame behind the guards as a guideline for the boundary of ''Nomad''{{'}}s shields. This has the unfortunate effect of making it seem as if the guards' phaser beams are striking the door frame.
 +
* When the two security guards shoot ''Nomad'' for not obeying them, the visual effects artists apparently used the door frame behind the guards as a guideline for the boundary of ''Nomad''{{'}}s shields. This has the unfortunate effect of making it seem as if the guards' phaser beams are striking the door frame.
 
* Spock mentions that ''Nomad''{{'}}s first attack on the ''Enterprise'' was the equivalent of ninety [[photon torpedo]]es. Surprisingly, this attack only reduced the shields by 20%. This seems even stranger a few moments later, when ''Nomad'' absorbs the energy of a single photon torpedo and Kirk wonders how anything could "absorb so much energy - and survive".
  
* Spock mentions that ''Nomad''{{'}}s first attack on the ''Enterprise'' was the equivalent of ninety [[photon torpedo]]es. Surprisingly, this attack only reduced the shields by 20%. This seems even stranger a few moments later, when ''Nomad'' absorbs the energy of a single photon torpedo and Kirk wonders how anything could "absorb so much energy - and survive".
−
* Surprisingly, too, Uhura is re-educated within a matter of days, presumably with all her memories intact as well.
 +
* Surprisingly, too, Uhura is re-educated within a matter of days, presumably with all her memories intact as well. Possibly her memories were not really erased, but overwritten, just as a computer file may have its FAT entry overwritten but can easily be recovered. Exabytes of data would take a while to restore but would not take nearly as long as learning from a zero start-point.
−
* This episode marks one of four times Kirk is able to "[[Induced self-destruction|talk a computer to death]]". This technique is also used in {{e|The Return of the Archons}}, {{e|I, Mudd}}, and {{e|The Ultimate Computer}}, and was similarly done to a robot in {{e|What Are Little Girls Made Of?}}
 +
* This episode marks one of four times Kirk is able to "[[Induced self-destruction|talk a computer to death]]". This technique is also used in {{e|The Return of the Archons}}, {{e|I, Mudd}}, and {{e|The Ultimate Computer}}, and was similarly done to a robot in {{e|What Are Little Girls Made Of?}}
 
* Even though this episode is stated to take place on stardate 3541.9, the episode list from the official website says it takes place on stardate 3451.9.
  
* Even though this episode is stated to take place on stardate 3541.9, the episode list from the official website says it takes place on stardate 3451.9.
−
* In conventions, [[Nichelle Nichols]] frequently tells a story of getting into a dispute with director Marc Daniels over the filming of this episode. As it had already been established that Uhura's first language was Swahili, Nichols believed that, after her mind was erased, Uhura would revert to her first language. However, as Nichols herself did not speak Swahili, Daniels wanted Uhura to just speak English. Nichols refused to, telling Daniels, "''Nichelle Nichols doesn't speak Swahili, but Uhura does!''" Gene Roddenberry was eventually brought in to settle the dispute, and he sided with Nichols. A linguist specializing in Swahili was then brought in to write the few lines of Swahili that are spoken in the episode.
+
* In conventions, [[Nichelle Nichols]] frequently tells a story of getting into a dispute with director Marc Daniels over the filming of this episode. As it had already been established that Uhura's first language was Swahili, Nichols believed that, after her mind was erased, Uhura would revert to her first language. However, as Nichols herself did not speak Swahili, Daniels wanted Uhura to just speak English. Nichols refused to, telling Daniels, "''Nichelle Nichols doesn't speak Swahili, but Uhura does!''" Gene Roddenberry was eventually brought in to settle the dispute, and he sided with Nichols. A linguist specializing in Swahili was then brought in to write the few lines of Swahili that are spoken in the episode.
   
