Star Trek (TV Series) Dagger of the Mind (1966) User Reviews

The Doctor will Neutralize Your Brain Now

[Bogmeister · 7/10 · 27 June 2006]

This episode deals with the future of penal colonies and treatment of unstable criminals. Though supposedly such places are much better run in the 23rd century, Dr. McCoy obviously feels we are still far from Utopian with such 'cages' still in existence - but he doesn't offer better solutions. An escape from such a colony triggers a routine investigation by Kirk based on vague doubts by McCoy about how the famous Dr. Adams (Gregory) runs the place. Once again, as in "What Are Little Girls Are Made Of?," a starship captain enters the lion's den on his own, with no back-up, except for a female assistant. Unlike that other episode, where the famous Dr. Korby was driven to lunacy by extreme circumstances, no real explanation is given for Dr. Adams' sudden shift to mad experimentation. Early in the episode, it's established that he's a well-known benefactor in the field of penology and psychiatric medicine, accomplishing more in his lifetime than all of mankind previously in these fields. Was he just fooling everyone up until now, hiding such extreme sadistic tendencies as he puts on display in this episode? He comes across as someone on a childish power trip by the 4th act, but there seems to be no motive for this supposedly great man to behave this way.

Gregory is a fine actor and does what he can with a seemingly truncated role, but the one to watch again is Shatner as Kirk. He's the one who defends Adams while debating with McCoy, almost indicating a kind of hero worship for a man who has made great advances in his field. But once down in the underground colony, his detective instincts take over and Adams is now a target. Kirk proves to be very adept at studying human behavior, more so than his expert assistant, and almost immediately something doesn't smell right to him. He's probably convinced when Adams attempts to avoid the room where the Neural Neutralizer is located - Adams is smooth, but against Kirk he has no chance. Also on hand is actor Woodward as Van Gelder, the one driven insane by the mind sapping device; to say his performance is intense is putting it mildly. The actor showed up again in the role of a starship captain in the 2nd season's "Omega Glory." This episode will go down in history (or has already) as the first one with Spock using a Vulcan mind meld (on Van Gelder). It's a testament to Nimoy's acting ability that he infuses such mystique and focus into a scene which could have been sappy & trite. There's also a great scene of Kirk going insane in the little torture room, his crazed laughter signaling the end of an act - it's kind of scary and the audience may think he's permanently damaged going into a commercial break, because we've already seen the loopy Van Gelder. Otherwise, it's another one of those missions which wasn't really a mission, a case which may have been better suited to Starfleet's special investigations unit and is therefore a bit beneath someone who should be exploring the galaxy, looking for new lifeforms.

Your Earth people glorified organised violence for 40 centuries, but you imprison those who employ it privately

[snoozejonc · 8/10 · 3 March 2021]

Kirk visits a penal colony and makes a disturbing discovery.

I enjoyed this episode for the character moments, themes and campiness.

The plot is okay but somewhat random at times, with certain events supposedly having consequences that never actually materialise. It is notable as the first showing of a famous Vulcan technique that we come to see many times in later shows and movies. Speaking of Vulcan techniques, who needs that neck pinch when a nicely executed chop to back puts a man down in much the same fashion?

That being said I really enjoyed the episode theme of the psychological 'cure' for the criminal mind. This was a popular topic in the sixties with books such as 'A Clockwork Orange' and 'One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest', addressing it. Here it's done in a very Star Trek way with a 'mad scientist' type formula with the heroic Captain Kirk at the centre of it, alongside a beautiful love interest of the week.

For me, 'Dagger Of The Mind' has some of the most memorable dialogue of the series, with Spock delivering the great line quoted in my review title in a nice exchange with Bones. Kirk's line about the advantage of being captain is also good.

William Shatner is great as always but strays over the top on a few occasions. This for me though is all part of the fun of the original series. Leonard Nimoy and Deforest Kelley have great chemistry and their scenes are always a pleasure. All the guest actors do a fine job in some key roles.

The visuals are great, with some good focus on actors facial expressions and a great colourful plastic sixties feel to everything.

Nice to See Marianna Hill again

[prfrmr · 8/10 · 28 November 2006]

I rather liked this episode for the particularly fact that actress Hill appears in it, in a rather strong, fluctuate role as Dr. Helen Mirren; psychologist. I have always loved Marianna Hill's work, especially in many of the 60's and early 70's films and TV appearances she's endured, including co-starring with Clint Eastwood in 'High Plains Drifter'.

Hill is remarkably well-done in this one-time episode. In a few scenes she appears slightly apprehensive, almost insecure, far as her abilities as an actress. But nonetheless, she is a great screen beauty, and as fine an actress as any. I especially appreciate that Roddenberry did not subject her character -Mirren- to the typical fawn-femme typecast, as was generally typical of Star Trek women (aka: Kirk's ladies). Her character is independent, strong, and viral. She, and including in her character, holds her own throughout the episode, and displays some of the strongest of female subject, not usually common, for 1960's television.

The Vulcan mind meld

[MaxBorg89 · 9/10 · 9 April 2009]

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.

Definitely one of the better episodes

[SusanJL · 9/10 · 14 February 2019]

I enjoyed this one, the woman psychiatrist was not in one of those over-sexed costumes. When she kicked one of the guards on the penal colony into the high-voltage line and electrocuted him, Capt. Kirk wasn't the only hero for once. The man who played the escaped penal colony con was excellent at his portrayal of a tortured mind. Intense!!! One of the better-written episodes.

Would make Dr. Moreau proud

[bkoganbing · 6/10 · 15 November 2014]

A distress call from the prison planet Tantalus has the Enterprise investigating. When an escapee from the colony Morgan Woodward manages to board the Enterprise William Shatner together with psychiatrist Marianna Hill goes to investigate.

Of course they're given a grand tour by the head of the colony James Gregory. On board the Enterprise we see the first use of the Vulcan mind meld as Leonard Nimoy and DeForest Kelley investigate themselves with Woodward as a subject.

Gregory must have studied under Dr. Moreau because he's turned one room of his prison into the house of pain. He's got a machine up there that can cause all kinds of psychological damage if people are exposed too long. Gregory is taking a sadistic delight in his work even practicing on a colleague like Woodward

Gregory has an appropriate ending much like Bela Lugosi in The Island Of Dr. Moreau.

The Manchurian Psychiatrist

[XweAponX · 10/10 · 25 November 2017]

Morgan Woodward enters Trek here as an apparent Psychotic escapee from a 23rd Century Insane Asylum.

But he is not what he appears.

Was this episode based on The Manchurian Candidate? It has many things that are also in that film, mainly brainwashing, personality changing, but most important, James Gregory, who played "Senator John Iselin" as Dr. Tristan Adams.

Of course, because of Morgan Woodward's character's status, Kirk has to make an inspection of Adam's Clinic. With a "Dr Helen Noel" in tow.

And this is where one disturbing scene plays out: As Kirk and Dr. Noel (The Magnificent Marianna Hill) share a toast with Adams, he has this to say:

"To all mankind, may we never find space so vast, planets so cold, heart and mind so empty that... that we cannot fill them with love and warmth."

And as that word "Empty" is used, the camera looks on to Adam's Assistant, "Lethe" (Susanne Wasson) who looks on with the most utterly blank of expressions. And "Lethe" means either a River in hell that can make you forget, or, the Act of Forgetting in itself. Or "Emptyness".

Dr Adams is perverting his field, by using a machine intended to cause relief from painful memories, and inserting painful memories.

And now, he's got Kirk, who made the mishap of spending the night in the Arkham Asylum of Space and not locking doors to rooms he was looking at. And the "chair" Kirk finds has added significance in the episode "Whom Gods Destroy", where when used as intended it becomes a tool of healing for another iconic character.

But I want to go back and mention the genius of Morgan Woodward's "Psycho", his portrayal was exactly as a person victimized by this invasive procedure would be. And it is also the first time Mr. Spock's Vulcanian "Mind Meld" is shown.

I find that the recent "Star Trek Discovery" episode "Lethe" directly relates to this episode, not just by the name of one character related to the title of that episode, but by the similar mental manipulations that had been done in that show. where the character "Ash Tyler" had been manipulated by the Klingon named L'Rell.

Helen Noel: sexy kick-ass psychotherapist.

[BA_Harrison · 6/10 · 13 May 2022]

A violent escaped inmate from the Tantalus penal colony hides inside a cargo crate that is beamed aboard the Enterprise; when the criminal is apprehended, he claims that he is Dr. Simon van Gelder (Morgan Woodward), assistant to Dr. Tristan Adams (James Gregory), a renowned pioneer of prison reform. Doc McCoy suspects that something is up and convinces Kirk to investigate.

The captain beams down to Tantalus with sexy psychotherapist Helen Noel (Marianna Hill), and is given a tour of the prison by Adams. When Kirk shows interest in a machine called a neural neutraliser, used to calm violent prisoners, Adams claims that it is still in the experimental phase and isn't effective. Kirk isn't convinced by Adams' story and, sneaking into the room with Helen, uses himself as a guinea pig to test the apparatus. When the machine is activated, Helen is able to plant thoughts into Kirk's mind -- something that the doctor has clearly been doing to his inmates, turning them into obedient slaves (to what end, we never find out).

Dagger Of The Mind is a rather run-of-the-mill episode that is made marginally more memorable for the fact that it features the first instance of Spock's mind-meld technique, which he uses to open the tortured mind of van Gelder, and for the eye-candy in the form of shapely Ms. Hill, who crawls around air ducts in her regulation figure-hugging Starfleet mini-dress, gets in a couple of clinches with the lucky captain (the pair having previously flirted at a Starfleet Xmas party), and is tasked with shutting down the penal colony force field like a sexy Obi-wan Kenobi, a job that requires her to kick some butt (she even sends one of Adams' guards into a high voltage circuit!).

5.5/10, rounded up to 6 for IMDb.

May We Never Find a Mind So Empty That We Cannot Fill It With Love and Warmth

[Aaronb00 · 8/10 · 24 November 2021]

Stardate 2715.1 through 2715.2 Approximately 2266 AD

Approaching the planet Tantalus V, home of the Tantalus Penal Colony where the famous Dr. Tristan Adams treats his mentally ill and violent criminals, Enterprise and crew receive a package from the surface. Stowawayed inside the package is the escaped Dr. Simon Van Gelder who has gone violently insane under mysterious circumstances. The crew manage to restrain the renegade doctor but Gelder continues to rave about the dangers of returning to Tantalus and how Dr. Adams is not to be trusted. The only people who believe something is wrong on the surface is Dr. Bones and, surprisingly, Spock.

Kirk decides to go to the surface to investigate and he brings along the ship's psychologist, Dr. Helen Noel. Upon his investigation Kirk discovers a machine that is capable of making it's victims forget their past experiences and allows the user to suggest false memories. We quickly learn that for all the good Dr. Adams has done for the criminally insane, he has lost touch with his ethics and began using the machine against the will of his patients

This might be the first episode of The Original Series that is void of silly dialogue, poorly disguised aliens, or some supernatural race. This episode is a pure human drama that explores the consequences of not only experimentation on humans, but also of the need of past experiences to define our personhood. The machine essentially makes the human mind completely blank. The episode suggests that when the mind is blank it becomes like a sponge that accepts any suggestion given to it because of the emptiness and corresponding loneliness. So when Kirk is subjected to the predations of the machine he understands deeply the pain that is felt by Gelder, musing, "Can you imagine a mind emptied by that thing, without even a tormentor for company?"

The sympathy that Kirk has towards those who went under the machine is actually portrayed very lifelike by William Shatner. At the end of the episode we can see Kirk's understanding of the eternal horrors through Shatner's face. DeForest Kelley, too, did a fantastic job as Dr. McCoy in this episode. As a doctor he didn't immediately dismiss the ravings of Gelder but rather showed genuine sympathy towards this character. This sympathy is ultimately the driving force behind Kirk investigating the colony in the first place.

These kinds of episodes are why I enjoy Star Trek so much. Not the aliens or ponderings of what the future will look like, but rather the ethical questions that are oftentimes asked. Dr. Adams seemed to believe that if you empty the human mind of it's cold and darkness, then there will be room to fill it with love and warmth. But in the pursuit of this endeaver Adams created a torture for those who expereiced the machine, literally killing them from loneliness. Dr. McCoy said that it is hard to believe that one can possibly die from loneliness, Kirk responds "not when you've sat in that room."

The Light Fitting Lobotomiser...

[Xstal · 6/10 · 15 February 2022]

Dr. Adams has perfected control, of your mind, your body and soul, a turn of the dial, with his cunning guile, you're a fraction of what was your whole.

Kirk and Helen Noel pay a visit, where the captain gets pushed to his limit, there's plenty of peril, he nearly goes feral, mainly due to the girls Christmas outfit.

On a prison planet a lunatic is in charge of the asylum and uses his mind control machine to meddle with the thoughts of others.

"It's hard to believe someone could die from loneliness"

[magicsinglez · 8/10 · 7 December 2006]

'It was the... Neu...ral... neut-ralizer!' The Enterprise picks up a deranged lab assistant, Dr Van Gelder, formerly assigned to a prison for the insane. Kirk beams down to this prison planet to make sure every thing's alright. Kirk soon finds himself subject to the Neural Neutralizer, a brainwashing device used by prison director Dr Adams, that, 'empties the mind'. Fearing Kirk is in danger Spock beams down to the planet and disables the power grid. With the power outage Kirk knocks out Dr Adams and escapes. But Adams was knocked out under the Neutralizer. When the power is turned back on, he's killed by his own device. McCoy saying, "It's hard to believe someone could die from loneliness", "Not if you've sat in that chair" Kirk says.

This is a memorable episode. I like it. There are some, I will say, 'continuity' issues with the episode. As far as I know, and I'm just a fan and not a critic, this is the only episode with this problem. Maybe it was just the editing for TV. . . but it seems as if scenes that would have better explained the action were never filmed. Or as if scenes explaining the plot and action were edited out. Perhaps the edit here just had a good 'feel' to it. It is a memorable episode.

A good, solid 'Star Trek' episode.

[Hey_Sweden · 7/10 · 5 June 2021]

In exchanging equipment with a penal colony on the planet of Tantalus, the Enterprise ends up beaming aboard a deranged man, Van Gelder (Morgan Woodward, "Cool Hand Luke"), who'd stowed away inside a container. After listening to some of his rantings, Kirk gets concerned enough to beam down to the penal colony to investigate the facility. Accompanied by a psychiatrist named Helen Noel (the enticing Marianna Hill, "High Plains Drifter"), he learns that the man in charge, Dr. Adams (the great character actor James Gregory, "The Manchurian Candidate"), is experimenting in mind control.

Written by Shimon Wincelberg ('Have Gun - Will Travel'), 'Dagger of the Mind' is good entertainment that explores the interesting idea of how to deal with mentally unbalanced individuals. Here, Dr. Adams has developed a "Neural Neuralyzer" that basically removes old memories and replaces them with memories of Adams' choosing. Kirk is temporarily victimized as he finds out all too well what happens when he is manipulated by the device. Since he and Helen have a bit of a past, he's convinced that he's in love with her. And on back the Enterprise, Bones does everything he can to assist the unfortunate Van Gelder. This prompts Spock to use the "Vulcan mind-meld", the first instance of its use during the series.

Provocative, intriguing, and intelligent, with some decent tension, 'Dagger of the Mind' is a fine early episode, marked by good acting all around. Woodward (only 40 years old at the time, but looking much older) is memorably intense, and the lovely Ms. Hill is allowed to play a female character of depth and intellect. Gregory is appreciably subtle as the antagonist of the tale, playing all of his scenes in a matter-of-fact way.

Directed by Vincent McEveety, a TV veteran whose theatrical credits include such Disney fare as "Treasure of Matecumbe" and "The Strongest Man in the World".

Seven out of 10.

Not too bad but paints an unrealistically ugly picture of psychiatry

[intp · 4/10 · 23 May 2014]

I thought this episode was reasonably well done but badly marred by its rather starkly negative portrayal of psychiatry. The most 'renowned' psychiatrist of all time, Adams, turns out to be a slick and rather vicious man who seems to enjoy 'playing' with and abusing the minds of others. Kirk's "expert" psychiatric assistant, Dr. Helen Noel, turns out to be almost willfully ignorant and more hindrance than help for the most part. A slightly more balanced perspective on psychiatry would have been much preferable; not every psychiatrist had to be portrayed as either corrupt, or incompetent. But maybe that's too much to expect from a TV series, even one like Star Trek.

For someone who Kirk almost seems reverential toward, Adams is strikingly stupid here, in that he leaves the 'neural neutralizer' room open to see for anyone who visits the facility. All he had to do was place the device in an isolated and concealed room and Kirk probably wouldn't have learned a thing.

McCoy's instincts turn out to be right, here. Kirk is forced to investigate only because of McCoy's actions. Spock, while skeptical at first, nevertheless helps McCoy's investigation by performing the series' first Vulcan mind-meld. Both officers come off a bit better than the rather credulous Kirk.

Dr. Noel (Marianna Hill) doesn't fare too well either, here, being rather worthless as a psychiatrist, but did have one decent moment when she kicks the henchman at the end at a critical moment. But her character is a bit of an embarrassment otherwise, functioning primarily as Kirk's eye candy of the week. The episode would have been much more interesting IMO if she, rather than Kirk, had been the suspicious one calling for a closer investigation, once they were at the facility, especially since Kirk had been so resistant to investigating at all, in the first place, while she was supposed to be the 'expert', not him. I kind of wonder if Shatner had something to do with that.

WHEN A DOCTOR GOES WRONG...

[zitacarno · 10/10 · 2 August 2018]

This was a very good psychological thriller, dealing with how psychotherapy can be misused in the wrong hands. I remember reading a Sherlock Holmes story in which he observed that "when a doctor goes wrong, he is the first of criminals", and as this episode unfolded I could see one such glaring example. When the deranged Simon van Gelder exploded onto the bridge of the Enterprise and it was found that he was, not an inmate, but an associate of Dr. Adams who had been victimized by the "neural neutralizer", an investigation was imperative. The key to the whole thing was one of the most dramatic scenes in the history of Trek---the first use of the Vulcan mind-meld on a human---and a lot of credit has to go to Dr. McCoy, who for all that he called himself an old-fashioned country doctor was light-years ahead of everyone else; he was the one who pushed the reluctant Vulcan with the urgent "Will it work---or not?" Spock actually performed what I immediately recognized as a quieter version of the Vulcan mind-fusion combined with telepathic hypnosis (and Leonard Nimoy really pulled a fast one on the network censors!); he delivered two quiet, half-whispered suggestions of well-being, relaxation and of weightless suspension, which exerted a calming effect on van Gelder's mind and enabled him to describe his ordeal. And eventually the now-deranged Dr. Adams fell victim to his own nefarious machinations, while van Gelder was restored to sanity by the same Vulcan mind-fusion and took over the direction of the penal colony. +As I watched Spock in action I started to get a new appreciation of what the Vulcans call "wuh tepul t'wuh kashek"---the power of the mind and what it could be capable of. And I recognized the truth of the Sherlock Holmes observation.

Aside from the stupid plot, this is a really cool episode

[planktonrules · 8/10 · 5 December 2006]

Okay, this is probably the first "just turn your brain off and enjoy" episode of Star Trek. If you think about the outlandish plot, then you'll probably hate the show, as there really is no conceivable reason why James Gregory turned this prison into his own personal Hell. It just didn't make any sense, but on a purely non-aesthetic level, it sure was fun to watch--mostly so you can see Kirk tortured into loving his very hot female crew member who accompanied him on the mission. I also liked seeing Dr. Simon van Gelder run about and act like a mad man--this must have been a very fun role for Morgan Woodward. Also, I gotta admit that the ending involving Gregory in the chair was so brilliantly written and powerful. Not a great episode, but one well worth watching since it's anything but boring.

BY THE WAY--I recently watched the schlocky 1950s film BRIDE OF THE GORILLA and was surprised to see one of the characters was named "Dr. Van Gelder"--the same name as the crazed doctor who stows away on the Enterprise at the beginning of this episode! Obviously someone was having a cute little inside joke!

Also, this episode ushered in two firsts. Spock uses the mind meld and Kirk shows that he has a sex drive!! Apart from the evil Kirk (when he was divided into an aggressive and passive copy), he was always married to his ship in earlier shows. Here he shows that MAYBE he might like girls. This would be shown to DEFINITELY be the case in subsequent shows as well as the second Trek movie!!

Will Kirk get his mind erased?

[Tweekums · 7/10 · 8 September 2015]

After a routine delivery to the treatment centre for the criminally on Tantalus V a crate is beamed up to the Enterprise. It contains a man who initially appears to be one of the inmates; he certainly appears to be dangerous. It soon emerges that he was actually Dr. Simon van Gelder, one of the doctors stationed there, but he finds it impossible to go into details as to what happened. Returning to Tantalus V, Kirk and psychiatrist Lt. Helen Noel beam down to the planet and the institute's director, Dr. Tristan Adams, explains that van Gelder had exposed himself to a radical treatment, the Neural Neutralizer that had damaged his mind. This device is used to remove certain memories while implanting others; Kirk decides to try the machine himself while Dr Noel inputs some harmless suggestions; their session is interrupted by Dr Adams and he is soon putting other thoughts into Kirk's head. Realising that Adams is dangerous Kirk and Noel work to find a way to lower the force field that protects the facility before Adams can do more damage. Meanwhile on the Enterprise Spock learns what happened to van Gelder after performing a mind meld.

This episode gets off to a good start; Morgan Woodward does a solid job as van Gelder; when we first see him he appears to be a swivel-eyed loon, we are clearly meant to think of him as a dangerous threat. The more we get to know about the character the more sympathetic he becomes. Equally James Gregory comes across as reliable in the role of Dr Adams; a character with all the right answers who does little that is suspicious… until the point he subjects Kirk to the Neural Neutralizer. The idea of this device is both simply and frightening; the idea of having ones thoughts and memories easily manipulated is a little scary. Marianna Hill does a good job as Dr Noel even if the character is a bit cliché at first; she does better later on when she dispatches one of Adams' goons in shocking style. The story is well told for the most part although it would have been better if we'd been given a greater insight into why Adams was going what he was.

Star Trek The Original Series--Dagger of the Mind

[Scarecrow-88 · 8/10 · 11 May 2013]

Dr. Simon van Gelder (Morgan Woodward) escapes a penal colony on board the Enterprise by way of a cargo box transported from the planet. He seems to be a mad, violent escaped lunatic who could leave a body count on the ship but there's a definite motivation in his actions, making it to the bridge, having taken a phaser from an officer, and demanding asylum from Captain Kirk. After being subdued by the Vulcan neck pinch from Spock, McCoy wants to examine van Gelder, once a renowned psychiatric doc, now reduced to a barely-coherent, tortured mind. When van Gelder attempts to speak he can only give a few bits of information before bouts with horrible pain anguish him into a physical wreck. McCoy will appeal to Spock to use the ancient Vulcan mind meld technique to probe van Gelder's tormented mind for answers. Meanwhile, Kirk, reluctant but carrying out the duty of his position when McCoy states in his medical log doubts in regards to the techniques used by the distinguished Dr. Tristan Adams (James Gregory; The Manchurian Candidate), transports, with an officer recommended by Bones due to her field in psychiatry, with Dr. Helen Noel (Marianna Hill; High Plains Drifter / Blood Beach) to the penal colony to "investigate" the methods used on the patients. Discovered by Spock and McCoy during the mind meld, a machine is mentioned by van Gelder--Kirk is interested in its effectiveness when he visits it while on his tour and wants Noel to guide him through how it operates, with Adams using it on him because of the threat the Captain poses to his secret misbehavior--describing it as a neural neutralizer. Adams, it is soon realized, is responsible for using the machine to wipe the minds of his patients, replacing his own thoughts and commands, such methods giving him quite the power to influence anyone he so chooses. Kirk will need Noel to shut down the power while Adams forcibly uses the mind sucking machine to further torture the Captain. If the power is shut down, Spock and security can beam down because the penal colony has a forcefield that disrupts transportation.

Woodward certainly convinces as someone mentally enduring some serious pain, showing it on his face and providing the bodily suffering that might result in resisting Adams' control. Gregory puts on quite a face of total collaboration with Kirk in regards to how tip top his operations are, so willing to allow total scrutinized study of his work in the rehabilitation of his patients and the living conditions produced by his treatment. It doesn't come as no surprise that he's actually an evil bastard raping the minds and thoughts of people that fall prey to his dastardly machine (the way it sounds and rotates, and the agonizing cries of those who sit in the chair, this machine is a beast), because Gregory plays him as someone with a smile on his face and a dagger (pun intended) clamped in a fist like grip behind his back ready to stab. The mind meld itself is fascinating to watch: Spock almost seems to be in a state of ecstatic bliss while clutching the surrounding face and forehead of Woodward, who is actually calm and in complete peace while under this Vulcan probe. That final scene where Kirk sits in his Captain's chair, looking at the planet he barely escaped with his sanity intact, his face totally aware of what his mind had just been through, certainly explains a lot of what it might be like to endure such a hardship. The scene where Gregory gets more than a taste of his own medicine, but without the person on the other side providing his own thoughts, totally alone to be mind sucked into his own oblivion, is a fitting end to him for what he done to those under his care.

Dr. Tristan Adams' Mind Control Treatments

[Rainey-Dawn · 7/10 · 21 December 2016]

Season 1, episode 9. The Enterprise is going to drop off some supplies to the famed Dr. Tristan Adams - he is well known for his humane treatments of mental patients. The enterprise beamed down the supplies and beamed up some records - but they also ended up beaming up a man that seems to be a madman, a patient of Dr. Adams. That patient is Dr. Simon van Gelder, a man that was Dr. Adams' assistant. Kirk beams down to the surface with the ships psychiatrist, Helen Noel. Spock and Dr. McCoy get a hold of van Gelder, restrain him in medical and Spock ends up doing a Vulcan mind-meld in order to get a clearer understanding what van Gelder is trying to tell them. It seems Dr. Adams is conducting treatments that allows him to control the minds of others.

It's too bad the captain didn't use the equipment on Dr. Adams in order to control his mind back to the "good side", steering him away from his sadistic and twisted ways.

7/10

"Welcome to Devil's Island, Doctor".

[classicsoncall · 8/10 · 7 October 2010]

Watching Star Trek episodes in their original air date order makes for some interesting viewing. You get to catch a lot of 'firsts', such as Spock's yet unnamed Vulcan mind meld that others on this board have already referenced. In this story you also get Roddenberry's testing the waters for which direction he might want to take Captain Kirk's libido in future episodes. Even though the Captain was under the influence of Van Gelder's (James Gregory) neural neutralizer, his scene attempting to seduce Helen Noel (Marianna Hill) was still played for romantic effect, even if the doctor turned into an unwilling participant. I would like to have been a fly on the wall at that Science Lab Christmas Party though.

What I enjoyed most however was seeing how the principal characters really began to take shape and develop their relationship with each other here. It was rather bold of McCoy to challenge Kirk by going on the record with his medical observation of Dr. Adams' (James Gregory) methods. Then you had Spock shedding more insight into his Vulcan heritage - "Where there's no emotion, there's no motive for violence".

Curiously, the planetary scene where Kirk and Noel first beamed down to the Tantalus Colony had already been used in the series' third episode 'Where No Man Has Gone Before'. That surprised me a bit since it was still early in the show's history; so much for that tag line. Considering that the show's budget offered some really cheesy landscapes is probably a tip off that they weren't going to spend a lot of money at this stage of the game. Even some of the effects on board the Enterprise looked bare bones in terms of design. But I guess that's all part of the nostalgic feel one comes to acquire for the series after four decades.

Kirk Almost Gets Lobotomized

[Samuel-Shovel · 7/10 · 27 March 2018]

In "Dagger of the Mind", an escapee of a penal colony leads the Enterprise to investigate a prison planet resided over by a doctor responsible for revolutionizing the prison system. When the escapee turns out to be a former colleague of said doctor, Kirk must head to the prison to get to the bottom of what's really going on.

While I really enjoy the idea of this episode, the story never really feels complete. We never truly discover Dr. Adams' motivation as to why he's doing what he's doing. For the good of science? For the prison? Or is he just insane? The episode never makes this clear.

I do like that in the future, prisons are no longer built in the same fashion as they are today. This seems very futuristic for the show. Morgan Woodward's performance is another highlight; his spastic portrayal as Dr. van Gelder is entertaining to watch and brings life to his scenes. Shatner is also particularly good in this episode.

Besides the rhetoric relating to imprisonment, this episode delves into forced mental rehabilitation and brainwashing... heavy stuff.

If I could rewrite the script, I think I'd shorten the escape scene of Dr. van Gelder and focus more on Adams and why he's doing this to his test subjects. I think this would cause a more satisfying conclusion.

One of the better of season 1. Producers made a play for the Gunsmoke fandom.

[Furrerd · 8/10 · 18 September 2012]

This is one of my more favored episodes of the series. Morgan Woodward gave an excellent performance as a tortured mind escaped from the penal camp. James Gregory turned in a nice performance as the sadistic doctor that has been corrupted by his power over the patients. Marianna Hill was great eye candy although they didn't give her the lines to portray a credible doctor of psychiatry. At least she got to show off her chops in Godfather II years later. Her romantic interest with Kirk gave the show a few humorous points but the kisses between her and Shatner seemed so forced. Nimoy and Kelley turned in some excellent performances. This episode is where they finally started fleshing out Vulcan culture with the introduction of the Mind Meld. The scene where McKoy comes onto the bridge and expresses his doubts about Adam's version of Van Geldar's escape deepens McKoys character.

This plot is more like the theme of Star Trek that future incarnations would adhere too. A future society that has advanced methods and technology to treat age-old problems in a new way but sometimes with disastrous consequences. There were fewer plot holes and failures of basic science in this episode than many. It was well written to place a penal/mental health facility for dangerous offenders miles below the surface of a gas giant with an unbreathable atmosphere covered in a shield and only escapable by transporter. Still a man half crazed figured a way out... Maybe they shouldn't put central air conditioning ducts in a penal colony without bars or force fields every few meters? In room only climate controls? A machine that can remove memories from a brain is a fantastic discovery and I'm sure people would pay dearly to access it. Too bad the writers concluded it was 'evil' instead of just concluding that the person using it needs to be overseen by several colleagues and an AI assistant. While I don't believe in psychic phenomena and found the Mind Meld to be more fantasy than science it is great drama and part of the Star Trek universe. It got off to a great start in the scene between Nimoy and Woodward.

Morgan Woodward was a hook from the producers to the Gunsmoke crowd to sit down and watch this new fangled Star Trek. James Gregory also was a regular on Gun Smoke, Bonanza and The Big Valley and I remember my father sitting down to watch Star Trek being drawn in by the familiar faces from some of his favorite TV Westerns. He didn't watch for long because it wasn't really cowboys in space so I watched in reruns in the '70's.

Anyone that hasn't seen the remastered episodes they are cleaned up nicely and I have never seen TOS in this clarity before. The TV was always too fuzzy and the shows had lines and flecks of hairs or dust in the broadcast episodes from years of playing. The opening scene with the Enterprise over the penal colony planet is breath taking.

What is the motivation?

[thevacinstaller · 6/10 · 29 March 2022]

The episode is carried by the performances of Van Gelder and Kirk but lacks a key component ----- Motivation. Why on earth is Adams doing this to Gelder? What does he get out of torturing people and what is the ultimate goal? He wanted to be the boss? He's psychotic? I don't know man --- do you?

If you dig deep you can find a message about perception versus truth when it comes to life in prison but that is derailed a bit by the fact we do not have motivation behind Adam's actions.

Does kirk now have to live with his unbearable love for Noel? Van Gelder is now ship shape and running the prison?!

I think this episode needed another 20-30 minutes of plot.

An irretrievably poor, apathetic script dooms this one

[aaustin-10 · 2/10 · 22 March 2011]

After a doctor from a mental institution goes mad and invades the Enterprise, a suspicious Kirk beams down to the institution to investigate what's going on there. The man in charge of the place, however, has been conducting unethical and tortuous experiments on patients, and decides now it's Kirk's turn.

This one is not particularly cheesy or goofy. In fact, the premise of a doctor using an isolated institution as his own personal laboratory holds plenty of promise. But in this episode character and plot are handled in an indifferent manner.

For starters, Dr. Van Gelder's rampage on the Enterprise takes too long and fills up time with meaningless running around that could have been spent developing the main plot. Then, the character of Dr. Adams in completely undeveloped: what is he up to and why? What are his motives? His world view? Why bother subjecting Kirk to his machine when he can simply entertain him and let him go without Kirk ever finding out what Adams is up to? We don't know, the episode does not tell us, and consequently we don't care about what he does next.

Nothing about the plot of developed adequately. Apparently the institution consists of vegged-out followers of Dr. Adams, but we only get that when Kirk mentions it in one line of dialogue, then it's never mentioned again. It's certainly never shown to us for any dramatic effect.

A episode of TOS can be cheesy and still be fun to watch. But it should never, never be as indifferently constructed as this.

There are two good things, though: Morgan Woodward certainly gives an energetic performance as Dr. Van Gelder, even though the character gets senselessly dropped by episode's end. He sure earned his pay on this acting gig. And the character of Dr. Noel is a positive portrait of a strong, brave woman who can take care of herself, exactly the kind of female character sixties TV needed more of.

Where no mind has gone before

[DAshton1918 · 9/10 · 4 October 2020]

A truly great early episode in the series...the first Vulcan mind meld, a terrific (not overdone) performance by Shatner and some nice byplay at the end.

A standout performance by Morgan Woodward as the troubled assistant of another "genius" who seems to have taken his experiments a bit too far..it's a "yes" from me!

Kinda lingers

[Marqymarquis · 8/10 · 22 August 2016]

I disagree with other reviewers who say this is a rubbish story - it's inspired and inspiring: - both The Avengers (Who's Who, 6/5/67) and The Prisoner (Do Not Forsake Me Oh My Darling, 7/1/68) adopt and adapt this premise and base their stories around it. The casting is superb but 33% predictable - when you see James Gregory in the cast list you know he will be playing a dude who will f..k your mind or any part of you to earn an outer space dollar or half a kelligram of outer space kudos - and so it seems here, he having invented a rather unattractive (even by 1960s decor standards) ceiling lamp which can not just lobotomise his subjects without the need for invasive surgery; but implant his own psyche into their brains - it could be called a "mind bonk" - but I'm sure Dr Adams (James Gregory) would call it "mind love" and could justify his actions to the highest court of all. Naturally - and obviously - James Tiberius Kirk's mind is sufficiently powerful to resist the mind bonk - and predictably he does so here - as we his audience must know he will. All told then, a supreme episode - spoiled only by Morgan Woodward's entrance - far better to have the crate from which he emerges hinged at the back giving a cartoon effect as he emerges? - any which way up the dozy transporter operator would be none the wiser as his back was turned. And as another rewiever has commented, let us not forget this episode's guest babe is the lovely Marianna Hill (check her out nude in the film El Condor) - in a skirt so short she shows her knickers while remaining perpendicular - then descending at high speed in a lift with Kirk where he comments on the intimacy of their previous tryst with: "It's a long way down!" Easily on a par with Celeste Yarnall in The Apple and the girls in Spock's Brain; but for my money Nurse Christine Chapel is Star Trek's best mini skirt babe: she doesn't know how lovely she is - but she wears her mini skirt uniform because she has to - and she looks lovely in it - so she gets my vote as best Star Trek mini skirt girl.