Star Trek: Season 2, Episode Three “The Changeling”

Stardate: 3541.9 (2267)
Original Air Date: September 29, 1967
Writer: John Meredyth Lucas
Director: Marc Daniels

“I am Nomad.”

The Enterprise is investigating a distress call from the Malurian system, but upon arrival, there is no communication from any of the more than 4 billion people in the system nor any of the Federation staff stationed there. Spock registers no life readings and at the same time there does not seem to be a system-wide catastrophe (“even a Symbalene blood burn does not act that swiftly”). Suddenly an extremely powerful bolt of energy begins speeding toward the Enterprise at multiple warp speeds. It strikes the ship with the power of about 90 photon torpedoes, and the Enterprise rapidly begins losing power (the ship can only handle several more of these blasts).

Signals reveal an exceptionally tiny ship not far away. Kirk issues a message announcing the Enterprise as a peaceful ship. The enemy ship responds with an “old style interplanetary code” on multiple frequencies in binary. Spock quickly realizes the message is a mathematical formula and it has come from “Nomad,” a being who also claims to be “peaceful.” Kirk negotiates with Nomad to beam aboard. Amazingly, Nomad agrees, revealing itself to be merely a cylindrical vessel which is slightly smaller than a satellite. Spock and Scotty suggest Nomad is likely little more than a machine, perhaps a computer. Nomad freely floats, moving about the ship and demanding to know the “point of origin” of the crew before it begins scanning the ship’s star charts –Nomad is searching for his “Creator.” Kirk then recalls an early human project known as “NOMAD” launched from Earth in the early 2000’s, it was part of a project launched in 2035 with an early interstellar directive. Could it be the same machine? Nomad tells the crew its main function is to probe for “biological infestations” and to destroy imperfect life forms. Nomad is actually what destroyed all “imperfect life” within the Malurian system. Nomad has apparently committed mass genocide against the entire Malurian race.

Kirk leaves Nomad under the watch of a crewman in order to regroup with his leadership team. The group discusses the background of Nomad –they learn about its creator, a brilliant scientist named Jackson Roykirk who built Nomad in search of a perfectly logical machine designed to explore the cosmos. Nomad was initially designed to be a probe seeking out new life forms but its relentless logic managed to change its its mission, redirecting to now destroy “biological infestations.” Nomad was damaged in deep space and left to wander aimlessly until it happened upon Tan Ru, a probe from another alien civilization only referred to as “The Other.” The two machines, Nomad and the Tan Ru probe, eventually molded together to form a common purpose: to sterilize other planets as a prelude to colonization. Apparently, now Nomad actually believes Capt. Kirk is the same person as Jackson Roykirk, its long-lost “creator” (note that their names sound similar). Upon realizing the extraordinary danger Nomad poses, and how lucky the Enterprise is to have survived at all, Kirk decides Nomad must be destroyed. Thus, Nomad is imprisoned in the brig behind a shield barrier. But Nomad escapes captivity while overhearing Uhura singing a song over the intercom. Nomad confronts her on the bridge and when Scotty tries to intervene, he is killed by Nomad and Uhura’s memory is wiped clean, but Kirk as the “Creator” immediately orders Nomad to repair Scotty (Nomad refers to the humans as “units”). Meanwhile, Bones and Nurse Chapel assist Nomad in reviving Scotty and re-educating Uhura.

Spock suggests an analysis of Nomad’s unpredictable ways is warranted, and so he attempts a mind meld with the machine but it goes awry as Nomad gains control of Spock’s mind. It is a fascinating, albeit troubling, scene. In searching for a historical analog, Kirk recalls the ancient earth legend of the “changeling” (a fairy child that was left in place of a human baby, the changeling assumed the identity of the human baby). Nomad is once again imprisoned before easily escaping, killing two red-shirt guards (followed by two more), and attempting to “repair” the Enterprise’s power systems by over-running them at unsustainable levels. Nomad has developed plans to attack Earth with all its errors and imperfections. Kirk orders Nomad to stop and then reveals that he, himself, is a biological being who once made an “error” in creating Nomad. This forces NOMAD to reconsider revisiting its “launch point” (i.e. to possibly sterilize Earth), and thus Kirk manages to persuade Nomad that it made an “error” in mistaking Kirk for Jackson Roykirk, and therefore Nomad is imperfect and must be sterilized himself. Before Nomad explodes, the crew beam it out into space where it self-destructs.

