>This is one of those rare episodes where Kirk >was never on the Enterprise.

The only one in the first two seasons. Kirk also does not appear on the Enterprise in the following third season episodes: "The Paradise Syndrome", "Plato's Stepchildren", "Whom Gods Destroy" and "All Our Yesterdays".

The remastered "Metamorphosis" airs this weekend. The preview shows new shots of the shuttlecraft being captured in space by the Companion.

New space shots including the capture of the shuttlecraft by the Companion. The shot out through the shuttle windows now uses all three panes rather than just the central one.

The long shot of Cochrane running towards the shuttle is opened up. Overhanging rocks (probably concealing the edges of the set) have been removed and some mountains have been added in the distance.

However, when he arrives at the shuttle the studio lights and edge of the "sky" backdrop are still visible.

The Companion effects on the surface haven't been changed.

After 150 years, Cochrane still wears the badges on his uniform.

New final shot of the Galileo flying toward the Enterprise. Since I'm so accustomed to the last shot of just about any episode to be an Enterprise flyaway, I thought this touch was (to use what may be the most over-used word today) "awesome."
IIRC, the scene of Spock and the Galileo getting zapped by the Companion was cut.

The planetoid Cochrane lived on was a lot more barren in the enhanced episode than it was in the original. And to really nitpick, in the enhanced episode, Gene Coon's writer's credit appeared simultaneously with the episode title; in the original, it was a second or two delayed. Ralph Senensky's director credit was untouched.

I concur with everyone who has pointed out that it makes no sense that the Enterprise did not simply go to the planet to pick up the ambassador in the first place to treat her instead of sending a shuttlecraft.As to whether the appearance of a starship would have caused problems with a solar system on the verge of a war,they still could have gotten the big E much closer than they did & then launch the shuttle.Also,I realize that this is an important mission,but having both Kirk & Spock in the shuttle was a poor decision.

In one of the TNG books, Phil made a list of the times they spent hours in a shuttle when the Enterprise-D could have covered the distance in a few seconds.

StarTrek.com has a nice wallpaper of Spock from this episode; the shot of Spock touching the Companion. But - IIRC, that scene was cut from the re-mastered version, and we didn't catch up with Spock until Bones found him lying on the ground.

Upon hearing the Companion speak for the first time in the universal translator's automated voice, Kirk assumes that because the automated voice is feminine, the Companion must be female. Kirk,, when explaining how the UT functioned earlier, said nothing about it being able to determine a person's gender. If he would have thought for a second, he would have realized that the the feminine voice was from the UT, which had a feminine voice just like all the Enterprise's computers. Of course, Kirk's assumption, even though based on a mistake, turned out to be correct and the Companion was indeed female.

Curiously enough, the UT's Companion voice continued to be heard even after the Companion possessed Nancy Hedford's body. Maybe the UT was still locked on to the Companion's brain waves and continued to verbalize its thoughts.

An analysis of the changes between first and final script drafts is here. Note that in the first draft, Comm. Hedford's illness is not fron Sakuro's (sp?) Disease, but the reaction the planetoid's atmosphere has with her O-Negative blood. (The same type of blood I have! Gulp!)

So the Companion can keep people from aging, but can't cure diseases? Okay, the deterioration from age may be different than a disease. Ok... but... the merged Hedford is suddenly healthy. Since they talk about an immunization, it must be an infectious disease. The disease organisms would still be attacking Hedford's body; they wouldn't be gone just because she "died" a few seconds. So, why isn't she still sick?

Just rewatched this last night. It bothers me that the Enterprise crew bids farewell to Cochrane at great length before returning to the Enterprise. Hedford/Companion just stands there the whole time like so much scenery. Everybody just totally ignores her and they leave without a word of goodbye to her. Weird.

Wow, that's wierd! I never noticed that!
Especially since the episode was about THEM and not just HIM.

Here's an interview with Elinor Donahue, from StarTrek.com, in which she fondly recalls working on this episode.

