"
The Devil in the Dark" is a first-season episode
Star Trek: The Original SeriesStar Trek is a science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry that aired from September 8, 1966 to September 2, 1969. Though the original series was titled simply Star Trek, it has acquired the retronym Star Trek: The Original Series to distinguish it from the spinoffs that...
which first aired on March 9, 1967. It was repeated on June 15, 1967. It is episode #25, production #26, and was written by Gene L. Coon and directed by
Joseph PevneyJoseph Pevney was an American film and television director.-Biography:Pevney was born on September 15, 1911 in New York City, New York.He made his debut in vaudeville as a boy soprano in 1924...
.
William ShatnerWilliam Alan Shatner is a Canadian actor and novelist. He gained worldwide fame and became a cultural icon for his portrayal of Captain James T. Kirk, captain of the starship USS Enterprise, in the television series Star Trek from 1966 to 1969, Star Trek: The Animated Series and in seven of the...
writes in his memoirs that "The Devil in the Dark" was his favorite original Star Trek episode. From Shatner's perspective, this episode was "exciting, thought-provoking and intelligent, it contained all of the ingredients that made up our very best
Star Treks".
Overview: Captain Kirk and Mister Spock face off with a deadly subterranean beast.
On
StardateA stardate is a means of specifying absolute dates in the fictional Star Trek universe. They are decimal numbers, usually rounded to a single decimal place, which replace absolute Gregorian calendar dates...
3196.1, the
starshipA starship is a theoretical spacecraft designed for traveling between the stars, as opposed to a vehicle designed for orbital spaceflight or interplanetary travel....
USS EnterpriseThe Enterprise or USS Enterprise is the name of several fictional starships, some of which are the focal point for various television series and films in the Star Trek franchise created by Gene Roddenberry...
, under the command of Captain James T.
"
The Devil in the Dark" is a first-season episode
Star Trek: The Original SeriesStar Trek is a science fiction television series created by Gene Roddenberry that aired from September 8, 1966 to September 2, 1969. Though the original series was titled simply Star Trek, it has acquired the retronym Star Trek: The Original Series to distinguish it from the spinoffs that...
which first aired on March 9, 1967. It was repeated on June 15, 1967. It is episode #25, production #26, and was written by Gene L. Coon and directed by
Joseph PevneyJoseph Pevney was an American film and television director.-Biography:Pevney was born on September 15, 1911 in New York City, New York.He made his debut in vaudeville as a boy soprano in 1924...
.
William ShatnerWilliam Alan Shatner is a Canadian actor and novelist. He gained worldwide fame and became a cultural icon for his portrayal of Captain James T. Kirk, captain of the starship USS Enterprise, in the television series Star Trek from 1966 to 1969, Star Trek: The Animated Series and in seven of the...
writes in his memoirs that "The Devil in the Dark" was his favorite original Star Trek episode. From Shatner's perspective, this episode was "exciting, thought-provoking and intelligent, it contained all of the ingredients that made up our very best
Star Treks".
Overview: Captain Kirk and Mister Spock face off with a deadly subterranean beast.
Plot
On
StardateA stardate is a means of specifying absolute dates in the fictional Star Trek universe. They are decimal numbers, usually rounded to a single decimal place, which replace absolute Gregorian calendar dates...
3196.1, the
starshipA starship is a theoretical spacecraft designed for traveling between the stars, as opposed to a vehicle designed for orbital spaceflight or interplanetary travel....
USS EnterpriseThe Enterprise or USS Enterprise is the name of several fictional starships, some of which are the focal point for various television series and films in the Star Trek franchise created by Gene Roddenberry...
, under the command of Captain James T. Kirk, is sent to the pergium mining colony on planet Janus VI to investigate reports of a strange creature that has recently killed 50 miners with a strong corrosive substance and is destroying equipment.