This episode ends on a strangely whimsical note for having just described a mass genocide event. Bones declares that Uhura has been nearly re-educated back to the level of a college student and she should be back on the job within a week (how is this type of re-education possible with just the tapes on the Enterprise?) while Spock laments the death of Nomad since it was a “remarkable instrument.” Kirk facetiously agrees, amusingly referring to Nomad as his son.

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My Thoughts on “The Changeling”

While bearing certain similarities to Star Trek: The Motion Picture and its requisite reveal of “V’ger,” as well as Kirk’s persuasive powers over Landru as in “The Return of the Archons,” “The Changeling” offers a compelling examination of ancient machine learning, and artificial intelligence, as it becomes a predatory creature. This episode made me consider what could happen to some of the extraordinary machines we 21st century humans have launched out into the cosmos, such as the relatively recent voyage of the Webb Telescope. What new Frankenstein monsters are we unleashing? Nomad is a highly volatile machine (once again, it’s nice to see a unique, non-humanoid foe in a Star Trek episode), but its language is unusual, and the Enterprise narrowly survives this crisis only by means of luck –Kirk’s last name just so happens to be similar enough to Roykirk “The Creator.” Nevertheless, despite the remarkable force of technological power aboard the Enterprise, a small machine launched from Earth centuries ago still poses a grave threat. Perhaps we should be skeptical of technology’s self-professed moral neutrality if mere “might makes right” among competing technological powers. In some ways, Nomad serves as a kind of perverse parallel to the mission of the Enterprise itself.

At any rate, I have a few frustrations with this episode. Why does Kirk rashly abandon supervision of Nomad on several occasions? Why does he simply allow Nomad to freely roam the ship? Is there a reasonable explanation for the abysmal prison/security protocols aboard the Enterprise? Why does the crew not simply review old records in order to deactivate Nomad? Why does Kirk not clearly instruct Nomad to simply turn himself off rather than self-destruct? If Nomad could bring Scotty back to life, couldn’t Nomad have possibly reanimated the over 4 billion people it recently destroyed? What happened to Tan Ru and the other alien civilization? How is Spock able to complete a mind meld with a robot? And how is it that Uhura can be re-educated in a mere matter of weeks after having her brain entirely wiped clean of memory? Does this not undermine her years of education in Starfleet? What is the titular “changeling” a reference to exactly? How is Nomad similar to a “changeling”? Despite these and other questions, I still thought this was a terrific installment in the series, another triumph for the second season. Technically speaking, I thought the cinematic acrobatics employed to make Nomad appear elevated in mid-air aboard the Enterprise were delightfully silly and yet this is still an engaging and thought-provoking episode about a godlike machine that has evolved to boast terrifying new capabilities.

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Credits:

• Directed by: Marc Daniels
  • Marc Daniels (1912-1989) was a World War II veteran and television director for a number of different shows like I Love Lucy, Gunsmoke, Star Trek, Mission: Impossible, and Hogan’s Heroes, among others. During his career he was nominated for several Emmys, two Directors Guild of America awards, and four Hugo Awards. He is tied with Joseph Pevney for the most TOS episodes directed (14 episodes). Daniels died of congestive heart failure in 1989 in Santa Monica at the age of 77.
• Written by: John Meredyth Lucas
  • John Meredyth Lucas (1919-2002) wrote a total of four episodes for Star Trek at the invitation of Gene L. Coon (“The Changeling,” “Patterns of Force,” “Elaan of Troyius,” and “That Which Survives“). He also served as producer during the latter half of the second season and director for three episodes (“Elaan of Troyius,” “The Ultimate Computer,” and “The Enterprise Incident“). He grew up reading science fiction. During summers he would visit his Aunt Vi and walk to a nearby drugstore for ice cream where he started reading science fiction magazines like Science Wonder Stories, Amazing Stories, and Science Fantasy. Regarding his inspiration for “The Changeling,” Lucas said “I had always been fascinated by the concept of the machine as God. That was really the spark for it; the selling point… It was simply a fascinating concept that a machine could, in a very real sense, come to life” (for further details see These Are the Voyages by Marc Cushman). Later in his career he worked on several movies, as well as television adaptations of Planet of the Apes and Logan’s Run. He died of leukemia in 2002 and his ashes were jettisoned into space.
• Music by: Fred Steiner
  • Most of the music in this episode was borrowed from previous scores, such as “The Corbomite Maneuver” and “Who Mourns for Adonais?” There is also an original song written by William Hatch and Gene Coon entitled “Beyond Antares.”
• Cinematography by: Jerry Finnerman
• Cast:
  • Vic Perrin…..Voice of Nomad
    • Vic Perrin (1916-1989) was most famously known as the “control voice” in The Outer Limits. He also provided voicing work in other Star Trek episodes like “The Menagerie,” “Arena,” “The City on the Edge of Forever,” and “Mirror, Mirror.” He appeared in shows like Gunsmoke, Mission: Impossible, Have Gun – Will Travel, Perry Mason, and he voiced several characters in Scooby-Doo, Where Are You! He appeared in two episodes of The Twilight Zone (“People Are Alike All Over” and “Ring-a-Ding Girl“). He was also a radio scriptwriter as well as a narrator in feature films and for special entertainment and educational projects. He was married three times and had one son. He died of cancer in Los Angeles in 1989 at the age of 73.
  • Blaisdell Makee…..Singh
    • Blaisdell Makee (1931-1988) was born and raised in Hawaii. He was best known for playing Sergeant Alika, a recurring character in the television series Hawaiian Eye, as well as other minor characters in shows like Daniel Boone and Mission: Impossible. For Star Trek, he also played Lt. Spinelli in the episode “Space Seed.” After retiring from acting he sold securities for Trans Pacific Underwriters and died of heart failure in Ventura in 1988.
  • Eddie Paskey…..Lt. Leslie
    • Eddie Paskey (1939-2021) appeared in television shows like The Dick Van Dyke Show, Mission: Impossible, The Wild Wild West, and others. For Star Trek, he appeared in some sixty episodes of TOS, sometimes as a stand-in for William Shatner and a hand double for James Doohan, but most frequently as the recurring background character of Lt. Leslie. He appeared in most of the episodes from the first two seasons, but back pain and cluster headaches from an old injury led to him leaving the show in the third season. His first appearance on Star Trek was on “Where No Man Has Gone Before” (as a “crewman”). Paskey often amusingly credited the longevity of his character to his sense of caution, he was on the set most of the time and knew the script well, thus he made sure to always be elsewhere when an episode called for someone to die. After retiring from acting, he and his wife later ran a car-detailing business in Santa Ana, California. In 2004, Paskey appeared in the pilot episode of the fan-produced internet series Star Trek: New Voyages “Come What May.” This time, he portrayed Admiral Leslie, the father of Lieutenant Leslie. He died in 2021.
    • In this episode, Eddie Paskey sits at the helm’s navigational station instead of his usual post in engineering, wearing gold instead of red.
  • Arnold Lessing…..Security Guard
  • Meade Martin…..Crewman
  • Barbara Gates…..Crewman
  • Roger Holloway…..Lt. Lemli (uncredited)
    • Regular show extra, Roger Holloway (1929-2000), finally got the chance to speak on camera in this episode after two years on the series. His character’s name is listed as Lemli, a nod to William Shatner’s license plate at the time which was a combination of his daughter’s names: Leslie, Melanie, Lisabeth. He portrayed the recurring character of “Roger Lemli” in almost three dozen episodes of the second and third season of TOS. In total, Holloway appeared in thirty-two episodes of the show. He was James Doohan’s stand-in (as well as a stand-in for male guest stars on the show) and he took over as Shatner’s stand-in when Eddie Paskey left the show. A World War II veteran, his only known appearances are apparently on Star Trek.
  • William “Bill” Blackburn…..Lt. Hadley (uncredited)
    • William “Bill” Blackburn (1929-present) played a wide variety of TOS roles all believed to be known as the character “Hadley.” In total, he appeared in 61 episodes of the series. He was originally hired through his connection with assistant director Leonard “Tiger” Shapiro, whom he had worked with on the television series My Favorite Martian wherein he served as a stand-in for actor Ray Walston. Blackburn reportedly saved Shapiro’s job on My Favorite Martian so, to return the favor, Shapiro arranged for his role on Star Trek. As Blackburn later recalled, he was told to sit at the conn and to not speak. He was originally hired to be DeForest Kelley’s stand-in but went on to play many background roles and voice-overs in the show. During his time on the show, he shot over an hour’s worth of Super 8 homemade video footage which he has since kept in a safe deposit box, preferring not to capitalize on his connection to the show. However, in more recent years, he was contracted to release several minutes of the footage in conjunction with the Star Trek home DVD release.
  • Frank da Vinci…..Lt. Brent (uncredited)
    • Frank “Buddy” da Vinci (1933-2013) was Leonard Nimoy’s stand-in. After Star Trek was cancelled, da Vinci continued to be Nimoy’s stand-in for two seasons of Mission: Impossible. He also worked as a stand-in and double for Anthony Perkins in Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho (his silhouette can be seen in the famous shower scene). He was a Chicago-born former male model and stuntman. His life-long partner was actor and dancer George B. Ellsworth. When he left acting in the 1970s, he and Ellsworth owned and operated two gay night clubs in Los Angeles together. He passed away due to renal failure in 2013 at the age of 80. When he died, a scholarship was established at Pepperdine University: the “Frank James ‘Buddy’ da Vinci and George B. Ellsworth Scholarship” which which is awarded to people who serve the mental and physical health of the LGBT community.

