Day of the Dove

"Day of the Dove" is the seventh episode of the third season of the American science fiction television series Star Trek, first broadcast November 1, 1968, and repeated June 17, 1969. It was written by Jerome Bixby and directed by Marvin Chomsky.

In the episode, an alien force drives the crew of the Enterprise into brutal conflict with the Klingons.

Plot

The Federation starship USS Enterprise responds to a distress call from a human colony on Beta XII-A, but on arrival finds no signs of any type of inhabited settlement. A landing party, including Captain Kirk and Ensign Chekov, beams down to investigate further. A few moments later, they are found and surrounded by Klingons who have transported to the surface from their own orbiting vessel. Commander Kang accuses the Enterprise crew of firing upon their vessel and demands that they surrender immediately. Suddenly, Chekov makes a move to attack the Klingons, claiming they had killed his brother. Kang's men subdue him and use an agonizer device to torture him, forcing Kirk to agree to surrender. However, upon contacting the ship, Kirk surreptitiously warns First Officer Spock after asking to be beamed up. Spock uses the transporter to materialize the Enterprise crewmen first, followed by the Klingons, who have been brought aboard without their weapons. Kang surrenders and he and the other Klingons are escorted to secure quarters on the ship.

Meanwhile, a glowing entity composed of pure energy, which had initially emerged on the planet below, enters the Enterprise undetected and interfaces with its controls. The ship lurches into warp at maximum speed headed for the edge of the galaxy. With the crew panicked, the entity then causes various bulkheads on the ship to close, trapping 392 members of the Enterprise's crew. The 38 members of the crew still free are equal in numbers to the Klingons. With tempers high - and spurred on by the sudden materialization of swords of various kinds from gladiuses to claymores and other antique hand weapons - they begin to fight. (Most of the humans are armed with the edged weapons of their ethnic culture. Sulu is seen with a katana; Scotty arms himself with a Scottish military officer's claymore; Chekov with a Cossack kindjal; and Captain Kirk with a Civil War-era cavalry sabre.) Dr. McCoy reports that gravely wounded crewmen brought to Sickbay are healing with preternatural speed, much faster than normal.

Spock soon discovers the presence of the entity, apparently feeding off the desperate, violent emotions which are surfacing. When informed by Lt. Sulu that Chekov never had a brother and is an only child, Kirk realizes that the entity is capable of implanting false memories in order to trigger aggression. Kirk and Spock try to calm the crew's escalating furor to no avail. Kirk believes that if he can get to Kang, the Klingon commander can help stop his crew from fighting and help return the ship to a normal state.

Kirk and Spock work their way through the animosity aboard the ship and happen upon Mara, Kang's wife, who has been cornered by a now lustful Chekov, still seeking his revenge. Kirk sees that Mara's clothing has been torn and promptly knocks Chekov out. Mara thanks Kirk for his help and is initially wary of his plan, but agrees to lead him to Kang. In Engineering, Kang distrusts Kirk's explanation of the entity despite Mara's assurance, and believing she was assaulted, challenges Kirk to a sword duel. As they clash, and with the entity hovering and pulsating a bright red nearby, Kirk implores Kang to stop, telling him that they may become its puppets for a thousand lifetimes if they continue to fight. Kang acknowledges Kirk's warning and the fact that their fighting is pointless. Kirk orders his crew to disengage from the Klingons. Kang lays down his weapon, commanding the other Klingons to do so as well. To starve the entity, Kirk and Kang encourage their crews to act jovially and to laugh with one another loudly. The entity dissipates in silence, disengages from the computers and leaves the ship.

The Enterprise crew regains control of the ship and sets course to return the Klingons to Klingon space.

40th Anniversary remastering

This episode was remastered in 2006 and aired January 5, 2008, as part of the remastered Original Series. It was preceded three weeks earlier by the remastered version of "A Taste of Armageddon" and followed a week later by the remastered version of "Who Mourns for Adonais?". Aside from remastered video and audio, and the all-CGI animation of the USS Enterprise that is standard among the revisions, specific changes to this episode also include:

• The planet Beta XII-A has been given a more realistic earth-like appearance.
• New scenes and more dramatic shots of the Klingon battle cruiser have been added, including replaced footage of the ship as it explodes above the planet.

Reception

Zack Handlen of The A.V. Club gave the episode a 'B-' rating, describing it as having potential, but being hampered by a script that fails to act on that.^[1]

References

External links

Wikiquote has quotations related to: "Day of the Dove"

• "Day of the Dove" at StarTrek.com
• "Day of the Dove" on IMDb
• "Day of the Dove" at TV.com

• "Day of the Dove" at Memory Alpha (a Star Trek wiki)
• "Day of the Dove" Review of the remastered at TrekMovie.com
• "Day of the Dove" synopsis of the story outline dated June 3, 1968