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Dagger of the Mind (episode)edit

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Real World article
(written from a Production point of view)
"Dagger of the Mind"
TOS, Episode 1x10
Production number: 6149-11
First aired: 3 November 1966
Remastered version aired: 13 October 2007
← 11th of 80 produced in TOS →
← 9th of 80 released in TOS →
← 45th of 80 released in TOS Remastered →
← 9th of 727 released in all →
Written By
S. Bar-David

Directed By
Vincent McEveety
2715.1 (2266)
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A routine visit to the Tantalus Penal Colony proves dangerous for Kirk and an Enterprise psychiatrist.

Contents

[edit] Summary

While on a routine cargo drop to the Tantalus Penal Colony, the Enterprise takes on a stowaway, the violently insane Simon Van Gelder, who shortly storms the bridge and demands asylum. After he's captured and restrained, Spock determines that Van Gelder is a former associate of Tantalus administrator Doctor Tristan Adams, assigned to the colony only six months prior.

Required by regulations to investigate Van Gelder's injury, Kirk visits the colony with Doctor Helen Noel, a psychiatrist. Adams tells them Van Gelder injured his mind by testing an experimental therapy device on himself, the neural neutralizer.

On board the Enterprise, Spock and McCoy continue to investigate Van Gelder, whose ravings are difficult to decipher. Spock is forced to employ an ancient technique, the Vulcan mind meld, to learn the truth that Van Gelder cannot speak aloud. He learns that Adams has been experimenting on various individuals, including Van Gelder.

At the colony, Kirk and Noel investigate the neural neutralizer privately. Kirk wants first-hand experience with the device. With Kirk in the treatment chair, Noel implants some simple suggestions. They learn the device is far more effective than Adams had led them to believe, but this knowledge comes too late: Adams surprises them, immobilizes Noel, and begins using the device to condition Kirk.

Fighting off the suggestions placed in his mind by Adams, Kirk dispatches Noel through the air conditioning ducts, in the hope she can find the power controls and deactivate the security force field. That field protects the facility, and prevents transporters from operating in it. Noel manages to deactivate the field long enough for Spock and a security force to beam down and secure the colony.

In an ironic twist, Dr. Adams dies of exposure to the neural neutralizer. Dr. Van Gelder is cured, and resumes his responsibilities at the colony. He also dismantles and destroys the neural neutralizer equipment.

[edit] Log Entries

  • "Captain's log, stardate 2715.1. Exchanged cargo with penal colony on Tantalus 5, have departed without going ashore."
  • "Captain's log, stardate 2715.2. Standard orbit… planet: Tantalus 5... mission: routine investigation and report as per ship's surgeon medical log. As for my last entry, it seems that I will get to meet Dr. Adams at last, however I would prefer other circumstances."
  • "Enterprise log, first officer Spock acting captain. I must now use an ancient Vulcan technique to probe into Van Gelder's tortured mind."

[edit] Memorable Quotes

"Interesting. You Earth people glorify organized violence for forty centuries. But you imprison those who employ it privately."
"And, of course, your people found an answer."
"We disposed of emotion, doctor. Where there's no emotion, there's no motive for violence."

- Spock and McCoy, on the bridge of the Enterprise


"My name is... Van Gelder. I want asylum."
"At gunpoint?"

- Van Gelder and Kirk


"You begin to feel a strange euphoria... your body floats..."
"Yes..."
"Open your mind; we float together... each of us sharing the same thoughts..."

- Spock and Van Gelder, as Spock begins a mind-meld


"You smug, button-pushing brass hat!"

- Van Gelder to Kirk


"Now your communicator. Drop it on the floor."
"Kirk to Enterprise. KIRK...TO ENTERPRISE!!"

- Dr. Adams torturing Kirk, who tries in vain to contact the ship


"It's hard to believe that a man could die of loneliness."
"Not when you've sat in that room."

- McCoy and Kirk, discussing Dr. Adams death

[edit] Background Information

  • This episode was spoofed in the South Park second season episode "Roger Ebert Should Lay Off the Fatty Foods". It involved a neural neutralizer-like device in a planetarium (the "Tantalus V Planetarium") which controls the minds of unwilling victims (complete with Star Trek sound effects and music) and a mind meld was used to determine the plot. One of the characters was even named Van Gelder who wore a smock identical to the ones worn in this episode, complete with the same logo. The episode concludes with the villain, also named Adams, being left in the planetarium with the device turned on but no one making suggestions emptying his mind, identical to the events in the TOS episode.

