Let That Be Your Last Battlefield : The Enemy Within : The Changeling.
Summary
In orbit around Alpha 177, the Enterprise experiences a momentary transporter malfunction, caused by a magnetic ore accidently brought on ship. Scotty checks the equipment, finds nothing wrong, and beams aboard Captain Kirk. After they leave the transporter room, a duplicate Kirk materialises. The malfunction has split Captain Kirk into two people, each physically complete, but lacking mentally and emotionally. the "good" Kirk is compassionate, intelligent and deliberate. The "bad" Kirk is violent, amoral and savage.
An animal beamed aboard the Enterprise shortly thereafter is divided into two creatures as well - and after Yoeman Rand accuses the captain of assaulting her, Spock realises the same thing has happened to Kirk. The transporter malfunction must be repaired shortly, or a stranded landing party, led by Sulu, will freeze to death on the planet's surface.
The captain, meanwhile, is dying - neither half can survive alone. Scotty rigs the transporter to run through the impulse engines, and sfter capturing the "bad" Kirk, beams both captains down - and back as a single person. The restord Kirk then orders the landing party rescued.
On the bridge, Rand awkwardly tries to explain to Captain Kirk what his imposter told her about what had happened and when she tries to elaborate further, Kirk simply thanks her and walks away. When Rand hands a PADD to Spock to sign, the first officer says to her, "The, uh, imposter had some interesting qualities, wouldn't you say, yeoman?" She takes the PADD and stylus from him and walks away in a huff as Kirk orders that the Enterprise break orbit of Alfa 177 to continue its mission.
Errors and explanations
The Nitpicker's Guide for Classic Trekkers
Plot Oversights
- Rand acting as if everything is back to normal, so soon after being attacked by 'evil' Kirk. She is a professional, and understands the uniqueness of the situation.
Equipment Oddities
- Non appearance of a shuttlecraft. They may be out of service for maintenance.
- The beam from Sulu's phaser sweeping across the rocks. This could be an experimental setting.
Continuity and Production Problems
- Kirk turning twice after being restored. He must be testing the integration of his two halves.
Nit Central
- Anonymous on Saturday, December 26, 1998 - 7:31 pm - Rand seems to think that the captain just appearing in her quarters is just ok. She does seem surprised but then she's calm, until he tries to rape her. This was kinda disturbing to me actually. Mf on Sunday, December 27, 1998 - 11:44 am - That's because Rand trusts the captain. And because she has a crush on him.
- Johnny Veitch on Thursday, February 18, 1999 - 12:56 pm - As soon as the evil side of Kirk appears on the transporter pad, the good side of Kirk mentions him in a log. He hasn`t found out about him yet! A possible answer is that at this point in the series the creators meant Kirk to make his log recordings afterwards, which would explain how he knows about the cube while in sickbay in The Corbomite Maneuver and clear up the "unknown to us...." nit from The Naked Time Todd Pence on Friday, February 19, 1999 - 2:34 pm - The idea that Kirk is making some of his log entries after the fact and some during the events also might explain why so many stardates are out of sequence in the early shows.
- John A. Lang on Saturday, February 19, 2000 - 11:14 pm - The "Dead alien dog" is a stuffed toy. Look carefully. The creature's physiology may cause it to resemble a stuffed toy when it dies.
- Will S. on Thursday, April 12, 2001 - 10:04 am - If the thermal heaters duplicated when they were beamed down, why not beam down ten blankets, which would duplicate into 20 blankets, hmmmmm???? John A. Lang on Thursday, April 12, 2001 - 11:38 am - Or better yet, if the thermal heaters were duplicated, why not take some of the parts from heater "A" and combine them with heater "B" to make at least one functioning heater unit? Will S. and Will S. on Thursday, April 12, 2001 - 1:34 pm - Maybe the heaters weren't just rendered inoperable, but maybe their molecular structure was unstable and they fell apart? Blankets beamed down would just disintegreate, too. Curse that yellow ore that Fisher brought up!!! margie on Friday, April 13, 2001 - 5:29 am - Or perhaps the same parts were damaged in both heaters.Seniram 14:56, August 24, 2015 (UTC) All this assumes the duplication effect works on equipment as well as life forms and clothing materials.
- Francois on Friday, October 13, 2006 - 4:45 pm - The shuttlecraft nit did not need to occur. After realizing that the transporter was unusable, Kirk could have ordered someone to go pick up the landing party with a shuttle, with Sulu and company being seen back on the ship a little later. There was no real need to show the shuttle, just suggest through some lines dialogue that it was being used. However, if you insist on stranding the landing party on the planet, then Sulu himself provided the perfect way to keep them warm and safe until the transporter could be repaired. He was using hand phasers to heat up rocks that were then used to provide some warmth. Why not use the ship's phasers to heat up a whole hill upwind from the landing party? That would have very effectively protected them from the cold. KAM on Saturday, October 14, 2006 - 12:57 am - Possibly starting a fire? Probably killing any plants & animals that live there? Perhaps activating a volatile substance that explodes when heated too quickly?
Internet Movie database
Character error
- After the dog-like creature dies, Dr. McCoy orders an autopsy on the animal; the term he should have used is "necropsy", which is used to describe post-mortem examinations on animals. McCoy is used to dealing with humanoid life forms rather than animals, so his use of the word autopsy would be an automatic reflex.
Plot Holes
- Non use of the transporter to send extra blankets, firewood and matches to the landing party. The transporter malfunction could have disrupted the rematerialisation and targeting systems, making it difficult - if not impossible - to send supplies to the landing party without them being damaged or lost. This would also preclude any attempt to physically drop the items from orbit.
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