“The Changeling,” let’s face it, is just a more snappy and entertaining version of Star Trek I. My favorite moments in this episode is seeing the all-powerful space probe NOMAD (which in early scenes absorbes whole photon torpedoes and zaps the energy right back atchaa) dangling and bobbing through the set of the Enterprise on fishing wire. You can almost hear the offscreen cast giggling at this silver-painted cardboard essence of perfect cheepnis. Other great elements: Kirk (yet again) destroys a computer with logic. We know the computer is about to die when its voice gets all fast. Why would anyone program a computer to have its voice go fast when it is about to implode from over “does-not-compute”-ness? Also: hardcore sexism. NOMAD responds to Uhura’s love of singing with a brain scan and declares her to be a mass of conflicting impulses. Spock replies, “That unit is a woman.” I suppose, though, the sexism is reversed when it is implied that the now tabula rasa Uhura will be able to relearn everything she ever knew in just a few weeks. That’s some good studying! If you can’t enjoy this episode (where two different pairs of Redshirts get killed in the exact same way) then you’ve got no business watching Trek.
Wrong show for the comment above.