I think it’s a demonstration of the fact that even relatively average Star Trek is still brilliantly (and crazily) eccentric, and still very definitely Star Trek. So it’s weird that South Park zeroed in on this episode to parody in Roger Ebert Should Lay Off the Fatty Foods.Īnd yet, in spite (or perhaps because) of the fact that this isn’t an episode that has ever been a focal point for Star Trek parody or discussion, South Park was able to craft a rather wonderful little adventure out of making fun of Dagger of the Mind. It does have the first ever Vulcan Mind Meld, but it feels almost incidental. It doesn’t have an especially compelling hook ( “mental healthcare… in the future!”). However, it doesn’t feature any especially memorable monsters or aliens. It was produced following Balance of Terror and What Are Little Girls Made Of?, so it’s coming off the heels of two massively influential adventures. However, I also think about a planetarium (or plane’arium) brainwashing young kids in order to keep them coming back for more.ĭagger of the Mind isn’t an iconic Star Trek episode. I even think about the logo of the colony and the blue overalls worn by the staff. I think about the machine that empties people’s minds. In my defence, I do think about the iconography of the episode. I don’t think about Van Gelder hiding inside a barrel beamed up from the surface.Īnd, of course, with that sentence, I lose any credibility that I had as a writer covering Star Trek. I don’t think about the weird subplot involving Noel living out her weird sexual fantasies inside Kirk’s imagination. When I think of Dagger of the Mind, I don’t actually think about this Star Trek episode. One of the great indications of how massively iconic and influential Star Trek has become can be seen in the way that even the “less important” aspects of the show have bled outwards from the series to mingle with pop culture as a whole. Plus, as noted above, it’s just a really great title for an episode of sixties science-fiction. Still, there are minds, and those are being harmed by a device, so Dagger of the Mind works in context. As the title implies, there’s a whole load of mind-screwing going on, even if it has relatively little to do with the actual context of Shakespeare’s famous soliloquy. Dagger of the Mind is – of course – lifted directly from Macbeth. How can you not love that?Īnyway, we should probably talk about the actual episode. It’s that wonderful combination of highly campy and incredibly earnest that really defines the classic Star Trek, the sense that show is aware of the limitations of sixties television, and remains breathtakingly ambitious anyway. There’s something really nice about giving a crazy story about how McCoy was dying for about a week a very pompous-sounding title that could easily have been borrowed from classic literature. Still, ignoring such practical concerns, I like my fancy-sounding Star Trek names. The Host is another Star Trek special that could probably be fitted to half a dozen different adventures. There are quite a few episodes that the title Emissary could apply to, beyond the two including the word. Using that approach, Wrongs Darker Than Death or Night is “the one with Kira’s mum”, and Let He Who Is Without Sin… becomes “the crap one with Vanessa Williams.” Of course, generic names can occasionally be counter-productive. Truth be told, talking to casual Star Trek fans, I’m more likely to use a looser identifier to distinguish the episode I’m talking about. The Vulcan Face Massage is an underrated interrogation technique…
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