 
===Production timeline===
  
===Production timeline===
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* Original US DVD release (single-disc): Volume 19, {{d|13|February|2001}}
  
* Original US DVD release (single-disc): Volume 19, {{d|13|February|2001}}
 
* As part of the [[TOS Season 2 DVD]] collection
  
* As part of the [[TOS Season 2 DVD]] collection
  +
  +
===Apocrypha===
  +
[[Tokyopop]]'s ''[[Star Trek: The Manga]]: [[Kakan ni Shinkou]]'' had a story titled "Communications Breakdown", set after the episode. The story starts with [[Captain's log]] mentioning that it's been 12 days since the encounter with Nomad.
   
 
==Links and references==
  
==Links and references==
 
===Starring===
  
===Starring===
 
* [[William Shatner]] as Capt. [[James T. Kirk|Kirk]]
  
* [[William Shatner]] as Capt. [[James T. Kirk|Kirk]]
−
===Also Starring===
 +
===Also starring===
 
* [[Leonard Nimoy]] as Mr. [[Spock]]
  
* [[Leonard Nimoy]] as Mr. [[Spock]]
 
* [[DeForest Kelley]] as Dr. [[Leonard McCoy|McCoy]]
  
* [[DeForest Kelley]] as Dr. [[Leonard McCoy|McCoy]]
Line 163: Line 167:
   
 
===With===
  
===With===
−
* [[Blaisdell Makee]] as [[Singh (Lieutenant)|Singh]]
 +
* [[Blaisdell Makee]] as {{dis|Singh|Lieutenant}}
 
* [[Barbara Gates]] as a [[USS Enterprise command crew woman 11|crewwoman]]
  
* [[Barbara Gates]] as a [[USS Enterprise command crew woman 11|crewwoman]]
−
* [[Meade Martin]] as a [[Unnamed USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) operations personnel#Engineering technician #7|crewman]]
 +
* [[Meade Martin]] as a [[USS Enterprise operations engineering technician 7|crewman]]
 
* [[Arnold Lessing]] as a [[Carlisle|security guard]]
  
* [[Arnold Lessing]] as a [[Carlisle|security guard]]
−
:And:
 +
;And
 
* [[Vic Perrin]] as ''[[Nomad]]''{{'}}s voice
  
* [[Vic Perrin]] as ''[[Nomad]]''{{'}}s voice
   
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** [[Vinci]]
  
** [[Vinci]]
 
* [[Roger Holloway]] as [[Roger Lemli]]
 
* [[Roger Holloway]] as [[Roger Lemli]]
−
* [[Jeannie Malone]] as a [[Unnamed USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) personnel#Yeomen|yeoman]]
 +
* [[Jeannie Malone]] as a [[USS Enterprise operations yeoman 1|yeoman]]
 
* [[Eddie Paskey]] as [[Leslie]]
  
* [[Eddie Paskey]] as [[Leslie]]
−
* [[Joe Paz]] as a [[Unnamed USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) personnel#Nomad victims #1 and #2|security lieutenant]]
 +
* [[Joe Paz]] as a [[USS Enterprise operations security lieutenant 9|security lieutenant]]
  +
* [[Unknown actor]]s as:
  +
** [[USS Enterprise operations engineering technician 6|Engineering technician 2]]
  +
** [[USS Enterprise lieutenant 1|Lieutenant]]
  +
** [[USS Enterprise sciences lieutenant 2|Sciences lieutenant]]
  +
** [[USS Enterprise operations security guard 26|Security guard 2]]
  +
** [[USS Enterprise operations security lieutenant 10|Security lieutenant 2]]
  +
** [[USS Enterprise operations security lieutenant 11|Security lieutenant 3]]
   
 
===Stunt double===
  
===Stunt double===
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===References===
  
