Customer Reviews

Star Trek - The Original Series, Vol. 5, Episodes 10 & 11: What Are Little Girls Made Of?/ Dagger of the Mind

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(11)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This DVD is very good. The two classic trek episodes "What Are Little Girls Made Of?" and "Dagger of the Mind" ably explore the theme of 'man playing god' with thoughtful and entertaining results. For pure fun check out the performance by Ted Cassidy(Lurch), he's truly memorable as the menacing "Ruk." In "Dagger" you also have the original Vulcan Mind-Meld, as well as a truly hysterical performance by Morgan Woodward as Dr. Simon Van Gelder. (Woodward later played another lunatic in 2nd seasons "The Omega Glory") There was confusion regarding Kirks racist mutterings toward Spock while on the centrifuge in "What Are Little Girls Made Of?" I believe Kirk was simply trying to infuse his duplicate with an attitude so uncharacteristic that even the dull witted Vulcan would have to take notice! I would've given this 5 stars except for the lack of extra goodies. I'm afraid Paramount is simply holding back so they can release yet another "SUPER SPECIAL SUPREME STAR TREK EDITION" in a few more years.

You must see it to believe it! Looks better now than ever! Dare I say even better then when originaly aired.!

There are times when digitially remastering an epiosde may not help it out too much. Such is the case with Dagger of the Mind, in which obvious film flaws are enhanced and the fact that matt prints were used for certain scenes is that much more obvious. But, you can't fault the episode just for that. Dagger is certainly an entertaining, if not overly deep episode of Trek. It's got the first Vulcan mind-meld, a good performance by Shatner and some interesting ideas. It's just not up to classic Trek's usual standards of excellence.

As for What Are Little Girls Made Of?, it's always been a personal favorite of mine--and not just for Sherri Jackson's costume. It features one of the earliest examples of Kirk vs. machines and just how Kirk is able to outwit them. It contains one of the most chilling lines in all of Trek with the famous line, "Androids don't eat, Ms. Chapel." Shatner is given a lot to do here and does some double duty--and he does it well.

Again, another Trek well worth taking.

Vol. 5 is a good package of episodes that both deal with the power of the mind. In "What Are Little Girls Made Of?" Captain Kirk and one of his female crew beam down to an icy planet expecting to meet a famous doctor that has been missing for a long time. They find out that the doctor makes robots and that not everything is going as great as they first expected it to. The doctor makes an android (robot) duplicate of Captain Kirk. Captain Kirk has to find a way around these robots before it's too late.

"Dagger Of The Mind" is one of my favorite episodes and it's one of the best episodes of Star Trek in my opinion. It deals with a device that can talk to and change the mind of whoever is in the room with it. It's a light on the ceiling, and someone has to talk through it and whoever is in the same room as the device is deeply effected by it. For example, if you were in the room with the light and I said through the microphone "you are very hungry and can't wait to get something to eat," you would be starving when I turned the device off. Captain Kirk catches trouble in "Dagger Of The Mind" while he's trying to stop a madman, but he needs the help of somebody else to accomplish his feat.

Vol. 5 is a good buy for anybody who likes Star Trek. "What Are Little Girls Made Of?" is a good episode about robots, and "Dagger Of The Mind" is one of the most suspenseful episodes of Star Trek. Both of them together add up to a good volume of episodes and I recommend anybody who likes Star Trek to get this volume for their DVD.

Out of most of the episodes of ST:TOS I've seen, "What Are Little Girls Made Of?" dissapoints me just a bit - but is nonetheless a decent one. The mood is dark and spooky; I think fans of older classic sci-fi would enjoy this more. Am I the only one who doesn't get the part where Kirk makes utterances about Spock on the centrifuge/cloning device? How does this send a 'message' to Spock on the Enterprise? Could this be a hole in the plot? The effects are pretty neat, and the premise is wild, even by today's standards. The thing that always boggles me about ST:TOS is that all this was implemented in the mid to late 60's - a true golden age in every way.

