The Ultimate Computer

Making and release

Commodore Wesley comes aboard to tell Kirk that the Enterprise will test the M-5 computer.^[2] Kirk is reluctant to delegate judgment calls to a computer.^[2] The M-5 destroys an ore freighter it mistakes for a threat.^[2] Kirk calls off the wargame simulations with Starfleet after that destruction.^[2]

Kirk discovers that Daystrom imprinted human engrams onto the computer's circuits.^[2] Kirk convinces the machine that it has committed murder and must die.^[2] The computer shuts down, leaving the Enterprise vulnerable.^[2] Wesley chooses not to fire on a defenseless vessel.^[2]

Laurence Wolfe, a mathematician and Star Trek enthusiast, handed the initial script to Ray Bradbury with the request that Bradbury pass it along to Gene Roddenberry.^[3]

What the cited sources add

Green notes that nearly everything occurs via dialogue on the bridge or in engineering.^[2] Green describes a scene where Spock taunts McCoy about replacing a starship surgeon.^[2] Green praises Kirk reciting John Masefield's "Sea-Fever" as a lovely scene.^[2] Green argues that Daystrom had to be mad to evade the question of a successful computer.^[2]

In 2016, SyFy ranked William Marshall's performance as Dr. Daystrom the 14th best guest star on the original series.^[1] According to Michelle Erica Green from Trek Today, this episode showcases Dr. McCoy at his finest.^[4][2]