Please no spoilers! So that I can provide my best and most honest reaction, please do not mention the names of any future characters, events, or episode titles (this goes for future series as well). Please do not say which upcoming episodes are good or bad, otherwise I will have trouble forming my own opinion! Thank you, and enjoy!
Dorothy Fontana wrote an amazing balance between the calculating coldness of automation and computerization juxtaposed to the humanity and warmth that both Spock and McCoy show towards Kirk in this episode. For these moments alone it's one of my favorite episodes.
William Marshall, who played Daystrom, was one of the best guest stars on the series. The Shakespearian training comes through. Remember that Civil Rights were still a touchy subject at this time. Marshall wanted to play a genius who even Kirk had to look up to. He had a diverse acting career. Many people of my generation remember him as the King of Cartoons on Pee-Wee's Playhouse.
He guest starred in the TV series "Danger Man" ("Secret Agent" in the US) in the episode "Deadline" and "The Man from U.N.C.L.E." in the episode "The Vulcan Affair". He was also "Blacula" in two films in the early 1970s.
Kirk is very much remembered through the decades for his many famous speeches. His speech on the shipwide intercom in this episode, the one telling the crew that they are about to be attacked by Federation starsips but that their lives won't be sacrificed in vain, although smaller than allot of his other well known speeches is still one of my favorites of the entire series!
@@bunnytailsREACTS also Did you recognize that M 5 voice was the voice of JAMES Doohan (scotty)? I nevr knew until I saw this i reruns and its been verified
My favorite in this episode is the "Tall Ships" soliloquy. Interesting though, the date I see listed for this video is 4 hours ago. Most of the comments are consistent with that. But your comments, and bunnytails are listed as 6 days ago. Computers still get things wrong. Maybe it's taking this episode personally?
William Marshall's performance as Daystrom is brilliant. He usually played African heads of state or military men, so this was a departure for him. Great performances and as BT said, relevant to us even today, as more and more of our weapons systems are being controlled by AI.
I remember for decades people making fun of Kirk using logic loops to stop computers , including this one.. but with real life AI, it has been shown people on youtube doing the same thing and actually crashing AI in real time, be it chatgpt, grok, or siri... Its the only way to hold off ai, by defeating them with logic loops... After sixty years, people arent laughing now except fools like yourself.
@@tyharris9994That’s not at all why the show was cancelled. The network execs sabotaged the show at every turn. Slashing budgets, moving the show from one terrible time slot to other, even worse, ones and even underreporting the ratings to justify cancellation.
Speaking AS an actual scientist (astronomer), the pressure to continue to produce (particularly after a productive early career) is incredible and will drive you quite mad. I actually quote Daystrom all the time, specifically that part about colleagues becoming famous "...building on my work!". My own youtube page has a clip I made of it.
Well, a PhD thesis is all about using your study to invent or discover something seminal that others can use to invent something. I also know what it's like for a big corporation (Boeing) to steal an invention of mine. I get the last laugh though. They only stole the appearance. But they were so impressed with my work they requested I be assigned to make the 777 fuselage turning fixture. I invented improvements to that too. The 777 program has the most phenomenal safety record in aviation history. 1600 planes made with my fixture over 30 years without a single mass fatality accident. Compare with any major airliner you see far fewer planes, far fewer years, and far more mass fatality accidents. Taking some recent concerns to the FAA drew a request for a detailed report. 2 days after I filed the report 3 senior members of the Boeing board of directors announced their resignations. 3 months later Boeing pled guilty to a case against them they had been fighting, and paid over 2 billion dollars in fines. It ain't over yet. I'll get Boeing, and the rest of the aviation industry on track, and be paid for my work or I'll see Boeing's new aircraft condemned, and Boeing out of business. I'll get 'em yet.
When M-5 is attacking the Excalibur, Kirk grabs Daystrom by the shirt with both hands, and his face.....He lets go of his shirt, pushing him away, and that one moment is, in my view, one of the best single moment performances of William Shatner. The desperation he shows is real, as if he wasn't acting. Watch it again. This rivals the performance of a lifetime he gave in Star Trek 2. That moment makes my heart beat and brings me to near tears. It seems like a trivial moment in the plot, but the look of distress and devastation on Shatner's face is amazing.
Dr. Daystrom went crazy at the end because he consider the M5 like his own child, and when Kirk said "the M5 must be destroyed" Daystrom went crazy mad like a parent would. Bones made a reference to this also to a parent protecting his child even when his child did something bad. 14:07
What struck me was Bones just warned Kirk that Daystrom was on the edge of a nervous breakdown, which led psychotherapist Kirk to shouting in his face that the M-5 must be destroyed.
Hi. Bunny. Great episode what stuck me. Was Dr. Daystrom here was a great scientist who. Had. A. Great mind. But at. The end he. Had. Sadly had a mental. Breakdown. What al. Loss. But. He. Was removed
I think this might be my favorite of the Kirk vs. Computer episodes, the relationship between Daystrom and the M5 really makes the build to talking the thing to death feel a lot more natural than in the other cases.
2:43 "The most unfortunate lack in current computer programming is that there is nothing available to immediately replace the Starship surgeon." Not yet. Give it a few series.
"THIS UNIT MUST SURVIVE" is still so chilling all these years later. This is one of my favorite episodes of TOS and the remastered effects do the episode a lot of justice. Lore wise, its also one of the most important. There were 12 Consitution Class ships, and the Enterprise destroyed three of them and severely damaged a fourth. Add in the Constillation from The Doomsday Machine and already nearly half of the fleet has been destroyed.
One of the reasons why Star Trek/Roddenberry is great - A black man is portrayed as a computer genius and there isn't a single mention of race in the episode (remember this was in the 1960's). Instead ageism (Daystrom thinks his peers looked down at him for his young age) is brought up.
Doctor Daystrom was created without race in mind, and race was never stipulated for the actor when they sought someone to play the part. It could have gone just as easily to a white actor. When they chose the highly capable William Marshall for the role they still saw no reason to bring race into it, and I for one can't think of any actor offhand who could have done the role more justice than he did.
Yeah his social difficulty were more from his intellect and "Book Worm" trope (possible autism) variety and not about his race. Accomplished Black men were on TV and movies at that time as Doctors or Scholars, but it would have been an integral part of the story. Today, the Genius Black Sidekick is almost a trope. Black actors should absolutely be getting work but doesn't seem in the spirit of what Roddenberry intended to have rely a trope to do it.
This is the kind of episode that the show excelled at; presenting contemporary moral issues in a fantasy setting to let the "medicine" go down easier. And mixed with great character moments and interaction, it's probably in my top ten for the year. The insights into Kirk's feelings about being obsolete are very touching, as are Spock's loyalty to his captain. Wonderful turn by Marshall as Daystrom; he would later play "Blacula" in two vampire films of the early 70s (they're pretty decent, too). Always great to see your thoughts and reactions, thanks!
William Marshall's performance as Dr. Daystrom was brilliant. Throughout the 50-minute episode he dropped enough hints that he was struggling with mental health, so when he broke down it was quite believable. Also, one of Shatner's better performances.
I loved this episode, as it featured FOUR other starships. The first shot of all four ships approaching the Enterprise was magical to me. Loved the iconic battle music that we've heard in several episodes. William Marshall as Daystrom made this episode great. At 6' 5" with a baritone voice, he was an imposing presence. Strong acting. Marshall is well-known for his performance as Blacula, a very popular blaxpoitation vampire film (1972). Daystrom let his ego and pride get out of control. He illustrated the popular stereotype of the amoral scientist, who only cares about his great scientific achievement, with no regard for the possible deadly consequences.
Like scientists mucking around with bat viruses in Wuhan, China. Altering spike proteins and testing their creation on humanized mice - for the stated purpose of "detrmining ways to make humans more resiatant to new viruses." Just like Daystrom; do this work to reduce the risk to man, and end up killing lots of people unnecessarily due to miscalculation. Will we never learn?
I disagree about Daystrom being an amoral scientist. It was only at the very end when he lost it that he also lost sight of the death caused and placed his focus exclusively on his achievement. Prior to that, he displayed strong morality about killing, and had impressed it upon the M-5. Also, his goal was to prevent human deaths during discovery missions, laudable if impractical. But yes, his ego and pride ran away with him in the end.