"Dagger of the Mind" is pretty deep and reveals some of the stranger thinking of the writers - who would of thought that a man can die from having his brain emptied? Far-out. This eposode illustrates the "Live by the sword, die by the sword" addage that is basic to all classic literature.

The writers never cease to amaze me - even in the lesser episodes - with their thought-provoking story lines and deep character development. Who cares if the special EFX are hokey? Shakespeare never used much more than a prop-less set, and his plays are timeless. I see a similar future for our beloved classic Star Trek series.

No less a brilliant horror/sci-fi writer then Robert Bloch himself wrote the screenplay to the first ep here and so you can expect quality. Nurse Chapel's old flame, presumed lost and dead for years, suddenly turns up but only in true Trek fashion not in the way one would assume. Roddenberry's sermonising continues as we ponder the question: how far should we go to improve the human race? Should we accept our failings and work around them to make the best of things or do we go all the way to eliminate the very things that make us human? Great acting here from Michael Strong as the protagonist, mad doctor and the original Lurch from the Addams Family as well. Great episode.

In the second ep, we get another mad doctor story which explores a similar thesis to the first ep with a slight twist, asking the question of where does healing stop and playing God begin? How much do we impose our will and ideas on others and how much should we respect free will? We also get the first Vulcan mind-meld in this ep. Great acting by James Gregory as the long-suffering whistle-blowing assistant to the evil Dr. Adams as well.

Overall, 2 strong eps that stand out from the first season.

Recommended.

Star Trek: The Original Series Volume 5 features two episodes originally aired in 1966:

"What Are Little Girls Made Of?:" Kirk meet's nurse Chapel's long lost fiance, Dr. Korby, who has learned to create android duplicates of people and madly schemes to populate the galaxy with them. The "little girl" of the title turns out to be a comely full-grown female android, Andrea (played by Sherry Jackson), but that doesn't stop Kirk from makin' the moves. The episode is perhaps best known for Andrea's non-existent costume (compliments to costumer William Ware Theiss). Ted Cassidy from "The Addams Family" guest stars as a quite intimidating android. Bottom Line: Excellent and eerie sci-fi that nicely explores the dehuminization of mechanization theme. It's dead serious and tragic though, so if you're looking for humor look elsewhere. GRADE: A

"Dagger of the Mind:" Kirk investigates a questionable space penal colony that uses a manipulative brainwashing device to control its prisoners. Episode is notable for showcasing the most beautiful woman to ever appear on Star Trek, Dr. Helen Noel, played by Marianna Hill. You can catch Ms. Hill in "High Plains Drifter" (1973) as the curly blond (...)Bottom Line: The final act sort of just fizzles out with an air of uncertainty, the creators either didn't have time or didn't know how to properly finish the story. No matter, the episode is well worth watching, if for no other reson than to behold the awe-inspiring beauty of Marianna Hill (Helen Noel). GRADE: C+

The crew of the Enterprise faces off against a couple of mad scientists in this pair of middling episodes from the classic 60s SF series.

"What Are Little Girls Made Of?" is the better of the two. Written by veteran genre author Robert Bloch, it tells the story of Dr. Roger Korby's doomed attempt to populate the universe with androids. Ted Cassidy's frightening performance as the gigantic Roc is the highlight of the episode. The way in which messy human emotions befuddle and destabilize arrangements based on the repression of said emotions became a Trek cliche, but it's probably not fair to criricize this episode on that basis since it was among the first to introduce it.

"Dagger of the Mind" is less interesting. Somehow Dr. Tristan and his mind-warping device just don't seem like a worthy enough threat to cross the flagship of the Federation. In addition, it depends on unprofessional behavior on the parts of Kirk and Dr. Helen Noel for much of the drama.

Dagger of the Mind
After exchanging cargo with the penal colony on planet Tantalus Five the Enterprise unknowingly takes onboard an inmate who was hiding inside one of the crates beamed up from the planet. The colony contacts the Enterprise to warn them of the escape and that the inmate is an extremely violent and dangerous case. Kirk orders a security alert and the search begins for an intruder that proves to be more than a match for the Enterprise's security detachment. The intruder who makes his way to the bridge holds the command crew at gun point identifying himself as Simon Van Gelder. He asks for asylum and not to be taken back to Tantalus and threatens to disable the ship by destroying crucial operating controls if his demands aren't met. Kirk and Spock are able to subdue Van Gelder, and the ship is ordered back to Tantalus.

