Star Trek Episode Review: What Are Little Girls Made Of (1966)
Synopsis: The Enterprise visits an icy planet in search of missing exobiologist, Dr. Roger Korby (Michael Strong) and his team. Captain Kirk (William Shatner) believes Kirby is dead but, to his surprise, the scientist makes contact with the Enterprise and invites both Kirk and Kirby's former fiancee, Nurse Christine Chapel (Majel Barrett) to visit him on the planet. When they arrive, they discover Korby has discovered an alien technology with the ability to merge humans with androids, which he intends to secretly take with him and use on unsuspecting humans.
Review: When I decided to finally sit down and watch the original Star Trek episodes for the first time, I wasn't really sure what to expect. However, most of them, so far at least, have been very entertaining and enjoyable. Unfortunately, this episode was one that was a little bit of a letdown for me.
I think the overall "mad-scientist" concept of the episode was a decent one. I especially liked how Korby (like the best mad scientists) wanted to use his newly-discovered technology to "better mankind" and cure diseases, etc. In fact, some of his arguments weren't too terrible, though they did ignore other things, such as the loss of emotion and the ability to think for yourself.
I also kind of like how the episode brought out Korby's human side a bit by having him create an android (Sherry Jackson) that was essentially a sex slave for him. It was a bit campy but, at the same time, something I could believe.
The problem with this episode is it just too predictable. It wasn't too difficult to figure out what was going to happen as the episode progressed and even the surprise twist involving Korby wasn't anything that was really all that surprising. Maybe, at the time this episode first aired, it was a better-kept secret. But, since I've seen dozens of other shows that have had similar twists, it just wasn't something that withstood the passing of time.
Final Opinion: It's not a terrible episode and it does have a relatively decent performance by Ted Cassidy as an android. But, it's also not an episode that is particularly memorable either.
My Grade: C
Review: When I decided to finally sit down and watch the original Star Trek episodes for the first time, I wasn't really sure what to expect. However, most of them, so far at least, have been very entertaining and enjoyable. Unfortunately, this episode was one that was a little bit of a letdown for me.
I think the overall "mad-scientist" concept of the episode was a decent one. I especially liked how Korby (like the best mad scientists) wanted to use his newly-discovered technology to "better mankind" and cure diseases, etc. In fact, some of his arguments weren't too terrible, though they did ignore other things, such as the loss of emotion and the ability to think for yourself.
I also kind of like how the episode brought out Korby's human side a bit by having him create an android (Sherry Jackson) that was essentially a sex slave for him. It was a bit campy but, at the same time, something I could believe.
The problem with this episode is it just too predictable. It wasn't too difficult to figure out what was going to happen as the episode progressed and even the surprise twist involving Korby wasn't anything that was really all that surprising. Maybe, at the time this episode first aired, it was a better-kept secret. But, since I've seen dozens of other shows that have had similar twists, it just wasn't something that withstood the passing of time.
Final Opinion: It's not a terrible episode and it does have a relatively decent performance by Ted Cassidy as an android. But, it's also not an episode that is particularly memorable either.
My Grade: C
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