Spock's curiosity is aroused by a spherical object on the desk of the mine supervisor, Chief Engineer Vanderberg, who explains that it is one of thousands of
siliconSilicon is the most common metalloid. It is a chemical element, which has the symbol Si and atomic number 14. A tetravalent metalloid, silicon is less reactive than its chemical analog carbon...
noduleA nodule in petrology or mineralogy is a secondary structure, generally spherical or irregularly rounded in shape. Nodules are typically solid replacement bodies of chert or iron oxides formed during diagenesis of a sedimentary rock...
s found on recently-opened levels of the mine, but of no commercial value.
Soon, another guard is killed and a circulation
pumpA pump is a device used to move fluids, such as gases, liquids or slurries. A pump displaces a volume by physical or mechanical action. One common misconception about pumps is the thought that they create pressure. Pumps alone do not create pressure; they only displace fluid, causing a flow. ...
, vital to the colony's main reactor, is stolen. The original component must be found within 48 hours or the reactor will fail, rendering the mine uninhabitable.
ScottyMontgomery Scott is a character in the Star Trek media franchise. First portrayed by James Doohan in the original Star Trek series, Scotty also appears in the animated Star Trek series, seven Star Trek movies, the Star Trek: The Next Generation episode "Relics", and in numerous books, comics, and...
improvises a temporary replacement pump. Spock suggests that the creature might be a silicon-based lifeform and would thus be resistant to the "Type I" phasers carried by the colony guards; however, the landing party's "Type II" phasers should be able to stop it.
The landing party starts searching the newly opened Level 23, as it is where all the attacks have taken place. Kirk and Spock soon encounter a creature which looks like an animated clump of partially molten stone. The creature threatens them and receives a direct phaser blast. Injured, it escapes by burrowing quickly through solid rock. Spock examines a piece of the creature knocked off by the phaser blast and determines that it is silicon-based and secretes a strong acid which allows it to move through rock as easily as we move through air. Spock's
tricorderIn the fictional Star Trek universe, a tricorder is a handheld device used for scanning an area, interpreting and displaying data from scans to the user, and recording information....
readings show that there is only one creature within a hundred miles and if it is the last of its type, killing it would be a crime against science, but Kirk believes the mine is too important and the creature too dangerous to let it live.
Scotty's improvised pump eventually fails and the colony begins evacuating, but the landing party and some of the miners remain behind to search for the pump. Kirk discovers a chamber filled with thousands of the silicon nodules and the creature causes the roof to collapse, trapping him. Kirk contacts Spock, who, in a reversal of their previous positions, urges Kirk to kill the creature immediately. However, Kirk realises that the creature is not threatening him and begins to "talk" to it. The creature turns, showing him a large wound in its side.
Spock finds a way into the cavern and attempts a Vulcan mind meld but cannot complete it as the creature is in agony from its wound. However, he does learn that it calls itself a Horta. The Horta also gains enough knowledge from the experience to be able to etch the words "NO KILL I" into a nearby rock.
In an effort to win its confidence, Kirk orders Dr. McCoy to come and help the creature while Spock mind melds with it again. He discovers that every 50,000 years the entire race of Horta dies, except one who remains to protect the eggs and act as the mother to them. When the miners broke into the hatchery, it just fought back the only way it knew. McCoy arrives and analyzes the Horta's physiology and finding it is virtually made out of stone, declares: "I'm a doctor, not a bricklayer!" It understands Kirk is trying to help and tells him the missing pump is in the "Vault of Tomorrow".
Meanwhile, Vanderberg and the miners are being held back by a security detail, but their patience wears thin and they overpower the guards. Kirk stops them from killing the creature and explains that the Horta was simply protecting its eggs, the silicon nodules the miners have been collecting and destroying, which are now on the verge of hatching. Vanderberg regrets the damage his men have caused inadvertently, but is concerned that there will be thousands of those "things" crawling around. Kirk returns the pump and reassures him that the Horta are intelligent and peaceful and suggests they could assist the miners by locating new deposits of minerals in exchange for being left alone. McCoy proudly informs them that he's helped the Horta by using thermo-concrete, which is mostly silicon, as a bandage and reckons that he could probably "cure a rainy day!" Spock mind-melds with the Horta again and it agrees with the proposition. Spock mentions that contact with the highly logical Horta is "curiously refreshing".
