Dagger Of The Mind : TOS Episode 12 Original Air Date 10/27/1966 Stardate 2713.5

Dagger Of The Mind- Star Trek TV Episode [ Synopsis | Editorial Reviews ]
Production # 11
Air Date: 11/3/1966
Stardate: 2715.1

When Dr. Simon van Gelder of the psychiatric staff at the Tantalus Penal Colony escapes to the U.S.S. Enterprise exhibiting signs of manic insanity, an enraged McCoy insists that Kirk investigate the colony. The Captain reminds McCoy of Tantalus' excellent reputation, but McCoy is unconvinced.

Kirk and Dr. Helen Noel, the U.S.S. Enterprise's psychiatrist, tour the facility. They discover that the Colony director, Dr. Tristan Adams, has been using a brainwashing device, the neural neutralizer, to control not only the colony's inmates, but his staff as well. When the doctor realizes that Kirk has discovered his secret, he convinces the captain to try the machine for himself, to prove that it is perfectly safe. The result is that Kirk falls madly in love with Helen Noel and the two remain on the Colony as Adams' prisoners.

Meanwhile, on board the U.S.S. Enterprise, van Gelder is in such a distraught state from the neural conditioning that he is unable to explain to Spock what is going on at the penal colony. The Vulcan attempts a mind-meld with van Gelder and discovers what has been happening on the planet below. On Tantalus, Dr. Noel escapes through an air-conditioning duct to the power room, where she lowers the planet's defense shields, enabling Spock to beam down a security team.

Kirk recovers enough to fight Adams, who falls into his torturous machine. Weakened by the conditioning and his fight with the doctor, Kirk stumbles away, not knowing that Adams is still in the neutralizer. Adams is later found dead. Dr. van Gelder is made sane again and returns to direct the Tantalus Colony.

Volume 5 from the DVD collection of original Star Trek programs includes "What Are Little Girls Made Of?" Written by Robert Bloch (author of the novel Psycho, the basis of Hitchcock's film), the episode finds Captain Kirk (William Shatner) and nurse Christine Chapel (Majel Barrett) beaming down to planet Exo III, where Christine is to be reunited with her fiancé, Dr. Roger Korby (Michael Strong). The meeting is less than joyful, however, when it becomes clear that Korby has been developing androids that he intends to spread throughout the galaxy--using the Enterprise as his delivery vehicle. This was certainly the first significant performance for Majel Barrett in the Trek family; longtime fans know she went on to play Lwaxana Troi on The Next Generation (and Mrs. Gene Roddenberry in real life). An entertaining episode all around, with the notion of an android Kirk somehow amusing. (Maybe it was the android who sang on that notorious Shatner album.) Fans of '60s TV will also enjoy the performance of Ted Cassidy (the original Lurch from TV's The Addams Family) as the giant android, Ruk.

Also on this DVD is "Dagger of the Mind," another mad-doctor drama. This time, Kirk delivers supplies to a penal colony on Tantalus V, where he meets the renowned Dr. Tristan Adams. Adams has been working on the development of a neural neutralizer to control and manipulate dangerous patients. When Kirk threatens to expose him as a dangerous megalomaniac, Adams uses the technology on the unfortunate captain. This tense piece set in a madhouse atmosphere makes for a riveting episode, with a few unhinged performances adding to the fun.--Tom Keogh