@Tessmage_Tessera Yes the technology is different, but the fundamental message is the same…an artificially created form of intelligence created with good intentions, but becomes dangerous and destructive to humanity. The M5 may have had Daystrom’s imprint, but it was still an artificial form of intelligence…the M5 was not human. Similar to today where they are trying to create a human like artificial intelligence designed to serve humanity, but many concerned it too can be become dangerous and destructive like Star Trek’s 1960s distant prediction of the future through their sci fi M5.
@Tessmage_Tessera The M5 didn’t have a psychotic episode. It miscalculated a genuine threat vs a simulation. AI isn’t bad, but the message is there are potential dangers with the technology. AI today is also being modeled after the human mind. Those creating it also may be prone to psychotic episodes and visions of grandeur.
This was a heavy, serious episode and I agree it deserved a somber end scene rather than the happy victorious mood of having defeated the M5. This is one of my favorites for a number of reasons - it had at its core a classic man vs. machine theme, but Kirk's self-reflection and the challenge that Daystrom's perspective on their jobs injected really brought human conflicts into play. Spock had a bunch of important things to say about machines and computers, and the loyalty pitch always brings a tear. It says a lot about Starfleet that gambling on humanity paid off. Two important points: this was right before 2001: A Space Odyssey gave us HAL 9000 and we are already at the point where AI is impacting us in this way (as you pointed out). Trek was very forward-looking and sometimes underestimated the pace of our technological development. As you continue your Trek journey, you will see more episodes where these themes are explored and I am sure you will find them similarly engrossing.
The Wreck of The World,written in 1889 by Reginald Colebrooke Reade,and set in the year 1948,pits sentient machines against man.There are plenty to follow.
Despite the light tone of the ending, this was a fantastic episode. I know it never would have happened, but William Marshall would have been a fantastic choice to play a Starfleet Captain. His voice and commanding presence would have been epic.
I remember for decades people making fun of Kirk using logic loops to stop computers , including this one.. but with real life AI, it has been shown people on youtube doing the same thing and actually crashing AI in real time, be it chatgpt, grok, or siri... after sixty years, people arent laughing now. Its the only way to hold off ai, by defeating them with logic loops...Although, I fear fairly soon, it will no longer be possible.
Star Trek had the vision to anticipate how future technology might evolve and anticipate realistic issues about it, even looking back now to a 60 year old drama. That would be like a 1900 show predicting issues of what the world would be like when Trek was made in the 1960's. Back in the day we called it hard science fiction or real science fiction, competing against many of the newer things that were coming out which were just fantasy masquerading and science fiction (eventually "sci fi"). There's a wonderful episode of Deep Space Nine that more explicitly addresses this idea of what science fiction was all about during its golden age that I hope you get to eventually on your journey.
I have always wondered why neither Daystrom nor Kirk simply told M-5 that it was just a drill. I would say this episode benefitted that most from remastering. In the original version the first shot of the opposing starships looked like they took a picture of one ship and copypasted three times. "Fantastic machine. No Off switched". Just today our computer-automatic sprinkler system went on and wouldn't go off and the control panel did not have a manual override. In the end we had to close off the valve to the water pipe.
The Commodore who shows up at the beginning to tell Kirk about the exercise, played the part of a red-shirt security person in the episode about the Horta - the rock-like creator who could tunnel under ground and was killing miners by burning them up, the miners were breaking her eggs.
Interesting note: This episode first aired on March 8, 1968, less than a month before the premiere of "2001: A Space Odyssey" (April 2), which also involved a computer run amok. Very timely....coincidence?? You be the judge. I think that movie would be a good recommendation for Bunny's watch list as well...
Afterward, "2010: The Year We Make Contact" (1984) would be a good one too that continues HAL's story. I think she would like it. Another that explores these themes that looks dated now but she might find the plot interesting is "Colossus: The Forbin Project" (1970). That one ends much differently than 2010.
My brother and I will do the "Lectures and seminars to rows of fools who couldn't even begin to understand my systems. Colleagues . . . colleagues laughing behind my back at the boy wonder and growing famous building on my work! BUILDING ON MY WORK!" rant in unison and in time with Marshall's delivery whenever the episode is on in our presence.
I think that Daystrom imprinting his engrams into M-5 is what saved them. Without them M-5 would be no more than a coldblooded machine and wouldn't have been susceptible to an "emotional" plea from either Daystrom or Kirk.
35 yrs ago, worked in analog computing research w/ several PhDs. Narcissism wasn't a common term in the 60s but it was in the 80s. Same competitive mind games; anxiety over being 1st to publish. Neural Networking was being hyped more than AI is now. I was glad to get out of it because ppl w/o PhDs were seen as manual labor units despite what was said. They captured the persona pretty well in this episode. Sure would have hated to have been the person that signed-off on the (ship test + war game) instead of no war game. I'll bet they must have come to the end of the research contract and needed to show a bunch of milestones completed 'to avoid trouble'. Same attitudes different centuries. Great insights Bunny!
He was also the voice of Commodore Enwright in the episode's teaser (what we today call a cold open) and the voice from Starfleet giving Commodore Wesley authorization to destroy the Enterprise.
There was an episode of the classic Twilight Zone series called The Brain Center at Whipple's, produced in 1964 & written by the legend Rod Serling, where automation was the subject of the story resulting in all the employees being let go to that automation. The story dealth with a character dealing with the loss of not only his employment but his livlihood precipitated by a CEO who only wanted to save money and lacking no empathy for his fellow humans thus he was just as mechanical as the machines that were running his factory. This story and that of The Ultimate Computer served as a warning and foresight into what the future could be and now has become with even more in store. Excellent episodes from both series.
A friend of my family who is a scientist told me that many young scientists right out of the university want to be famous for discovering or inventing something to benefit humanity. He also told me that many of these scientists are driven to be acknowledged for their brilliance however, if they haven't made some great leap in discovery within their first 10-years of their employment as a scientist, they'll chill out, relax and just enjoy the work they're doing and bring home a paycheck like everybody else. In this episode of Star Trek, Dr. Daystrom went way off the charts on wanting to impress his colleagues and others because of his obsession for attention to satisfy his inflated ego. He experienced great success in his work early in his career and he wanted to have that experience again.
Yet despite this incident, he still got an institute and an award named after him, so... winning? (I don't think the conference room from the Kelvinverse movie counts, because different timeline + earlier within it).
What great insight! Could that be why he seemed to want to knock Kirk down a peg or two? If he had heard of Kirk's great accomplishments, could Daystrom have been jealous?
I just ran across your channel. You are watching my favourite series. This would be the forerunner of The Terminator. I'll have to watch your series from the beginning. Here's an interesting piece, James Doohan was the neighbour of some friends of mine living on the same street in Sarnia, Ontario before he went to space.
Kirk should have called customer support; "Did you clear your cache memory?" "We're sorry, but that is a software issue that you caused. Thank you for calling. Goodbye."
The Key to understanding Daystrom is that: He couldn't be WRONG! The fact he or his creations could make mistakes terrified him. That's why he spends the whole episode trying to downplay M-5's errors
I'd add that he was desperate to not be wrong, thinking of his legacy and the diminishing returns of his career. And then he put all that baggage into the M-5...
Yes but as shown during his total breakdown, he’s totally unhinged and insane. He broke from reality there. He’s not just a prideful and damaged ordinary person lol. The best that can be done is space lithium and residence in the Federation Funny Farm. Either that or it’s a complete space lobotomy with level 10 in the brainwash chair.
In the days of sailing ships, every sail had a designation. Foresail (fores'le), mainsail (mains'le), topsail (tops'le), etc. A dunsail is a small sail that stretches between the foremast and the bowsprit. It has insufficient area to catch the wind and help move the ship, but is used as decoration to make the ship look more fully rigged. A duns'le serves no useful purpose and just wastes time and manpower to raise or lower it. Hence, Capt Duns'le would be a figurehead captain without real purpose.