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Star Trek Trivia:

• This episode became the inspiration behind the first Star Trek film (leading some fans to dub it “Where Nomad Has Gone Before”). It also inspired “The Questor Tapes,” a 1974 series pilot written by Gene Roddenberry and Gene L. Coon which features a damaged robot in search of its creator.
• As Kirk notes in this episode, the title “The Changeling” is a reference to European folklore about fairies, trolls, or elves secretly swapping human children for supernatural children. In this case, presumably Nomad is the child of humanity that has even swapped with an evil version of itself.
• The original name for Nomad in the story apparently “Mariner 210” (later changed to “Altair” and eventually “Nomad”) and it had a slightly different backstory involving a collision with an asteroid. For a full breakdown of the script revisions from Gene Coon, Robert Justman, and D.C. Fontana see These Are the Voyages by Marc Cushman.
• Director Marc Daniels amusingly appears as the computerized photograph of Dr. Jackson Roykirk in this episode (uncredited). He can be seen wearing Scotty’s red uniform top in the photo.
• Nichelle Nichols frequently told a story of getting into a dispute with director Marc Daniels over her request that Uhura speaks Swahili as her native tongue in this episode.
• In this episode, Uhura sings “Beyond Antares,” the same ethereal tune she sung in “The Conscience of the King.”
• This episode bears minor similarities to The Outer Limits episode “The Probe” (Robert Justman worked on The Outer Limits).
• The Nomad prop was created by Matt Jeffries and special effects wizard Jim Rugg. Nomad was carried tiny wires that appear invisible, as well as another Nomad prop carried by a dolly, and a third Nomad prop on the floor.
• This episode features a classic Dr. McCoy line: “He’s dead, Jim”
• Stunt performer Jay Jones returns in this episode, performing the violent of Scotty (he previously performed a Scotty flip in the episode “Who Mourns for Adonais?” which injured him and led to a hospital trip).
• The Westheimer Company created the notable optical effects, including energy bolts fired from Nomad and wiping Uhura’s mind, among other effects.