===References===
−
[[analysis sector]]; [[anatomy]]; [[Antares (star)|Antares]]; [[antigrav]]; [[antimatter input valve]]; [[auxiliary control room]]; [[ball]]; ''[[Beyond Antares]]''; [[binary]]; [[biological unit]]; "[[Bones]]"; [[brain]]; [[brig]]; [[central nervous system]]; [[changeling (folklore)]]; [[college]]; [[condition red]]; [[Creator]]; [[damper]]; [[dog]]; [[Earth]]; [[energy release control]]; [[English language]]; [[Federation]]; [[first grade reader]]; [[force field]]; [[hyperencephalogram]]; [[interfactor]]; [[interplanetary code]]; [[kilogram]]; [[kilometer]]; [[life support system]]; [[logic]]; [[Luna]]; [[Malurian]]s; [[Malurian system]]; [[manual override]]; [[Manway|Manway, Dr.]]; [[mathematics]]; [[matter-antimatter propulsion system]]; [[meter]]; [[meteor]]; [[Milky Way Galaxy]]; [[natural satellite]]; [[neurology]]; ''[[Nomad]]''; [[parasite|parasitical beings]]; [[personnel file]]; [[physical]]; [[physiology]]; [[polymass]]; [[population]]; [[prototype]]; [[red alert]]; [[Jackson Roykirk|Roykirk, Jackson]]; [[ship's translator]]; [[shock]]; [[Sol]]; [[speech]]; [[Starfleet Academy]]; [[Starfleet code]]; [[Starfleet Command]]; [[structural integrity]]; [[Swahili language]]; [[Symbalene blood burn]]; ''[[Tan Ru]]''; [[tape]]; [[translator computer]]; [[Vulcan mind probe]]
 +
[[analysis sector]]; [[anatomy]]; {{dis|Antares|star}}; [[antigrav]]; [[antimatter input valve]]; [[auxiliary control room]]; [[ball]]; ''[[Beyond Antares]]''; [[binary]]; [[biological unit]]; "[[Bones]]"; [[brain]]; [[brig]]; [[census]]; [[central nervous system]]; [[changeling (folklore)]]; [[college]]; [[condition red]]; [[Creator]]; [[damper]]; [[dog]]; [[Earth]]; [[energy release control]]; [[English language]]; [[evasive maneuvers]]; [[Federation]]; [[force field]]; [[hyperencephalogram]]; [[interfactor]]; [[interplanetary code]]; [[kilogram]]; [[kilometer]]; [[life support system]]; [[logic]]; [[Luna]]; [[Malurian]]s; [[Malurian system]]; [[manual override]]; [[Manway|Manway, Dr.]]; [[mathematics]]; [[matter-antimatter propulsion system]]; [[meter]]; [[meteor]]; [[Milky Way Galaxy]]; [[natural satellite]]; [[neurology]]; ''[[Nomad]]''; [[non sequitur]]; [[parasite|parasitical beings]]; [[personnel file]]; [[physical]]; [[physiology]]; [[polymass]]; [[population]]; [[prototype]]; [[Reader#First grade|reader]]; [[red alert]]; [[Jackson Roykirk|Roykirk, Jackson]]; [[ship's translator]]; [[shock]]; [[Sol]]; [[speech]]; [[Starfleet Academy]]; [[Starfleet code]]; [[Starfleet Command]]; [[structural integrity]]; [[Swahili language]]; [[Symbalene blood burn]]; ''[[Tan Ru]]''; [[tape]]; [[translator computer]]; [[Vulcan mind probe]]
   
 
====Library Computer References====
  
====Library Computer References====
Line 201: Line 212:
 
===External links===
  
===External links===
 
* {{Startrek.com|the-changeling|"The Changeling"}}
  
* {{Startrek.com|the-changeling|"The Changeling"}}
−
* {{mbeta|The Changeling|"The Changeling"}}
 +
* {{mbeta-quote|The Changeling|The Changeling}}
 
* {{wikipedia-quote|The Changeling (Star Trek: The Original Series)|The Changeling}}
  
* {{wikipedia-quote|The Changeling (Star Trek: The Original Series)|The Changeling}}
 
* {{ml|the-changeling|"The Changeling"|external}}
  
* {{ml|the-changeling|"The Changeling"|external}}

Revision as of 22:41, 4 April 2016

Template:Realworld

For the Gamma Quadrant species, please see Changeling.

The Enterprise finds an ancient interstellar probe from Earth, missing for 265 years, which has somehow mutated into a powerful and intelligent machine bent on sterilizing entire populations that do not meet its standards of perfection.