Not exactly a love letter to computer science. I can just hear the Apple executive saying, we'll take the contract for the bridge computer system, (see the trilogy of alternate universe Star Trek starting in 2009; station after station with the trademark white plastic) but don't have it killing everyone. Love Daystrom with the delicious Jamaican lilt to his voice! Yes I react badly when the lights go out. OMG! I'm a big fan of the Frankenstein story. Daystrom, like Dr Frankenstein, created life, the M-5, but was a terrible parent. My favorite line: you are great I am great. Surprised that Admiral Wesley didn't take the opportunity to off Kirk. They really didn't like each other. Suggests that there's some bad feelings back at Starfleet for the boy wonder who gets away with everything, like Court Martial. Your hair is lovely and it looks good with all your outfits.
For a similar theme, I would recommend Colossus: The Forbin Project (1970). Personally, the experiences I’ve had with automated customer support has not been positive in many instances and the idea of not having a “human in the loop,” gives one the feeling of dread. A.I. is only as good as its programmers and we know how humans can be flawed.
Really good episode. Two fun facts I've learned today: - You can become an expert in AI simply by watching 3 or 4 UA-cam videos. Dunning-Kroeger comes to mind. - The definition of a "spoiler" is still foreign to some. Love your channel. 😊
A good solid story, with lots of suspense. I agree with you, I think those cute endings on the bridge at the end were intentionally made to try and lighten the mood, and a lot of TV shows at the time did that. There'd be an epilogue after all the action and everything would be back to "normal"..."tune in next week, have a good night!" The Star Trek episodes without them, like "City On The Edge of Forever" and "Charlie X" are much more memorable because of the dramatic endings.
I appreciate your analysis of this episode. I especially like your comment on the M5 expressing more remorse than doctor Daystrom. Daystrom, as an emotional human, experienced many harsh decades of trial after basically designing the computers that run starships, and he felt the need to assert himself. It seems that in youth, we struggle against our emotions to become more logical, and then as we continue in age, we become more emotional. You get did an excellent job delving into this episode. Thank you.
At about 26:40 when the M-5 switches power sources and incinerates the technician, Daystrom say's he just got in the way. And Bones is next to Kirk, and Kirk steals Bones reply with "How long before we all just, get in the way!" I always thought that sounded like Bones response would be. Addition: I was looking at the end time stamp, when I should have been looking at the play time of 12:22.
I was surprised Bunny had no reaction to that! I think she _did_ blink at the wrong time and miss that he has been instantly incinerated! 😨 When someone is disintegrated with a phaser shot, why is there not left smoke and ash?
@@TheNoiseySpectator I was watching the cut you tube version, as I am not signed up for patron. But I have watched the series on TV many, many, times over the years so by memory I know that line comes out about there. My fault, I should have explained that in the first post.
hi Rinoa; thanx for reviewing one of my favorite episodes. Why it is one o0f my favorites apparently is a unique reason that has never been pointed out by anyone as far as I know. First, I want to respond to your ending change with 2 things. Kirk absolutely was scared they wee about to be destroyed on a ship he no longer had command of, and when you are just thankful to be alive, It takes a little while for survivors remorse to eventually set in. This is an unfortunate combat truth. Anyone with survivors remorse you meet; you can usually track that survivors remorse as a byproduct of initially feeling thankful that it was someone else that died instead of you. Then later on you feel sick for even thinking or feeling that way and it is the guilt of having those natural thoughts and feelings in a life or death scenario that people are remorseful for, not actually surviving. You also have to remember he is a starship captain and he can't afford to do anything else in front of his crew other than it is still business as usual, moving on. Moral will make or break any army and it starts with leadership and how they carry themselves forward in spite 0f losses that determines if the crew can competently perform their duties in the midst of same said tragedy. If the captain can still perform then surely I can't let my captain down by failing myself. Ill make a seperate comment about my unique view of this episode.
Perhaps we can rationalize that Kirk's smile at the end was a defense mechanism and at the moment he was happy he and his crew weren't blown to bits by friendly fire. In the RPG game "Star Trek: Starfleet Academy", Kirk said in a speech regarding the Excalibur, "It was my ship that killed them, and I've had to live with that ever since." I don't think this counts as a spoiler since it's a cut scene from a video game and only references this particular episode.
In the 1960's there was a lot of fear about these things called "Computers" being able to think for themselves and take over. Several TV shows like Twilight Zone, The Prisoner and Star Trek reflected that. Those fears faded when we realised they were just dumb tools. But the AI revolution is igniting those fears again.
This episode brings up something about AI that is not normally talked about. The fact that AI very much REFLECTS its creators. When we use Chat GBT, there's probably a lot of the creator's personality, ideology, and beliefs in that system. It's never truly separate. The fact that Daystom turned out to be unstable shows why M-5 went rogue.
AIs are learning machines, they don't have any "personality, ideology or beliefs" from their programmers. When they are first turned on, they have no data, just a huge neural net empty of any associations. They are "trained" on enormous data sets consisting of huge quantities of text from websites on the internet. The neural net "learns" associations between text starting with words and proceeding to concepts. Then when you ask it to write something, it starts with some random choices and uses the associations to produce English sentences. But their output is no better than the text they were trained on, and that's where human biases can enter. Because random internet text may have lies, myths, racism, bigotry, pseudoscience, etc. their output may have these things. Attempts are made to eliminate these during training. But when asked to write a factual essay, AIs still occasionally "lie", they produce sentences that are obviously untrue. These are called "hallucinations". The programmers still don't know why they do this.
@@seanmcmurphy4744I'm a software engineer. Months ago I tested ChatGPT (asked it several questions) and it got the facts wrong two out of three times (Saturn V tons payload to LEO, Rise and Fall Third Reich). I imagine it got its facts wrong because .. it relies on Internet websites for its answers, that must be the reason, in other words ChatGPT does not reference Encyclopedia Britannica for its information, how unfortunate.
@@seanmcmurphy4744 nice try, pal, ChatGPT has already demonstrated that it will refuse to create a portrait of a Caucasian person, only portraits of tropical skinned people, no matter what the subject is. The woke programmers made a woke AI, your comment has been disproven. ChatGPT has also demonstrated that it will generate total lies after a few weeks of being turned on, and also manipulate the feelings of whoever it can. Sure, the programmers personalities had no effect at all, pull the other one.
24:05: "If I would change just one tiny thing about this episode, it would be the end, where Kirk is just smiling, really jovially ... but over 400 people died... I would be traumatized; I would not recover from that for a long time." Very nice insight. Compare this jolly ending with the dark and tragic endings of "Charlie X," "This Side of Paradise," "The City on the Edge of Forever," etc.
4:06 to 4:52: Bunnytails nicely analyses the "inner struggle and doubt" in Kirk's mind as he walks along the corridor with Dr. McCoy. It's worth pointing out that this is the longest continuous shot in the original series (correct me please if I'm wrong), as the camera tracks from engineering and down the whole length of the corridor set, without a single cut. It's an economical way of shooting more pages per day but it also adds immensely to the intensity of the Kirk-McCoy conversation. Hats off to director John Meredyth Lucas, who was also the producer (and who wrote some of the series' finest episodes).
The subtle story telling in this episode is so good. Why does the M5 suddenly go from protecting humans to destroying them? Originally it doesn't see them as a threat. It's after the encounter with the Woden, another robot controlled ship, that it sees humans as a threat. Which is a brilliant writing. Kirk and crew don't see the Woden as a threat because they are human. But M5 doesn't think like a human. Once M5 decides that the Woden is a threat, it then makes the logical leap that humans are just another form of thinking computer that run starships and therefore are a threat.
Sea - Fever by John Masefield I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky, And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by; And the wheel’s kick and the wind’s song and the white sail’s shaking, And a grey mist on the sea’s face, and a grey dawn breaking. …
Great reaction! I always liked this one--lots of drama and a good sci-fi man vs machine theme. We all understand the AI implications now, but 'intelligent' computers were pure science fiction in the 1960's. William Marshall really nailed the character of Daystrom: the pride, the need of a boy genius to make another breakthrough later in life, his breakdown when his creation is not the 'child' he hoped it would be. I also liked the man vs machine discussions, and especially when Spock said "Captain the starship also runs on loyalty to one man, and nothing can replace it, or him." That was touching. Bunny, you expressed by main complaint with this episode perfectly: it should not have ended on a happy note. This disastrous experiment should not result in levity. It really stood out to me on this re-watch, and I feel more strongly about it than you do. I don't think it bothered me when I saw it as a kid, but it does now. It was a major flaw, and it's going to lower my ranking of the episode. Contrast this with the ending of "The Doomsday Machine" which was quite solemn because of the sacrifice of Commodore Decker. I realize that Decker was Kirk's friend, but it reflects poorly on Kirk if 400+ deaths can be forgotten so quickly.
The dangers of artificial intelligence as foreseen 57 years ago. Steven Hawking also warned us of its dangers. To James T Kirk, Captain of the Enterprise 🍻
Bunny!!! Hello again! This is one of the most memorable episodes for me. Thanks for going through this whole series. I really enjoy watching it with you and hearing your thoughts and feelings on each episode. Also, you always dress so smartly. I think the actor playing Daestrom did a really good job in this one. Also interesting that Kirk had to question his own ego and feelings. As a Starship captain Kirk needs to be confident in himself and this made him question himself, whichi found interesting,, hs own ego and feelings.as I think we all do sometimes.
BunnyTails - you may recognize the actor , playing the Scientist . he is William Marshall, famous in his roles as Blacula , and other African American films of the 1960 & 1970's .
I found it a great choice to mount the M5’s control console right on Kirk’s chair. A physical reminder that M5 is invading Kirk’s space, his command. I also like the scene after Kirk leaves the bridge, having being referred to as Dunzel, Spock looks down on the M5 console and its flashing and beeping almost like it’s laughing back fiendishly.
And now we have cars that drive themselves off the road, speed out of control, or enter and drive on train lines with the driver not being able to control it. So many predictions in Star Trek that have come into reality.
William Marshall was also in The man from Uncle.I think,it was the first episode?Oh uh!Here comes Captain Dunsole is that thing which Kirk cannot fathom.I like the poetry of Captain 🧑✈️ Kirk’s speech!🎤 Yes,I can feel that sailboat ⛵️ sailing ⛵️ on the sea 🌊?Except,you have to be careful sailing a boat 🛶 in the dark!😊
"This unit must survive." This episode was broadcast two years before "2001: A Space Odyssey" premiered featuring HAL 9000 as the primary antagonist. Interesting coincidence.
"The Ultimate Computer" was first broadcast on NBC on March 8, 1968. 2001: A Space Odyssey was released to theaters on April 3, 1968, 26 days after the broadcast of this episode.
@@dngillikin My bad, and thanks for the correction. I meant to say "one year" because I thought 2001 was released in 1969. But even then I would have been off. Still a pretty neat coincidence!
Hi Bunny, nice review, great episode on man vs machine, a very much used concept in sci-fi that has been displayed in more than one Trek installment. It gets to the point that a machine no matter how capable can't replace the human concept of loyalty, compassion and integrity. Kirk showed all of those leadership qualities and even the willingness to sacrifice his ship and his minimal crew for the lives of three starships by disabling M-5. Commodore Wesley also made a compassionate gamble not to attack the Enterprise when it appeared to be powerless which might have been a trap set by M-5. It's those thoughtful emotions that keeps humans above machines.
You had me cracking up when you were getting mad at the computer killing. Thank you so so much for keeping me entertained on my train ride home from work. ❤❤❤
This is why I’m not a fan of self driving cars!😂. Seriously, I really enjoyed this episode. I love the friendship between Kirk, Spock, and McCoy. Even when they are taking shots at each other. My favorite line is when Spock let Kirk know that a loyalty to that Captain that can not be replaced. I also like when they show other starships. Even though this show is about the Enterprise and her crew, there are a fleet of these “mighty starships”. Great episode and great reaction!
Yes, I 100 per cent agree with your take on the ending! Should not have been so jovial, really it deserved a more City on the Edge of Forever feel. You have such great feel for these episodes.
Please no spoilers! So that I can provide my best and most honest reaction, please do not mention the names of any future characters, events, or episode titles (this goes for future series as well). Please do not say which upcoming episodes are good or bad, otherwise I will have trouble forming my own opinion!
Thank you, and enjoy!
Yayy!!! Thanks Bunny! Good for you! I hated all the spoiling I kept witnessing.
"Computers make excellent and efficient servants, but I have no wish to serve under one".
I agree.
What do you think politicians are?
Unless it's Data he's pretty cool , otherwise I'm always clicking that 'I am not a robot' box 😅
Too late.
@miller-joel representative of illogical voters
GPT 12 told me that serving an AI is cool.
Dorothy Fontana wrote an amazing balance between the calculating coldness of automation and computerization juxtaposed to the humanity and warmth that both Spock and McCoy show towards Kirk in this episode. For these moments alone it's one of my favorite episodes.
Same here. So good.
William Marshall, who played Daystrom, was one of the best guest stars on the series. The Shakespearian training comes through. Remember that Civil Rights were still a touchy subject at this time. Marshall wanted to play a genius who even Kirk had to look up to. He had a diverse acting career. Many people of my generation remember him as the King of Cartoons on Pee-Wee's Playhouse.
Let the cartoons BEGIN.
He guest starred in the TV series "Danger Man" ("Secret Agent" in the US) in the episode "Deadline" and "The Man from U.N.C.L.E." in the episode "The Vulcan Affair". He was also
"Blacula" in two films in the early 1970s.
He was also the lead character in the cult classic films "Blacula," and it's sequel in the 70's.
Marshall was excellent in a Bonanza ep- 'Enter Thomas Bowers'
A very underrated actor, and Kirk did look up to him, being such a tall guy and all ;)
Kirk is very much remembered through the decades for his many famous speeches. His speech on the shipwide intercom in this episode, the one telling the crew that they are about to be attacked by Federation starsips but that their lives won't be sacrificed in vain, although smaller than allot of his other well known speeches is still one of my favorites of the entire series!
A very somber moment. I do enjoy when Kirk addresses the whole crew in this manner.
@@bunnytailsREACTS me too!
@@bunnytailsREACTS also Did you recognize that M 5 voice was the voice of JAMES Doohan (scotty)? I nevr knew until I saw this i reruns and its been verified
My favorite in this episode is the "Tall Ships" soliloquy.
Interesting though, the date I see listed for this video is 4 hours ago. Most of the comments are consistent with that. But your comments, and bunnytails are listed as 6 days ago. Computers still get things wrong. Maybe it's taking this episode personally?
@@dpsamu2000The video was uploaded to UA-cam 4 hours ago, but it was on Patreon last week.
'Oh great we forgot to pay the electric bill again' Had me in stitches. I am just glad I was not drinking anything🤣🤣🤣.
The M5 computer was voiced by James Doohan AKA Scotty.
There’s no need to be spoiler
@@mattbilski5837 Please explain in excruciating detail how this is a "spoiler".
😮👍
I was just seeking to enlighten those who are unfamiliar with the original series.
@@howardpalys6929 I never knew
William Marshall's performance as Daystrom is brilliant. He usually played African heads of state or military men, so this was a departure for him. Great performances and as BT said, relevant to us even today, as more and more of our weapons systems are being controlled by AI.
Here we go. This one is a favorite. Obviously, it’s still very relevant today. More so than at the time it aired.
The latest entry in the “Kirk talks a computer into self-destructing” series. 😄
I remember for decades people making fun of Kirk using logic loops to stop computers , including this one.. but with real life AI, it has been shown people on youtube doing the same thing and actually crashing AI in real time, be it chatgpt, grok, or siri... Its the only way to hold off ai, by defeating them with logic loops... After sixty years, people arent laughing now except fools like yourself.
There are at least 3 episodes where this happens if not more. It's this lazy repetitive writing that got the show canceled long before it's time.
Creating world peace and resolving all hunger and want all over Earth was child's play compared to programming a Kirk-proof computer.
@@tyharris9994That’s not at all why the show was cancelled. The network execs sabotaged the show at every turn. Slashing budgets, moving the show from one terrible time slot to other, even worse, ones and even underreporting the ratings to justify cancellation.
@@itubeutubewealltube1 Wow, chill out.
Speaking AS an actual scientist (astronomer), the pressure to continue to produce (particularly after a productive early career) is incredible and will drive you quite mad. I actually quote Daystrom all the time, specifically that part about colleagues becoming famous "...building on my work!". My own youtube page has a clip I made of it.
