Dagger of the Mind has everything one would expect from a good Star Trek episode: suspense, great dialogue and a subtle reflection on a contemporary issue, in this case the medical treatment of insane people.
The Enterprise is orbiting around a planet that serves as a prison colony, specifically designed for the criminally insane. When an inmate manages to get on the ship, Spock and McCoy do everything in their power to capture him, while Kirk and the crew's psychiatrist, a woman with whom - what a surprise - he appears to have a history, beam down to the planet to talk to Dr. Adams, whose revolutionary discoveries are well known throughout the galaxy. The truth, it turns out, is rather different from what they thought: the escaped convict is actually someone who used to work at the facility, and has been driven mad by Adams' latest creation, a device that allows him to control the human mind. And now, in order to protect his secret, the doctor intends to use it on Kirk.
The episode originally aired at a time when psychiatric hospitals and various forms of treatment for mentally ill patients were still a controversial subject (Frederick Wiseman's harrowing documentary Titicut Follies, which was banned for its explicit look at what goes on in a "mad house", was released in 1967), and so the writers used the excuse of Trek being nothing but an average sci-fi show - which Gene Roddenberry always stressed it wasn't, and still isn't - to get away with their own look at the issue, hidden under the usual mix of thrills and wit.
Fans also remember Dagger of the Mind fondly because it introduces the famous Vulcan "mind meld", which is essentially a form of telepathy used by Spock to get information when all other methods have failed. It adds a lot to the alien nature of the character, and went on to become a recurring element throughout the series. An iconic moment, and undoubtedly one of Leonard Nimoy's best on the show.
The Enterprise is orbiting around a planet that serves as a prison colony, specifically designed for the criminally insane. When an inmate manages to get on the ship, Spock and McCoy do everything in their power to capture him, while Kirk and the crew's psychiatrist, a woman with whom - what a surprise - he appears to have a history, beam down to the planet to talk to Dr. Adams, whose revolutionary discoveries are well known throughout the galaxy. The truth, it turns out, is rather different from what they thought: the escaped convict is actually someone who used to work at the facility, and has been driven mad by Adams' latest creation, a device that allows him to control the human mind. And now, in order to protect his secret, the doctor intends to use it on Kirk.
The episode originally aired at a time when psychiatric hospitals and various forms of treatment for mentally ill patients were still a controversial subject (Frederick Wiseman's harrowing documentary Titicut Follies, which was banned for its explicit look at what goes on in a "mad house", was released in 1967), and so the writers used the excuse of Trek being nothing but an average sci-fi show - which Gene Roddenberry always stressed it wasn't, and still isn't - to get away with their own look at the issue, hidden under the usual mix of thrills and wit.
Fans also remember Dagger of the Mind fondly because it introduces the famous Vulcan "mind meld", which is essentially a form of telepathy used by Spock to get information when all other methods have failed. It adds a lot to the alien nature of the character, and went on to become a recurring element throughout the series. An iconic moment, and undoubtedly one of Leonard Nimoy's best on the show.