[edit] Production

  • The first draft for this episode's script was turned in on 6 July 1966. The final draft was turned in 30 July, and the revised final draft turned in 5 August, with further revised pages dated 6 and 8 August.
  • The final shooting draft of this script strangely indicates that Spock places his hands on Van Gelder's abdomen while performing the mind meld.
  • Writer S. Bar-David is a pen name for Shimon Wincelberg. He incorporated several references to Jewish parables into the screenplay.
  • The part of Helen Noel was originally written for Grace Lee Whitney's character Janice Rand; however, producers wanted to avoid showing Kirk becoming involved with her, and Whitney was already on the verge of leaving the show due to personal problems on the set. In any event, from a dramatic point of view, it made more sense for a trained psychotherapist, rather than a yeoman, to accompany Kirk to the Tantalus rehabilitation colony.
  • The title of this episode is taken from a line of Shakespeare's play, Macbeth. Macbeth is preparing to murder Duncan, the King of Scotland, and sees a dagger that he attempts to grasp, only to discover it is a figment of his imagination. The relevant passage from the soliloquy reads:
    Is this a dagger which I see before me
    The handle toward my hand? Come, let me clutch thee.
    I have thee not, and yet I see thee still
    Art thou not, fatal vision, sensible
    To feeling as to sight? Or art thou but
    A dagger of the mind, a false creation
    Proceeding from the heat-oppressed brain?
  • The name "Lethe" is a reference to the River of Forgetfulness in Greek mythology.
  • The shot of the Enterprise miniature heading back to Tantalus at the beginning of Act Two does not appear in any other episode. The ship shifts slightly before veering out of frame; when this shot is used in other episodes, model merely veers off.
  • This was the final episode solely produced by Gene Roddenberry.
  • The producers still hadn't settled on background sound effects for the bridge when this episode was produced. Both the older bridge sound effect (first heard in "The Cage") and the familiar whirring sound that eventually would became standard were used in this episode.

[edit] Cast

[edit] Sets and Props

  • The wall behind the transporter console has been replaced with a panel from engineering in this episode. This is so the transporter operator can be distracted by checking the instruments as Van Gelder emerges from the box that's on the pad.
  • When Fields calls the bridge to report sighting Van Gelder in the corridor, the sign on the wall next to him says "Personnel Director." Another sign in the corridor can be seen to say "Science Library" while one with an arrow points to "Briefing Room."
  • The chair used in the neural neutralizer room was later re-used by Garth in "Whom Gods Destroy".
  • The matte painting for "Where No Man Has Gone Before" is recycled here, with the towers on the fuel bins painted out and a different doorway added.

[edit] Costumes

  • William Shatner's toupee can be seen to move as he writhes in the neural neutralizer chair.
  • The treatment smocks worn by Adams and Eli have the same insignia as Dr. Cory in "Whom Gods Destroy".

[edit] Continuity

  • This episode is mentioned as taking place after a Christmas party in the science labs. This is one of the few times a religious holiday is mentioned in the Star Trek future. Christmas in particular was never mentioned again until Star Trek Generations, although Eleen having a child in a cave in "Friday's Child" in that Christmas-month broadcast may not have been a coincidence. It is also significant to note that the surname of the character who mentions this Christmas party to Kirk is (Helen) "Noel," which means "Christmas" in French.
  • This episode marks the first appearance of the Vulcan mind meld.
  • The box beamed up from Tantalus in which Van Gelder is hiding is labeled "Bureau of Penology, Stockholm, Eurasia-NE." This may indicate that in the 23rd century, independent nations will no longer exist on Earth.
  • Kirk knocks down both Adams and his assistant Eli in the neural neutralizer treatment room, yet only Adams is affected by the beam. This could be because Eli is already somewhat drained (like a mindless zombie) from the machine when Kirk first saw him.
  • A shipping label produced for Star Trek: Deep Space Nine shows that a (now elderly) Dr. Van Gelder is still in charge of the Tantalus Penal Colony in the 2370s.
  • The stardate (2715.1 - 2715.3) in this episode, as given by Kirk, places it in the middle of the episode entitled "Miri" (2713.5 - 2717.3). This is obviously just a simple oversight in script continuity.
  • The flashback scenes of "last year's Christmas party" indicate that the mid-2260s Starfleet uniforms has been issued by the end of 2265.

[edit] Production Timeline

[edit] Video and DVD releases

[edit] Links and References

[edit] Regular Cast

[edit] Guest Star

[edit] Co-Starring

And

[edit] Featuring

[edit] Uncredited

[edit] References

2nd millennium BC; 2220s; 2246; 2265; 2266; Central Bureau of Penology; general quarters; general quarters 3; infra-sensory drugs; hyperpower circuitry; neural neutralizer; over-changer; penal colony; penology; Personnel Director; psychiatry; schizophrenia; Stockholm; Tantalus V; Tantalus colony

[edit] External link


Previous episode produced:
"What Are Little Girls Made Of?" 		Star Trek: The Original Series
Season 1 		Next episode produced:
"Miri"
Previous episode aired:
"Miri" 		Next episode aired:
"The Corbomite Maneuver"
Previous remastered episode aired:
"What Are Little Girls Made Of?" 		TOS Remastered Next remastered episode aired:
"The Gamesters of Triskelion"
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