The Man Trap

The Man Trap was the first outing for the Enterprise crew that we all know and love: Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner), Mr. Spock (Leonard Nimoy), Lt. Uhura (Nichelle Nichols), Dr. McCoy (DeForest Kelley), and Sulu (George Takei). But still no sign of Scotty yet (his first appearance was in the show's second pilot 'Where No Man Has Gone Before', which was broadcast as the third episode in season one).

This one opens as Kirk, Spock and expendable crewman Darnell (not wearing a red shirt but still soon-to-be-dead) are beamed to the surface of planet M-113 to check up on the health of Professor Crater (Alfred Ryder) and his wife Nancy (Jeanne Bal), an old flame of the Doc's. On meeting Nancy, each member of the Enterprise crew sees the woman differently, although they do not realise it. Soon after, Darnell is found dead (what a shocker!), McCoy eventually discovering that the man's body has been depleted of salt.

Kirk recalls that a supply of salt was high on the Craters' list of requirements and begins to become suspicious about the couple. It eventually transpires that Nancy is in fact a salt-sucking shape-shifting alien, the last of its kind, having replaced the real Mrs. Crater, who was killed two years earlier by the creature. The professor is now protecting the beast, which has become a surrogate wife to him.

A lot more fun than the show's overly-cerebral pilot The Cage, The Man Trap is suspenseful and has the major benefit of its more familiar cast, who all interact marvelously. There's also the no-small-matter of Yeoman Janice's magnificent beehive hairdo, Sulu's amazing living plant specimen (that is clearly a man's hand), and the final appearance of the shape-shifter: a hilarious hairy monstrosity with a real ugly mush -- let's hope that the professor didn't allow the creature to replace his wife in all aspects of their relationship.

Enterprise visits a planet to make a routine health check on an archeologist.

It is a compelling story about the crew encountering a life-form on the verge of extinction. They are put in a difficult position of having to defend themselves but in the same breath face the prospect of possibly doing something that equates to genocide. This is handled in a plausible way and with some acknowledgement and reflection placed upon the actions taken.

One of its major strengths is that it properly establishes characters in the way an early episode should. A lot of focus is placed on Kirk's command decisions and we learn about him in these moments. Interestingly, he is portrayed slightly more aggressive in nature than usual, particularly towards Bones, who for the majority of the episode, as Kirk bluntly states, thinks with his glands. The banter between the two is enjoyable from start to finish. Spock has some character defining moments in his interaction with U'Hura and also in a more confrontational scene involving Kirk and Bones towards the end.

This is quite a unique episode in several ways. It focuses on some small character moments that never get the same attention later on in the show. Refreshingly, there is none of the dramatic music that made later episodes louder and feel more dated. Also, Kirk's narration is spoken in past tense, which doesn't make a great deal of difference but does unnecessarily explain the situation a bit too much at the beginning.

When the high drama comes during the episode's conclusion, that's when I feel the age of it. We have over-the-top physical acting, the splendour of a dodgy creature costume and I felt an overall sense of unintentional humour. However, this for me is part of the charm of the original series. It was television made during the 1960s and you have to take the positives out of these moments.

Nancy Crater and Dr. McCoy at one time was very close... it's been years since they've seen each other. Naturally Bones was excited to find out he'll see Nancy again while on the planet M-113. Nancy has gotten married to Professor Robert Crater, a man that knows all about Nancy. Nancy is not quite her old self, trying to harm the Starship Crew for Salt.

Off to a great start with the first season, first episode of ST-TOS. It is taken very much seriously - nothing cutesy or funny about it. Like all Star Trek TOS - you'll either like the Captain and Crew or you simply won't.

Oddly, this episode looks and feels like a later episode... one that you know the characters better rather than the very first episode aired for TV audiences in 1966.

7/10

The central idea of this story was anticipated by an episode in A E van Vogt's "The Voyage of the Space Beagle" (itself an anticipation of "Star Trek"). A creature that resembles a mountain lion with tentacles sucks the "id" (potassium) from its victims' bodies. (There's no explanation of where other essential nutrients come from.)

I understand why some fans don't much care for this episode. Though not intended as such, it resembles the "monster of the week" sort of story ABC insisted on for "The Outer Limits". As for the creature's failure to ask Kirk for a metric ton or two of salt -- Ryder urgently requested salt, but Kirk failed to provide it.

I like it for a number of reasons, principally that it's cool and low-key (in contrast to the noisier theatrics of almost every episode that followed). The photography is grand, making effective use of pools of light against darker backgrounds. (This would soon disappear.) There's almost no music, with sound effects creating an eerie atmosphere. From a strictly "aesthetic" perspective, "The Man Trap" is arguably the best of all the Classic episodes.

This is really quite good. The crew goes to a planet where Dr. Crater and his wife are due for a required checkup. They have been on the planet for five years. Mrs. Crater is a former love interest of Dr. McCoy and he looks forward with trepidation to seeing her. When the away team gets there each of them sees this woman in different. To McCoy, she appears to be as young as when they last met; Kirk sees her as one of an appropriate age; and the other crewman sees her as a woman from a pleasure colony. Now the bodies start to pile up. The men meet Dr. Crater who is uncooperative and unfriendly. A scream is heard outside and upon investigation, the body of the third crewman lies dead, circular burn-like marks on his skin. The central issue has something to do with salt. The body, when investigated, is lacking salt. Mrs. Crater is really worried that their salt supply is dissipated. Soon even more bodies are found. The thing is a shape-changer and it begins to find ways of attacking crew members to remove its salt.