This isn't really a nit, but it is a curious coincidence involving the actor Glenn Corbett (who plays Cochrane) and a line he delivers in this episode.
When Cochrane is about to draw the companion into Kirk and Spock's trap, he makes a sardonic reference to being a "Judas goat . . . the one that leads the others into the chute." With only minor variations, this same exact line is spoken in episodes of other television series in which Corbett was either a regular or a guest star!
Years before Star Trek, Corbett replaced George Maharis as Martin Milner's co-star on Route 66. Shortly after this change was made, an episode was aired entitled "Somehow It Gets To Be Tomorrow," in which Milner delivers the "Judas goat" line.
And a couple of years after "Metamorphosis," Corbett appeared in the Land of the Giants episode "The Weird World." This time it was series star Kurt Kasznar who compared himself to the Judas goat.
I've always felt Commissioner whatsername gets cheated in this one. If the companion hadn't shang-haied the shuttle, she'd have lived. She'd have her OWN life to live as she chose. She never had a choice in this. Because of the companion's selfishness.
The stardate for this episode is 3219. However, "The Gamesters Of Triskelion" started on stardate 3211 and lasted until stardate 3259.
An interesting line is uttered by Cochrane. When he meets the shuttlecraft passengers including Mr. Spock, he recognizes him as a Vulcan. The creators in the movie "First Contact" gives this comment meaning and strengthen the continuity of the Star Trek universe by having the Vulcans be the race that Cochrane makes first contact with. His line in Metamorphisis now makes sense.
A plot oversight. So the entity brought the crew to the planet so Cochrane could have company. Yet, when Kirk speaks to this entity using the universal translator, he only argues that the man can't stay on the planet because it would be captivity. Kirk, why not suggest to the entity that if Cochrane leaves with everybody he would still have company and commissioner Hedfer could get medical attention?
True, Cochrane and the others couldn't leave the planet or they would "cease to exist." Yet the entity does end up transferring itself into Commissioner Hedfer's body sacrificing their immortality for Cochrane's loneliness.
And while we're on this subject, if the entity's force is keeping everyone from suffering from the effects of aging, and giving everyone immortality, how could Hedfer be dying?
GUEST STAR PATROL (100% Fun)
Elinor Donahue (Hedford) was Ellie Walker, Andy's flame, for one season of "The Andy Griffith Show".
BTW, regarding Shatner's "SNL" sketch, I loved it, but I can't help being a nitpicker, and nitpick the sketch--I should note that most of the stuff therein is taken from real shows, the episode numbers, the titles, are off.
It does have a lot to say about mind-controlled fans. Love Jon Lovitz's face when Shatner asks "Have you ever kissed a girl?"
A lot of nitpickers ask questions about how the Universal Translator works. Well, this is the episode which explains it!
Of the disease, McCoy says, "The odds of anyone contracting it are billions to one." I realize that the world population was much less when this episode was written, but I think the writer should have realized that a billion to one is not that big when you take into account all the populations of all the different worlds that space travelers would visit.
Looks like the makers of shuttlecraft create new models every year. The interior of this Galileo looks different than the interior of 'last year's' Galileo.
Zefram Cochrane of this episode sure looks, and acts, different from the Zefram Cochrane of Star Trek: First Contact. The Cochrane of ST:FC wanted nothing to do with being famous, but this Zefram Cochrane doesn't seem to mind the prospect. Oh, well, I guess one's opinions of anything can change when you reach age 237.
Cochrane refers to Spock as a Vulcan. I guess the term Vulcanian came into vogue after Cochrane disappeared.
Kirk and McCoy's analyzing of the relationship between the Companion and Cochrane as love is a bit of a leap of logic.
So the Companion can rejuvenate Cochrane and stop his aging, but it can't stop the disease that is killing Commissioner Hedford? Has it used most of its energy on Cochrane or is it perhaps jealous of Hedford?
The Universal Translator is said to analyze thoughts so it can make translations. If a device can read thoughts then a device can be created which would block thoughts, indicating that Data is wrong when he says that there is no known technology for blocking thoughts in Night Terrors. If the Universal Translator can read thoughts then why can't other devices? It would seem to be very helpful in the solving of crimes.
Spock says the translator translates the Alien's language into English. So for people who want to believe that Star Trek characters speak a Federation Standard... the standard is English.
Cochrane grew up around 2070 or so. Riker is very suprised to find the drunk Cochrane instad of the mature Cochrane.
This episode explains the translator... very badly!
It involves 'constants' like every race having male and female. This example doesn't work for those aliens who were asexual, but maybe they share other constants. But what if there was a race totally different?
(For a fuller discussion of this see Richard Hawkins book "Is Data Human?: The Metaphysics of Star Trek)
Reading thoughts and blocking them may be very different. When you read information from a floppy it's quite easy- just put it in a drive and open it up. To block files is far more difficult.
"Cochrane refers to Spock as a Vulcan. I guess the term Vulcanian came into vogue after Cochrane disappeared."
What? Vulcanian? Where has this term been used? I might be wrong, but all I can think of is the (non-canon) Federation book, in which Cochrane uses it. Do you mean-
"Cochrane refers to Spock as a Vulcanian. I guess the term Vulcan came into vogue after Cochrane disappeared."
Vulcanian was used in several episodes of Star Trek. In Errand Of Mercy, Mudd's Women and even Spock refers to his people as Vulcanians in A Taste Of Armageddon.
Maybe the explanation is bad, but can you think of another episode which tries to explain how the UT works?
As for blocking telepathy, well, I see the brain as an active thing which produces brain waves, and telepathy as brain waves being broadcast from one mind to another. So, using my definitions, I assume blocking telepathy would be easy. I forgot that other people would define telepathy differently.
Ed: Almost forgot, there are races that the UT does have trouble with. The Sheliak from The Ensigns Of Command, the Children of Tarma from Darmok, and the Skreeans (sp?) from a DS9 ep.
Technically the Children of Tama were being translated correctly, they just had an odd grammer system. The Skreeans ep. actually contradicts this, as the UT has to listen to them to translate. This makes more sense, although it is contradicted by dozens of episodes.
The words and phrases of the children of Tama were translated, but the UT missed the meaning of those phrases, so the UT must have some trouble reading their minds. The Skreeans minds must be very different so the UT had to use the 'old fashioned' method of listening to the words and paying attention to how they were used.
As I understand it, at the beginning of the episode, the mission of Kirk, Spock, and McCoy is to bring Commissioner Hedford to the Enterprise so she can be treated for her rare disease. Since this is interrupting her efforts to stop a war, one would think they would want to do this as quickly as possible. Then why are they fetching her with a shuttlecraft? Wouldn't it be much, much faster to bring the Enterprise directly to the planet where she was working, treat her, and then she could just go back to work? Instead, they waste time by going to fetch her in the shuttle, returning to the Enterprise in the shuttle, AND (had they made it back without incident) returning her to her planet. It is possible that the Enterprise had some urgent business that had to be completed right away elsewhere, but nothing in the episode indicates this. And if something important was going on with the Enterprise, would both Kirk and Spock go on the shuttlecraft trip?
Short Show Syndrome.
And if something important was going on with the Enterprise, would both Kirk and Spock go on the shuttlecraft trip?
Sure! Spock has to pilot the shuttle, but Kirk has to have a part (to show what an awesome captain he is), and besides, he doesn't trust Spock to bring back his whole crew after that "Galileo 7" incident :-)
In "The Lights of Zetar", when Spock tells Kirk that the "storm" is travelling at warp two, Kirk reacts with astonishment that a natural phenomenom can move faster than the speed of light. Yet at the beginning of this epsiode, when Spock tells Kirk the cloud is travelling towards them at warp speed, Kirk accepts it as a matter of course.
Cochrane said he built his home out of the supplies he carried in his ship. He lives in a house with superior architecture and workmanship, apparently built with a variety of materials. It has some pretty nice furniture, and is well-decorated with many knick-knacks and wall hangings. He even has a nice drink serving set. In addition, he brought seeds to grow his own crops and a variety of other fauna we see around the house. These are a lot of appointments to take along for a man who was going out into space to die!
Do I need to belabor the point that the Cochrane in this episode looks and acts nothing like the Cochrane in First Contact? The "Metamorphosis" version of Cochrane is much more robust and handsome. The rejuvenating powers of the Companion can only be given credit for so much, after all. Yet apparently Cochrane did look this way at some time in his normal past because he looks familiar to Kirk and McCoy when they first meet him. This Cochrane also has a much more reserved and stodgy demeanor than the rather loose-moraled figure in First Contact. Spock, of all people, even used the adjective "parochial" to describe him! 150 years have perhaps mellowed him a little?
