Star Trek (1966) 2.09

Metamorphosis

Captain Kirk, Mister Spock, and Doctor McCoy are returning to the Enterprise in the Galileo from peace negotiations on Epsilon Canaris III with assistant Commissioner Nancy Hedford when they encounter a mysterious force that brings them to a planetoid with a breathable atmosphere. They left the peace negotiations, which were incomplete, because Commissioner Hedford had contracted Sakuro's Disease. She isn't showing any symptoms yet but she needs immediate medical treatment. 

They find Zefram Cochrane, a human living on the planetoid. He was marooned there more than a century before. The Companion, the mysterious force that brought the Galileo there, restored Cochrane, who was in his 80s when he arrived there, to his youth. It kept him from aging. It won't let any of them go because Cochrane needs other humans to keep him company and because it can't leave the planetoid.

Assistant Commissioner Hedford's condition gets worse. Spock modifies the universal translator to allow them to communicate with the entity. Kirk, Spock, and McCoy conclude that the Companion feels affection for Cochrane. Kirk suggests that it will never be able to love Cochrane because it isn't human. It merges with Hedford, curing her. 

The episode ends with Cochrane opting to stay on the planetoid with the Hedford / Companion hybrid which has decided to let the others depart in the Galileo.

Thoughts

Scott, Uhura, and Sulu all appear in this episode. They all have lines but their appearances are fairly brief. Chekov does not appear in this episode.

There are some elements in this story that some people will take serious issue with. Once Spock gets the universal translator working they notice the device gives the Companion a female voice. Kirk explains this by saying that it's the universal constant, a;ll creatures are either male or female, or something like that. I think it's safe to say that's a loaded statement.

This episode felt like it had Christian overtones. The Companion takes on human form and makes reference at least at one point to a higher power.

I don't recall seeing this episode before but it's very possible that I did, decades ago.

I think I can see what they wanted to do with this episode. It is done in a ham-fisted way. It isn't great but I also don't think it's a bad episode. I foresaw where it was going fairly early on, at least the part with the Companion taking on human form. This is a middle tier episode for me, lower middle tier.

Notes

Glenn Corbett played the part of Zefram Cochrane. This is the only episode of this show in which he appeared. He appeared in one episode of Kraft Suspense Theatre. He was one of the leads in The Crimson Kimono (1959).

Zefram Cochrane also appeared in one Star Trek movie, Star Trek: First Contact (1996), and one episode of Enterprise, 1.01 Broken Bow. He was played by James Cromwell in both of those appearances.

Elinor Donahue played the part of Assistant Commissioner Nancy Hedford. This is the only episode of this show in which she appeared.

Lisabeth Hush was the voice of the Companion. This is the only episode of this show in which she appeared. She also appeared in one episode each of The Alfred Hitchcock Hour and Kraft Suspense Theatre.

This is the seventh of 13 episodes that Gene L. Coon wrote. One of the other episodes he wrote was 1.23 A Taste of Armageddon.

This is the second of seven episodes that Ralph Senensky directed. The first was 1.24 This Side of Paradise. He also directed an episode of Kraft Suspense Theatre that I watched less than a week ago, 1.05 A Hero for Our Times.