M-113 Creature/"Salt Vampire" in "The Man Trap"

[ZapBrannigan]

The next day, after eight grueling hours standing in the suit for a two-second appearance:

SHARON GIMPEL: "That's it. I'm going off-the-grid."

I can see that happening. She fit the costume and it was a day's pay.

But I have another doubt: along with the Psi 2000 mannequin having been used, there's the fact that an inanimate prop would reduce the risk of editorial match-up problems (because the person's bodily position changed between shots).

 

[Drone]

I love the salt monster. Don't know why, it just looks so cool.

Remember too that she was reused, albeit as a display trophy, in Squire of Gothos.

I don't think there was one, but it would've made a bit of sense if we got a brief reaction shot from McCoy, given his, uh, previous relationship with the creature. An even further embellishment of the continuity. Eh, if it was even thought of, it might have been considered to have needlessly caused a moment or two of confusion among a number of the audience who wouldn't make the connection.

 

[telerites]

I love the salt monster. Don't know why, it just looks so cool.

Remember too that she was reused, albeit as a display trophy, in Squire of Gothos.

That was a great little bit of continuity. We didn't always get that in the original series. The Salt Vampire truly looks alien which is another thing we don't always get in Star Trek. It was scary and sympathetic at the same time which left me conflicted about its fate. Whoever decided to choose The Man Trap as the first aired episode was a genius.

I'm not sure they had continuity in their mind when it was used as props were reused and Salty was available and it fit the decor and mood.

Regardless, it was fun to see and whenever I watch the Predator trophy display of the skulls of defeated aliens from Predator 2, I think of this scene from Gothos. It popped into my mind immediately when I first saw the movie.

Not implying there was any connection at all but it just brought this memory back.

 

[Terok Nor]

Remember too that she was reused, albeit as a display trophy, in Squire of Gothos.

That was a great little bit of continuity. We didn't always get that in the original series. The Salt Vampire truly looks alien which is another thing we don't always get in Star Trek. It was scary and sympathetic at the same time which left me conflicted about its fate. Whoever decided to choose The Man Trap as the first aired episode was a genius.

I'm not sure they had continuity in their mind when it was used as props were reused and Salty was available and it fit the decor and mood.

Regardless, it was fun to see and whenever I watch the Predator trophy display of the skulls of defeated aliens from Predator 2, I think of this scene from Gothos. It popped into my mind immediately when I first saw the movie.

Not implying there was any connection at all but it just brought this memory back.

Didn't a musical cue from The Man Trap play over the scene? McCoy's reaction along with that constitutes a reference even if it is a minor one.

I love that scene from Predator 2

 

[telerites]

That was a great little bit of continuity. We didn't always get that in the original series. The Salt Vampire truly looks alien which is another thing we don't always get in Star Trek. It was scary and sympathetic at the same time which left me conflicted about its fate. Whoever decided to choose The Man Trap as the first aired episode was a genius.

I'm not sure they had continuity in their mind when it was used as props were reused and Salty was available and it fit the decor and mood.

Regardless, it was fun to see and whenever I watch the Predator trophy display of the skulls of defeated aliens from Predator 2, I think of this scene from Gothos. It popped into my mind immediately when I first saw the movie.

Not implying there was any connection at all but it just brought this memory back.

Didn't a musical cue from The Man Trap play over the scene? McCoy's reaction along with that constitutes a reference even if it is a minor one.

I love that scene from Predator 2

I didn't realize that. Sure that would link it. I'll have to go back and rewatch it as it has been a long time. Thanks!

 

[Drone]

I'm not sure they had continuity in their mind when it was used as props were reused and Salty was available and it fit the decor and mood.

Well it fit the space, but I'm not sure how consonant it was with the mood or feeling of the rest of the appointments, as Trelane's intent was to evoke Earth culture, as he knew it, for the benefit of his "guests".

Has it been mulled over as to why Trelane would even have the specimen? A recent comment on another thread referenced other alien artifacts being there, IIRC though I'm not sure if they were specifically described. Might he simply have it as a show of his esoteric collecting habits? I don't think that it was suggested that Trelane had read the crew's memories to help in the design of his manor house or its decor, although I suppose he could have easily scanned Enterprise's data banks.

Any other thoughts?

 

[Timo]

We could use this presence to argue one way or the other whether the salt vampires were capable of starflight.

