The Devil in the Dark
"The Devil in the Dark" | |
---|---|
Jerry Finnerman | |
Production code | 026 |
Original air date | March 9, 1967 |
Guest appearances | |
| |
"The Devil in the Dark" is the twenty-fifth episode of the first season of the American science fiction television series Star Trek. Written by Gene L. Coon and directed by Joseph Pevney, the episode first aired on March 9, 1967.[1]
In this episode, the Enterprise is called to investigate deaths at a planetary mining facility. Spock and Kirk go on an away mission to the facility, leading to them facing off against a deadly subterranean creature.
This episode marks the first appearance of
Plot
The
Kirk and his security team search for the creature. Spock, suspecting it may be a
Kirk and Spock happen upon a chamber containing thousands of the silicon nodules. The creature causes a cave-in that separates Kirk from Spock. Though Spock urges Kirk to kill it, Kirk observes the creature backs off whenever he aims his phaser at it. Spock finds a way around the cave-in and joins Kirk. He attempts a
The miners arrive and attempt to attack the creature. Kirk and Spock stop them, explaining that it was only protecting its eggs when it killed humans. Dr. McCoy successfully treats the Horta's wound using a silicon-based cement normally used for building emergency shelters. The miners fear the prospect of thousands of Horta, but Kirk convinces them that the Horta are peaceful and could collaborate with the miners by tunneling for them.
Kirk, Spock, and McCoy return to the Enterprise, prepare to leave orbit, and learn from Vanderberg that the eggs have hatched and already the new Horta have uncovered rich veins of pergium and other valuable metals.
Production
The Horta was played by stuntman and acrobat Janos Prohaska, who also designed the costume. Prohaska was promised that if he created something good enough, the producers would rent the costume and pay Prohaska to play the part. Episode writer Gene Coon was convinced of the costume's effectiveness after an impromptu demonstration by Prohaska in the studios.[2]
William Shatner says this is his favorite episode of the series. His father died during its filming, but Shatner insisted on going through with production, and felt closer to the cast and crew for helping him through the difficult time.[3]
This episode also marks the first appearance of Doctor McCoy's catchphrase, "
Actor Barry Russo plays Security Chief Giotto who is referred to several times as ‘Lt. Commander’, yet the uniform he wears bears the insignia of a full ‘Commander’.
The name Horta came from a well-liked sound effects and music editor at the time named Sam Horta. Sam later opened a sound editing facility in Burbank called “Horta Editorial”. His daughter Eileen continued in his footsteps and served as the president of the Motion Picture Sound Editors, M.P.S. E.
Link to Kolchak: The Night Stalker
The series finale of the Universal Television series Kolchak: The Night Stalker, entitled "The Sentry" (1975), takes its plot directly from this episode.[citation needed]
Reception
Cast
William Shatner wrote in his memoirs that "The Devil in the Dark" was his favorite original Star Trek episode.[3] He thought it was "exciting, thought-provoking and intelligent, it contained all of the ingredients that made up our very best Star Treks".[3] In the documentary 50 Years of Star Trek, Leonard Nimoy also named "The Devil in the Dark" as an "interesting episode", stating "I thought [it] was a wonderful episode about the fear of the unknown, how we fear and even hate something that we don't know anything about, learn who your enemy is, and it's not, maybe then it's no longer your enemy."[4]
Critical
In 2009, Zack Handlen of The A.V. Club gave the episode an 'A' rating, describing it as a classic and noting the well-written roles of Kirk, Spock and McCoy.[5] In 2012, The A.V. Club ranked this episode as one of the top ten "must see" episodes of the original series.[6] In 2017, Business Insider ranked "The Devil in the Dark" the 4th best episode of the original series.[7]
In 2012,
In 2013, W.I.R.E.D. magazine ranked this episode one of the top ten most underrated episodes of the original television series.[9]
In 2015, New York Public Library rated this episode as having Spock's fourth best scene in the show.[10]
In 2015,
In 2016, Vox rated this one of the top 25 essential episodes of all Star Trek.[11]
In 2016,
In 2017, Business Insider ranked "Devil in the Dark" the 4th best episode of the original series.[7]
In 2018, Collider ranked this episode the 10th best original series episode.[13]
In 2018, PopMatters ranked this the number one best episode of the original series.[14]
See also
- "Home Soil", the eighteenth episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation, where a naturally occurring crystalline lifeform is encountered
- HORTA—a backronym used in the mining industry, based on the Horta in this Star Trek episode
References
- ^ Tor.com. Archivedfrom the original on June 23, 2022. Retrieved July 8, 2022.
- ISBN 978-0-671-00974-8.
- ^ a b c Shatner, William (1993). Star Trek Memories (paperback). Harper Torch. p. 200.
- History Channel, August 14, 2016
- ^ Handlen, Zack (April 10, 2009). ""This Side Of Paradise" / "The Devil In The Dark"". The A.V. Club. Retrieved March 2, 2010.
- ^ Handlen, Zack (August 15, 2012). "10 must-see episodes of Star Trek". TV Club. Retrieved June 29, 2019.
- ^ a b Kiersz, Elena; Holodny, Andy (September 21, 2017). "Here are the 13 best original 'Star Trek' episodes, ranked". Business Insider. Retrieved July 6, 2019.
- ISSN 0882-7729. Retrieved July 23, 2019.
- ISSN 1059-1028. Retrieved July 9, 2019.
- ^ "10 Best Spock Moments in Star Trek: The Original Series". The New York Public Library. Retrieved July 10, 2019.
- ^ Siede, Caroline (September 6, 2016). "Star Trek, explained for non-Trekkies". Vox. Retrieved August 1, 2019.
- ^ "The 50 best Star Trek episodes ever". Empire. July 27, 2016. Retrieved July 2, 2019.
- ^ Lesnick, Silas (August 14, 2018). "The 20 Best Episodes of 'Star Trek: The Original Series'". Collider. Retrieved July 4, 2019.
- ^ "The 20 Best Episodes of 'Star Trek: The Original Series'". PopMatters. July 16, 2018. Retrieved July 8, 2019.
External links
- "The Devil in the Dark" at Wayback Machine (archived from the original at StarTrek.com)
- "The Devil in the Dark" at IMDb
- "The Devil in the Dark" at Memory Alpha
- "The Devil in the Dark" Review of the remastered version at TrekMovie.com
- "The Devil in the Dark" Final draft with revisions dated January 6–18, 1967; report & analysis by Dave Eversole
- "The Devil in the Dark" Screenshots before and after remastering
- "The Devil in the Dark" (subscription required)—Full episode for viewing at Paramount+