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"
Image:STDaggerMind.jpg
Captain Kirk is neuralized
Episode no. 9
Prod. code 011
Remastered no. 45
Airdate November 3, 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.

Contents

[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 distressed, 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 with a Vulcan Neck Pinch(Nerve Pinch). Dr. McCoy feels something is wrong and wants to keep van Gelder on board for examination. McCoy urges Captain Kirk to investigate, and Kirk beams down to the colony with Dr. Helen Noel, a ship psychiatrist he had met at a Christmas party.

In extreme pain and distress, van Gelder tries to warn Spock and McCoy about a brainwashing device called a neural neutralizer that Dr. Adams has been using to control not only the inmates, but the facility staff as well.

Down on the planet, Dr. Adams gives Kirk and Dr. Noel a tour of the colony. Adams is open and outgoing, but his staff seem blank and strangely detached. Kirk asks to observe the neutralizer being used on a patient. Adams claims the machine is perfectly harmless and is only used to stabilize and calm deranged inmates. Kirk remains suspicious even after Dr Noel assures him that Adams has "not created a chamber of horrors".

Spock mind-melds with Dr. van Gelder to get a clearer picture of the incredible story. Once Spock learns van Gelder is telling the truth he assembles a landing party, but the prison's security force field blocks transport and communication.

Kirk decides to examine the neutralizer without Dr. Adams present. He agrees to test it on himself at minimum intensity with Dr. Noel in control. The test begins and Dr. Noel suggests that their Christmas party encounter went further than it actually did. Adams suddenly appears, grabs the controls and turns up the neutralizer. He brainwashes Kirk to believe he has been madly in love with Dr. Noel for years. Kirk nonetheless tries unsuccessfully to communicate with the Enterprise. Kirk and Noel are taken prisoner.

Dr. Noel manages to escape into a ventilation duct but her escape is reported by Lethe, a "cured patient". Noel interrupts Kirk's second neutralizer session by shutting down all power in the prison complex. A guard corners Noel in the power control room but after a struggle she outmanouvres and defeats him by sending him hurtling into the "megavoltage" circuits with an athletic and well aimed kick. With the power out, Kirk regains his wits and subdues Adams and his assistant Eli. Spock, noticing that the security field is down, beams down with a security team and restores power to the colony after disabling the force field.

Dr Adams is still lying on the floor of the treatment room when the neural neutralizer restarts without an operator. It kills him by completely emptying his mind. Van Gelder, having recovered thanks to Spock's mind meld, takes charge of the colony and destroys the neural neutralizer.

[edit] 40th Anniversary remastering

This episode was remastered in 2006 and aired October 13, 2007 as part of the remastered Original Series. It was preceded after a week earlier by the remastered version of "What Are Little Girls Made Of?" and followed a week later by the remastered version of "The Gamesters of Triskelion". 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:

  • The planet Tantalus V has been given a more realistic appearance including a set of rings.
  • The opening surface shot of the Tantalus facility has been changed, and now shows a circular building with the planet's rings visible in the sky. Originally the scene was a reuse of the lithium cracking facility matte painting from "Where No Man Has Gone Before".

[edit] Notes

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  • 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 Tracey 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. According to the book The Making of Star Trek by Gene Roddenbery and Stephen Whitfield, the Vulcan mind meld was conceived as an alternative to using hypnosis to tap Van Gelder's subconscious. The writers wanted to avoid improperly depicting hypnosis as a medical technique. Also, they did not want to shoe-horn into the dialogue an assurance that Spock is legitimately qualified and certified to use hypnosis given his non-medical credentials. Lastly, they did not want to risk accidentally hypnotizing viewers at home.
  • 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. According to Grace Lee Whitney, it was a creative decision because the script brought the underlying mutual attraction between Kirk and Rand too much out in the open.
  • 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 to mean "Christmas" in French.

[edit] External links


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"
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