Dagger of the Mind

For the second season Columbo episode of the same name, see List of Columbo episodes.

"Dagger of the Mind"

"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. The title is taken from a soliloquy by the title character in Shakespeare's play Macbeth.

The plot concerns the Enterprise visiting a prison planet where a new treatment for the criminally insane has deadly results. It marks the first appearance of the Vulcan mind meld.

Plot

On stardate 2715.1, the starship USS Enterprise, commanded by Captain James T. Kirk, makes a supply run to Tantalus V, a rehabilitation colony for the criminally insane. After beaming down the supplies, they receive cargo from Tantalus for delivery elsewhere. Unbeknown to the staff, the box actually contains an escaped inmate. Upon contacting the Tantalus administration, Kirk, Spock, and McCoy are surprised to discover that the stowaway is Dr. Simon van Gelder, former assistant to Dr. Tristan Adams, the Director of the Tantalus facility.

Appearing very distressed, van Gelder subdues the transporter technician 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. Leonard 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 beautiful ship psychiatrist he had met at a Christmas party.

Upon arrival, Dr. Adams introduces them to a blank, emotionless woman named "Lethe", then gives Kirk and Dr. Noel a tour of the colony. Adams is very affable and accommodating, but his staff seem blank and strangely detached. Adams shows Kirk and Dr. Noel the device that caused Dr. van Gelder's injury, an experimental beam called a "neural neutralizer". Adams explains that van Gelder felt compelled to test the device on himself before using it on inmates. He was blasted by the beam at full power and driven insane. Dr. Adams claims the machine is perfectly harmless at low intensities and is only used to stabilize and calm deranged inmates. Dr. Noel is satisfied with this explanation, but Kirk remains suspicious.

In extreme pain and distress, van Gelder issues increasingly frantic warnings that the landing party is in extreme danger. His warnings contain cryptic references to the neural neutralizer, but whenever he tries to elaborate, he is racked with pain and unable to continue.

Spock mind-melds with Dr. van Gelder to get a clearer picture of his story. The mind-meld reveals that Dr. Adams is actually insane and is using the neural neutralizer to control both the inmates and the facility staff. After receiving this information, Spock assembles a security team, but the colony'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 at the controls. The test begins and Dr. Noel somewhat playfully suggests that their Christmas party encounter went further than it 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 and Noel are subsequently taken prisoner.

Dr. Noel manages to escape into a ventilation duct. She reaches the facility's control room and interrupts Kirk's second neutralizer session by shutting down all power in the complex. With the neutralizer thus shut down, Kirk regains his wits. He subdues Adams, leaving him unconscious on the floor of the neural neutralizer treatment room. A guard discovers Noel's sabotage and restores power. He then turns his attentions towards Noel. He expects an easy fight against a woman, but after a hand to hand struggle, she outmanoeuvres and defeats him by sending him hurtling into the electrical equipment, whereupon he is electrocuted. After killing the guard she turns off the power again. She then makes her way back through the ventilation duct. With the force field down, Spock, McCoy and a security team beam down. Spock restores power to the colony after disabling the force field, unwittingly reactivating the neural neutralizer in the process.

Dr. Adams is still lying on the floor of the treatment room when the neural neutralizer restarts on full power, which he had been using to brainwash Kirk, and without an operator. Adams's mind is completely emptied by his own beloved neutralizer, killing him. Van Gelder, having recovered his sanity thanks to Spock's mind meld, takes charge of the colony and destroys the neural neutralizer.

Production and continuity

This episode marks the first occurrence in Star Trek of the Vulcan mind meld. 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 shoehorn into the dialog 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.

40th Anniversary remastering

This episode was remastered in 2006 and aired October 13, 2007 as part of the remastered Original Series. It was preceded 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 a more realistic appearance given to the planet Tantalus V, including a set of rings, and a new opening shot of the Tantalus facility on the planet's surface, which 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", slightly changed and with some of the buildings removed.

Reception

Zack Handlen of The A.V. Club gave the episode a 'B' rating, noting that the episode had "a handful of excellent moments (the mind-meld, that damn booth) that don't fit as well as they should". Handlen noted Kirk's and Noel's relationship as the plot's "weakest element" and that Adams did not make a compelling villain. In contrast, he felt that Nimoy made Spock's mind meld sequence "fairly effective". The booth and its effect on Adams were also memorable moments in the episode.

Legacy and influence

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.

The second-season South Park episode "Roger Ebert Should Lay Off the Fatty Foods" is a parody of this episode.

External links

• Dagger of the Mind at Memory Alpha
• Dagger of the Mind side-by-side comparisons before and after remastering
• Full Episode of Dagger of the Mind - at CBS.com
• Dagger of the Mind at IMDB