Day of the Dove

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.

The Organian forced peace may have been obtained in a previous episode, but things are still tense between the Federation and the Klingon Empire. Anything can set it off and in this episode some thing nearly does.

Some of the Star Trek regulars are trapped in a section of the Enterprise that has been sealed off. Futuristic weapons have been taken away and our regulars have been given swords. That puts them at a disadvantage with the warrior society the Klingons have since they prize skill in hand to hand type combat. Still our guys hold their own.

It soon becomes apparent that something is creating this competition and is feeding off the energy of hate that is created by the humans and Klingons. There's an old expression that feuds themselves take on a life of their own and sometimes it's forgotten why they start. This episode gives credence to that idea.

Michael Ansara plays the leader of the Klingons and he's well suited to the part of Kang. Ansara repeated his role in future Star Trek shows. He and William Shatner have to realize there's a common enemy out there.

It's an interesting allegory and can be applied to the state of this world's politics then and now.

There was Star Trek. This episode is actually the reworking of the same theme taken from the "Wolf in the Fold" episode, but blown up on an international scale, so to speak.

I say "Twin Peaks" because, if memory serves from what my TV Screen writing Instrustor recited some 20 years ago, the detective in that show makes a comment to the effect of "Can you really believe that a father would murder his own daughter?" ... or words to that effect. Trek was ahead of the curve, yet again, with "Day of the Dove" postulating a possible explanation for all the violence we witness in the news.

Are humans really capable of bloodshed on an industrial scale? Can mankind be so fraught with flaws that he must always reach for the sword to settle otherwise mundane differences? Can this really be the case? Or is there something else at work here? All the racial prejudice, social hatreds, and lusts sparked from aggression, are they really all within us? Regardless of the science fiction in this science fiction piece, the story itself, after examining all the horrible manifestations of man's baser nature, comes to a conclusion of how to settle differences, and presents it to us with some outstanding thesping by the usual suspects, including Michael Ansara playing the epitome of Klingon commanders.

In the days when this remarkable TV show was on the wane, the hard core of fandom was given a treat in the form of this episode. Filled with action, intrigue, a dash of horror and mystery, along with a good deal of fret by both sides of the coin, this episode brings the awful truth of wartime drama to the audience.

Fortunately it is a Star Trek episode, and we are thus treated to the heroics of Captain James T. Kirk who, once again, risks all and holds the honor and inner humanity (Klingonity?) of the opposition in high regard. Kirk and Kang show us the way. The final shot is not just part of the plot and story, but also a very symbolic gesture.

Definitely worth watching.

Enjoy.

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.