Umm...
I could understand it being pulled, since DC doesn't publish/own Captain America.
Marvel does.
DAGGER OF THE MIND
- Thread starter david g
- Start date
Umm...
I could understand it being pulled, since DC doesn't publish/own Captain America.
Marvel does.
The apparent lack of motivation on the part of Dr. Adams notwithstanding, I've always thought this was one of the better episodes.
It has one of those interesting "first season" character moments where Kirk gently chews out the transporter chief for not knowing procedure. There is also the great camera setup where McCoy reports to Kirk by viewscreen. The view of McCoy is off to the side while he looks down at Kirk. This setup was improved upon in TNG to 3-D quality whenever there was a side shot of someone on the bridge viewscreen.
Oh, there was one thing I almost forgot . . .
. . . Helen Noel!!!!!!!!!
It has one of those interesting "first season" character moments where Kirk gently chews out the transporter chief for not knowing procedure. There is also the great camera setup where McCoy reports to Kirk by viewscreen. The view of McCoy is off to the side while he looks down at Kirk. This setup was improved upon in TNG to 3-D quality whenever there was a side shot of someone on the bridge viewscreen.
Oh, there was one thing I almost forgot . . .
. . . Helen Noel!!!!!!!!!
The other think I love about this ep that a friend of mine and I used to mock was Van Gelder's grimaces of pain and grunts when he tried to speak. "My name is . . . HRRRRGGGGLLLLL . . . Simon . . . VAN . . . GEL-DDERRR!" I know it's not intended to be funny, but it makes me laugh, probably because of how over-the-top Morgan Woodward is in those scenes. BTW, he played Punk Anderson on Dallas years later. -- RR
^^^Morgan is one of my favorite actors for the reasons you mention. I saw some old Dallas episodes recently
with him as Punk Anderson
some trivia from http://www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/Dagger-of-the-Mind-(TOS-episode)
* In articles in the magazines Starlog and Entertainment Weekly, actor Morgan Woodward called the role of Dr. Simon Van Gelder the most physically and emotionally exhausting acting job of his career. Desperate to get out of Westerns and expand his range, he was cast against type for this episode and was so well regarded that he came on board next season to play the tragic Capt. Ronald Tracy in The Omega Glory. Playing Van Gelder did take its toll on his personal life, as he confesses that for three weeks afterwards he was anti-social towards friends and family. He is grateful that this episode opened up whole new opportunities for him.
* This episode marks both the first occurrence in Star Trek of the Vulcan mind meld and the first time an episode derived its title from a play by William Shakespeare: the title is from Macbeth, Act II, Scene 1, line 38.
* The name Lethe is a reference to the river of forgetfulness in Greek mythology, and is also the term used for reincarnation of human souls in the role-playing game Exalted.
* The neural neutralizer chair was later reconfigured for use in the third season episode "Whom Gods Destroy".
* The South Park episode "Roger Ebert Should Lay Off the Fatty Foods" borrows the plot of this episode and many visuals as well.
* Yeoman Janice Rand was supposed to be the female protagonist in the episode before she was replaced by Dr. Helen Noel.
* The background for the surface of the planet when Captain James T. Kirk and Dr. Noel beam down was reused from the second pilot episode "Where No Man Has Gone Before."
* This episode establishes that Christmas is still celebrated in the 23rd Century. On the specific Christmas mentionned in this episod, Kirk met Helen Noel, whose name happens incidently to mean "Christmas" in French.
* This episode also establishes that office parties are essentially unchanged in the 23rd Century.
with him as Punk Anderson
some trivia from http://www.nationmaster.com/encyclopedia/Dagger-of-the-Mind-(TOS-episode)
* In articles in the magazines Starlog and Entertainment Weekly, actor Morgan Woodward called the role of Dr. Simon Van Gelder the most physically and emotionally exhausting acting job of his career. Desperate to get out of Westerns and expand his range, he was cast against type for this episode and was so well regarded that he came on board next season to play the tragic Capt. Ronald Tracy in The Omega Glory. Playing Van Gelder did take its toll on his personal life, as he confesses that for three weeks afterwards he was anti-social towards friends and family. He is grateful that this episode opened up whole new opportunities for him.
* This episode marks both the first occurrence in Star Trek of the Vulcan mind meld and the first time an episode derived its title from a play by William Shakespeare: the title is from Macbeth, Act II, Scene 1, line 38.
* The name Lethe is a reference to the river of forgetfulness in Greek mythology, and is also the term used for reincarnation of human souls in the role-playing game Exalted.
* The neural neutralizer chair was later reconfigured for use in the third season episode "Whom Gods Destroy".
* The South Park episode "Roger Ebert Should Lay Off the Fatty Foods" borrows the plot of this episode and many visuals as well.
* Yeoman Janice Rand was supposed to be the female protagonist in the episode before she was replaced by Dr. Helen Noel.
* The background for the surface of the planet when Captain James T. Kirk and Dr. Noel beam down was reused from the second pilot episode "Where No Man Has Gone Before."
* This episode establishes that Christmas is still celebrated in the 23rd Century. On the specific Christmas mentionned in this episod, Kirk met Helen Noel, whose name happens incidently to mean "Christmas" in French.