I mean, we really know very little of their culture. The stone buildings surveyed by Crater represent a very primitive technique of construction, but perhaps that's what survived when the modern spaceports got eroded by the sand? OTOH, this last surviving individual almost managed to fly to distant stars aboard a visiting starship - perhaps that would have been fairly common for the species in the good old days?

Perhaps Trelane keeps that thing in the entry foyer because it was the previous interstellar visitor to his lair? A close analogy to our heroes and sidekicks and thus an apt warning?

Timo Saloniemi

 

[FormerLurker]

I wonder whether the salt vampire was even the dominant species on M113. It's possible it went extinct because their kind was too efficient, and destroyed their primary source of food.

 

[Elder Knight]

... I don't think there was one, but it would've made a bit of sense if we got a brief reaction shot from McCoy, given his, uh, previous relationship with the creature. ...

LIEUTENANT: Wow! What do you think of that, Doctor?
McCOY: It needs a little salt.

 

[johnnybear]

Would've been good to have a story set on M113 many milennia ago where the creatures there are shown as an intelligent, peaceful race of scholars and builders with a great future before them but a disaster strikes the planet and they are reduced to having to survive by their barest instincts which means killing any and every way they can!
JB

 

[telerites]

I think they became extinct because the females looked like the males and their wardrobe choices didn't help either.

 

[Scotchy]

What about the Blondie McChin illusion Salty projected? The image that the hapless security fellow saw? Whatever happened to her??
That poor creature was just a little socially awkward. Maybe if Starfleet had offered her some tasty Pleasoning or Lawry's she could've learned to suck on humans in a more friendly and less lethal way. Sadly for McCoy we'll never know.

 

[GSchnitzer]

I think they'd put a person in the suit as the surest way to make it look like a real creature. A mannequin is possible, but you'd have to find one in the right size and pose, and for all that trouble they might as well use a stand-in.

When TV shows of the period staged a museum set, they often used actors in heavy body paint to play statues. It was just cheaper than getting real statues of the desired number and type. Granted, that's not the same thing, but it comes to mind.

On the other hand, Star Trek rented an obvious department store mannequin to play a frozen woman in "The Naked Time." And that was crazy. I think it was a rookie mistake. But I still think the Gothos display question is up in the air.

Well, they didn't really rent the mannequin. The Justman/Solow book explains that the mannequin was kept in Justman's office for some years after.

 

[ZapBrannigan]

Well, they didn't really rent the mannequin. The Justman/Solow book explains that the mannequin was kept in Justman's office for some years after.

My understanding is that they rented the store mannequin intending to return it, but it was damaged in production so they had to buy it outright. I don't know if it was wrecked getting it into its death pose, or if the "frozen" make-up and its removal marred the skin surface.

 

[Terok Nor]

Looking at that creature every day in my office would have scared the crap out of me.

And no. I'm not talking about Roddenberry's lawyer.

 

[Doug Otte]

Thanks for the thread. I had never before now thought about the person who played the Salt Vampire. That, and the speculation about the creature(s) made me watch the episode again last night.

"She" was actually onscreen for only about 20 seconds.

Timo's post made me wonder: Were the ruins remnants of the Salt Vampires' culture, or was it another culture? We see some sculptures in the ruins that don't look like the Salt Vampires.

If it was another culture, were they native to M113 and coexisted w/ the Salt Vampires? Or, did one or both cultures originate elsewhere and migrated to M113?

 

[FormerLurker]

If there were in fact two cultures, perhaps the one held the salt vampires as servants, or even slaves, until they revolted and destroyed their masters, driving out into the wilderness and beginning to prey on them, only to find that without them, the salt vampires slowly die out from a lack of food. Any theory is actually as valid as any other without any kind of definitive statement from TPTB.

 

[scotpens]

DESILU EXEC: "We're so, so, sorry, Ms. Gimpel. Please don't leave Hollywood on account of a bad experience on one television episode."

"Miss Gimpel." No one was using "Ms." then.

 

[Tim Thomason]

"Miss Gimpel." No one was using "Ms." then.

This was a very progressive, and imaginary Desilu executive.

 

[f14peter]

If there were in fact two cultures, perhaps the one held the salt vampires as servants, or even slaves, until they revolted and destroyed their masters, driving out into the wilderness and beginning to prey on them, only to find that without them, the salt vampires slowly die out from a lack of food. Any theory is actually as valid as any other without any kind of definitive statement from TPTB.

only reference to the backstory of the creature is this ...

"Once there were millions of them.
Now there's one left."

another reference or two, but mostly referring merely to it being the last of its kind although there was one about it needing love/affection, implying a high level of evolution