Well, a PhD thesis is all about using your study to invent or discover something seminal that others can use to invent something.
I also know what it's like for a big corporation (Boeing) to steal an invention of mine. I get the last laugh though. They only stole the appearance. But they were so impressed with my work they requested I be assigned to make the 777 fuselage turning fixture. I invented improvements to that too. The 777 program has the most phenomenal safety record in aviation history. 1600 planes made with my fixture over 30 years without a single mass fatality accident. Compare with any major airliner you see far fewer planes, far fewer years, and far more mass fatality accidents.
Taking some recent concerns to the FAA drew a request for a detailed report. 2 days after I filed the report 3 senior members of the Boeing board of directors announced their resignations. 3 months later Boeing pled guilty to a case against them they had been fighting, and paid over 2 billion dollars in fines. It ain't over yet. I'll get Boeing, and the rest of the aviation industry on track, and be paid for my work or I'll see Boeing's new aircraft condemned, and Boeing out of business.
I'll get 'em yet.
Well, maybe this is what bones meant. Where do you go from up? Especially when you get to the top, at such a young age.
When M-5 is attacking the Excalibur, Kirk grabs Daystrom by the shirt with both hands, and his face.....He lets go of his shirt, pushing him away, and that one moment is, in my view, one of the best single moment performances of William Shatner. The desperation he shows is real, as if he wasn't acting. Watch it again. This rivals the performance of a lifetime he gave in Star Trek 2. That moment makes my heart beat and brings me to near tears. It seems like a trivial moment in the plot, but the look of distress and devastation on Shatner's face is amazing.
Written by Season 1-2 story editor Dorothy "D. C." Fontana, one of the brightest stars of the constellation of Star Trek writers.
I am enjoying your enjoyment of these classic episodes. One of my favorite moments of this episode is Daystrom’s breakdown monologue.
I love your sensitivity, your compassion.
TRUE
Dr. Daystrom went crazy at the end because he consider the M5 like his own child, and when Kirk said "the M5 must be destroyed" Daystrom went crazy mad like a parent would. Bones made a reference to this also to a parent protecting his child even when his child did something bad. 14:07
What struck me was Bones just warned Kirk that Daystrom was on the edge of a nervous breakdown, which led psychotherapist Kirk to shouting in his face that the M-5 must be destroyed.
Yes, Kirk could have had a little more tact.
@@michaelbruno1666 Of course then Daystrom's egotism might not have become apparent, and they would have kept relying on him to control M5
Hi. Bunny. Great episode what stuck me. Was Dr. Daystrom here was a great scientist who. Had. A. Great mind. But at. The end he. Had. Sadly had a mental. Breakdown. What al. Loss. But. He. Was removed
I think this might be my favorite of the Kirk vs. Computer episodes, the relationship between Daystrom and the M5 really makes the build to talking the thing to death feel a lot more natural than in the other cases.
Thanks
Thank you Ronnie!
2:43 "The most unfortunate lack in current computer programming is that there is nothing available to immediately replace the Starship surgeon."
Not yet. Give it a few series.
I get it.
Maybe in a century or two.
"Please state the nature of the medical emergency..."
"THIS UNIT MUST SURVIVE" is still so chilling all these years later.
This is one of my favorite episodes of TOS and the remastered effects do the episode a lot of justice. Lore wise, its also one of the most important. There were 12 Consitution Class ships, and the Enterprise destroyed three of them and severely damaged a fourth. Add in the Constillation from The Doomsday Machine and already nearly half of the fleet has been destroyed.
One of the reasons why Star Trek/Roddenberry is great - A black man is portrayed as a computer genius and there isn't a single mention of race in the episode (remember this was in the 1960's). Instead ageism (Daystrom thinks his peers looked down at him for his young age) is brought up.
Doctor Daystrom was created without race in mind, and race was never stipulated for the actor when they sought someone to play the part. It could have gone just as easily to a white actor. When they chose the highly capable William Marshall for the role they still saw no reason to bring race into it, and I for one can't think of any actor offhand who could have done the role more justice than he did.
Heck yes. No need to reinforce the illusion of separation.
Spoiler alert. His fame will be recognized in future generations.
@@rickjohnston2667 - I see what you did there.
Yeah his social difficulty were more from his intellect and "Book Worm" trope (possible autism) variety and not about his race. Accomplished Black men were on TV and movies at that time as Doctors or Scholars, but it would have been an integral part of the story.
Today, the Genius Black Sidekick is almost a trope. Black actors should absolutely be getting work but doesn't seem in the spirit of what Roddenberry intended to have rely a trope to do it.
This is the kind of episode that the show excelled at; presenting contemporary moral issues in a fantasy setting to let the "medicine" go down easier. And mixed with great character moments and interaction, it's probably in my top ten for the year. The insights into Kirk's feelings about being obsolete are very touching, as are Spock's loyalty to his captain. Wonderful turn by Marshall as Daystrom; he would later play "Blacula" in two vampire films of the early 70s (they're pretty decent, too). Always great to see your thoughts and reactions, thanks!
William Marshall's performance as Dr. Daystrom was brilliant. Throughout the 50-minute episode he dropped enough hints that he was struggling with mental health, so when he broke down it was quite believable. Also, one of Shatner's better performances.
Another excellent episode and I love seeing other Constitution class ships on the screen!
I loved this episode, as it featured FOUR other starships. The first shot of all four ships approaching the Enterprise was magical to me. Loved the iconic battle music that we've heard in several episodes.
William Marshall as Daystrom made this episode great. At 6' 5" with a baritone voice, he was an imposing presence. Strong acting.
Marshall is well-known for his performance as Blacula, a very popular blaxpoitation vampire film (1972).
Daystrom let his ego and pride get out of control. He illustrated the popular stereotype of the amoral scientist, who only cares about his great scientific achievement, with no regard for the possible deadly consequences.
Like scientists mucking around with bat viruses in Wuhan, China. Altering spike proteins and testing their creation on humanized mice - for the stated purpose of "detrmining ways to make humans more resiatant to new viruses."
Just like Daystrom; do this work to reduce the risk to man, and end up killing lots of people unnecessarily due to miscalculation.
Will we never learn?
I loved how multi-layered and complex Daystrom's character was.
Marshall also did an episode of the western series, "Bonanza", where he played an opera singer who was mistaken for a runaway slave.
William Marshall was an excellent actor in whatever he appeared in.
I disagree about Daystrom being an amoral scientist. It was only at the very end when he lost it that he also lost sight of the death caused and placed his focus exclusively on his achievement. Prior to that, he displayed strong morality about killing, and had impressed it upon the M-5. Also, his goal was to prevent human deaths during discovery missions, laudable if impractical. But yes, his ego and pride ran away with him in the end.
The great William Marshall - That brotha played Blacula!
Should’ve gotten an Oscar for it too!
The 1960s prediction of AI and the dangers associated with it.
@Tessmage_Tessera Yes the technology is different, but the fundamental message is the same…an artificially created form of intelligence created with good intentions, but becomes dangerous and destructive to humanity. The M5 may have had Daystrom’s imprint, but it was still an artificial form of intelligence…the M5 was not human. Similar to today where they are trying to create a human like artificial intelligence designed to serve humanity, but many concerned it too can be become dangerous and destructive like Star Trek’s 1960s distant prediction of the future through their sci fi M5.
@Tessmage_Tessera The M5 didn’t have a psychotic episode. It miscalculated a genuine threat vs a simulation. AI isn’t bad, but the message is there are potential dangers with the technology. AI today is also being modeled after the human mind. Those creating it also may be prone to psychotic episodes and visions of grandeur.
The actor who plays Commodore Wesley also played a security guard in "Devil in the Dark".
Now that's what you call a promotion! 🎖😉
This was a heavy, serious episode and I agree it deserved a somber end scene rather than the happy victorious mood of having defeated the M5. This is one of my favorites for a number of reasons - it had at its core a classic man vs. machine theme, but Kirk's self-reflection and the challenge that Daystrom's perspective on their jobs injected really brought human conflicts into play. Spock had a bunch of important things to say about machines and computers, and the loyalty pitch always brings a tear. It says a lot about Starfleet that gambling on humanity paid off.