Summary

Teaser

The USS Enterprise is en route to the Malurian star system, investigating a distress call. Uhura has received no response to hails on any frequency, even after Captain Kirk reminds her of a special science team transmitter. However, Spock's sensor data contains tragic news: although there should be over four billion Malurians there are no readings of life anywhere in the system. As Kirk and Spock speculate about what could have caused the eradication of life in such a short time, a large bolt of energy comes out of nowhere. Kirk orders red alert, and the object impacts upon the Enterprise's shields.

Act One

The entire crew is hurled around, and when things stabilize, Scotty reports that the shields will stand only three more such impacts, as they have been reduced by 20%. The Enterprise's shields continue to be battered by repeated attacks. Finally, after the shields are completely gone and a photon torpedo in response has been completely absorbed, Kirk orders Lieutenant Uhura to hail the very small object Spock has identified as the source of attack. The object stops its assault and tries to respond to the hail with an old-style binary code. The crew has some difficulty translating, but eventually succeeds. The object identifies itself as Nomad, and its mission as "non-hostile." As it is only a fraction over one meter in length Kirk has it beamed aboard, if only to prevent it from firing on the ship again. Later it is revealed that the object had stopped its assault when it heard Kirk's name, somehow believing that Kirk is its creator.

Act Two

Scotty's dead, Jim

"He's dead, Jim."

Once on board, Nomad wastes no time investigating the ship, with only Kirk's orders preventing it from having free rein. Knowing how powerful it is, Kirk orders security guards to watch it at all times, but Nomad is able to evade them. Furthermore, it seems highly logically-minded and gets confused whenever it encounters something illogical; when it hears Uhura singing Beyond Antares on the bridge, and goes to investigate, it is unsatisfied with her explanation of the song's function and wipes her memory, requiring her to be reeducated. Scotty, seeing this, attempts to save Uhura from the probe, but is killed by it, only to be revived by it shortly thereafter.

Act Three

This proves disconcerting to Kirk, who orders Nomad to be guarded and analyzed by Spock. After the analysis, a background check on Nomad in the ship's data banks, and a mind meld, Spock gets enough details about the probe to fill in the blanks; Originally, Nomad was built by Jackson Roykirk for a deep-space extraterrestrial contact mission in 2002, but was lost in a meteor shower. During that time, it came into contact with Tan Ru, an alien probe whose mission was to collect and sterilize soil samples, presumably as a prelude to colonization. The two melded into this new Nomad, combining their technology and missions into one extremely powerful probe bent on sterilizing any imperfect lifeforms it encounters, using its own perceptions of perfection (i.e. itself) as a measuring stick. As such, it destroyed all life in the Malurian star system but because its original programming was damaged and corrupted in the merger, it erroneously equates Kirk with its creator, not realizing that the two are different people and its creator is, in fact, long dead.

Unfortunately, the mind meld and an unintentional admittance from Kirk confirms to Nomad that its creator is an imperfect biological entity, and with that knowledge, it decides to commandeer the ship and execute its prime function. Nomad escapes from the brig cell Kirk had confined it in, kills two security guards in the process, and turns off all life support on the ship. With little time left, Kirk comes to recognize Nomad's refabricated mission and takes a gamble to confront it again.

Act Four

Through a questioning to Nomad on its prime directive in engineering, Kirk confirms his suspicions that it must execute it with no exceptions, and then reveals that he is not Nomad's creator. He explains that Nomad had mistaken himself for Roykirk, the two men's names being similar, and as such Nomad has committed an error; furthermore, it has compounded that error with two more, specifically failing to realize its mistake and failing to immediately execute its prime directive as a result. This causes Nomad to lock up in an irreversible logic loop, its stubborn belief that it is perfect conflicting with the realization that it is in error, and Spock and Kirk manage to get it to the transporter and beam it into space just as it executes its prime function on itself. The explosion is detected near the Enterprise and Nomad is no more.

