Wanderlust

2.6 — “The Doomsday Machine”

2.6 — “The Doomsday Machine”

Plot: A distress beacon brings the Enterprise to the Constitution, a derelict Federation starship floating in a wrecked solar system, debris floating where five planets had been charted in the previous year. They are able to rescue Commodore Matt Decker, who tells them of a gigantic seemingly invulnerable robotic doomsday device, mindlessly destroying planets and converting the pieces into rocket fuel. Soon the robot arrives, while Kirk remains trapped on the derelict ship. Should the Enterprise resign itself to the machine’s destruction of Rigel Colony, or go on a suicide mission by making a hopeless frontal attack?

Thoughts:  This is quite an exciting stemwinder of an episode. I was transfixed.

Maybe I was deceived by the skillfulness of the remastered special effects, but I was blown away by the effects on this episode, and I don’t know how they afforded to shoot it. It looks like they would have blown their whole Season One production budget. I felt like I was watching a film.

It’s quite chilling to visit a wrecked ship that looks just like the Enterprise. It makes you think of fragile lives protected from the inhospitable reaches of space by fragile walls and a fallible life support system. Did you see Scotty almost hit his head on a low slung beam? Foreshadowing of Star Trek V.

Kirk, Spock, and Bones were very good, and the writing was very good, keeping everyone in their place and keeping exceptional control of the metering of information and progression of the story. It seems impossible that they packed all the events into one episode.

Commodore Decker–too much over the top, or just the right amount? The characterization was overdone, sure, but he put some real feeling into it. You know what I liked best about the episode? Decker was right. Spock is good at calculating the odds, but he doesn’t know everything. When the true possibilities are uncertain, they are easy to discount in favor of what can be quantified. Sometimes when you can’t see all the way through to the result you need, refusing to take no for an answer is enough. I wouldn’t have wanted to be a crewmember on the bridge when Decker was giving orders, however. Like “The Corbomite Maneuver” and “The Galileo Seven,” “The Doomsday Machine” is a story about discipline and command–its pitfalls and its importance.

“I’m going to take this thing right down its throat.”

Oddly enough, I just watched an interview with Star Trek script editor D.C. (Dorothy) Fontana, and she listed “The Doomsday Machine” as her least favorite Trek episode. James Doohan said it was his favorite–all that engineering detail! Lots of imaginary problems to fix. To each their own.

I give it 5 out of 5 planets with a surface temperature of molten lead.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Doomsday_Machine_(Star_Trek:_The_Original_Series)

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8 responses to “2.6 — “The Doomsday Machine””

  1. Randi Cohen Avatar
    Randi Cohen

    Yes, totally agree with Michael that that scene between Decker and Kirk at the beginning was tremendous.  I think in the second season they are really pushing the characters more emotionally, it seems more like these stories are happening to people rather than the more traditional action-based science fiction serials prior to this.

    I looooved the giant red maw of the Doomsday Machine, loved Spock, really identified with and sympathized with McCoy for the first time (apparently paperwork and formalities are more important than medical judgment even in the 21st century!  it was certainly obvious to anyone trained in psychology that Decker was suffering from post-traumatic stress impairing his judgment, the best exam being observing someone’s actions and speech when they are not “performing” for purposes of exam.  But I digress.).

    Loved Spock’s multiple show-downs with Decker on the bridge.  Just a really fun, neat episode that makes an interesting philosophical point too (do we really want our final legacy as a race to be destruction?  a more important question than the amount of time we usually devote to it).

    For some reason I can’t give it completely 5 out of 5, maybe the absence of Uhura (why?) and because I still like certain episodes better by a hair, but this one is still completely entertaining and awesome.

    Rating: 4.5 out of 5 nearly electrocuted Scotsmen.

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  2. Bill Testerman Avatar
    Bill Testerman

    Yes, this is one of my faves too, though probably not in my top 10 since space battle episodes are not my favorite topic. But the characterizations are great and it’s very well written. As Michael and Randi note, the good drama here makes the story seem much more real.

    I can tell you from seeing the original many times that the remastering done about 6 years ago makes the special effects here look a LOT better now. For instance, in the original, when Kirk was plunging the Constellation into the Doomsday Machine, the starship was obviously a little plastic model. And now the movements and angles of the spaceships are much more varied.

    I loved the showdowns between Decker and Spock too, and was glad that Spock prevented Decker from destroying the Enterprise, although as Kevin pointed out Decker was right that there WAS a way for them to defeat the “planet killer.” But as Randi noted, McCoy should have been able to certify Decker as unfit for command just from his actions and speech. After all, McCoy had said on board the Constellation that Decker was suffering from shock.

    In the book Captain’s Logs by Gross and Altman, writer Norman Spinrad said that the origin of this episode was an unpublished novella he had written with a Moby Dick theme, and he adapted that for Star Trek. I can’t imagine why D.C. Fontana, whom I like a lot, said this is her least favorite episode, though?! I give it 4.5 out of 5.  

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  3. Kevin Black Avatar
    Kevin Black

    The decision of when to mutiny is a critical one for a military command. A lot depends upon a commanding person being able to give orders that are not subject to a lot of head-scratching or second-guessing. The regulations interfering with Spock & McCoy’s ability to relieve Decker were cumbersome, but I read into the words and performances the subtext of their understanding that while the codes may be cumbersome, all of their lives depend on these codes and the crew’s commitment to following them. The episode posed that critical question–is this the right moment for mutiny?–perfectly. Even Sulu at the helm, who didn’t get the great dialogue that Spock, McCoy, and Decker did, made me feel this through his performance.

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  4. Mike Barela Avatar
    Mike Barela

    And do not forget the music.  This episode had the orchestra working overtime. 

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  5. Kevin Black Avatar
    Kevin Black

    Good point about the music. That was definitely part of what made the episode feel so cinematic.

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  6. Bill Testerman Avatar
    Bill Testerman

    The music was by Sol Kaplan, and both the original recording and a suite re-recorded by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra in the 1980s are available on CD. Also, maybe you’re right Kevin that it’s better that Spock and McCoy did not mutiny against Decker too quickly, since that would set a bad precedent. After all, a little bit later Spock DID take over when Decker was on the verge of destroying the Enterprise, so that was the evidence Spock needed to determine that Decker was unfit.

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  7. R. Alex Reutter Avatar
    R. Alex Reutter

    It’s interesting that, once Spock retakes command, that he sends Decker to sickbay.  If he had sent Decker to sickbay when they first arrived (as Kirk ordered), a lot of the episode would have been lost.  The fact that there’s an emergency, so McCoy and Decker rush to the bridge out of habit, helps this slip in procedure, but it’s hard to let it go.  I mean, really, Spock?  Decker was catatonic when found and you’re not even going to require that he undergo an examination before taking over the ship? 

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  8. R. Alex Reutter Avatar
    R. Alex Reutter

    That’s true, from a realism perspective, and it’s one of the things that TNG “fixed”, but from a storytelling perspective, they needed to keep their big three in scenes together, so McCoy ends up on the bridge a lot.

    For realism, let’s pretend it’s Decker going there out of habit and McCoy following, because he was supposed to be examining Decker.  🙂

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