In the sick bay Van Gelder struggles to tell Kirk and McCoy about his horrific ordeal. Each word that Van Gelder attempts to speak seems to cause him immense pain. Checking the library tapes Spock learns that Simon Van Gelder is actually Dr. Simon Van Gelder and that he was assigned to the colony six months prior. Contacting the colony, Kirk talks to Dr. Tristan Adams the leader of the Tantalus Penal Colony who tells Kirk that Van Gelder's injuries occurred after he tried an experimental beam on himself. McCoy after having examined Van Gelder has his doubts about Adams's story. Following regulations meant that Kirk would have to file a report and therefore investigate the matter personally. McCoy assigns Dr. Helen Noel from the ship's Psychiatry Department to assist Kirk in determining if there was anything going wrong at the colony. Upon beaming down to the surface and after a stomach churning elevator ride straight down Kirk and Noel are greeted by Dr. Adams. Everything seems to be in order, as Adams takes the duo on a guided tour of the facility. On the tour Kirk visits where Van Gelder's accident took place, a room where the experimental beam called a neural neutralizer was kept. Adams told Kirk and Noel the equipment was an experiment that went wrong and that it was only used in the more severe cases in the hope that it would do some good. The equipment was in use and the technician at the controls gave Kirk a quick tutorial on its operation. The operator controls the intensity of a beam which is directly over the subject who is seated in a chair. The operator places suggestions into the patient's mind via a microphone and these suggestions with help from the intensity of the beam help cure the patient.

Van Gelder warns Spock and McCoy about the neural neutralizer, despite the warnings Kirk decides to stay overnight to continue the investigation. Spock decides to use an ancient Vulcan mind technique on Simon Van Gelder to reach into the doctor's tortured mind. The Enterprise Captain, puzzled about the blankness of the people he had met during his tour and his growing suspicions about Adams himself prompt Kirk to want to take another look at the site of Van Gelder's accident. Using the Vulcan mind technique Spock learns about what Dr. Adams did to Van Gelder. Kirk and Noel make it to the neural neutralizer room and decide to experiment with the device. With Noel at the controls and Kirk in the chair as the "test subject" they learn that it is an extremely effect device. Adams and his henchman "interrupt" their experiment and conduct an experiment of their own. Dr. Adams uses the beam to bend Kirk to his will and suggest that he can't live without Helen Noel a woman with whom Kirk had a brief affair with in the past. Adams tortures Kirk and makes him turn over his phaser and communicator. Kirk tries to resist but the beam, pain and Adams's suggestions are too strong.

Back in their quarters Kirk and Noel plan their escape. Exiting the room via the air ducts Kirk orders Noel to find the power source and short circuit the planet's security screen, a screen that when in operation prevents beaming. Adams continues to torture Kirk with the device and upon learning that Noel had escaped increases the beams intensity to learn where she was at, and with what instructions she had been given. On board the Enterprise Spock attempts to break through the security screen using different transporter frequencies with no success. Noel makes her way to the reactor room, and after kicking a guard into some live circuits temporarily knocks out the planetary security screen as well as several power systems allowing Spock to beam down to the planet. When the power fades out in the neural neutralizer room the beam shuts off allowing Kirk escape the room after knocking out Adams and his henchman, while Spock after beaming down to the planet permanently disables the security screen. Spock also restores the power which reactivates the neural neutralizer with Adams left helpless in the room exposed to the beam. Kirk, Spock and Noel later discover Adams dead in the room, having died from the affects of the machine without even a tormentor for company. Van Gelder having recovered from his injuries returns to the colony to continue his assignment and has the neural neutralizer dismantled forever.

Great performances by a young Marianna Hill, as well as experienced actors James Gregory and Morgan Woodward.

I remember seeing these episodes when they first came out. The original Star Trek series has been and will always be one of my all-time favorite TV series.