Log entries

  • "Captain's log, stardate 3541.9. The presence of Nomad aboard my ship has become nightmarish. Now, it apparently means to return to Earth. Once there, it would automatically destroy all life."

Memorable quotes

"This is one of your units, creator?"
"Yes, he is."
"It functions irrationally."

- Nomad and Kirk, on the "unit" McCoy


"Spock, Bones. Come with - us."

- Kirk, referring to Nomad


"That unit is a woman."
"A mass of conflicting impulses."

- Spock and Nomad, on the "unit" Uhura


"This unit is different. It is well-ordered."

- Nomad, on the "unit" Spock


"A man is not just a biological unit that you can patch together."

- McCoy, after Nomad heals Scott


"The ball is bl-u-ee. Bl-u-ey. Bluey?"

- Uhura, as she relearns English


"The creation of perfection is no error."

- Nomad, refuting Kirk's claim that its creation was an error


"You are the Creator."
"You're wrong! Jackson Roykirk, your creator, is dead! You have mistaken me for him, you are in error! You did not discover your mistake, you have made two errors. You are flawed and imperfect. And you have not corrected by sterilization, you have made three errors!"

- Nomad, sent into a logic feedback loop by Kirk


"My congratulations, Captain. A dazzling display of logic."
"You didn't think I had it in me, did you, Spock?"
"No, sir."

- Spock and Kirk, on Nomad's induced self-destruction by Kirk


"It's not easy to lose a bright and promising son... my son – the doctor."

- Kirk, whose "son – the doctor" brought Scott back to life, about Nomad

Background information

  • Although never credited, this episode – which depicted an Earth-launched space probe that acquires almost unimaginable powers in the course of the search for its "Creator" – became the inspiration behind the first Star Trek film. (It also inspired "The Questor Tapes", a 1974 series pilot written by Gene Roddenberry and Gene L. Coon which also featured a robot with a damaged memory who searched for its creator.) For this reason, some fans have appended to Star Trek: The Motion Picture the punning subtitle "Where Nomad Has Gone Before." (Star Trek: The Original Series 365, p. 188)
  • Also never credited, the idea behind this episode was inspired by the last episode of the original The Outer Limits. That episode, called "The Probe" (with Janos Prohaska, in a Horta-like rubber suit, and Mark Richman), featured an alien automated probe which headed for Earth after apparently encountering one of our deep space exploration devices. As in the Trek episode, the probe nearly kills everyone because of its imperative to sterilize. (citation needed • edit)
  • Director Marc Daniels portrays Jackson Roykirk in the photograph, wearing Scotty's dress uniform.
  • Eddie Paskey is seen in a gold shirt in this episode so he would match the standard stock footage screen shot with George Takei and an extra's left shoulder. In "The Corbomite Maneuver" he is seen wearing gold in the corridor during Kirk-to-crew announcements (the same shot was recycled in many episodes, including "The Menagerie, Part I" and "Assignment: Earth"). Paskey also appears in a red technician's jumpsuit in the main engineering scenes.
  • Lemli's first name, Roger, is given in this episode. His last name wasn't revealed until the following season, in "The Lights of Zetar".
  • William Blackburn appears in three different uniform colors in this episode: his usual gold (as Hadley), a blue uniform in a corridor scene, and in a red technician's jumpsuit in main engineering.
  • After Nomad explodes, William Shatner quickly raises his hand to the camera as the scene fades away. An outtake of this scene is incorporated into the blooper reel of the show's second season: At one point, Shatner turns to the camera and declares, "Listen, about that bacon – no, really!" and then appears to swallow something, presumably medication for an upset stomach. His comment follows an earlier outtake that shows him sitting in the captain's chair on the bridge and confiding, "No, listen, that bacon is really bad... it just stays with you all day."
  • Also in the blooper reel: When Shatner tells Nomad that the Enterprise is prepared to beam it aboard, James Doohan says, "But captain – you forgot all about the environment and all that stuff. Do you want to really do that?" A grinning Doohan steps out of camera frame, leaving a slightly perplexed Shatner behind, bemusedly shaking his head. Doohan did not deliberately ruin the take, however. It was already ruined since Shatner actually did forget to say the dialogue concerning the environment.
  • Footage of Nomad exiting the turbolift is recycled to show him leaving sickbay.
  • When the two security guards shoot Nomad for not obeying them, the visual effects artists apparently used the door frame behind the guards as a guideline for the boundary of Nomad's shields. This has the unfortunate effect of making it seem as if the guards' phaser beams are striking the door frame.
  • Spock mentions that Nomad's first attack on the Enterprise was the equivalent of ninety photon torpedoes. Surprisingly, this attack only reduced the shields by 20%. This seems even stranger a few moments later, when Nomad absorbs the energy of a single photon torpedo and Kirk wonders how anything could "absorb so much energy - and survive".
  • Surprisingly, too, Uhura is re-educated within a matter of days, presumably with all her memories intact as well. Possibly her memories were not really erased, but overwritten, just as a computer file may have its FAT entry overwritten but can easily be recovered. Exabytes of data would take a while to restore but would not take nearly as long as learning from a zero start-point.
  • This episode marks one of four times Kirk is able to "talk a computer to death". This technique is also used in "The Return of the Archons", "I, Mudd", and "The Ultimate Computer", and was similarly done to a robot in "What Are Little Girls Made Of?"
  • Even though this episode is stated to take place on stardate 3541.9, the episode list from the official website says it takes place on stardate 3451.9.
  • In conventions, Nichelle Nichols frequently tells a story of getting into a dispute with director Marc Daniels over the filming of this episode. As it had already been established that Uhura's first language was Swahili, Nichols believed that, after her mind was erased, Uhura would revert to her first language. However, as Nichols herself did not speak Swahili, Daniels wanted Uhura to just speak English. Nichols refused to, telling Daniels, "Nichelle Nichols doesn't speak Swahili, but Uhura does!" Gene Roddenberry was eventually brought in to settle the dispute, and he sided with Nichols. A linguist specializing in Swahili was then brought in to write the few lines of Swahili that are spoken in the episode.

