Captain's Blog pt. 59: Day of the Dove

Jerome Bixby first outlined this story in the aftermath of the Tet Offensive and Walter Cronkite declaring the war unwinnable. He revised it a few times over the course of that year (1968) against a backdrop of further escalations, bombings, assassinations, demonstrations, protests, love-ins, and sit-ins.

By the time it premiered on the first day of November, the same day as George Harrison's Wonderwall Music, some $77 billion and 17,000 American lives (and some 236,000 Vietnamese ones) had been consumed in Southeast Asia.

Script/ Theme: (7/ 7.5  of 10/10) Bixby's original ending had the Klingons and Enterprise crew driving the entity away by singing songs and having a peace march. The production staff talked him out of it. I'm glad and sad about that at the same time. More than a few moments remain where the theme shoves the script out of its way in a similar vein, but for the most part it successfully walks the line between message and Trek S.O.P.

I've often wondered what Starfleet makes of Kirk's Captain's Logs. At times (such as in "The Lights of Zetar") he fills them with these philosophical observations or poetic reflections that are in no way relevant to the mission. Other times, he sounds like he's updating Starfleet as it happens (such as in, well, all the time.) Is he just being a good storyteller? Arranging the details to captivate his audience?

Only a handful of times in the whole series, though, is there stuff like this:

"Captain's Log, Stardate... Armageddon. We must find a way to defeat the alien force of hate that has taken over the Enterprise, stop the war now, or spend eternity in futile, bloody violence." 

So fanciful! And helpful of him to be so blunt about the underlying message. I love it. I always picture some entry-level administrative assistant at Starfleet whose job it is to type these things up always eye-rolling when he or she sees "Kirk, Enterprise" in his or her inbox.

"Has a war been staged for us? Complete with weapons and ideology and patriotic drum beating?"  

"Moloch whose fate is a cloud of sexless hydrogen," indeed.

This most recent re-watch left me wondering where the "Day of the Dove"s are these days. We saw a few on Battlestar Galactica, but for the most part, 21st century TV entertainment seems content to (loudly) miss the still-painfully-topical point of this episode on an hourly basis.

The ship-out-of-control/ engines-about-to-burst bit is Trek Trope 101, but it actually serves the theme quite well. As it does in "The Immunity Syndrome." And elsewhere, of course, but that's another one where not controlling the ship/ dilithium depletion is emblematic of theme.

The Enterprise isn't the only thing flying out of control at dangerous speeds, once the characters start ranting. But these moments ("Then transfer out! FREAK!" etc.) are insanely quotable. (Particularly while driving.) As you probably have picked up on by now, I prefer my Trek to have random spikes in intensity or theatricality.

Visual Design: (1 of 3). I'm generally opposed to using the term "blackface" for Klingons in TOS. Orientalism notwithstanding, it just doesn't make enough sense for me to apply the term to Trek. They're aliens and stand-ins for Commies. But from a strictly visual standpoint, it sure jumps out these days:

"Those were the times," as Frank Reynolds might say. 

(Incidentally, my wife assumed Worf was a white actor in blackface for at least the first 3 or 4 episodes of TNG we watched together. That still cracks me up. I didn't catch on until she referred to that "fake brown guy." I had to show her Michael Dorn's imdb page for her to believe me.)

This is one of the "just use the sets and costumes you already have" Season 3 episodes, and the entity itself is equally recycled:

All of it is put to good use, but visually, it's not one of the more exciting episodes.

Guest: (4 of 3) Susan Howard went on to later fame in Dallas. Here she plays Mara. 

You'll notice this eye make-up motif on pretty much every non-Starfleet female guest star in Season 3.

She does a good job. Is her part any good? It's okay. But most of the points I assign for this category are based on Michael Ansara's strong performance as Kang. (Recently deceased, may he RIP.) The script originally called for Kor's return, but when John Colicos was unavailable, the part was rewritten for Ansara.

 "This is Kang. Cease hostilities."

With wife Barbara Eden.

Internal Logistics: (2 of 3) There are a few of what Phil Farrand calls "equipment oddities"  in this episode. (Doors and panels are moved to accommodate the shot, Sulu fails to notify the landing party that the Klingons are beaming down, etc.) But I subtracted a point mainly for the savage blade-war scenes of the secondary cast.

It's fun and all (though most of the fight choreography is pretty goofy, particularly how abruptly they stop fighting.)

And perhaps this is unfair (as it's mainly a TNG-and-beyond inspired observation) but I don't think Starfleet would be able to hold their own against Klingons with edged weapons. It's their thing.

Scotty notwithstanding. And Kirk, of course. Both are adept at every method of combat and with every weapon from every century.

Scotty grabs a Claymore. Of course.

Kirk and the Gang: (28 of 10) Everyone gets an over the top moment (or several) in this episode. Except Spock (naturally) and Sulu.

Sulu gets to crawl around in a Jeffries Tube for the first and only time, though.

Chekov's rage and attempted rape are awesomly funny and incredibly uncomfortable, respectively.

Meanwhile...

I suspect it didn't take much to not just get Shatner over the top but rolling across No Man's Land and judo-kicking the barbed wire. The Theater of the Absurd was built for William Shatner.

Double shoulder grab.

Sudden head turn.

Kirk's signature physical moves, delivery and reluctance to leave the frame plus the general madness of the dialogue combine to ensure legendary status for this sequence. Rarely do the stars align quite like this.

"Is this what's in store for us...?

"From here on in? Violence?

"...HATRED?"

I love how everyone's reaction to feelings of bigotry or thoughts of violence is as if they've been eradicated from the future so completely that the very contemplation of them is shocking. As a personal code/ way of life, arguably, sure, (though it contradicts several of Kirk's wrap-up speeches from other episodes) but they've been exposed to it enough (and explained it to other people) dozens of times by this point in the series. Still, it's a nice thought, and maybe even especially comforting to an America mired in Vietnam, police riots in Chicago, and political assassinations. 

The more things change.

Memorability: 2.5 of 5.

Total Points Awarded: 52