Much is made of the fact that Kirk refers to Cochrane in this show as being "of Alpha Centauri". This has led many fans to believe the producers of First Contact screwed up by making him a native of Earth. The way to reconcile this has been to suggest that Zefram was one of the earliest colonists of Alpha Centauri and lived most of his life there. This makes sense. I mean, if he really was native to Alpha Centauri, what's he doing with Earth first- and surnames?
GUEST STAR PATROL: Glenn Corbett's role as Linc Case (1963-64) made him probably the first actor ever to portray a veteran of the Vietnam war.
Cochrane got his vision fulfilled.....
According to "First Contact", he wanted to be
on a tropical island with naked women....
Well the planet may not be 100% tropical, but it's
an island of a sorts...and seeing the "Companion"
is a non-corporeal life-form, it don't need clothes...
so therefore, it's naked.
When Cochrane said to Kirk that he wanted to die in space, did he bring along his disk of Steppenwolf's "Magic Carpet Ride?"
Also...did Cochrane serve tequilla to Kirk & Company?
Why couldn't the Enterprise go to where Hedford was? Was it broke?
Why risk losing another shuttle?
The is another great shot of the Enterprise in this episode during the search mission.
Interesting note: Kirk looking with admiration at Cochrane's ship parts and calling them "antiques"
(Another episode that establishes Kirk's fondness for antiques)
The footage for the shuttlecraft in space was taken from "The Galileo Seven"
Near the end of the show Cochrane says he'll plant a fig tree....in other words, he now has his "Garden of Eden" with an "Eve" to grow old with.
I must agree with Phil on the "great moment" on how Hedford/Companion looks at Cochrane thru the upraised scarf...I get misty-eyed when I see that part..knowing what it signifies.
NIT: You can tell this "planet" was done on a stage...you can see a glimpse of the stage lights overhead.
These commissioners must get out do some shore-leave or something...they're all cranky!
Mr. Fox (Taste of Armegeddon),Mr. Ferris (The Galileo 7) & Ms. Hedford (this episode)
are all contankerous!
What side of the bed do these people get up on anyway?
RUMINATION: The music from this episode reminds me of "Venus-the Bringer of Peace" and "Neptune the Mystic" from Gustav Holst's "The Planets".
NIT: When the device to disrupt the Companion is turned on, all the far-away shots show Spock near the device...however the close-ups of the device have Spock nowhere near the thing!
The shuttle used this episode was "Galileo Seven"
Wait....I thought that shuttle burned up in the atmosphere in episode "The Galileo Seven"...if they replaced it,wouldn't it be called "Galileo 8" or "Galileo 7-A"?
They can smooth this nit over all they want, but I won't buy any of their excuses.
I believe the Columbus was shuttle number 2 (1701/2), the Galileo is shuttle number 7 (1701/7). Maybe Kirk just likes all shuttlecraft number 7 to be named Galileo... for luck. ;-)
Fans wonder why they were using a shuttlecraft in this episode rather than have the Enterprise come and pick up the commissioner. She was in the middle of some very important negotiations in a delicate situation. They probably felt that a large, heavily armed starship charging right into the middle of an area teetering on the brink of war might just have started the conflict that Commissioner Hedford was hoping to avoid.
That's my theory, anyway.
After Hedford / Comanion merge, she & it say the pronouns: "us","we", and "our"...
However, when Cochrane says that she (Hedford/Companion) must go with him back to space, she says, "MY life eminates from this place...should I leave it...."
What happened to "Our", "we",& "us"?
That's the Companion portion speaking.
But...it is no longer "The Companion" or "Hedford"....it is now "Companion/Hedford" they are now ONE...there is no more individuality...it's a symbiosis....a joining...
a merging...whatever ya' wanna call it.
The correct monologue SHOULD have been: "OUR LIVES eminate from this planet, if WE should leave it..."
Hedford can't live (or leave the planet) without the Companion cuz' she'll die.
(remember how sick she was?)
The Companion needs Hedford to love Cochrane
and she can't leave the planet either cuz' she'll die too.
When the voice speaks, it speaks for both...Hedford AND The Companion.