Production timeline

Video and DVD releases

This release included "Space Seed" and was originally unrated, as it was released prior to the Video Recordings Act 1984. After 1985, it received a rating of PG.

Apocrypha

Tokyopop's Star Trek: The Manga: Kakan ni Shinkou had a story titled "Communications Breakdown", set after the episode. The story starts with Captain's log mentioning that it's been 12 days since the encounter with Nomad.

Links and references

Starring

Also starring

Featuring

With

And

Uncredited co-stars

Stunt double

Stand-ins

References

analysis sector; anatomy; Antares; antigrav; antimatter input valve; auxiliary control room; ball; Beyond Antares; binary; biological unit; "Bones"; brain; brig; census; central nervous system; changeling (folklore); college; condition red; Creator; damper; dog; Earth; energy release control; English language; evasive maneuvers; Federation; force field; hyperencephalogram; interfactor; interplanetary code; kilogram; kilometer; life support system; logic; Luna; Malurians; Malurian system; manual override; Manway, Dr.; mathematics; matter-antimatter propulsion system; meter; meteor; Milky Way Galaxy; natural satellite; neurology; Nomad; non sequitur; parasitical beings; personnel file; physical; physiology; polymass; population; prototype; reader; red alert; Roykirk, Jackson; ship's translator; shock; Sol; speech; Starfleet Academy; Starfleet code; Starfleet Command; structural integrity; Swahili language; Symbalene blood burn; Tan Ru; tape; translator computer; Vulcan mind probe

Library Computer References

acquisition sensor; coupler prediction scanner; data assimilation digital encoder; International Designator; Jupiter; Magnetohydodynamic vernier-pulse; Mars; Mercury; Neptune; Pluto; regenerative mode emulsifier; Saturn; selective amplifier screen; Sol system; sperographic analysis computer; tracking screen; transmission; Uranus; Venus

Timeline

2002
Nomad built
2267
Malurian system destroyed

External links

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"Mirror, Mirror"
Previous remastered episode aired:
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