written by Robert Bloch
REVISED FINAL DRAFT, dated July 27, 1966
report & analysis by David Eversole

Unlike the majority of these scripts, this one bears no further revised pages, and was shot as written with only a few line changes here and there, and two scenes that were heavily rewritten on-set.

The first scene that was filmed a bit differently than written is the "Androids Don't Eat" scene between Android Kirk and Chapel.

In the script ANDROID (KIRK) enters and says:

ANDROID (KIRK)
Doctor Korby tells me I'm more
or less on parole now.

He crosses in. Christine, still surprised, throws a look toward Andrea, who nods.

CHRISTINE
(sotto voce)
Captain...

ANDROID (KIRK)
(sotto voce)
We've got to find a way to contact
the ship.

ANDREA
Captain, please sit.

ANGLE AT TABLE

Android (Kirk) seating himself at the table with Christine. Andrea begins serving them.

CHRISTINE
I don't know what's happened to him...

ANDROID (KIRK)
Nurse, if I give you a direct order
to betray him...?

A long hesitation from Christine. Finally:

CHRISTINE
Please. Don't ask me to make that
choice. I'd rather you push me off
the precipice where Mathews died.

Andrea serves them both at this moment. Christine pushes away her plate.

CHRISTINE
I couldn't touch it.

ANDROID (KIRK)
(pushes his plate away)
Androids don't eat, Miss Chapel.

I think you will agree the aired version of this scene plays better, even down to Christine's urging the android to eat, setting up his big line.

The "Kirk Gives Ruk a Rousing Speech" scene is quite different as well.

Ruk shoves Kirk into the room after Andrea says she is not programmed for Kirk.

ANOTHER ANGLE

Ruk, his eyes on Kirk.

RUK
To maintain your life is illogical.

KIRK
Why?

Ruk doesn't answer... seems to be wrestling with thoughts both difficult and monstrous to him... and Kirk takes careful note of Ruk's reactions and behavior.

RUK
You are no longer needed here.

KIRK
You don't want to kill me, Ruk?
What does Doctor Korby call it --
turn me off?

RUK
You are inconsistent. You cannot
be programmed. You are inferior.

KIRK
I want to live. Survive, Ruk.
Self-preservation.

RUK
You from the outside -- you create
disorder here.

KIRK
I'm not programmed. I'll do anything --
no matter how illogical -- to stay
alive. Does that confuse you, Ruk?

RUK
(wrestling with the idea)
Our place was peaceful. There was
no threat to existence.

KIRK
Is existence important to you, Ruk?

RUK
I am programmed to exist. Therefore,
I exist.

KIRK
You're simply a machine, or so
Korby says. You can be turned off.
There is no harm in that, is there?

RUK
You are evil. Until you came all
was at peace here.

KIRK
I came in peace. The only difference
between us is that I have emotion.
Unpredictability. That's it, isn't it, Ruk?
And with each human, the
unpredictability increases geometrically.
With three of us here, you have nine
combinations. Do you realize with
thirty humans around you, there would
be over one million emotional
combinations? Over a million instances
of evil?

A long moment, Ruk staring at Kirk; then, slowly, he nods.

RUK
Yes, it was so long ago... I had
forgotten. The old ones here. The
ones who made us. Yes, it is still
in my memory banks... it became
necessary to destroy them.

Then Korby comes in, and things play out as written for the most part. I'm sorta sorry we lost Ruk's android version of Rene Descartes' "Cogito, ergo sum."

In the script the phaser accidentally goes off between Korby and Andrea. In the aired episode, he deliberately fires it.

Also, Kirk's litany of evil dictators (Genghis Kahn, Hitler, Feris, etc.) is not in the script.

And no, Bloch does not mention anything unusual about the penis-shaped rock Kirk beats Ruk with.

ROBERT BLOCH (1917-1994): Truly legendary writer of horror, fantasy and science fiction, who is undoubtedly best remembered for his novel Psycho, filmed by the equally legendary director Alfred Hitchcock in 1960. Bloch wrote over 200 short stories ("Yours Truly, Jack The Ripper" is constantly reprinted), twenty-two novels, and dozens of teleplays, and film scripts, including episode for Thriller, Alfred Hitchcock Presents, The Alfred Hitchcock Hour, I Spy, Night Gallery, Tales of the Unexpected and Tales from the Darkside.

For Star Trek, Bloch wrote "What Are Little Girls Made Of?," "Catspaw" (loosely based on his short story "Broomstick Ride") and "Wolf In The Fold."  More on Robert Bloch can be found at http://mgpfeff.home.sprynet.com/bloch.html. There is also an interview with Robert Bloch available on this website: An Interview with Robert Bloch and David Gerrold.

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