I think this episode proves that the shuttlecraft has warp drive. Sulu is tracking it and reports that they've come to the end of the line-- no trace of anti-matter residue. It's right there in the dialog-- 'anti-matter residue'. If the ship had ion powered engines and not warp drive, why does it emit anti-matter residue?

The Companion says "So this is loniness." No, it's rejection. He stepped away from her, freaked out that the two had merged.

Cochrane and the Companion go for a walk, and Kirk contacts the Enterprise. How is this possible? He didn't know the ship had found them. He and Spock and McCoy are standing in the same places as they were when Cochrane and the Companion left. Uhura informs Scotty that the Captain is calling them. How was this possible for him to know the ship was nearby?

Cochrane tells Kirk to not let anyone know he's alive and well. Oooookay, but you're standing beside someone who DOES need to have her whereabouts explained! What are Kirk, and Spock, and McCoy going to do? Lie about Commissioner Hedford's whereabouts to Starfleet and the Federation?

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quote:

Cochrane tells Kirk to not let anyone know he's alive and well. Oooookay, but you're standing beside someone who DOES need to have her whereabouts explained! What are Kirk, and Spock, and McCoy going to do? Lie about Commissioner Hedford's whereabouts to Starfleet and the Federation?

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What are Kirk, and Spock, and McCoy going to do? Lie about Commissioner Hedford's whereabouts to Starfleet and the Federation?

Commissioner Hedford had that illness, don't forget. I imagine Kirk will just tell the Federation that she died of it. I'm sure McCoy will whip up a Death Certificate as well.

At the end of the James Blish adaptation, Kirk does say that he intends to report her as dead once they return to the Enterprise. They should have included that line in the episode.

Ok, how will they explain that they didn't bring back her body? You know, for the next of kin, and funerals, and stuff.

They could say that she requested that her body was to be set adrift in space.

"I imagine Kirk will just tell the Federation that she died of it. I'm sure McCoy will whip up a Death Certificate as well.... They could say that she requested that her body was to be set adrift in space."

So, they just lie, lie, and lie some more? How can Spock (a.k.a. the logical, moral one that supposedly cannot tell a lie) go along with this? Why would all three jeopardize their careers for such a lie, just for someone they spent less than a day with?
The producers were so enamoured with their own love story that they didn't think it through.

Spock (a.k.a. the logical, moral one that supposedly cannot tell a lie

Wasn't the episode to establish that Vulcans don't lie The Menagerie, Part 1 i.e. the One With Spock Lying All Over The Place?

The lied to protect Cochrane's privacy. They didn't want the poor man being harassed by curiosity seekers all the time.

Imagine if Amelia Earhart was somehow found alive and well, and the world found out. The woman would never again have a moment of peace.

The same thing applies here.

And Nancy Hedford was, in a way, already gone. If the Companion hadn't merged with her, she would have died. And now she can't leave that planet, because her life emanates from there.

So, in a way, Kirk would be right to declare her dead.

Or, perhaps he did tell Starfleet, but made sure it remained an official secret.

"The lied to protect Cochrane's privacy. They didn't want the poor man being harassed by curiosity seekers all the time."

But, as I said, they did this for someone they just met? Their careers could be on the line! And Spock is okay with this? I don't see the logic in it, from his point of view, because, KAM, Spock lied for Pike, someone he respected and served with. Would he run the risk of throwing away his career for Cochrane or Amelia Earhart? I doubt it.
They don't owe anything to Cochrane, because remember, the Enterprise found them, anyway, without Cochrane's help.
The ending never bothered me before, but the more I think of it the more this feels like a Third Season ending-- a what-the-heck-this-is-how-it-ends-so-what scenario.

Gonna have to disagree with you here, Steve. This just wasn't some random Joe Schmoe, this was Zefram Cochrane. The guy who made the civilization that Kirk and Spock live in possible.

Kirk clearly didn't think that Cochrane asking for some peace and quiet was too much to ask.

I read an interview, years ago, with Ron Moore, in which he discussed the ideas that they were kicking around for First Contact. They already had the idea of the Borg travelling back in time to Earth's past, but not when.

