Star date: 3219.8 (Scotty, in his role as acting Captain, about 27 minutes in)
Summary: Kirk, Spock and McCoy are aboard the Galileo shuttle, bringing Commissioner Nancy Hedford to the Enterprise for urgently-needed medical assistance after she has contracted the rare "Shikuro's disease". Time is of the essence, both to save Hedford's life and also because Hedford is in the middle of trying to broker a peace agreement between two unnamed planets on the brink of war. Unfortunately, a strange force takes hold of the shuttle and forces it to land on an asteroid/planetoid off its course.
After checking to be certain that the planetoid has an atmosphere which is safe for them, Kirk, Spock and McCoy leave the shuttle to scout around, and are surprised to be greeted by a human named Cochrane. Cochrane explains that he has been shipwrecked on the planetoid for some time, and is glad for human company. He invites the four to join him in the home he fashioned from the remains of his ship.
In short order, the crew discovers that Cochrane is in fact Zefram Cochrane, the man who invented warp drive and was thought to have died at the age of 87 roughly 150 years ago. Cochrane explains that he knew he was dying, and so launched himself into space because he wanted to die there. The same force which brought Kirk et al to the planetoid also brought Cochrane there 150 years before --- and since then has reversed the aging process, to make Cochrane appear to be in his early 30's. We further learn that the force which brought them to the planetoid is an intelligent being which resides on the planetoid with Cochrane, and which Cochrane refers to as "the companion". Over the years, Cochrane has learned to communicate with companion non-verbally, which is how he knows that the companion brought the Enterprise shuttle to the planetoid in response to Cochrane's loneliness. The companion felt it had to do this, since it will not permit Cochrane to leave. For this same reason, the companion will not permit the Enterprise crew to leave, either. Meanwhile, Commissioner Hedford's illness has progressed, and McCoy estimates she has only hours to live.
Kirk orders Spock to research a weapon to fight the companion, who will come when Cochrane calls it and appears as a multicolored energy field. The companion appears to Spock when he is near the shuttle, and delivers a shock to both him and the shuttle's electrical system. In the meantime, since Cochrane can communicate with it, Kirk asks him to explain the situation to the companion, in the hopes that the companion will allow them to take Hedford to get the medical help she needs. When Cochrane and the companion communicate with one another, the companion envelops Cochrane in a manner which McCoy describes as "love". The companion will not allow anyone to leave, and indicates that it cannot help Commissioner Hedford.
Having tried diplomacy, Kirk attempts to disable or kill the companion. After Spock's encounter, they conclude that the companion generates electricity, and therefore is vulnerable to electrical devices. Over Cochrane's objections, he agrees to summon the companion again so they can attack it with an electrical device of Spock's creation. The device succeeds in hurting the companion, but also in angering it so that it attacks Spock and Kirk, and only stops when Cochrane again calls to it. McCoy then reminds Kirk that he is both a soldier and a diplomat, and suggests Kirk try diplomacy again.
Kirk then instructs Spock to modify the shuttle's "universal translator" to enable conventional communication with the companion. Using the universal translator, Kirk again appeals to the companion based on (1) the need to get medical assistance for Hedford, and (2) the general need for humans to be free. The companion again indicates it can do nothing for Hedford, and also indicates that Cochrane is important to it; therefore he must remain on the planetoid, and the Enterprise crew must also remain to keep Cochrane company.
Meanwhile Scotty, in charge of the Enterprise in Kirk and Spock's absence, has decided they are overdue for their rendezvous and begins searching for them.
Although the last communication with the companion was not fruitful, it did provide the surprising revelation --- based on the companion's voice as interpreted by the universal translator --- that the companion is female. It is also abundantly clear that the companion is in love with Cochrane, an idea which Cochrane vehemently rejects. Hedford, near death in the next room, overhears Cochrane's protests and mourns them, stating that she has never been loved or been in love, and cannot understand how Cochrane can reject the companion.
Kirk makes one last attempt to talk to the companion, trying to convince her that if she loves Cochrane, she must set him free. But instead, the companion chooses to inhabit Hedford's body thus solving two problems. By inhabiting Hedford's body, the Shikuro's disease disappears, and now the companion can interact with Cochrane in a form more familiar to him. However, inhabiting Hedford's body also means the companion loses all her powers to detain Cochrane and the rest, to keep Cochrane young, and her own immortality. However, once the companion understands the human feeling of loneliness, she realizes she was wrong to keep Cochrane prisoner on the planetoid in the first place, and at any rate, she believes it was worth becoming human to be able to hold Cochrane's hand. The companion will die if she leaves the planetoid for long, but is content to let Cochrane go and learn what has happened in space exploration in the past 150 years.
However, Cochrane realizes that he loves the companion too --- especially now that she has a human body --- and chooses to remain on the planetoid with her.
Is it just me, or are my summaries getting longer?
I don't have any deep insight into this episode. It wasn't one of their best, it wasn't one of their worst. It was pretty darn average. I do have a lot of "other observations", though . . .
Pretty amazing that after 150 years of relative solitude, Cochrane still apparently bathes, shaves, and gets dressed every day. In clean clothes, no less! Of course, he DID have advance notice that the Enteprise folks were coming ---
Interesting how the companion can shock Kirk and make all kinds of smoke and flame and fireworks appear on the Galileo shuttle, yet at the end of the show, it still works.
When they attempt to electrocute the companion, it's pretty stupid that they wait until the companion has enveloped Cochrane, thus causing the electric shock to affect him, too.
Gee, what a shame Kirk doesn't think to adapt the universal translator until after he's tried to kill the companion with electricity. Oops.
In this episode, McCoy never declares that he's a doctor, but he does claim that he is neither "a scientist or a physicist". Huh. I could have sworn that medical doctors were scientists.
When Kirk makes the suggestion that Cochrane is in love with companion, Cochrane storms out in a rage. Yet minutes later, we see him back communicating with the companion again. Huh?
Final note: The Galileo shuttle, with the number NCC-1701/7 on the side, was actually destroyed on or about star date 2821.5 ("The Galileo Seven"). So what's it doing back here again on star date 3219.8? Did they pick up another one and give it the exact same license plate number?
The Moral of the Story: When you find the right girl, nothing is more important than being with her.
Alternative Moral: There's someone out there for everyone, even if she's a sentient electrical disturbance on a remote planetoid.
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