Day of the Dove

An alien comprising of pure energy and which feeds on hatred manipulates events to cause a war between the crew of the Enterprise and some Klingons.

Star Trek TOS episodes centred around encounters with Klingons (or Romulans) are always worth a watch, this one because of the high level of action, and its memorable Klingon enemies, Kang (Michael Ansara) and his wife Mara (Susan Howard). From the get go, Kang and Kirk are at each others throats, the hostility between races heightened by the mysterious alien being, which is seen as a shimmering ball of light.

After facing off against each other on an uninhabited planet, the fighting continues on board the Enterprise, the alien ensuring that both sides are perfectly matched so that the fighting will continue indefinitely. The injured are miraculously healed so that they can quickly return to the fray.

Eventually, Spock and Kirk identify the alien and realise that they are being manipulated to provide it with the hatred on which it feeds. In order to starve the creature, they must bring about a truce with the Klingons, which isn't going to be easy...

It's comforting to think that bigotry, hatred and war could all be the result of interference by an extraterrestrial being, thereby excusing the human race for its violent behaviour. Sadly, I think we only have ourselves to blame and it's unlikely that slapping each other on the back and guffawing loudly will bring an end to intolerance and war any time soon. Still, it's nice to see Klingons and humans getting along for a change.

"Day of the Dove" (Nov. 1, 1968) Old TV Guide synopsis: 'The Enterprise is invaded by an alien life form that transfers enemy Klingons to the starship - and arms the Klingons and the Enterprise crew with swords.' The final Klingon episode (third of four scripts by famed author Jerome Bixby) also introduces the first female Klingon in Susan Howard as Mara, wife of Michael Ansara's Captain Kang and also their ship's science officer. Conflict arises between the Enterprise and their rivals due to an alien force that thrives on anger and violence, yet does not allow for serious casualties (wounds quickly heal so that participants can return to battle). The creature even creates false images in human minds to pump the adrenaline, such as Chekov avenging a fictitious brother when Sulu relates he's an only child. By the time both sides realize they have been pawns in another's game, both Kirk and Kang are shown beaming from ear to ear in a show of solidarity, a nice touch that bodes well for the Klingons in future series.

Enterprise visits a Federation colony and gets into a conflict with the crew of a Klingon ship.

This is an enjoyable episode with strong anti-war themes and some quite memorable moments.

The story contains many elements covered in previous episodes such as 'The Errand of Mercy', 'Wolf in the Fold', and the numerous occasions the crew have found themselves either under the control of more powerful and malevolent beings. It's not perfect, but the plot unfolds in an entertaining way.

I particularly liked this portrayal of the Klingons. It feels closer to the warrior portrayal that payed off so well in 'The Next Generation' and 'Deep Space Nine'. The characters Kang and Mara are integral to the plot and involved in some of the most memorable scenes. Michael Ansara gives probably the best performance of the episode.

The central theme about powerful influences upon hatred and war that feed off conflict between people is an important subject. It was particularly relevant when this episode was made and works as an effective commentary of the Cold War. Sadly it is still pertinent today, as the world is more divided then ever with institutions like governments, media, and the defence industry continuing to profit from conflict as much as ever.

We see crew members displaying irrational signs of hatred, bigotry, and a desire for revenge that is quite ugly. One scene involving Chekov is particularly dark for Star Trek.

Not all of it holds up to a modern viewing. There are some quite silly moments involving swords and some of the acting from William Shatner and Deforest Kelley strays over the top. It also trowels on its key messages with some quite preachy exchanges of dialogue.

Visually it is hit and miss for me. I like the alien special effects, set design, props, and costumes. The Klingon boot polish type makeup is not particularly good, nor the choreography of the sword fighting.

Leonard Nimoy and George Takei have solid outings as their characters appear to be the only two regulars who do not lose rationality amongst all the chaos.

For me it's a 7.5/10 but I round upwards.

There are several episodes that bank on some sort of energy at work. Species that are pure energy, creatures who absorb energy, and so on. This is one where a sort of Tinkerbell (excuse me but often these beings are like the flashlight images one uses to entertain his or her cat) is on board, feasting over the hatred between the Klingons and the Enterprise crew. There is considerable byplay between these classic adversaries, accusations flying, misunderstandings about history and basic facts. To make a long story short, they aren't much different than warring countries today (the US certainly being one of them). One must wade through so much distrust that getting to some kind of peaceful situation is about impossible. There are weird things that are memorable here. One is Chekov ranting and raving about Klingons having killed his brother (he is an only child). Another is Kirk and Kang having to pretend to be friends with a common goal. They look like they are constipated as they deliver their lines. It seems so unnatural. Still, their intentions are good and it would have set up a nice sequel.

One thing about the original Trek series - it had its share of great titles, this one included. It's probably my personal favorite of the episodes from the 3rd season: it's an obvious action episode and doesn't let up for its entire length. This also contains the best Klingon interpretation on the original series, courtesy of actor Ansara. I recall reading somewhere a long time ago that Ansara wasn't the first choice for the part; well, after he got it, he just tore into it with a fearful vengeance. If the original Trek series had continued into a 4th and 5th season, this would have been the Klingon to bring back for another confrontation with Kirk and the crew. Only the Khan character from "Space Seed" presented a superior antagonist for our Starfleet heroes. Kang just oozes that tough leathery Klingon orneriness which set a new standard for how the race was portrayed (he was also one of the Klingons brought back during the later series, on DS9). He really commands our attention here with a truly charismatic portrayal by Ansara. This episode also delivers a few memorable scenes of our heroic Enterprise officers behaving in atypical fashion, recalling a few other episodes where they were subverted mentally somehow. In this case, it involved reversion to basic primal instincts such as race hatred and bloodthirst, allowing actors Kelley, Doohan, Koenig and even the usually placid Nimoy to tap into their inner rage. The intense quarrel between Spock and Scotty is especially startling.

The plot seems very simple, yet is deceptively brilliant: group two sets of warring factions (Starfleet & Klingons) into equal numbers of 38 each on a ship such as the Enterprise, remove all advanced weapons and arm each side with swords; then set them at each others throats. Then sit back and watch. One can envision an entire season of such a story, an endless tale of conflict on a drifting starship out in space. It's an early version of video games that wouldn't come about until over a decade later. Of course, this is a bit more sophisticated, a commentary on the nature of war and bigotry. It's very easy to hate such beings as the Klingons for most of us, especially in view of the way they were depicted on the original series, including in this episode. They come across as, at best, belligerent and vicious, in contrast to the more civilized Starfleet crew. But, as the episode progresses, we begin to see less and less differences, until, by the end, we also begin to wonder what these guys are fighting about; they're two sides of the same coin with minor idealogical differences, as mentioned way back in "Errand of Mercy." It's interesting to hear Kang's wife speak of the Federation's death camps and realize we'd heard pretty much the same thing about Klingons in this and earlier episodes. It's an exciting entry for the 3rd season, with excellent pacing, superb editing (Scotty thrusts with a sword and it cuts to the ship zooming towards us) and loads of tension. The ending is a bit too syrupy for my taste, but I still get a kick out of Kang's last shot at Kirk. Klingons just can't resist some of the baser things in life.