Nurse Chapel's Fiancé, Dr. Roger Korby, hasn't been heard from for five years but she is convinced that he is still alive despite the fact that he was stationed on a frozen planet and previous rescue parties have found no sign of him. With this knowledge Kirk is a little surprised when Dr. Korby responds to the Enterprise's message. Korby asks Kirk to beam down alone as he has made certain discoveries but when he learns Nurse Chapel is aboard he invites her to come too. Things get off to a bad start when there is nobody to meet them; a couple of red shirts beam down but don't last long; a giant humanoid soon dispatches them while Kirk and Nurse Chapel are met by one of Dr. Korby's colleagues; he is acting rather strangely though.
When they finally meet Korby they soon learn that the planet's original population had moved underground when it froze. They then became more mechanised; creating androids like the being we saw killing the red shirts. This android, Ruk, isn't the only one; Korby's colleague and Andrea, a beautiful woman, are also androids. Korby, a renowned scientist has plans to create far more androids starting with an exact replica of Kirk!
This is a pretty good episode; it was nice to see minor character Nurse Chapel take a leading role; Majel Barrett puts in a good performance. The story was enjoyable even if it is yet another that features a 'fake Kirk'. Ted Cassidy was suitably threatening as Ruk; his immense stature making him more formidable that most 'nearly human' aliens that feature so often in the 'Star Trek' universe; the scene who he picked up Kirk and threw him across a room was great. Michael Strong did a solid enough job as Korby and Sherry Jackson was likable as Andrea. I'm sure most viewers will realise that there is something wrong with Korby long before he comes out with his crazy plans; it is a little surprising that Nurse Chapel takes so long to realise he isn't quite the man she once knew. The way that Kirk alerts Spock to the fact that something is wrong was rather entertaining. Overall a solid enough episode which lets most of the main cast, apart from Kirk, take a back seat.
When they finally meet Korby they soon learn that the planet's original population had moved underground when it froze. They then became more mechanised; creating androids like the being we saw killing the red shirts. This android, Ruk, isn't the only one; Korby's colleague and Andrea, a beautiful woman, are also androids. Korby, a renowned scientist has plans to create far more androids starting with an exact replica of Kirk!
This is a pretty good episode; it was nice to see minor character Nurse Chapel take a leading role; Majel Barrett puts in a good performance. The story was enjoyable even if it is yet another that features a 'fake Kirk'. Ted Cassidy was suitably threatening as Ruk; his immense stature making him more formidable that most 'nearly human' aliens that feature so often in the 'Star Trek' universe; the scene who he picked up Kirk and threw him across a room was great. Michael Strong did a solid enough job as Korby and Sherry Jackson was likable as Andrea. I'm sure most viewers will realise that there is something wrong with Korby long before he comes out with his crazy plans; it is a little surprising that Nurse Chapel takes so long to realise he isn't quite the man she once knew. The way that Kirk alerts Spock to the fact that something is wrong was rather entertaining. Overall a solid enough episode which lets most of the main cast, apart from Kirk, take a back seat.