After several pitches, they hit upon the idea of Cochrane's first warp flight, and tied that into first contact with the Vulcans.

This episode was very vague about Cochrane's first warp flight. It said he discovered it, but that was about it. No other details were given, so the writer's of FC had to develop the story around it.

They did note that Cochrane did recognize Spock as a Vulcan. That helped develop their storyline.

Hedford could sign a statement or make a video recording saying that she was dying and wanted to be cast adrift in space. That would take some of the burden off of the landing party.

Yeah, that would have helped a great deal.

She/they could and should have done SOMETHING, because now Kirk, Spock and McCoy have to lie about the incident to protect Cochrane's privacy.

This is a plot point in the J&GRS Novel "Federation"

Hedford stuck me as someone who had no close friends and was very much alone. Perhaps that made it easier for them to declare her dead.

As far as that novel is concerned, my default position "not canon, doesn't count" applies. And, unlike the BBC, which tended to waffle on this in regards to Doctor Who, Paramount was very firm on the issue. None of the novels were to be regarded as canon.

And that novel was Jossed (look this up on TV Tropes) by the movie First Contact.

I'm not saying it's canon. I'm just saying someone picked up the nit and ran with it.

If Scotty had been on that shuttle, would he have instantly known who Cochrane was?

From director Ralph Senensky's blog, here's how the actress who voiced The Companion was cast. (No, I ain't going to say who she is; you'll have to read the page. But, it's not Majel Barrett.)

Fascinating.

Mr. Serensky must be one of the few surviving director's from TOS (he's 98 now).

You made a good point, Tim, so I did a quick Google search. Of all the Trek directors whose names I could come up with off hand, only Mr. Senensky and Robert Butler are still with us. The two most prolific, Marc Daniels and Joseph Pevney, passed away in 1989 and 2008, respectively. Jud Taylor, who directed numerous third season shows, also died in 2008. Herb Wallerstein, who replaced Ralph Senensky on "The Tholian Web" (and also did "Whom Gods Destroy" and "Turnabout Intruder"), passed away in 1985. Vincent McEveety, who directed six episodes, left us in 2018. John Meredyth Lucas, who wrote and produced, as well as directed, left us in 2002. David Alexander and James Goldstone, each of whom directed two shows, passed on in 1983 and 1999, respectively. Tony (Anton) Leader And John Erman, who each did one, passed on in 1988 and 2021, respectively.

Sad, but true.

Why are Kirk and Spock even on this mission? McCoy, yes, because Hedford needs a doctor; but this rendezvous could have been handled by a pilot and maybe one or two security men. Isn't it more important for Kirk to be commanding the ENTERPRISE? Doesn't he trust his crew to handle routine ferrying missions like this? (Of course, it turned out not to be a routine mission, but they had no way of knowing that.)

Maybe Kirk sees it as a diplomatic mission- we don't know what they expected to find when they arrived.

Yeah, they were on the way to try and stop a war.

Todd - "Why are Kirk and Spock even on this mission?..."
Look what happens when he doesn't go, or isn't around other landing parties; 'The Naked Time' - Spock, Tormolen; 'Shore Leave' - McCoy, Sulu, Rodriguez, Martinez; 'The Galileo Seven' - Spock, McCoy, Scott, Boma, Gaetano, Latimer, Mears; 'Return of the Archons' - Sulu and O'Neil; 'Catspaw' - Scott, Sulu, Jackson; 'The Trouble With Tribbles' - Chekov, Uhura, Scotty.
Things can get out of hand either way, so he might as well be a part of the team! Also, Kirk just isn't the 'chair-bound paper-pusher' type.

IIRC- in the episode The Naked Time Spock wasn't affected until after returning to the Enterprise ( again IIRC- I think Nurse Chapel was the one who infected him).

Of course, they could have picked Hedford up with the Enterprise.

However, if they had done that, the episode would have been really short.

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A 55th anniversary salute to this episode, including plot points I never considered, can be viewed here. (Scroll down a bit.)

Amazing that stuff like this can still be found, more than half-a-century later.