The Devil in the Dark
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| Star Trek: TOS episode | |
| "The Devil in the Dark" | |
 Kirk faces the Horta, The Devil in the Dark. |
|
| Episode no. | 25 |
|---|---|
| Prod. code | 026 |
| Remastered no. | 3 |
| Airdate | March 9, 1967 |
| Writer(s) | Gene L. Coon |
| Director | Joseph Pevney |
| Guest star(s) | Ken Lynch Janos Prohaska Barry Russo Brad Weston Biff Elliot George E. Allen Dick Dial Davis Roberts Eddie Paskey Frank da Vinci John Cavett Ron Veto Frank Backburn |
| Year | 2267 |
| Stardate | 3196.1 |
| Episode chronology | |
| Previous | "This Side of Paradise" |
| Next | "Errand of Mercy" |
"The Devil in the Dark" is a first-season episode Star Trek: The Original Series which first aired on March 9, 1967. It was repeated on June 15, 1967. It is episode #25, production #26, and was written by Gene L. Coon and directed by Joseph Pevney.
Overview: Captain Kirk and Mister Spock face off with a deadly subterranean beast.
Contents |
[edit] Plot
On Stardate 3196.1, the starship USS Enterprise, under the command of Captain James T. Kirk, is sent to the pergium mining colony on planet Janus VI to investigate reports of a strange creature that has killed nearly 50 miners and is destroying equipment.
Soon after their arrival, the Enterprise sends down a landing party, and they discover that the killings started soon after a new level, #23, was opened. Corpses found in the area were smoldering heaps of liquefied flesh and bone. Mr. Spock speculates on the killer; a creature of great stealth and speed, which attacks mercilessly, and nearly disintegrates its victim with a powerful acidic substance. His curiosity is aroused by a spherical metallic object on the desk of the mine supervisor, Chief Engineer Vanderberg, who tells him it is one of thousands of silicon nodules found on recently-opened levels of the mine. He explains further that they have some trace elements but no commercial value.
Soon, another guard is killed, and a circulation pump vital to the colony's main reactor is stolen. The missing part is so old and outdated that the Enterprise has nothing to replace it in the ship's stores. Engineer Montgomery Scott manages to jury-rig a temporary replacement, however he says the original component must be found within 48 hours or the reactor will go super-critical and render the mine uninhabitable . If it is turned off, the life support systems will fail, threatening the lives of everyone in the colony. Spock says, whatever the creature may be, it has extraordinary intelligence, and knew just how to damage the colony.
Back in Vanderberg's office, Spock raises the possibility that the creature is a lifeform based on silicon, rather than carbon. McCoy dismisses the idea as physiologically impossible, but Kirk is intrigued. Spock then states it would thus be resistant to the older "Type I" phasers carried by the colony guards; however, the landing party's "Type II" phasers should be able to stop it.
Several security men from the Enterprise beam down with Type II phasers. One is killed by the creature. Kirk and Spock arrive at the scene. They soon encounter a rocklike creature which looks like an animated clump of molten stone. The beast threatens Kirk and survives a direct phaser blast. Injured, it quickly escapes by burrowing directly through a solid rock wall. Upon surviving the blast, Spock looks over a piece of the creature's armor plating and likens it to a silicon-based mineral, confirming his earlier hypothesis. He also determines the acid the creature secretes is so powerful, that it melts rock on contact, and it can move through rock like a fish moves through water. Vanderberg also begins to pressure Kirk to get rid of the creature immediately, instead of bumbling around with unrelated subjects, and if Kirk doesn't take care of the problem, he will.
Investigating the fresh tunnel patterns, Spock figures that there is only one creature, and thinks it may be unique. He warns that killing it would be a scientific loss. Captain Kirk thinks otherwise, explaining that creature is too dangerous and must be stopped at all cost. Spock objects during a mission assignment of troops where he suggests a capture attempt, but Kirk cuts him off and tells him it would be better if he goes to supervise the repairs on the reactor. Kirk explains the reason for the split-up is, in a worst case scenario, he doesn't want his second in command killed along with himself. Spock reassures him, calculating the odds of both of them being killed at 2228.7 to one.
Next, Kirk discovers a chamber filled with thousands of the silicon spheres. The roof suddenly collapses separating Kirk from Spock. Kirk is trapped inside the creature's lair and it appears from the shadows ready to lunge at him. Kirk draws his phaser and to his surprise, the creature suddenly cowers back. Kirk tests the beast's response; lowering the phaser the creature advances, when he raises, it cowers back again. Kirk, now intrigued with the stand-off, sits down and begins to "talk" to it. The creature turns, showing him a large open wound in its side.
Spock makes contact with the Captain who explains his situation and Spock finds another passage that leads to the scene. When he arrives, Kirk tells Spock to make no sudden moves. Spock tells Kirk he will attempt a Vulcan mind meld. He is not able to complete it, however, crying out repeatedly "Pain! Pain!" due to the creature's fresh wound. He does learn, however, that it calls itself a Horta. The Horta must have learned something as well, for it then climbs upon a rock and secretes acid so as to form the words: "NO KILL I".