The "us","we",& "our" error happens somewhat before the last one I mentioned before....when Hedford/Companion says, "Let ME feel the sun on MY face". Let ME feel the soil beneath MY feet"
I must report that Hedford/Companion said if she did not merge with Hedford there would be no continuity...in other words, she would die.
AND Cochrane mentions himself that the Companion sacrificed everything to become human....
Therefore, Hedford/Companion are now one...but in essense two...so they should maintain the "us", "we" & "our" titles because the one cannot exist without the other...so there is now plurality & there's no longer individuality.
KUDOS to the creators on this one...
Look at the area in which the shuttle lands....
far too small for it to come sliding in like it does on the shuttle bay...that would mean that these shuttles had the ability to go up and down too...just like in STV!
Not a nit, just a note.....
The voice of the Companion is done by Elizabeth Rogers.....who would play Lt. Palmer in "The Doomsday Machine" et al.
The "Galileo Seven" refers to the seven men and women aboard - Spock, McCoy, Scott, Boma, Yeoman Mears, Mr. Gitano and Mr. Latimer.
Yes, my wife and I much prefer Glenn Corbett's Zefram to James Cromwell's. The latter day Zefram would be quite happy on Ferenginar. Is this the "scpipt"-writer's idea or the director's, or was Corbett unavailable to do the movie First Contact?
A reasonable compromise might have been a Cochrane distrustful and leery of the warfare on Earth, and might think of the Enterprise people as bootlicking him ("hmmm, they're just after my warp technology, but they don't fool me") until he gets to know them better.
Oh, it makes for a cute moment on film, but I would think that Laforge stepped across the line when he told Cochrane about the statue and the high school.
Nope, give me Glenn's Zefram any day.
I really like the version in the novel "Federation". Earth is heading into a period of upheaval caused by the Optimum Movement, which grew out of the perfectionism of Khan, and Cochrane's warp drive, the development backed by Micah Brack (a.k.a. Flint, Akharin, Merlin, Methuselah, Brahms, Da Vinci), ensures humanity's survival by opening the stars to colonization. The book neatly ties in a reference in the TNG episode "The Royale", when the Charibdis is mentioned.
GCapp, it also refers to the registry number of the shuttle. NCC-1701/7. Kind of a play on words.
GCapp - Glenn Corbett died of cancer in 1993. But they could have at least found an actor who looked a little bit like him.
The Companion seems to be inconstant in when she understands the meaning of "the man will cease to exist"...She seems to think it doesn't make sense when Kirk says they will cease to exist if they remain on the planet because she has stopped their aging process. But then she says she brought Kirk and crew to this planet because she didn't want the man to cease to exist.
Hedford must not be very important...no bodyguard.
When McCoy scans Companion / Hedford when "they" emerge from the house, you can see a bandage on one of McCoy's fingers....along with his pinkie ring.
Pinkie ring? Oh my God! McCoy was part of the Mafia?
I wonder if was the Orion Syndicate...
Einstein who?
By the time of such episodes as New Ground(TNG), and Threshold(VOY), Zephram Cochrane’s name is commonly known, mentioned by Geordi and Janeway, respectively. Yet in this episode, Kirk, who
A. Lives a century closer to Cochrane’s time than Geordi or
Janeway
B. is told his last name
C. meets Cochrane, getting a good look at him, and
D. tells Bones he looks familiar, indicating he’s seen photos of
him,
doesn’t figure out who he is until Cochrane tells him his first name, and by then, there’s not much figuring out. So lets review: Kirk knows that Zephram Cochrane is the inventor of warp drive, has seen images of his face, meets the guy, and still doesn’t make the connection once he hears the guy’s last name is Cochrane? Is Cochrane such a common surname in the 23rd century?
Yeah, kinda like the way the Klingon who invented the light bulb on Chronos is revered on Earth
On meeting Cochrane, Spock declares, "The name of Zephram Cochrane is revered throughout the known galaxy. Planets were named after him...great universities...cities." I have no problem with the second part of the line, but "revered throughout the galaxy"? Wouldn’t he be revered only on Earth? All the individual races in Trek presumably had their own equivalent of Galileo, Newton, the Wright Brothers, Einstein, Edison, Ford, Oppenheimer, Neil Armstrong, Zephram Cochrane, etc. Vulcans, in fact, achieved warp flight LONG before Earth did (2000 years earlier, according to Gambit part II(TNG)), and it’s his Vulcan half that Spock identifies with.
