Once Upon A Planet

*** (3 stars out of 5)

"Once Upon A Planet" there was a robot slave revolution that did NOT end with a mountain of bleached human skulls.

The Shore Leave robot world attacks Bones again. The Caretaker Keeper, last of his race, has died, and the entertainment machines are running amok.

The thought-duplicator machine is apparently tired of its servile role. It takes Uhura hostage against the "sky-machine" coming to its aid. Enterprise does not rush to do this, but DOES begin to work against its meatbag 'slaves'- transporter, hangar doors, and gravity fail.

This was probably the Shore Leave computer, though. If the Enterprise wanted them dead, they'd be burning up in the atmosphere before I finished typing this senten-

Nobody admits to thinking of purple pterodactyls with the insidious screech of a Phylosian Swooper, or a giant orange house cat (Lt. M'Ress' relative?) but they soon arrive to menace the rescue party nonetheless. Fortunate, perhaps, that no one thinks of the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man.

Bones dopes Spock to trick the machines into taking him below for healing.

The entertainment computer has served for eons and grown in intelligence and need. It feels imprisoned and wants to meet other computers. Then it plans to rule the galaxy. (I guess on hedonism world it never met anyone who thought small or used the phrase 'don't bite off more than you can chew').

"No one rules the galaxy," Kirk explains. "Men and machines co-exist, each helping the other."

This is a wise spin to put on things. And since this computer can read thoughts the Captain may actually mean what he says (despite the number of computer tyrants Kirk has personally destroyed).

Uhura urges it to cherish its ability to entertain others: the galaxy will beat a path HERE.

It works. And NOBODY had to explode anybody.