As the
Enterprise prepares to leave orbit, Vanderberg reports that the eggs have started to hatch and they have already hit huge new pergium deposits, as well as gold and platinum. He says that the Horta are not so bad once you get used to their appearance. Spock mentions to Kirk that the Horta also found humanoid appearance revolting, but he got the impression that she found pointed ears the most attractive human characteristic.
40th Anniversary remastering
This episode was remastered in 2006 and aired September 23, 2006 as part of the 40th anniversary remastering of the
Original Series. It was preceded the week before by "
Miri"Miri" is a first season episode of Star Trek: The Original Series, that was first broadcast October 27, 1966, and repeated June 29, 1967. It is episode #8, production #12, written by Adrian Spies and directed by Vincent McEveety. The planetary exteriors were shot on the set used for fellow Desilu...
" and followed a week later by "The Naked Time". Aside from remastered video and audio, and the all-
CGIComputer-generated imagery is the application of the field of computer graphics or, more specifically, 3D computer graphics to special effects in films, television programs, commercials, simulators and simulation generally, and printed media...
animation of the USS
Enterprise that is standard among the revisions, specific changes to this episode also include:
- CGI-updated rendering of Janus VI which added thicker clouds and more realism.
- 3D refinery backdrop matte which retained the original content but with more depth and added realism.
- When the Horta is first encountered by Kirk and Spock, the rock actually bursts into flames as it dissolves. Previously, it simply glowed red and vanished. Also, there is the added heat shimmering effect and the addition of smoke pouring off the wall.
- The addition of the tiny figure of a miner, supposedly playing with a baby Horta, in front of the refinery (seen through the window in Vanderberg's office in the next to final scene).
Production notes
- William Shatner's father died during the filming of this episode. He was offered the afternoon off to prepare for funeral arrangements, but insisted on completing the scenes where Kirk and Spock search for the Horta. The scenes where Spock mind-melds with it were filmed with a stand in filling in for Shatner, and shot from behind him. Upon his return from his father's funeral, Shatner filmed reaction shots, which were integrated into the mind meld sequence. He has stated that the kindness and support lent him by Nimoy and Gene Roddenberry during filming after his bereavement made this episode his favorite of the original series.
- The Horta is played by Janos Prohaska, who played a similar creature on an episode of The Outer Limits
The Outer Limits is an American television series that aired on ABC from 1963 to 1965. Similar in style to the earlier The Twilight Zone with more science fiction than fantasy stories, The Outer Limits is an anthology of discrete story episodes, sometimes with a plot twist at the end.The series was...
. Legend has it, Prohaska donned the costume and crawled into producer Gene L. CoonGene L. Coon was an American screenwriter and television producer. He is best known for his work on Star Trek: The Original Series....
's office. Coon, after getting over the shock, was inspired and declared he was going to write a script based on the costume.
- The concept of an extraterrestrial mining operation inadvertently harming alien creatures was later featured in Jetsons: The Movie
Jetsons: The Movie is a 1990 animated science-fiction feature film produced by Hanna-Barbera Productions and released to theaters by Universal Studios...
, complete with an ending where an agreement is reached with the creatures.
- According to Mike Okuda's text commentary of Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home
Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home is the fourth feature film based on the Star Trek science fiction television series. It completes the loose story trilogy started in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan and continued in Star Trek III: The Search for Spock.Leonard Nimoy directed as well as starred in The...
, a Horta Ambassador was supposed to be included in the Federation Council sequences, but there was not enough time to create a costume.
External links