KAM: If a device can read thoughts then a device can be created which would block thoughts, indicating that Data is wrong when he says that there is no known technology for blocking thoughts in Night Terrors.
Luigi Novi: Data didn't say there was no technology to block thoughts. He said there was no technology to block telepathic transmissions.
In the opening voiceover, Kirk says the mission of the Enterprise is to seek out new life & new civilizations....yet, he blows an opportunity to learn more about the Companion. He says, "This isn't a classroom, I'm trying to get us out of here". I hardly call that a reason. I know Hedford is ill, but what if the Companion decided to keep them there no matter what? My advice to Kirk: Sit down, be quiet and LEARN something about the Companion...ya may never get another opportunity...in other words, Spock was right.
If the UT works by reading thoughts, then two nits follow:
1) How does it work with computers, androids and radio links? (The same nit applied to Hitch-Hikers's Guide's Babel fish.
2) Why doesn't it pick up deception?
Alien: esqth amorth osque'atoth
UT: We mean no harm. He's lying! He's lying! He's going to feed you to his grandmother!
Kirk refers to Cochrane as being "of Alpha Centauri". ..many fans believe the producers of First Contact screwed up by making him a native of Earth. The way to reconcile this has been to suggest that Zefram was one of the earliest colonists of Alpha Centauri and lived most of his life there.
The TNG Tech Manual (written long before First Contact) established that Cochrane emigrated from Earth to Alpha Centauri. Offhand, I can't remember whether this was before or after he succeeded in developing warp drive.
It had to be before, Sophie. Even at Warp 1 (the speed of light), it'd take him 4.3 light years to get there. Prior to warp drive, it'd take far longer. Real-life theory of advanced ion propulsion holds that we could use it to travel anywhere to a quarter to half the speed of light, which, means he'd take 8.6 to 17.2 years to get there with pre-warp tech, which is unlikely. What would he do, go there, then come back here after 16 or 34 years, and THEN develop warp? I doubt it. Besides, he was only 33 years old at the time of the movie. (I'm assuming the effects of post-war radiation must've made him look older.)
I also had similar thoughts about the UT reading thoughts. Specifically, what happens when you say one thing, but are thinking of another?
Luigi Novi: Wow! Jeri Ryan! I love your character! You're a great actress! I'm going to start watching Boston Common now!
Universal Translator: Man, just LOOK at that body! I want to father your children!
Yes, logically he must have invented warp drive before emigrating to Alpha Centauri. But the point is, we're trying to catch the creators out.
Actually they got it right. I checked the Tech Manual. The date of emigration is not mentioned, but it was at warp 1 and took 4 years. Hope he had some Star Trek videos to help him pass the time!
BTW, several episodes (The Cage, Where No Man Has Gone Before, Space Seed, Balance of Terror) suggest that human colonisation of the galaxy began before the invention of warp drive, although I agree that it is an absurd premise.
Well, interstellar colonization, yes, but colonization within our solar system would not be, as when Kim told the 37s that Mars was first colonized around 2037 in The 37s(VOY).
At the end of the show McCoy asks Kirk, "What about the war on Epsilon Canaris III?" Kirk then replies, "Well, I'm sure Starfleet will find SOME WOMAN to stop that war".(emphasis mine)
Please don't think me as being sexist, but
why is it so important that a woman take Hedford's place? Why can't a gentleman have her job? Is it the preference of Epsilon Canaris III?
Is equal opportunity employment dead in the 23rd Century?
Maybe due to cultural significance a woman would be better suited for the position. Say Epsilon was a matriarchy and a male diplomt would be looked upon as a weakling. Sorta like Angel 1.
HMM...I'll buy that.
NIT: If Zephram Cochrane's name is known throughout the galaxy, then why didn't Kirk, Spock or McCoy recognize it or at least ask the guy, "Cochrane? Are you related to Zephram Cocrane?" after Cochrane introduces himself at the shuttle site?
(SSS again)*
*=short show syndrome
Sorry about the misspelling of Cochrane in the question bit. That one slipped by me. I thought I had 'em all.
It's possible that lots of people named their children after Cochrane. If he was so famous it might have become a common name & by Kirk's time still be relatively common.
It struck me as odd to see Kirk shaking hands. I cant recall anyother episode where handshakes were exchanged. Anyone know of one.?