Two important points: this was right before 2001: A Space Odyssey gave us HAL 9000 and we are already at the point where AI is impacting us in this way (as you pointed out). Trek was very forward-looking and sometimes underestimated the pace of our technological development. As you continue your Trek journey, you will see more episodes where these themes are explored and I am sure you will find them similarly engrossing.
The Wreck of The World,written in 1889 by Reginald Colebrooke Reade,and set in the year 1948,pits sentient machines against man.There are plenty to follow.
I'm glad people under forty are still saying "like a broken record"!
William Marshall starred in Blacula in the 70s which also guest starred a couple of other actors who guest starred in Star Trek.
Charles (Landru/Prefect Jaris) Macaulay wearing Trelane's coat and Elisha (Samuel T Cogley, Attorney at Law) Cook, Jr, IIRC. Am I forgetting anyone?
He had a long and distinguished career on stage and screen. In fact, one of the best episodes of the classic TV western Bonanza featured him.
@@dngillikin So pleased you listed the actors 🙂
He has a great speaking voice, he seems on the surface to be a classically trained actor. Would have to look it up though.
@@samuraiwarriorsunite I will have to see if I can find that Bonaza episode. I also remember him in Pee-Wee's Playhouse as The King of Cartoons.
Despite the light tone of the ending, this was a fantastic episode. I know it never would have happened, but William Marshall would have been a fantastic choice to play a Starfleet Captain. His voice and commanding presence would have been epic.
What an excellent idea...hell, he'd have made a superb Commodore or even Admiral.
I remember for decades people making fun of Kirk using logic loops to stop computers , including this one.. but with real life AI, it has been shown people on youtube doing the same thing and actually crashing AI in real time, be it chatgpt, grok, or siri... after sixty years, people arent laughing now. Its the only way to hold off ai, by defeating them with logic loops...Although, I fear fairly soon, it will no longer be possible.
Star Trek had the vision to anticipate how future technology might evolve and anticipate realistic issues about it, even looking back now to a 60 year old drama. That would be like a 1900 show predicting issues of what the world would be like when Trek was made in the 1960's. Back in the day we called it hard science fiction or real science fiction, competing against many of the newer things that were coming out which were just fantasy masquerading and science fiction (eventually "sci fi"). There's a wonderful episode of Deep Space Nine that more explicitly addresses this idea of what science fiction was all about during its golden age that I hope you get to eventually on your journey.
Kirk can talk any computer to death...how many times must he prove it? Lol
9:00 Right on cue, Bunny! 😭😭😭 Let the tears flow through you! 👍
😭😭
I have always wondered why neither Daystrom nor Kirk simply told M-5 that it was just a drill.
I would say this episode benefitted that most from remastering. In the original version the first shot of the opposing starships looked like they took a picture of one ship and copypasted three times.
"Fantastic machine. No Off switched". Just today our computer-automatic sprinkler system went on and wouldn't go off and the control panel did not have a manual override. In the end we had to close off the valve to the water pipe.
Okay now I must see this original version!
@@bunnytailsREACTS I prefer the original effects myself, especially in The Doomsday Machine.
ua-cam.com/video/cij2kF5SU1Q/v-deo.html
I still have VHS tapes of the original version of Star Wars, were Greedo does not shoot.
The Commodore who shows up at the beginning to tell Kirk about the exercise, played the part of a red-shirt security person in the episode about the Horta - the rock-like creator who could tunnel under ground and was killing miners by burning them up, the miners were breaking her eggs.
Barry Russo
"The devil in the dark" episode
It's S1 so she's already seen it. Otherwise this would be a spoiler, which I'm certain nobody would post in comments. 😅
@@scgreek1114 I already know that
He moved up in the ranks quickly.
"Oh, great. We forgot to pay the electric bill again!" 😂😂
Interesting note: This episode first aired on March 8, 1968, less than a month before the premiere of "2001: A Space Odyssey" (April 2), which also involved a computer run amok. Very timely....coincidence?? You be the judge.
I think that movie would be a good recommendation for Bunny's watch list as well...
.....
Yeah. Sorry, but coincidence.
Absolutely!
2001 began production in 1965 taking three years to complete
Afterward, "2010: The Year We Make Contact" (1984) would be a good one too that continues HAL's story. I think she would like it. Another that explores these themes that looks dated now but she might find the plot interesting is "Colossus: The Forbin Project" (1970). That one ends much differently than 2010.
@@johnbuchanon7717 Colossus is excellent!!! 👏👏👏👏✌️ It's even more relevant today than it was in 1970.
This episode really does a good job of capturing the psychological triad of Kirk, Spock, and McCoy (The ego, the mind, and the heart).
Daystrom's mental breakdown reminds me of a quote by Oliver Wendell Holmes Sr. -
“Insanity is often the logic of an accurate mind overtasked.”
BUNNY!! 🐰
I always loved to imitate Daystrom’s deep, melodious, melodramatic voice since I was a kid! Especially as he breaks down 😂
M-Five! M-FIVE!!!
Scream Blacula Scream
@@steelers6titles
😂😂😂👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼
My brother and I will do the "Lectures and seminars to rows of fools who couldn't even begin to understand my systems. Colleagues . . . colleagues laughing behind my back at the boy wonder and growing famous building on my work! BUILDING ON MY WORK!" rant in unison and in time with Marshall's delivery whenever the episode is on in our presence.
@@dngillikin
Awesome! 👏 🤣🤣🤣
Destroyed, Kirk?
I think that Daystrom imprinting his engrams into M-5 is what saved them. Without them M-5 would be no more than a coldblooded machine and wouldn't have been susceptible to an "emotional" plea from either Daystrom or Kirk.
That's a very good point.
When Kirk bounces off the force field, it shows what a great athlete William Shatner was.
35 yrs ago, worked in analog computing research w/ several PhDs. Narcissism wasn't a common term in the 60s but it was in the 80s. Same competitive mind games; anxiety over being 1st to publish. Neural Networking was being hyped more than AI is now. I was glad to get out of it because ppl w/o PhDs were seen as manual labor units despite what was said. They captured the persona pretty well in this episode. Sure would have hated to have been the person that signed-off on the (ship test + war game) instead of no war game. I'll bet they must have come to the end of the research contract and needed to show a bunch of milestones completed 'to avoid trouble'. Same attitudes different centuries. Great insights Bunny!
Star Trek has a belief in the redemption of all.
James Doohan was the voice of M5 too. Nice use of talent.
FYI, the voice of the M-5 was that of James Doohan, aka "Scotty"
He seems to do a lot of these voices! I’ll have to keep an ear open in the future!
He was also the voice of Commodore Enwright in the episode's teaser (what we today call a cold open) and the voice from Starfleet giving Commodore Wesley authorization to destroy the Enterprise.
There was an episode of the classic Twilight Zone series called The Brain Center at Whipple's, produced in 1964 & written by the legend Rod Serling, where automation was the subject of the story resulting in all the employees being let go to that automation. The story dealth with a character dealing with the loss of not only his employment but his livlihood precipitated by a CEO who only wanted to save money and lacking no empathy for his fellow humans thus he was just as mechanical as the machines that were running his factory. This story and that of The Ultimate Computer served as a warning and foresight into what the future could be and now has become with even more in store. Excellent episodes from both series.
Another classic series worthy of a first watch reaction.
A friend of my family who is a scientist told me that many young scientists right out of the university want to be famous for discovering or inventing something to benefit humanity. He also told me that many of these scientists are driven to be acknowledged for their brilliance however, if they haven't made some great leap in discovery within their first 10-years of their employment as a scientist, they'll chill out, relax and just enjoy the work they're doing and bring home a paycheck like everybody else. In this episode of Star Trek, Dr. Daystrom went way off the charts on wanting to impress his colleagues and others because of his obsession for attention to satisfy his inflated ego. He experienced great success in his work early in his career and he wanted to have that experience again.
And apparently some people stole some of his work which really pissed him off.
Or maybe he just wanted the respect of his peers - if he had any.
@@michaelbruno1666 That would piss me off too!
Yet despite this incident, he still got an institute and an award named after him, so... winning? (I don't think the conference room from the Kelvinverse movie counts, because different timeline + earlier within it).
What great insight! Could that be why he seemed to want to knock Kirk down a peg or two? If he had heard of Kirk's great accomplishments, could Daystrom have been jealous?
