TOS S01E25 – The Devil in the Dark
Dir. Joseph Pevney, Wri. Gene L. Coon
The Summary: The Enterprise crew investigates a series of mysterious deaths at a mining colony, only to find out there’s more going on than at first appears.
The Good: The men being burned to a crisp is pretty violent for Original Series Trek, and it sets the stakes high early on. The techno-babble in this episode is a cut above average. I actually like the creature effects here; I can see how they haven’t aged perfectly, but I still think their use of limited resources is pretty great. There are a couple of really good reveals in this episode that keep the viewer engaged. This episode also has one of the better mind meld scenes of the original series. Most importantly, though, this episode is considered a classic because the resolution of the conflict is a perfect representation of all that Trek stands for thematically. When people think of the ideals that Trek embodies (or did for a time at least), this episode is one of the scripts that shaped that philosophy and ethos.
The Bad: The miners have too many lines for what are basically extras and their rather rough performances can be distracting. The effects other than the creature have really not aged well (why are there just free weights and loose rebar laying around in what is supposed to be a mining operation?). This episode has the common Trek ailment of a saggy middle act. The discovery and solution to the problem are interesting, but Act 2 doesn’t really raise the stakes or change the problem in any meaningful way. It’s mostly just failed attempts at solving the problem and killing time until the reveal towards the end.
The Review: This is a perfect example of a good episode of Trek. Not a great episode, but a very good one. Anyone who likes Star Trek will probably like this one. Pretty much everything is running smoothly at this point; characters are established, the actors are comfortable in their roles, the writing is humming along for the most part. It’s everything you think about when you think Trek: Kirk gets to do some great monologuing, Spock gets to do some great emoting and cool psychic stuff, Bones gets to be funny but still contribute to the plot. Perhaps even more importantly, this episode carries themes that are central to the hopeful and optimistic message that Star Trek became known for. Those who look to Trek for hope that our future might be better than our past won’t come away from this episode disappointed. It has a timeless message of the superiority of peace and discourse over ignorance and violence. The effects certainly show their age, but there is still something very endearing about the monster work that they do in this one. The only real problem that the episode fails to solve is its pacing problem. You could cut out the entire middle 15 to 20 minutes from this one and almost not even notice. It’s a little more frustrating than usual, as well, because the show is pretty clearly telegraphing what’s going on, so you have to wait in frustration as the characters slowly come to the same realization you’ve had for a quarter of an hour. Still, that flaw shouldn’t keep people away from a really fun episode. It could well be a balm in these divisive times.
The Score: 