"Charlie X"....Kirk shakes hands with Capt. Ramart & Charlie.
Forgot one....Kirk & Cogley shake hands in "Court Martial"
Kirk almost begged Bones for a handshake in "TMP." I know its not an episode, but...
Cochrane doesn't mind staying behind with Companion/Hedford. Okay. But why not tell Kirk, "Captain; please tell the galaxy that I'm here, because as you'll recall, the idea was that I was dying for company and immortality is boring!" instead of 'Don't tell them about me." How could he be given a taste of the company of others, but settle for just a single woman for the rest of his 40, 50, 60 or even 70 years of life? Companion can't leave, so let the people come to the planet! He's been talking to Companion for 150 years; is there really another 40 to 70 years of conversations left between these two?
Non-canon, but see "Federation" by J&GRS.
After being celibate for 150 years and finally having a human female companion, I don't think he'll want to be bothered by visitors for awhile.
'Course, after 150 years of celibacy, he'd probably need a Viagra pill the size of a Buick.
Tom Hanks was briefly sought for the part of Cochrane in FC, but his people made it known that the role would have to be increased to that of a full and equal co-star with Stewart. I think he would have been a better choice, and would come closer to resembling Corbett both physically and in acting style
Personally, I don't see any resemblance between the two. Corbett had a square face, Hanks' is oblong. Corbett had dark eyes, Hanks has light ones. Hanks' full lips aren't matched by Corbett, etc.
Funny, I always thought Tom Hanks did have dark eyes?
Anyway, you're basically right - the resemblance thing isn't happening at all. Corbett had that jut-jawed All-American Hero vibe going, while Hanks is the classic All-American Average Guy.
Besides which Hanks isn't - or at least doesn't look - old enough to be playing Corbett all those years later.
But can you deny that Hanks with fuller, dark hair looked more like Corbett in a very general way than the tall, thin, balding Cromwell. That was my basic point.
Yeah, Sir, you do have a point there. They probably should have gone for a less distinctive-looking actor.
The Hanks anecdote makes an interesting companion piece to the one that had Eddie Murphy headlining The Voyage Home. Wonder if we ever will see a true 'name' actor onscreen in a Trek movie?
According to the film's director (Nimoy), Murphy *WAS* going to be in Trek IV. However, they couldn't find a way to make it work well, and so to avoid hurting both Murphy and Trek, they parted amicably.
In addition, Nimoy tells the story of how Murphy made the SNL people wait till a Trek episode was over before he signed his SNL contract.
Cochrane-Corbett vs Cochrane-Cromwell.
Corbett is the original Cochrane. If Kirk or Spock were shown a picture of Cochrane in 2375, they'd say, "That's not Zefram Cochrane, not the one we knew!"
After Kirk & Co. met Cochrane at Gamma Canaris, they've gone back in time at least twice.
In 1968, they met Gary Seven and Roberta Lincoln. Maybe the policeman who looks like Finnegan had his life destiny altered by that call to 811 East 68th Street, and he contributed to Zefram Cochrane's blood line.
In 1986, Kirk picks up two humpback whales... and Dr. Gillian Taylor. Scratch a potential ancestor for Zefram Cochrane. (Had she stayed in the 20th century, Dr. Taylor might have gone on to be Zefram's grandmother.)
Then, in 1947, the Ferengi land in Roswell, New Mexico. The man interviewing Nog and Rom learns about how Ferengi females spend their lives naked. This man somehow becomes Zefram Cochrane's crazily babbling great-grandfather.
Add the three altered time lines and family histories, and together, Zefram Cochrane is born a few years earlier than he should have been, but has the same brilliant inventiveness.
Not only is the new Zefram's warp drive as good as the old Zefram's, but it generates a warp field tight enough to use near Earth instead of having to fly all the way out to Neptune first.
On the down side, the new Zefram looks forward to retiring on some "island" (This Island Ferenginar?) surrounded by naked women, the sort of fantasy his crazy old great-grandfather babbles about. "Yeah, sure, grandpa, aliens with big ears that go halfway around their craniums!" "Ya little sprout, I'm tellin' ya, I done see 'em... and they call their mothers 'moogie'."
I would almost think Temporal Investigations is a frustrated Federation office: all this investigation, but they can't do a thing about it until nearer the 29th century!
Sisko replaces Gabriel Bell. Can't fix it now. And Dulmer and Lucsly did call James T. Kirk a menace for all his temporal violations. I can just hear them at a TI department party.
"Dulmer came up with the most intriguing theory last month? He believes James T. Kirk is responsible for altering Zefram Cochrane's life!"
"Yeah? How?"
"Look at the sicko's record. Starfleet let him to back from 2269 to 1968, and what'd he do? He TOLD two people he's from the future! He beamed two policemen on board for a few seconds!"
"Well, that's hardly..."
"Lucsly, we checked. Constable Finnegan is now one of Cochrane's ancestors... a great-grandfather! And there used to be a real prankster at Starfleet Academy, a guy also named Finnegan, who's disappeared from history!"
"Hmmm... But one changed ancestor?"
"It doesn't stop there. In 2284, Kirk went back to 1984 on his own to get those humpback whales? His whole crew was messing up!
"Kirk blabbed to that cetacean biologist, Dr. Taylor--"
"You mean she's from that time?"
"Yeah! He let her come to the 23rd century! She was supposed to be Cochrane's grandmother! And that punk on the bus with the loud music? That neck pinch by Spock kept him from meeting his girlfriend... she dumped him, and he became another of Cochrane's grandparents! And HE wouldn't have been a punk with loud music if his father Finnegan hadn't relocated from New York after his experience in New York 18 years earlier. That move across country had quite an effect on that five year old boy.
"And here's the clincher: the Ferengi are also at fault! They apparently landed in Roswell in 1947!"
"Roswell?! I thought that was just an early version of a U-2."
"Apparently, that's all it would have been, a U-2 predecessor, but the Ferengi ship's wake spun the test plane out of the area and somehow it was found on the sea bottom near Gus Grissom's Mercury capsule a few decades later. Anyhow, apparently the Ferengi culture caused Cochrane's great-grandfather to babble about naked females."
"I tell ya, if Starfleet ever develops time ships, they oughta consider going to fix up that Kirk's damage."
"I don't know. Fixing it might mix up too many time lines."
After Cochrane identifies himself, Kirk comments that he (Cochrane) looks familiar...
How many famous (or familiar) people with the last name of Cochrane are there in the 21st century and beyond?
Erm, John, you just answered your own question -Kirk's referring to the man's looks, not his name.
Cochrane identifying himself may have heightened the Captain's impression of familiarity, but it didn't create it. 
LESLIE ALERT!
Mr. Leslie can be seen briefly at the Engineer's station on the Bridge.
Outside the shuttle, McCoy tells Spock that he's not a scientist or a physicist, but wait a minute? Wasn't his scientific ability instrumental in finding cures on Miri's world, the aging disease, the Tholian inter-space trouble, the non-existent fountain of youth on Omega IV, etc., etc.?
Cochrane tells them that 'power systems don't work here'. That would only relate to spaceship engines, considering the machine they use to disrupt the electrical current of Companion works, the unit Spock uses to examine the shuttle engines works, and there's ample lighting within Cochrane's home.
I don't think Kirk and the others were so thick when it came to Cochrane's identity. They had no way of knowing how long Cochrane had been there until he told him he was Zefrim Cochrane, at which point everyone made a quick calculation as to how long he's been here. Also, sure he looks familiar, but Kirk and the others had no reason to make the connection between him and someone who allegedly died 150 years ago. Many of us have seen paintings of Napolean; would you automatically make the connection with him, even though he's been dead a long time? Kirk and McCoy would have been trying to remember a contemporary Cochrane, not someone from the 21st century.
When Spock asks Kirk if he is considering killing the companion, Kirk replies that he'll do anything it takes to get Miss Hedford to the hospital. Hospital??? Doesn't he mean the sickbay aboard the Enterprise?
(From the Amok Time board)
The situation with the Big Three getting Hedford in a shuttlecraft is problematic. My understanding is that TOS era shuttles were sublight. Yet here they are, out in the middle of nowhere, light years from anywhere, in a shuttle. It would imply that this particular shuttle is warp capable. So, if some shuttlecraft are warp capable, why don't they have more of them?
Wouldn't the shuttle in The Menagerie, Part I also have to have been warp capable?
It's possible they all could have been warp capable, but because of certain limitations (fuel, oxygen, food) they preferred to use them on short missions where warp use would be limited or not used at all. Just an idea.
