‘Star Trek’ Retro Recap: ‘What Are Little Girls Made Of?’

Written by John Edward Betancourt 

There are only a few guarantees in this life, and one of them, is that someday our bodies will cease to work, and we will slip into a great beyond that we know nothing about. It’s an act that quite frankly, has helped to build the foundations of our modern society since we try to cherish the moment and live an incredible life filled with memories and wonder before we pass from this world to the next. But, leaving behind a legacy of memories and impactful moments isn’t quite enough for all of mankind. For there are those who wish to break the bonds of death and they work to cheat it at every turn, and while it eventually finds them, our imaginations allow for us to explore what life might be like if we were able to escape death’s clutches and oddly enough, the next episode of Star Trek plunges head first into that concept.
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Which was a fascinating discovery to say the least, since ‘What Are Little Girls Made Of?’ really seemed as though it was going to take us down a vastly different path. For the outset of this episode made it seem as though we were going to explore the importance of the company of others since it looked as though Roger Kirby had gone stark raving mad in isolation since hey, he kinda, sorta, most definitely created a sex robot during his time beneath the surface of Exo-III. But before we could settle into that particular plot possibility, the show changed gears and made it seem as though Roger was all about that mad scientist vibe since he cloned Kirk with an android and used that Robo-Kirk to steal pertinent Federation information in the hopes of making more fancy robots throughout the galaxy and that’s when this episode really focused on our of fear of death.

For it is revealed in the closing moments that Roger is in fact, an android himself, and he used the machinery to save his consciousness when the harsh environment devastated his fragile body and well, this was just an incredible twist when all is said and done. Because once one learns of this fact, one comes to realize that Dr. Kirby lived in great fear in his final moments, and it’s obvious that he was terrified of not being able to accomplish his life’s work or see his beloved Christine Chapel ever again and that was what motivated him to take this risky gambit to save his life, regardless of the cost. And clearly, the cost was great in the end, for while the transference process was a indeed a rousing success, what the good doctor was not prepared for was having his greatest fears embed themselves into the circuitry, wherein his new electronic brain would work to find a way to solve the whole matter of death for others.

If anything, it makes his ‘dastardly’ plan all the more tragic. Because planning to implant androids into the worlds of the Federation speaks to a desperate attempt to cheat death, and while Kirby is fine with it, there’s no guarantees that others would be since so many cherish the end and what it means and well, all of this was brilliant storytelling in the end. For in essence, robotic Roger wants to play God, but not in the malevolent sense, he really thinks he’s doing a service and a favor so that no one has to experience the fear he went through, and it takes Kirk’s resistance to make him see that he’s made a horrible mistake, and that he’s completely and utterly lost his way and hurt people in the process and that truly makes his character’s arc a sorrowful one by the end of this tale, and all you can feel for this hybrid is pity when it comes to its confusion and desperation.

In the end, I have to admit that I was quite taken aback by the power of this story, simply because science fiction rarely addresses the fear that comes with death in this manner. So, to find it here was refreshing to say the least, and the performances helped to sell it as well since everyone here does an outstanding job on screen. But the other big benefit of this tale is that we get to see another first here, since Majel Barrett, later Majel Barrett Roddenberry, makes her debut in the Star Trek franchise as Nurse Chapel and man, it’s super cool to know that this episode would kick off a legacy for Majel that would reach as far as the J.J. Abrams reboot since she played the computer voice for the re-imagined NCC-1701. But, I digress, because I’m going full geek, and we have a recap to wrap up and really what matters here, is that this is the intelligent storytelling that I’ve been waiting for in this franchise, and now it is clear that this series is starting to find its voice and its stride, and that means, the true wonder of this series is about to arrive and I cannot wait to see it all come together. Until next time.  

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