Customer Reviews

Star Trek - The Original Series, Episode 66: Day Of The Dove [VHS]

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

A U.S.S. Enterprise landing party beams to a human-colonized planet in answer to a distress call. A Klingon ship, apparently damaged, is detected and a group of Klingons accuse Kirk of having damaged their ship. Kang, their leader, claims the U.S.S. Enterprise as a prize and Kirk beams the Klingons on board, reluctantly. However, Spock is warned by Kirk and quickly takes the Klingons prisoner. Both ships seem to have received the same, false, distress call. A malevolent entity has entered into the U.S.S. Enterprise computer and excites both sides to aggressive behavior. It forces the ship out of control, rushing toward the galactic rim, while isolating a number of Klingons and U.S.S. Enterprise crew, heightening their sense of paranoia and violence turning them against each other. Phasers become swords and the battle begins. Spock finally realizes that the entity feeds off hatred and emotional excitation and has acted as a catalyst to provoke combat, keeping the numbers on both sides even. Kirk is able, in the end, to make a common-cause truce with the Klingons and they drive the creature out of the ship with their laughter.

By the time this episode aired, NBC and Desilu had began to realize what TV viewers already knew: Star Trek's "Bottle Shows" -or those taking place entirely or mostly on the Enterprise- were frequently the best ones, and "Day of the Dove" was no exception.

This episode is Star Trek with it's powerful moral subtext at it's best, clearly showing the insanity of race hatred and the futility of war. It has great scenes and lines, beginning with the smack in the mouth Kirk receives from Kang, to the ending scene of Kirk, Kang, and company all making merry to drive out an evil alien that thrives on hate.

Special FX were also quite good for the day, and this episode features a Klingon Battle Cruiser getting blown to bits by the Enterprise (the only episode showing this). But, you won't see this on TV, this scene is frequently deleted in reruns to save time for more commercials. Get the tape!

In the first-season episode "Errand of Mercy", the Organians impose a peace treaty upon the warring Federation and Klingon Empire. As they do this, they tell both Captain Kirk and Commander Kor that one day in the future, the Federation and the Klingons will become fast friends and work together. As we know, this did eventually come to pass with the Khitomer Peace Conference in Star Trek VI and with subsequent peace initiatives. But here, two years after "Errand of Mercy," we see the crew of the Enterprise and Commander Kang's crew *working together* to defeat the Beta XII-A alien.

I've read that they originally wanted John Colicos to reprise his role as Commander Kor in this one, which I think would have been fantastic, but Colicos was not available, though he supposedly really wanted to do it. Even so, Michael Ansara does a masterful job in portraying Commander Kang, and adds another interesting Klingon character to Star Trek lore, which has appeared again in both Deep Space Nine and Voyager.

There's an evil alien life form that makes the relationship between the Enterprise crew and the Klingons worse than ever. This alien beams many Klingons onboard the Enterprise, supplies both the Klingons and Enterprise crew with swords, and most of all, it makes every member of both crews have deadly hate and fighting emotions. Even if it means teaming up for once, the Klingons and the Enterprise crew must find a way to get rid of this alien being.

"Day of The Dove" is a great episode. In my opinion, it's one of the best episodes of Star Trek that involve the Klingons encountering the crew from the Enterprise. This episode features great acting, exciting turmoil and fighting sequences, and a good plot. I recommend anybody who likes Star Trek - The Original Series to get "Day of The Dove."

Season Three is one of the most underrated seasons of all of Star Trek. I personally find it much better than the Second Season. Jerome Bixby is one of my favorite Star Trek writers. Every episode he wrote was good. I highly recommend this episode. I don't want to give too much away but the ending excellent because it showed Humans and Klingons working together. Didn't we hear this prediction in Errand of Mercy?

This episode has an excellent premise, yet the sheer stupidity of the protagonists diminishes it. The Enterprise is sent to investigate the destruction of a human colony on Beta XII-A and a Klingon battle cruiser also appears. Sensors aboard the Enterprise detect explosions on the Klingon ship and the survivors beam down to the surface of the planet and capture Kirk and the landing party. Suddenly, Chekov goes berserk and attacks the Klingon captain Kang. When Kirk apparently meekly surrenders, Kang is contemptuous of him.
However, Kirk has tricked him, Scotty beams up the Enterprise crew and holds the Klingons in stasis until security can arrive in the transporter room. Later, when Kirk is talking to his prisoner Kang, objects are transmuted into sword-like weapons. It is here where the foolishness begins. Spock points out that neither the Klingons or the Federation possesses a technology that can perform such transmutations. His logic falls on deaf ears as the people are being influenced by an energy creature that feeds off violent pain and emotion. It is clear that Kang is also a seasoned Klingon commander and he would quickly recognize that they were being manipulated.
In desperation, Kirk tries to reason with Mara, the wife of Kang and the science officer of the Klingon ship. He convinces her, but when Kirk beams to where Kang is located, the physical battle continues. Finally, Kang is convinced that the fight is pointless and together, Kirk and Kang order their people to cease fighting. Spock suggests that an expression of joviality would be an effective weapon, so after a bit of jocularity, the creature leaves the ship.
This episode is saved by the excellent performances of Michael Ansara as Kang and Susan Howard as his wife Mara. While Kang is a hardened battle commander, he demonstrates that even Klingons can recognize that there is a time to make peace. In the context of the sad and often ineffective third season, this episode is pretty good. As a trivia note, the name of the Klingon commander in "Errand of Mercy" was Kor, the Klingon commander in "The Trouble with Tribbles" was Koloth and the name of the Klingon in "Friday's Child" was Kras. Perhaps the phrase Klingon Kommander is more appropriate.

Not to be confused with "Balance of Power", which is the episode that the other reviewer discussed. "Day of the Dove" is a story about battling with Klingons. It exposes some of the myths that both sides believe about the other. As with some other episodes, trouble is averted by thinking happy thoughts.

AN EXCELLENT EPISODE IN WHICH THE KLINGONS TAKE OVER THE ENTERPRISE AND KIRK HAS TO FIND AWAY TO WIN EVEN THOUGH THERE IS AN ENTITY CONTROLLING BOTH SIDES OF THE BATTLE. INSTEAD OF PHASERS THEY HAVE TO USE SWORDS AND NO ONE DIES.

Encounter with the mysterious Romulans.

A bit like a submarine hunt. The Romulan commander is played by Mark Lennard who plays Sarek, Spocks father, in later episodes.

Tense cat and mouse stuff.