The Devil in the Dark

Enterprise visits mining colony Janus VI.

This is a classic episode with a brilliant message and a number of strong character moments.

The plot is simple and highly effective with a powerful statement on humanity that embodies the best themes of Star Trek. It unfolds in a compelling way with Kirk and Spock at the heart of it, well supported by Bones and Scotty.

Kirk is fantastically written, behaving in a way you would want someone of senior authority to act. There are no rash decisions. He is the ultimate cool head in a difficult and pressured situation.

Spock is the catalyst for everything positive that happens. These are great moments that define his character. His level of humanity is laid bare in his compassion for life and his protective instincts towards his Captain. I love how he spins his obvious emotional response as defending science.

Bones has rarely been cooler, particularly in his transition from seemingly lacking the confidence to do something to an almost god-like belief in his own abilities.

I think what makes it great is that it is so different from most other creature-based sci-fi and adventure stories. It would be so easy to give in to the blood-lust of most film and television consumers and make it a 'fight the monster' story, but this one could not be more opposite.

The visuals are mostly great. I love the set design, props and cinematography. The creature effects are very Star Trek. There's not much to say other than it is a stuntman underneath a what looks like a Persian rug decorated with foam pizza toppings. All part of the sixties charm.

William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy both give strong performances, particularly Shatner under the circumstances of his personal life at the time. DeForest Kelley has a smaller role, but he has some classic lines. James Doohan is entertaining as ever and the guest performers are solid.

Kirk and the crew are visiting a federation mining colony on a remote planet rich in mineral resources. The Devil in the Dark is the Horta, a very unusual silicon based life-form which tunnels through solid rock. The Horta has been killing miners and, it is decided, must be destroyed. But how?

It is hard to continue this review without writing a spoiler, so instead I simply concentrate on the technical aspects of the episode and touch on its themes. The special effects are OK, but many of the scenes with the Horta look a little absurd. The acting is fairly average for TOS. Some of the miners are a little awkward. Nimoy has the most difficult role of all in Devil in the Dark, and he pulls it off well.

Why is this still a favorite of mine?

Devil in the Dark is really an anthropological and ecological morality play disguised as an adventure. More than many episodes of this great TV series, it brings home the importance of maintaining an open mind and at least some degree of empathy toward others. Plus, it involves one of the most interesting, if not probable, plot twists in the original series.

Enjoy!

The Horta is a globular mass that turns out to be thinking, feeling being. If, indeed, a crew such as those of the enterprise were to exist, they would need to be sensitive to the complexities of various life forms. A miner has died a horrible death, bathed in acid. The other miners, searching for some really valuable ore, have encountered this creature who seems to be able to meld itself with rock. The minders seek assistance and Spock, McCoy, and Kirk come to the rescue. There is the obligatory confrontation with phaser fire and injury. However, things get much more complicated as the actions of the Horta seem to be stimulus/response. The creature seems to understand. Spock uses the Vulcan mind meld to find out what is going on. The creature is badly hurt by the phaser fire and McCoy is asked to heal, leading to one of the best lines, "Dammit, Jim, I'm a doctor, not a bricklayer." The creature is silicon based, hence the reference to repairing rock. It's a sort of touching episode in some ways and has a satisfactory lesson.

Everybody likes to say how cheesy the monster looks. But I'll be honest. It still gave me nightmares at age 10.

I also didn't like this episode much as a kid because we hardly see the Enterprise, and how can that be Star Trek? Eventually I learned that good science fiction, like all drama, is about characters and ideas, not sets and costumes and special effects. And so "Devil in the Dark" is now one of my favorite Star Trek episodes.

I sometimes wonder if it was done as penance for "The Man Trap". That episode also featured an intelligent creature, native to the planet and the last of its species, who began murdering humans for no apparent reason. But that episode doesn't fit the Star Trek philosophy at all, while this one is among the very best examples of that philosophy in action.

In 1975 a friend of the family took me to a local JC in Sacramento for one of the first "Star Trek" conventions. I remember someone had taken some electrical tape and spelled out on the floor in the foyer at the convention entrance "NO KILL I".

The homage paid by this act reflects the importance of the social trend and awareness happening at the time. The country (the western world in fact) had just come off of one social upheaval in the midst of the Cold War, and was entering another. Trek was ahead of the curve by telling another great parable regarding not just a conservationist message, not just an environmental message, but one that levels a finger at mankind in his treatment of other living creatures.

This episode hits empathetic folks on a gut level. My mother included (or especially I should say), for while watching this episode with me (one of the few times she and I watched Trek together) she sternly agreed with Captain Kirk when Shatner's character berates Jarvis for the wanton and irresponsible acts of destruction.

It's not just a warning for today's companies and their forefathers, however still relevant and timely. It's more than that. It's a future warning to mankind, and any sentient who would mindlessly exploit that of which they knew nothing.

Another review comments on the thesping by Shatner and Nimoy. I agree that it's high caliber. The matte painting of the mining facility is what it is, as is the Horta itself. It is, after all, 1960's sci-fi TV. Even so, I'm hard pressed to find better props used in today's TV offerings (part of the reason I don't watch too much contemporary television anymore). Good shots, good dialog, good story, and a profound theme.

Enjoy.