Day of the Dove

In the immortal words of Rodney King, “Ow! Ow! Ow! Ow!”

Responding to a Federation distress signal, the Enterprise finds itself nose-to-nose with a badly-damaged Klingon vessel. The Klingons blame Star Fleet for attacking them. In return, the Enterprise crew accuses the Klingons of sending a false distress signal in order to lay a trap. Kirk lets what’s left of the enemy crew beam aboard the Enterprise before torching the Klingon vessel. And that’s when the fun starts.

Unbeknownst to anyone, a mysterious entity has also snuck aboard the Enterprise. This amorphous blob of light appears to thrive on hatred and violence, glowing more brightly whenever it’s in the presence of argument or combat. At first the petty fussing between the Federation folk and the Klingons is enough to keep it happy, but then it wants more.

So it begins a campaign of active intervention. It locks up most of the Enterprise crew in order to even the odds between Federation and Klingon. It locks the ship on a high-speed journey out of the galaxy. It replaces all the phasers with weapons that require more violent intent to wield (swords, specifically). And once the bloodshed gets underway, it heals all casualties in order to keep the battles raging.

Worst of all, it appears to have the power to bring out the worst in everyone. The first obvious victim of this influence is Chekov, consumed by an overpowering desire to avenge the death of a brother he never had. Eventually bigotry, paranoia and hatred emerge from everyone (even Spock ever so briefly).

But just when things seem hopeless, our heroes figure out what's going on. With the (eventual) help of the wife of the Klingon commander, a truce is established. Working together, they manage to expel the "pure energy" glob by laughing at it.

The "what if the alien had succeeded?" is downright chilling. Imagine being trapped on a Flying Dutchman's starship, drifting forever through the cosmos, condemned to an eternity of hatred and violence, resurrected over and over again to keep on killing without end. Brrr!

Episode rating:

Stardate: Unknown

Episode type: Message piece

Written by: Jerome Bixby

Original air date: November 1, 1968

Spectre of the Gun / For the World Is Hollow ...

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