Tom Hanks was briefly sought for the part of Cochrane in FC...
This is new to me, as I haven't checked this page in a while. Hanks gets $20 million or more a film now. Even then, he was paid top dollar. Was he willing to take a lower salary, as I doubt his salary demands were part of the film's budget? Or was that just a momentary flirtation, as the attempt to get Sean Connery for Star Trek V was?
Best line: "How nice of you to notice that I needed one!"--Hedford to Cochrane after he commented that she could take a bath.
Before the Companion is detected in space, the Shuttlecraft windows are closed.
So...all this time, Kirk & Spock were piloting the Shuttle without seeing where they were going?
Is this really a smart thing to do?
That's like driving your car with the cardboard sun screen still draped over it.
Except that the shuttlecraft, like the Enterprise itself, is probably equipped with sensors that not only do more of the seeing for the crew, but can see more than the helmsman and navigator can. The windows and viewscreens are most likely there for psychological, rather than practical, purposes.
Live long and prosper.
Speaking for myself, I'd rather fly with the window panels opened...so I can gaze at the stars while I'm flying.
Note that the windows in the shuttlecrafts since TOS have fixed glass windows that are always open (except for that shuttle that brought Spock onto the Enterprise in ST-TMP.)
Speaking for myself, I'd rather fly with the window panels opened...so I can gaze at the stars while I'm flying. - John A. Lang
Yeah, but if you've been in space for as long as Kirk, Spock and McCoy and much of the rest of the crew have been, the view would get mighty boring and routine. It's not like there's a lot of variety to see in deep space. At some point, you're gonna say, "The hell with it. I'm closing the windows. I've seen it all before. Wake me when there's something interesting out there, like a Klingon battle cruiser or doomsday machine or Nomad."
Live long and prosper.
LOL
I have to sheepishly correct an error I made on my very first-ever post to this board years ago (refer above). It seems that Glen Corbett did NOT appear in the R66 episode "Somehow It Gets To Be Tomorrow". That epsiode aired a few shows before he came on board as a regular, although for some reason I remember him being in that episode. However, the line of dialogue that appears in "Metamorphosis" DOES appear in this episode, and since Corbett was stongly involved in that show, I think the validity of my original post still holds.
CG enhancing: Following up on an idea in the Space: 1999 threads, if Star Trek the Classic Series could be enhanced with CG, these are ideas I have for this episode.
The Companion is very nicely done.
When Kirk tries to evade the Companion by altering Galileo's course, the Companion is shown shifting against the background stars, instead of the stars and Companion shifting together first, then the Companion shifting against them. This should be fixed. All it looks like is that Kirk fired silently and invisibly, the Companion dodged and then moved in front of them again.
(It irks me that Kirk had Spock activate the disruption device as soon as she enveloped Cochrane, and not a few seconds earlier; Kirk might have killed the man that way -- no wonder the Companion was ticked off and attacked the two Enterprise men.)
For shots of the exterior of the Galileo, "II" should be added since this is the second Galileo, not the one destroyed over Taurus II. This Galileo, which did take off to rendezvous with the Enterprise, is later seen crash-landed on "Eden", where "II" is clearly visible.
Back in the day, people always assumed the lines about Alpha Centauri meant Cochrane was an alien from there, but in the episode itself, McCoy scans him and tells Kirk he is human. Not humanoid, but human.
So, even back then, I think Gene Coon just meant A. C. to be a place where Cochrane lived.
Sir Rhosis
At one point, Commissioner Hedford mentions that no one ever loved her.
Well, if she weren't so cranky, she would be loved by someone before that time!
Which came first, the chicken or the egg? Maybe she was cranky because no one loved her.
Yes, lack of sex does make some people cranky!
This is one of those rare episodes where Kirk was never on the Enterprise.
Alternative title: I walked with a zombie.
John A Lang uttered:
Well in the case of Ms Hedford she has a valid point, there you are in the middle of nowhere, you catch this illness that is going to kill you within a day or so and who comes to the rescue... captain James T Kirk. Not only you know that man brings trouble wherever he goes but he brings his country doctor with him as well. Yep, that same country doctor whose only phrase seems to be: He's dead Jim! Those two are as deadly as inviting Jessica Fletcher to your party.
Quote:These commissioners must get out do some shore-leave or something...they're all cranky!