Spock and Kirk are fascinated that the creature shows this kind of intelligence. Kirk orders McCoy to come to their location to help the creature while Spock decides to mind meld with it again. In doing so he feels the intense pain of the creature's injury and cries out, however he keeps contact with the beast and discovers more information. It is the last caretaker of the silicon spheres — its eggs. The creature says it is "killing the murderers", the miners who were "destroying its children". Through Spock it tells Kirk where the missing reactor pump is, and he retrieves it.
When McCoy arrives and analyzes the Horta's obscure physiology, he doesn't know where to even begin saying "I'm a doctor, not a bricklayer!" He patches up the wound with quick-setting plaster, which he orders beamed down to the bewilderment of the supply officer: "Never mind what I want it for, just beam it down!"
Meanwhile, Chief Vandenberg and the other miners' patience wears thin. They decide to take matters into their own hands and deal with the creature once and for all. A mob forms and overpowers the security team that was to keep the miners out of the way. The mob makes their way down to level 23 and arrives at the lair. The mob threatens to kill the creature and the landing party if they intervene, but Spock stands to address them. He explains that the Horta was just protecting its eggs, the worthless silicon nodules the miners have been collecting and destroying. The creature has a 50,000-year reproductive cycle. When they die out, one stays behind to look after the eggs, and when the miners broke into the egg chamber, the creature had to defend the offspring which are in fact, ready to hatch.
While deeply troubled by the inadvertent carnage his company has caused, Vanderberg gets concerned that there will be thousands of those "things" running around. Kirk reassures him that the Horta are peaceful; they simply eat rock, and are very efficient tunnel makers. They could actually work with the miners, helping them make tunnels to wealthy deposits of minerals. When Vandenberg realizes the potential, his eyes light up. He decides to agree to call off the mob. However, Spock notes it might be academic since the Horta is badly wounded, perhaps mortally. Suddenly, Dr. McCoy proudly contradicts him announcing that he successfully treated the creature and she should make a full recovery. He exclaims one of his legendary lines "By golly Jim, I'm beginning to think I can cure a rainy day!"
As the Enterprise prepares to leave orbit, Vanderberg informs Kirk than he and his men are getting along well with the hatching Hortas, and have found major new deposits of pergium, as well as gold and platinum, although adjusting to their appearance is a little difficult. Spock mentions to Kirk that the Horta found human appearance repulsive, however the Horta apparently liked his pointed ears.
[edit] 40th Anniversary remastering
This episode was remastered in 2006 and aired September 23, 2006 as part of the 40th anniversary remastering of the Original Series. It was preceded the week before by "Miri" and followed a week later by "The Naked Time". Aside from remastered video and audio, and the all-CGI animation of the USS Enterprise that is standard among the revisions, specific changes to this episode also include:
- CGI updated rendering of Janus VI which added thicker clouds and more realism.
- 3D refinery backdrop matte which retained the original content but with more depth and added realism.
- When the Horta is first encountered by Kirk and Spock, the rock actually bursts into flames as it dissolves. Previously, it simply glowed red and vanished. Also, there is the added heat shimmering effect and the addition of smoke pouring off the wall.
Devil in the Dark side-by-side comparisons
[edit] Trivia
- William Shatner's father died during the filming of this episode. He was offered the afternoon off to prepare for funeral arrangements, but insisted on completing the scenes where Kirk and Spock search for the Horta. The scenes where Spock mind-melds with it were filmed with a stand in filling in for Shatner, and shot from behind him. Upon his return from his father's funeral, Shatner filmed reaction shots which were integrated into the mind meld sequence. He has stated that the kindness and support lent him by Nimoy and Gene Roddenberry during filming after his bereavement made this episode his favorite of the original series.
- The creature is played by Janos Prohaska, who played a similar creature on an episode of The Outer Limits. Legend has it, Prohaska donned the costume and crawled into producer Gene L. Coon's office. Coon, after getting over the shock, was inspired and declared he was going to write a script based on the costume.
- The concept of a last remaining female guarding the remaining eggs of her species was also used in Gerald Durrell's fantasy story "The Talking Parcel", where Tabitha, the last remaining dragon, has all her eggs stolen by evil cockatrices.
- The concept of a last remaining mother/monster guarding the remaining eggs of her species, eggs which are inadvertently destroyed by humans, was also used in the TV series Kolchak: The Night Stalker, in the episode "The Sentry." The "sentry" is a humanoid lizard creature. That episode is also set underground, although in a government archive facility rather than a mining colony.
- The concept of an extra-terrestrial mining operation inadvertently harming alien creatures was later featured in Jetsons: The Movie, complete with an ending where an agreement is reached with the creatures.
- In the Star Trek documentary Trekkies 2, a Sacramento, California punk-rock band called "No Kill I" is featured.
- The filk singer, Leslie Fish, performed a song called "Mineral Rights" on the filk album Roundworm that is narrated from the viewpoint of the Horta.
[edit] External links
- The Devil in the Dark article at Memory Alpha, a Star Trek wiki.
| Last produced: "This Side of Paradise" |
Star Trek: TOS episodes Season 1 |
Next produced: "Errand of Mercy" |
| Last transmitted: "This Side of Paradise" |
Next transmitted: "Errand of Mercy" |
