TOS – The Devil in the Dark

Plot – Devil in the Dark starts out as a Star Trek horror movie and is very committed to that genre for a good third of its running time with Kirk, Spock and McCoy on the hunt for some vicious monster that is tearing through the miners of the Pergium facility. Huge kudos to director Joe Pevney for employing some cinematic horror movie techniques to generate atmosphere, some of the early scenes in this episode rank amongst the tensest in the franchise entire run.

Character – Kirk is a character it is easy to mock from a modern-day perspective, especially his desire to be seen as an action hero and a romantic lead but Devil in the Dark shows on many occasions that he is much more than just a macho posturing sex maniac. It’s his thoughtful approach to dealing with the Horta that leads to the episodes more considerate and impactful moments. He isn’t willing to just kill the beast, not when it is displaying intelligence and a genuine fear of the them. He’s willing to see it as the hunted and not the hunter, to try and see the story from its point of view and that shows enormous patience and understanding. This is the Kirk of legend as far as I’m concerned. A confident, competent, thoughtful leader who can see and judge on more than just appearance. The scenes between Kirk and the Horta remind me of those between the Doctor and the Creature in Creature from the Pit – a wholly absurd looking monster being treated with the utmost sincerity and respect by the lead actor, whose character is trying desperately to understand it. In both cases the lead character comes across as brilliantly empathetic.

Spock challenges accepted theories by suggesting that the creature is not based upon carbon, but silicon. If McCoy is giving him mouth then you know Spock is usually on the right track. Spock shares a joke with Kirk in such a natural way that you can see how their relationship has developed. When he thinks Kirk’s life is in danger he implores his Captain to kill the creature, which is a very primal and emotional response.

McCoy is starting to feel as though he cure a rainy day! Which is the quote of the season if you ask me. I like how McCoy’s natural prejudice against a creature that has murdered so many people gets in the way of him making an effort to save the thing. He has to be ordered to do so.

Ultimately the three of them are all responsible for the life of the creature; Spock was willing to make the leap about its nature and to try and be its mouthpiece, Kirk was the one who was willing to stop shooting and try and understand it and McCoy brings his expertise to bearing and ultimately rescues it. It’s a fantastic peek at how effective they can be together.

Performance – A huge round of applause to William Shatner who was dealing the loss of his father when filming this episode and as a result gives one of his most riveting performances. Similar kudos to Leonard Nimoy who has to make emotional contact with the creature a vivid, painful experience and he really goes for it, not caring whether he comes across as looking silly or not. I truly admire that kind of daring. He’s an entrancing mouthpiece for the creature and you can empathise with it purely because of Nimoy’s agonised turn. This would be a much lesser episode without those insightful moments.

Production – Few Star Trek episodes open with such a bold statement to simply shock and unnerve…the bombastic score that could have stepped straight out of an Alfred Hitchcock horror, the lack of Enterprise scenes, the zoom in on another world, panning across a mining facility and the camera swooping straight into some dark and sinister caves, POV shots of something nasty attacking the miners (that very quickly flashes across the screen) and the charred remains. It’s in your face suspense from the first second. At this point in its run Star Trek still thinks it is a blistering drama show and it is all the better for it.

It would be very easy to mock the Horta as a giant pizza that wobbles and has a poor acting crawling desperately underneath but that would take away from the fact that they are trying to do something very different from the cliched Star Trek humanoid alien of the week. I love the design but then I was brought up on Doctor Who and there are many examples of similar creatures. I’m pleased that the creators of the CGI for the Blu-ray releases didn’t choose to change this for a more impressive CGI creation because it has been designed with some imagination. Just because there wasn’t the techniques to realise those ambitions at the time, doesn’t mean that this isn’t still a startling piece of design work. The bite that they take out of the Horta with the phaser is breathing. That’s awesome. I applaud the audacity of presenting a ‘monster’ this different and having the actors behave as though it is the most terrifying lifeform imaginable.

Hooray for whoever took care of the lighting in this production because they manage to take the standard Trek cave sets and turn them into something much more ominous than usual.

Best moment – How beautiful is the clean plotting of The Devil in the Dark where the only thing that the Horta and the humans need to do is to understand one another and then the mining on this planet could be more effective than ever, because ultimately the creatures could be the ultimate tool for mining. It all comes together with absolute precision.

Worst moment – In a very funny moment Kirk beams down an entire compliment of redshirts and given what has been happening at this facility you just know that none of them are going to make it back. The way they are all lined up is like looking at a bunch on death row.

It’s very predictable that the round egg-shaped things that are found in the tunnels are in fact, Horta eggs. It’s almost a shame that this element had to be included because it signposts where the episode is going a little too clearly.

A reason to watch this episode again – After a string of reviewing troubling episodes, The Devil in the Dark is classic Star Trek and one that proves that have a simple plot can sometimes be the most effective approach. Simple doesn’t mean thoughtless and what you have here is a perspective shifting show; one which presents the creature as a monster, then as a victim that is wounded and then as a protective mother. As we move from one revelation to another the narrative and tone shifts wildly. It utilises the threesome of Kirk, Spock and Bones brilliantly, features some stunning direction and a memorable musical score and has many seminal scenes (namely Spock communicating with the creature). Classic Star Trek through and through, I really cannot fault this.

***** out of *****

Clue for tomorrow's episode: