Dark moments in TOS...

[1001001]

Then there was Capt. Terrell disintegrating himself in TWOK...

If we’re counting the TOS films, then Spock assaulting Valeris in TUC gets my vote.

 

[Warped9]

A great deal of “WNMHGB” is pretty dark and heavy. Kirk’s best friend corrupted with superior powers, and the decision to maroon/kill him as a result.

“The Man Trap” deals with having to exterminate the last of a species that is systematically murdering the crew, and the creature causes horrific deaths.

The end of “Charlie X” is very difficult when you realize that Charlie going back may be the only solution to handling the “monster” he has become.

“Dagger of the Mind” shows human mental health professionals completely abusing their power and tormenting helpless subjects in a chamber of horrors.

“Alternative Factor” is about a potential universe-ending rift, and a man must basically be put in hell for eternity to avoid that fate.

“COTEOF” has a very dark theme overall, and a very painful ending.

“Operation: Annihilate” has some dark themes and horrible circumstances (death of Kirk’s family, entire populations being horribly killed, body horror, etc)

“Conscience of the King” is about vengeance and murder, and a human political leader who executed thousands of people based on his own theories of eugenics.

“Mirror, Mirror” asserts that it is easier for civilized men to behave as savages, which is a fairly dark and scary concept (as is the idea of being trapped in that savage realm).

“The Doomsday Machine” deals with guilt, obsession and revenge…as well as mental health and suicide, in a battle against a machine designed for genicode. “Obsession” is very similar, except Kirk is able to vanquish his whale…and there is more body horror with a horrific seemingly indestructible creature.

“Wolf in the Fold” has another terrifying creature that is responsible for mass-murdering females throughout history and paints Scotty as a horribly flawed sexist.

The end of “Private Little War,” with Kirk ordering “100 serpents” is a very painful and dark conclusion to that seemingly hopeless circumstance.

“Patterns of Force” gives us a supposed top-tier Federation historian and professor re-creating one of the most horrific and brutal ideologies the Earth has ever known and imposing it on an alien culture.

“The Omega Glory” shows power and greed corrupt a fellow Starship captain, who was perfectly willing to condemn thousands to death (including two full starship crews) in pursuit of his own goals.

“The Ultimate Computer” deals again with dark mental health issues and a murderous and unhinged AI that takes 100s of Starfleet lives as the result.

“Paradise Syndrome” has Kirk’s wife and unborn child die in front of him.

“…ATCSL” features horrific deaths, childhood grief, childhood manipulation etc.

“Plato’s Stepchildren” is just downright sadistic.

“The Empath” deals with torture, sacrifice, human experimentation, and is really quite gruesome.

“Whom Gods Destroy” is another tale of power corrupting, the fall of a revered Starfleet captain, and mental health issues leading to terrible actions. The blow up a woman before she suffocates in a poison atmosphere. Pretty dark and heavy.

Both “Space Seed” and “The Savage Curtain” establish that there will be countless millions of additional lives lost on Earth due to cruel megalomaniacs being in power before we’ll actually get our shit together.


I alway have a good chuckle at people who criticize DS9, PIC or DSC for being “too dark” when the source material could at times be extremely heavy and dark, especially for the late 1960s.

I “liked” this post even though there is really nothing to “like” about what it references. It does underline how adult level TOS really was.

In TAS in “One Of Our Planets Is Missing” a “cloud” creature is devouring planets and is about to consume a Federation colony with thousands of inhabitants. The unspoken implication is how many inhabited planets has this thing eaten without a thought in the past?

In “Jihad” the Skorr, T’char, had murdered two previous expeditions and is prepared to do it again all to launch a holy war across the galaxy that could kill millions.

In “Beyond The Farthest Star” an ancient alien crew killed themselves to prevent a malevolent creature from escaping into the galaxy.

In “Yesteryear” a young Spock, a child, has to decide about putting his beloved pet to sleep to ease its suffering.

This is Saturday morning kiddie fare?

 

[NCC-73515]

The Melkots: floating mummy heads with glowing eyes

 

[mb22]

if you think about it, it was a horrible death. Suddenly you can’t breathe or see. Gasping for the last breath in the dark. I googled it… 4 to 6 minutes until death.

when I was younger I used to be an avid scuba diver. Never really thought about the not breathing bit.

And yet the Thasian says that "but we have returned your people and your ship to you. Everything is as it was." I wonder how they pulled that off with the faceless woman.

 

[Vger23]

And yet the Thasian says that "but we have returned your people and your ship to you. Everything is as it was." I wonder how they pulled that off with the faceless woman.

I always assumed the faceless woman was just a temporary thing until Charlie had walked away.

But, if the Thasians could resurrect the dead, I'm sure they could have saved her as well.

 

[PCz911]

And yet the Thasian says that "but we have returned your people and your ship to you. Everything is as it was." I wonder how they pulled that off with the faceless woman.

Good point

 

[fireproof78]

I “liked” this post even though there is really nothing to “like” about what it references. It does underline how adult level TOS really was.

In TAS in “One Of Our Planets Is Missing” a “cloud” creature is devouring planets and is about to consume a Federation colony with thousands of inhabitants. The unspoken implication is how many inhabited planets has this thing eaten without a thought in the past?

In “Jihad” the Skorr, T’char, had murdered two previous expeditions and is prepared to do it again all to launch a holy war across the galaxy that could kill millions.

In “Beyond The Farthest Star” an ancient alien crew killed themselves to prevent a malevolent creature from escaping into the galaxy.

In “Yesteryear” a young Spock, a child, has to decide about putting his beloved pet to sleep to ease its suffering.

This is Saturday morning kiddie fare?

It's funny you state that idea of Saturday morning kiddie fare. When I had children I started rewatching TOS fully intending on sharing it with them. It led me to reevaluate how I viewed TOS. Not that I would censor it, so much as I became more aware of these darker elements that I had either forgotten, or hit a different way than when I was a kid.

 

[Herbert]

Kirk giving guns to the natives of Neural being the only real solution to the advance of the Klingons.

His interpretation of the Prime Directive. Makes you wonder how long that war went on and how many people died as a result. Reminds me of the TNG episode, Too Short A Season.

 

[Herbert]

“Conscience of the King” is about vengeance and murder, and a human political leader who executed thousands of people based on his own theories of eugenics.

Not to mention Lenore's insanity and her father dying by her hand, albeit not intentionally which only adds to the tragedy, or maybe in the case of Anton Karidian, not tragedy but justice.

It might not seem so at first glance but the more you look at TOS stories, the darker it gets. There is a LOT there.

 

[mb22]

I always assumed the faceless woman was just a temporary thing until Charlie had walked away.

But, if the Thasians could resurrect the dead, I'm sure they could have saved her as well.

Perhaps there is a time limit involved; they couldn't save the Antares crew.

 

[Phaser Two]

And yet the Thasian says that "but we have returned your people and your ship to you. Everything is as it was." I wonder how they pulled that off with the faceless woman.

Well, they returned Sam from the disappeared/dead, so I'm sure they cured the poor lady as well.

 

[mb22]

Well, they returned Sam from the disappeared/dead, so I'm sure they cured the poor lady as well.

Along with Yeoman Rand...

 

[Metryq]

I wonder how they pulled that off with the faceless woman.

It didn't help in her case, as she came from a very proud culture and suicided from such grievous loss of face.

 

[Vger23]

Not to mention Lenore's insanity and her father dying by her hand, albeit not intentionally which only adds to the tragedy, or maybe in the case of Anton Karidian, justice.

It might not seem so at first glance but the more you look at TOS stories, the darker it gets. There is a LOT there.

Like I said, it always makes me chuckle when I hear people complaining that "modern Star Trek" is too dark/heavy. TOS (and the TOS films) could be very dark, violent, and emotional.

 

[johnnybear]

Gary Mitchell's eyes, the hungry proboscis of the Salt Vampire as it turned to look at us or McCoy, the faceless woman in Charlie X, Lethe's blank expression in Dagger of The Mind, Balok's real face was much scarier than the Ted Cassidy puppet I thought. Captain Pike's scarred face and the Talosians and especially the ferocious beast that clawed at Pike's hands, the first view of the Gorn, the amoeba things that attacked Spock on Deneva, the witches and the dead crewman Jackson in Catspaw, Gorgan's spaghetti face, the dying woman and the Frankenstein monster alien on Memory Alpha are just some of the terrifying images I have from the original series!
JB

 

[johnnybear]

Perhaps there is a time limit involved; they couldn't save the Antares crew.

I think the Antares crew couldn't be brought back because they had been destroyed when Charlie made that baffle plate go away rather than just banish them to another dimension or something...
JB

 

[PCz911]

I think the Antares crew couldn't be brought back because they had been destroyed when Charlie made that baffle plate go away rather than just banish them to another dimension or something...
JB

Tangent…. Isn’t that how rimmer accidentally killed the crew of the mining ship Red Dwarf? I wonder if it was a deep fan service from the writers… or just a coincidence.

 

[scotpens]

. . . Balok's real face was much scarier than the Ted Cassidy puppet I thought.

And he doesn't look that much different today -- only now he doesn't need the bald skullcap!

 

[johnnybear]

Scary looking guy!
JB

 

[mb22]

I think the Antares crew couldn't be brought back because they had been destroyed when Charlie made that baffle plate go away rather than just banish them to another dimension or something...
JB

Still don't know how the Thasians resurrected the faceless woman, who must have been dead some time before they showed up (I assume they had an easier time with the hyperaged crewwoman and the iguana Tina Lawton).