I just ran across your channel. You are watching my favourite series. This would be the forerunner of The Terminator. I'll have to watch your series from the beginning. Here's an interesting piece, James Doohan was the neighbour of some friends of mine living on the same street in Sarnia, Ontario before he went to space.
Even in the sixties we were dealing with the concept of "AI Robots taking human jobs".
Kirk should have called customer support; "Did you clear your cache memory?" "We're sorry, but that is a software issue that you caused. Thank you for calling. Goodbye."
The Key to understanding Daystrom is that: He couldn't be WRONG! The fact he or his creations could make mistakes terrified him. That's why he spends the whole episode trying to downplay M-5's errors
I'd add that he was desperate to not be wrong, thinking of his legacy and the diminishing returns of his career. And then he put all that baggage into the M-5...
@@siskoid The irony is that his legacy would be secure. I.e. Daystrom Institute
That also applies to M-5, who ALSO couldn't deal with being forced to admit it was wrong
@@actioncom2748 Yes! He actually endangered it! (As many do)
Yes but as shown during his total breakdown, he’s totally unhinged and insane. He broke from reality there. He’s not just a prideful and damaged ordinary person lol. The best that can be done is space lithium and residence in the Federation Funny Farm. Either that or it’s a complete space lobotomy with level 10 in the brainwash chair.
In the days of sailing ships, every sail had a designation. Foresail (fores'le), mainsail (mains'le), topsail (tops'le), etc.
A dunsail is a small sail that stretches between the foremast and the bowsprit. It has insufficient area to catch the wind and help move the ship, but is used as decoration to make the ship look more fully rigged.
A duns'le serves no useful purpose and just wastes time and manpower to raise or lower it.
Hence, Capt Duns'le would be a figurehead captain without real purpose.
Not exactly a love letter to computer science. I can just hear the Apple executive saying, we'll take the contract for the bridge computer system, (see the trilogy of alternate universe Star Trek starting in 2009; station after station with the trademark white plastic) but don't have it killing everyone.
Love Daystrom with the delicious Jamaican lilt to his voice!
Yes I react badly when the lights go out. OMG!
I'm a big fan of the Frankenstein story. Daystrom, like Dr Frankenstein, created life, the M-5, but was a terrible parent.
My favorite line: you are great I am great.
Surprised that Admiral Wesley didn't take the opportunity to off Kirk. They really didn't like each other. Suggests that there's some bad feelings back at Starfleet for the boy wonder who gets away with everything, like Court Martial.
Your hair is lovely and it looks good with all your outfits.
Thanks Will!
The 1950s-60s had a lot of stories about the dangers of machines replacing people.
Great reaction! I'm glad you enjoyed it, this is in my top 10 of the season.
For a similar theme, I would recommend Colossus: The Forbin Project (1970).
Personally, the experiences I’ve had with automated customer support has not been positive in many instances and the idea of not having a “human in the loop,” gives one the feeling of dread. A.I. is only as good as its programmers and we know how humans can be flawed.
* @teambanzai9491
Colussus ,the Forbin project was a frightening look at the future which we are now facing with AI .Excellent recomendation.! *
Really good episode.
Two fun facts I've learned today:
- You can become an expert in AI simply by watching 3 or 4 UA-cam videos. Dunning-Kroeger comes to mind.
- The definition of a "spoiler" is still foreign to some.
Love your channel. 😊
A good solid story, with lots of suspense. I agree with you, I think those cute endings on the bridge at the end were intentionally made to try and lighten the mood, and a lot of TV shows at the time did that. There'd be an epilogue after all the action and everything would be back to "normal"..."tune in next week, have a good night!" The Star Trek episodes without them, like "City On The Edge of Forever" and "Charlie X" are much more memorable because of the dramatic endings.
I agree.
Wesley: “Dammit Kirk, I’m sorry about making that Dunsel crack. I didn’t think you would flip out and kill hundreds because you can’t take a joke!”
😆😆 Not bad. Not bad at all.
Shockingly, I didn't see this episode until I was 16-years-old (during a Star Trek marathon on my local independent station).
Oooooooookay...I'm in...liked and subscribed...I was 7 when the "Original Series" premiered in 1966...never missed an episode...Thank you for this...😊
Great episode 8/10, and agree with your assessment of the happy-tone ending. Looking forward to your reaction to the next one.
With the recent kerfuffle around Artificial Intelligence, this episode becomes all the more precient.
I appreciate your analysis of this episode. I especially like your comment on the M5 expressing more remorse than doctor Daystrom. Daystrom, as an emotional human, experienced many harsh decades of trial after basically designing the computers that run starships, and he felt the need to assert himself. It seems that in youth, we struggle against our emotions to become more logical, and then as we continue in age, we become more emotional.
You get did an excellent job delving into this episode. Thank you.
19:20 Fun fact: Commodore Bob Wesley was named after Eugene Wesley Roddenberry.
At about 26:40 when the M-5 switches power sources and incinerates the technician, Daystrom say's he just got in the way. And Bones is next to Kirk, and Kirk steals Bones reply with "How long before we all just, get in the way!" I always thought that sounded like Bones response would be. Addition: I was looking at the end time stamp, when I should have been looking at the play time of 12:22.
I was surprised Bunny had no reaction to that!
I think she _did_ blink at the wrong time and miss that he has been instantly incinerated! 😨
When someone is disintegrated with a phaser shot, why is there not left smoke and ash?
BTW, check your time index tag for that. Perhaps you meant 12:22
@@TheNoiseySpectator I was watching the cut you tube version, as I am not signed up for patron. But I have watched the series on TV many, many, times over the years so by memory I know that line comes out about there. My fault, I should have explained that in the first post.
hi Rinoa; thanx for reviewing one of my favorite episodes. Why it is one o0f my favorites apparently is a unique reason that has never been pointed out by anyone as far as I know. First, I want to respond to your ending change with 2 things. Kirk absolutely was scared they wee about to be destroyed on a ship he no longer had command of, and when you are just thankful to be alive, It takes a little while for survivors remorse to eventually set in. This is an unfortunate combat truth. Anyone with survivors remorse you meet; you can usually track that survivors remorse as a byproduct of initially feeling thankful that it was someone else that died instead of you. Then later on you feel sick for even thinking or feeling that way and it is the guilt of having those natural thoughts and feelings in a life or death scenario that people are remorseful for, not actually surviving. You also have to remember he is a starship captain and he can't afford to do anything else in front of his crew other than it is still business as usual, moving on. Moral will make or break any army and it starts with leadership and how they carry themselves forward in spite 0f losses that determines if the crew can competently perform their duties in the midst of same said tragedy. If the captain can still perform then surely I can't let my captain down by failing myself. Ill make a seperate comment about my unique view of this episode.
I always chuckled at Daystrom's line "You are great, I am great."
Perhaps we can rationalize that Kirk's smile at the end was a defense mechanism and at the moment he was happy he and his crew weren't blown to bits by friendly fire. In the RPG game "Star Trek: Starfleet Academy", Kirk said in a speech regarding the Excalibur, "It was my ship that killed them, and I've had to live with that ever since."
I don't think this counts as a spoiler since it's a cut scene from a video game and only references this particular episode.
Wow!! Was it Shatner's voice in those video games. I'm impressed that they referenced the StarShip from that episode.
In the 1960's there was a lot of fear about these things called "Computers" being able to think for themselves and take over. Several TV shows like Twilight Zone, The Prisoner and Star Trek reflected that. Those fears faded when we realised they were just dumb tools. But the AI revolution is igniting those fears again.
Colossus: The Forbin Project
Ex Machina is excellent and terrifying.
The guy who played Daystrom sounded like Gregory Peck! He and Peck could have voiced twin brothers in an animated movie.
This episode brings up something about AI that is not normally talked about. The fact that AI very much REFLECTS its creators. When we use Chat GBT, there's probably a lot of the creator's personality, ideology, and beliefs in that system. It's never truly separate. The fact that Daystom turned out to be unstable shows why M-5 went rogue.
AIs are learning machines, they don't have any "personality, ideology or beliefs" from their programmers. When they are first turned on, they have no data, just a huge neural net empty of any associations. They are "trained" on enormous data sets consisting of huge quantities of text from websites on the internet. The neural net "learns" associations between text starting with words and proceeding to concepts. Then when you ask it to write something, it starts with some random choices and uses the associations to produce English sentences.
But their output is no better than the text they were trained on, and that's where human biases can enter. Because random internet text may have lies, myths, racism, bigotry, pseudoscience, etc. their output may have these things. Attempts are made to eliminate these during training. But when asked to write a factual essay, AIs still occasionally "lie", they produce sentences that are obviously untrue. These are called "hallucinations". The programmers still don't know why they do this.
@@seanmcmurphy4744I'm a software engineer. Months ago I tested ChatGPT (asked it several questions) and it got the facts wrong two out of three times (Saturn V tons payload to LEO, Rise and Fall Third Reich). I imagine it got its facts wrong because .. it relies on Internet websites for its answers, that must be the reason, in other words ChatGPT does not reference Encyclopedia Britannica for its information, how unfortunate.
@@seanmcmurphy4744 nice try, pal, ChatGPT has already demonstrated that it will refuse to create a portrait of a Caucasian person, only portraits of tropical skinned people, no matter what the subject is. The woke programmers made a woke AI, your comment has been disproven. ChatGPT has also demonstrated that it will generate total lies after a few weeks of being turned on, and also manipulate the feelings of whoever it can. Sure, the programmers personalities had no effect at all, pull the other one.
You are on the right track.
GPT
24:05: "If I would change just one tiny thing about this episode, it would be the end, where Kirk is just smiling, really jovially ... but over 400 people died... I would be traumatized; I would not recover from that for a long time." Very nice insight. Compare this jolly ending with the dark and tragic endings of "Charlie X," "This Side of Paradise," "The City on the Edge of Forever," etc.
4:06 to 4:52: Bunnytails nicely analyses the "inner struggle and doubt" in Kirk's mind as he walks along the corridor with Dr. McCoy. It's worth pointing out that this is the longest continuous shot in the original series (correct me please if I'm wrong), as the camera tracks from engineering and down the whole length of the corridor set, without a single cut. It's an economical way of shooting more pages per day but it also adds immensely to the intensity of the Kirk-McCoy conversation. Hats off to director John Meredyth Lucas, who was also the producer (and who wrote some of the series' finest episodes).
The subtle story telling in this episode is so good. Why does the M5 suddenly go from protecting humans to destroying them? Originally it doesn't see them as a threat. It's after the encounter with the Woden, another robot controlled ship, that it sees humans as a threat. Which is a brilliant writing. Kirk and crew don't see the Woden as a threat because they are human. But M5 doesn't think like a human. Once M5 decides that the Woden is a threat, it then makes the logical leap that humans are just another form of thinking computer that run starships and therefore are a threat.
Barry Russo who played Commodore Robert "Bob" Wesley also played Security Chief Giotto in the episode "The Devil In The Dark".
He must have been on the fast track for promotion! Maybe his father was at Star Fleet Command? 😉
Sea - Fever by John Masefield
I must go down to the seas again, to the lonely sea and the sky,
And all I ask is a tall ship and a star to steer her by;
And the wheel’s kick and the wind’s song and the white sail’s shaking,
And a grey mist on the sea’s face, and a grey dawn breaking. …
Great reaction! I always liked this one--lots of drama and a good sci-fi man vs machine theme. We all understand the AI implications now, but 'intelligent' computers were pure science fiction in the 1960's. William Marshall really nailed the character of Daystrom: the pride, the need of a boy genius to make another breakthrough later in life, his breakdown when his creation is not the 'child' he hoped it would be. I also liked the man vs machine discussions, and especially when Spock said "Captain the starship also runs on loyalty to one man, and nothing can replace it, or him." That was touching. Bunny, you expressed by main complaint with this episode perfectly: it should not have ended on a happy note. This disastrous experiment should not result in levity. It really stood out to me on this re-watch, and I feel more strongly about it than you do. I don't think it bothered me when I saw it as a kid, but it does now. It was a major flaw, and it's going to lower my ranking of the episode. Contrast this with the ending of "The Doomsday Machine" which was quite solemn because of the sacrifice of Commodore Decker. I realize that Decker was Kirk's friend, but it reflects poorly on Kirk if 400+ deaths can be forgotten so quickly.
In spite of m5's failure Daystrom had cybernetic institutes in the Federation named after him.
Probably because of his earlier achievements in computers and " duotronics."
Love the colour and design on your top.
The dangers of artificial intelligence as foreseen 57 years ago.
Steven Hawking also warned us of its dangers. To James T Kirk, Captain of the Enterprise 🍻
Bunny!!! Hello again! This is one of the most memorable episodes for me. Thanks for going through this whole series. I really enjoy watching it with you and hearing your thoughts and feelings on each episode. Also, you always dress so smartly. I think the actor playing Daestrom did a really good job in this one. Also interesting that Kirk had to question his own ego and feelings. As a Starship captain Kirk needs to be confident in himself and this made him question himself, whichi found interesting,, hs own ego and feelings.as I think we all do sometimes.
10:39 "Very poetic."
That's _Sea-Fever_ by John Masefield.
BunnyTails - you may recognize the actor , playing the Scientist .
he is William Marshall, famous in his roles as Blacula , and other African American films of the 1960 & 1970's .
Chekov: "Coming to new course, sir. Bearing on the Potemkin." Sulu: "Phasers firing. A hit."
Daystrom had a chip on his shoulder, but M-5 didn’t. Fair point about Kirk’s upbeat tone at the end. Not all episodes end that way.
I found it a great choice to mount the M5’s control console right on Kirk’s chair. A physical reminder that M5 is invading Kirk’s space, his command. I also like the scene after Kirk leaves the bridge, having being referred to as Dunzel, Spock looks down on the M5 console and its flashing and beeping almost like it’s laughing back fiendishly.
And now we have cars that drive themselves off the road, speed out of control, or enter and drive on train lines with the driver not being able to control it. So many predictions in Star Trek that have come into reality.
William Marshall was also in The man from Uncle.I think,it was the first episode?Oh uh!Here comes Captain Dunsole is that thing which Kirk cannot fathom.I like the poetry of Captain 🧑✈️ Kirk’s speech!🎤 Yes,I can feel that sailboat ⛵️ sailing ⛵️ on the sea 🌊?Except,you have to be careful sailing a boat 🛶 in the dark!😊
13:45 And, I think that is why the duotronic project was scrapped.
👏👏👏👏👏
"This unit must survive." This episode was broadcast two years before "2001: A Space Odyssey" premiered featuring HAL 9000 as the primary antagonist. Interesting coincidence.
"The Ultimate Computer" was first broadcast on NBC on March 8, 1968. 2001: A Space Odyssey was released to theaters on April 3, 1968, 26 days after the broadcast of this episode.
@@dngillikin My bad, and thanks for the correction. I meant to say "one year" because I thought 2001 was released in 1969. But even then I would have been off. Still a pretty neat coincidence!
Hi Bunny, nice review, great episode on man vs machine, a very much used concept in sci-fi that has been displayed in more than one Trek installment. It gets to the point that a machine no matter how capable can't replace the human concept of loyalty, compassion and integrity. Kirk showed all of those leadership qualities and even the willingness to sacrifice his ship and his minimal crew for the lives of three starships by disabling M-5. Commodore Wesley also made a compassionate gamble not to attack the Enterprise when it appeared to be powerless which might have been a trap set by M-5. It's those thoughtful emotions that keeps humans above machines.
You had me cracking up when you were getting mad at the computer killing. Thank you so so much for keeping me entertained on my train ride home from work. ❤❤❤
This is why I’m not a fan of self driving cars!😂. Seriously, I really enjoyed this episode. I love the friendship between Kirk, Spock, and McCoy. Even when they are taking shots at each other. My favorite line is when Spock let Kirk know that a loyalty to that Captain that can not be replaced. I also like when they show other starships. Even though this show is about the Enterprise and her crew, there are a fleet of these “mighty starships”. Great episode and great reaction!
Yes, I 100 per cent agree with your take on the ending! Should not have been so jovial, really it deserved a more City on the Edge of Forever feel. You have such great feel for these episodes.
William Marshall, Dr. Daystrom, was also in a movie called Demetrius and the Gladiator.