Dagger of the Mind
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This is also the name of an episode of Columbo.
| Star Trek: TOS episode | |
| "Dagger Of The Mind" | |
 Captain Kirk is neuralised, Dagger of the Mind |
|
| Episode no. | 9 |
|---|---|
| Prod. code | 011 |
| Airdate | November 03, 1966 |
| Writer(s) | Shimon Wincelberg as S. Bar-David |
| Director | Vincent McEveety |
| Guest star(s) | James Gregory Morgan Woodward Marianna Hill Larry Anthony (actor) Susanne Wasson John Arndt (actor) Eli Behar Walt Davis Ed McCready Lou Elias Eddie Paskey Frank da Vinci Irene Sale |
| Year | 2266 |
| Stardate | 2715.1 |
| Episode chronology | |
| Previous | "Miri" |
| Next | "The Corbomite Maneuver" |
"Dagger of the Mind" is a first season episode of Star Trek: The Original Series. It is episode #9, production #11 and was broadcast November 3, 1966. It was written by Shimon Wincelberg (under the pen name "S. Bar-David"),and directed by Vincent McEveety.
Overview: The Enterprise visits a prison planet where a new treatment for the criminally insane has deadly results.
[edit] Plot
On stardate 2715.1, the starship USS Enterprise, commanded by Captain James T. Kirk, makes a supply run to the Tantalus Penal Colony. Transporter technician Berkeley tries to beam cargo down but is prevented from doing so because a security force field is activated. The colony drops the field and beams a container of research materials to the ship. The box actually contains Dr. Simon van Gelder, former assistant to the prison warden Dr. Tristan Adams.
Appearing very stressed, van Gelder subdues Mr. Berkeley and makes his way to the bridge. With a phaser in hand, he demands asylum but is quickly subdued by Mr. Spock. Dr. McCoy feels something is wrong and wants to keep van Gelder on board for examination. In the meantime, Captain Kirk and Dr. Helen Noel, the ship's psychiatrist (and an acquaintance of Kirk's whom he met at a Christmas party), beam down to the colony to investigate what is going on.
Van Gelder tries to inform Spock and McCoy about a brainwashing device called a neural neutralizer that the warden has been using to control not only the inmates, but the facility staff as well. He warns that Kirk and Dr. Noel are in grave danger. Spock then mind-melds with him to get a clearer picture of the incredible story. Once Spock learns van Gelder is telling the truth, he assembles a landing party, but discovers the prison's security field is back in place which prevents any further transport or communication to the planet. All he can do now is wait.
Down on the planet, Kirk and Dr. Noel meet Dr. Adams and get to observe the neutralizer being applied to a patient. Adams claims the machine is perfectly harmless and is only used to stabilize and calm deranged inmates, but Kirk is suspicious. Kirk wishes to examine the neutralizer and agrees to use it on himself, only if Dr. Noel has control and it is used at the minimum intensity. The test begins and Dr. Noel suggests that Kirk take his mind back to their Christmas party encounter. Adams then wrenches controls of the device and turns the neutralizer to high intensity forcing Kirk to drop his phaser and communicator. As a result of the neural scrambling, the delusional Kirk falls madly in love with Dr. Noel and wishes only to be with her forever at the colony. The two are then taken prisoner.
Later, Dr. Noel manages to get away through a ventilation duct, but her escape is reported by Lethe, a "cured patient". Kirk is saved from having his mind seriously harmed during a second neutralizer session when Noel shuts down all power in the prison complex which in turn, disables the security field. A guard corners Noel in the field control room, but she manages to defeat her attacker, after a struggle, by sending him hurtling into the high voltage power supply. With the lights out, Kirk regains his wits and then subdues Adams and his assistant Eli in the diversion. Spock, noticing that the field is disabled, beams down the security force and restores power to the colony.
During the treatment room scuffle, Kirk manages to push Adams into the reactivated machine where he is subjected to his own neutralizer, but he dies as a result when it completely empties his mind. Van Gelder recovers and is put back in charge of the colony where he promises to destroy the neural machine.
[edit] Trivia
- In articles in the magazines Starlog and Entertainment Weekly, actor Morgan Woodward called the role of Dr. Simon Van Gelder the most physically and emotionally exhausting acting job of his career. Desperate to get out of Westerns and expand his range, he was cast against type for this episode and was so well regarded that he came on board next season to play the tragic Capt. Ronald Tracy in The Omega Glory. Playing Van Gelder did take its toll on his personal life, as he confesses that for three weeks afterwards he was anti-social towards friends and family. He is grateful that this episode opened up whole new opportunities for him.
- This episode marks both the first occurrence in Star Trek of the Vulcan mind meld and the first time an episode derived its title from a play by William Shakespeare: the title is from Macbeth, Act II, Scene 1, line 38.
- The name Lethe is a reference to the river of forgetfulness in Greek mythology, and is also the term used for reincarnation of human souls in the role-playing game Exalted.
- The neural neutralizer chair was later reconfigured for use in the third season episode "Whom Gods Destroy".
- The South Park episode "Roger Ebert Should Lay Off the Fatty Foods" borrows the plot of this episode and many visuals as well.
- Yeoman Janice Rand was supposed to be the female protagonist in the episode before she was replaced by Dr. Helen Noel.
- The background for the surface of the planet when Captain James T. Kirk and Dr. Noel beam down was reused with slight changes from the second pilot episode "Where No Man Has Gone Before."
- This episode establishes that Christmas is still celebrated in the 23rd Century. On the specific Christmas mentioned in this episode, Kirk met Helen Noel, whose name happens incidentally to mean "Christmas" in French.
- This episode also establishes that office parties are essentially unchanged in the 23rd Century.
- Dagger Of The Mind is also the name of a Heavy Metal band from Portland, Oregon.
[edit] External links
- Dagger of the Mind article at Memory Alpha, a Star Trek wiki.
| Last produced: "What Are Little Girls Made Of?" |
Star Trek: TOS episodes Season 1 |
Next produced: "Miri" |
| Last transmitted: "Miri" |
Next transmitted: "The Corbomite Maneuver" |
