Cheap Star Trek - The Original Series, Episode 31: Metamorphosis (Video) (Marvin J. Chomsky, Robert Butler, Herb Wallerstein, Marc Daniels) Price

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Customer Reviews of Star Trek - The Original Series, Episode 31: Metamorphosis

Love and sex between two extremely different species
An Enterprise shuttlecraft carrying Kirk, Spock, McCoy and Federation Commissioner Nancy Hedford is taken off course by a strange force and deposited on a small planet. Nothing in the shuttle appears to work and suddenly a man appears and greets them. He is very glad to see them, inviting them back to his dwelling. Commissioner Hedford is suffering from a fatal disease, so Kirk tries to pry information out of their host. The mysterious energy cloud that grabbed the shuttlecraft is an intelligent being, and the unknown man turns out to be Zephram Cochrane, the inventor of the warp drive. However, he should have been dead for many decades, so the Enterprise group is suspicious of his claims. <
> After investigation, Spock discovers that the energy being, which Cochrane refers to as the companion, is composed largely of electrical fields. Spock tries to short it out, but the being retaliates. They then try the universal translator and discover that it is female and is in essence Cochrane's lover. He rebels at the idea of having such a relationship, but finally comes to grips with the reality. <
> In the meantime, Commissioner Hedford rapidly grows worse and is on the verge of death. Kirk manages to explain to the companion how humans react to captivity and that it is wrong to keep the humans on the planet against their will. At the moment when the Commissioner dies, the companion enters her body and they fuse to become a single entity. The companion is now mortal and Cochrane realizes that he loves the fused entity and decides to stay with her. The Enterprise crew then leaves the planet and Kirk promises not to tell anyone about them. <
> This episode introduces the character of Zephram Cochrane, love and a form of sexual union between two vastly different species and the universal translator. It is the original series episode that deals the most with the idea of self-sacrifice for love. The companion gives up immortality for love and Cochrane gives up freedom and the adulation due a hero to stay with the companion. Love and sex between two species (human and non-human) is something that will eventually happen and there will be those who will find it obscene. In this episode, it is handled with class and dignity, and they live happily ever after. <
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Four stars, largely for its originality
Metamorphosis, a romance involving a castaway and his non-corporeal companion, brought a new feel to Star Trek. The episode is unusual in the attention it devotes to the love story, the secondary role played by the regular cast members (none of the stars 'gets the girl', and we don't even see the Enterprise until the episode is half over), and the general bright and positive tone (thanks in large part to Steiner's musical score). There is no denying that this episode suffers for being so short on action; if the dialogue were a bit cheesier, and the overall tone colder and more pessimistic, it would belong entirely in season 3. But the tone is not cold, and the characters have both personalities and agendas. As a result the episode stands nicely on it's own as a unique, albeit slow, episode.

Not only is this episode thoughtful, but it explores emotions in a way rarely seen on TV. The viewer is challenged to consider among other things:
1)how extended loneliness would feel

2)The relationship between physical and platonic love
3)Possible drawbacks to immortality

Particularly interesting was Cochrane's initial emotional response to learning that another species--the companion--loved him. Subtle blends of denial, shame, and snesitivity which by its intensity belied his own feelings for the companion.

Unfortunately, the episode is ultimately diminished by one of the original Trek's true achilles heels: sexism, and a lack of strong female characters. Donahue's character is initially cold and shrewlike, presumably because she is so career oriented and doesn't have a man. By contrast, her emotional awakening as she approaches death is more plausible, since we can imagine anyone who has never (been) loved feeling that way. What is most egregious is the idea that her becoming a lover for Cochrane is somehow more important than her diplomatic work, since the assumption is that anyone could have done the work as well as her. Please.

Still, the episode has enough going for it, particularly in th eoriginality department, to be a solid '4'.

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The Companion loves Zefram Cochrane and brings him a shuttle
Kirk, Spock and McCoy are on the shuttle Galileo, which is transporting Assistant Federation Commissioner Nancy Hedford back to the Enterprise. Hedford suffers from a rare and fatal disease, so when an energy cloud forces the shuttle to land on a strange planet, this is not good. But on the planet they discover Zefram Cochrane, the inventor of the warp drive, who has been living there for 150 years, kept there by the "Companion," which is what he calls the energy cloud. Obviously the Companion cares for Cochrane, which is why when he insisted he was going to die from loneliness it brought the shuttle. Actually, "Metamorphosis" turns out to be one of the better love Star Trek love stories, benefiting from the sort of happy ending that is denied any of the regular characters. There might be some sort ethical problems with hijacking Hedford's body, but, hey, she was dying anyhow, so this is a win-win situation! Do not try to reconcile this Zefram Cochrane with the one who pops up in the "First Contact" Star Trek movie, just enjoy this one. However, this is one of those episodes where you have to wonder why the Enterprise's three senior officers are out tooling around the galaxy in a shuttle. They must really trust Scotty with that ship.