* This episode also establishes that office parties are essentially unchanged in the 23rd Century.
So this is a bit interesting. It's interesting to see the roots of the toast that Dr. Tristan Adams gives in "Dagger of the Mind." Here's the final version from the episode:
ADAMS
To all mankind...
may we never find space so vast,
planets so cold,
heart and mind so empty
that we cannot fill them
with love and warmth.
But here it is from the Revised Final Draft script:
ADAMS
"To mankind... may we never find
space so vast, planets so cold..."
Adams looks to Kirk, gets a smile and a nod; Kirk
completing it.
KIRK
"...or our own hearts so empty
that we cannot fill and warm them
all." Amen, Doctor.
So, this is interesting for a few reasons:
1. It was originally conceived to be such a common toast that Adams started it and Kirk was able to finish it.
2. It was originally hoped that our own hearts won't be found empty--not others' hearts.
3. Kirk topped it off with an "Amen, Doctor"--probably much like McCoy's "Amen to that, Scotty."
No commentary here. Just thought I'd mention this tidbit.
Greg Schnitzer
Star Trek Phase II
ADAMS
To all mankind...
may we never find space so vast,
planets so cold,
heart and mind so empty
that we cannot fill them
with love and warmth.
But here it is from the Revised Final Draft script:
ADAMS
"To mankind... may we never find
space so vast, planets so cold..."
Adams looks to Kirk, gets a smile and a nod; Kirk
completing it.
KIRK
"...or our own hearts so empty
that we cannot fill and warm them
all." Amen, Doctor.
So, this is interesting for a few reasons:
1. It was originally conceived to be such a common toast that Adams started it and Kirk was able to finish it.
2. It was originally hoped that our own hearts won't be found empty--not others' hearts.
3. Kirk topped it off with an "Amen, Doctor"--probably much like McCoy's "Amen to that, Scotty."
No commentary here. Just thought I'd mention this tidbit.
Greg Schnitzer
Star Trek Phase II
And by Jarvis, no less. He can be such a judgmental bastard, too.
I can watch them anytime I like, thanks to modern video technology. It's kewl.
Or perhaps more of Shat's line-stealing? Inquiring minds want to know...
i could see gregory reading this draft and basing his performance off of it.
it seemed to be that adams was on a power trip and not just out to help people any more.
as for elba two it wasnt just for criminals but insane criminals.
that is why garth is there.
he wasnt a criminal by choice but rather mental illness drove him to what he did.
For me, "Dagger" was and always will be a classic TREK, and a classic piece of the '60's TV. Everything about it rings true to me.
As for the motivation of Gregory's character... Van Gelder said it best... Dr. Adams was destroyed... death... and the impostor Adams took over and ran the place. An isolated penal colony suffered a quiet coup, quieter than what Kodos the Executioner did on Tarsus IV. Apparently, isolated colonies like Tarsus IV and Tantalus V don't always work out. Their isolation in deep space leaves them susceptible to corruption, natural disaster, political upheaval, etc., and when something goes wrong it can go terribly wrong. Sometimes, a colony is abandoned altogether, and "even the ore ships only call once every twenty years." The TOS Universe, far from being the Utopian ideal sometimes displayed in TNG, is filled with risk and adventure.
Did the lack of specifics of "Docotor Adams" motivation leave a hole in this episode? I don't think so. For all we know, Tantalus V was a place "where the inmates are running the asylum". That's certainly what happened on Elba II. In the end, "Adams" motivation did not matter to me. I also don't need to know what the motivation is for the way we've neglected mental patients throughout the 20th century. The take-home point that "Dagger" stabbed at is that we should do better. That seemed like a satisfying story to watch in reruns over the last 40 years. The fact that David Gregory, Marianna Hill and Morgan Woodward all guest-starred in this fine hour of drama was icing on the cake.
As for the motivation of Gregory's character... Van Gelder said it best... Dr. Adams was destroyed... death... and the impostor Adams took over and ran the place. An isolated penal colony suffered a quiet coup, quieter than what Kodos the Executioner did on Tarsus IV. Apparently, isolated colonies like Tarsus IV and Tantalus V don't always work out. Their isolation in deep space leaves them susceptible to corruption, natural disaster, political upheaval, etc., and when something goes wrong it can go terribly wrong. Sometimes, a colony is abandoned altogether, and "even the ore ships only call once every twenty years." The TOS Universe, far from being the Utopian ideal sometimes displayed in TNG, is filled with risk and adventure.
Did the lack of specifics of "Docotor Adams" motivation leave a hole in this episode? I don't think so. For all we know, Tantalus V was a place "where the inmates are running the asylum". That's certainly what happened on Elba II. In the end, "Adams" motivation did not matter to me. I also don't need to know what the motivation is for the way we've neglected mental patients throughout the 20th century. The take-home point that "Dagger" stabbed at is that we should do better. That seemed like a satisfying story to watch in reruns over the last 40 years. The fact that David Gregory, Marianna Hill and Morgan Woodward all guest-starred in this fine hour of drama was icing on the cake.
