The Story of O - Vol. 5 / Episodes 9 and 10

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

Average customer rating:

"It's hard to believe someone could die from loneliness"
A Keeper! Two of the Better Episodes of the First Season!
Kirk vs. the mad scientists
Breakout performance by Morgan Woodward
Pretty good, but not one of my top favorites

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

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Star Trek - The Original Series, Vol. 6, Episodes 12 & 13: Miri/ The Conscience of the King
Star Trek - The Original Series, Vol. 2, Episodes 4 & 5: Mudd's Women/The Enemy Within
Star Trek - The Original Series, Vol. 4, Episodes 8 & 9: Charlie X/ Balance of Terror
Star Trek - The Original Series, Vol. 7, Episodes 14 & 15: The Galileo Seven/ Court-Martial
Star Trek - The Original Series, Vol. 3, Episodes 6 & 7: The Man Trap/ The Naked Time

ASIN: B000022TTL
Release Date: 1999-11-23

Amazon.com

Volume 5 from the DVD collection of original Star Trek programs includes "What Are Little Girls Made Of?" Written by Robert Bloch (author of the novel Psycho, the basis of Hitchcock's film), the episode finds Captain Kirk (William Shatner) and nurse Christine Chapel (Majel Barrett) beaming down to planet Exo III, where Christine is to be reunited with her fiancé, Dr. Roger Korby (Michael Strong). The meeting is less than joyful, however, when it becomes clear that Korby has been developing androids that he intends to spread throughout the galaxy--using the Enterprise as his delivery vehicle. This was certainly the first significant performance for Majel Barrett in the Trek family; longtime fans know she went on to play Lwaxana Troi on The Next Generation (and Mrs. Gene Roddenberry in real life). An entertaining episode all around, with the notion of an android Kirk somehow amusing. (Maybe it was the android who sang on that notorious Shatner album.) Fans of '60s TV will also enjoy the performance of Ted Cassidy (the original Lurch from TV's The Addams Family) as the giant android, Ruk.

Also on this DVD is "Dagger of the Mind," another mad-doctor drama. This time, Kirk delivers supplies to a penal colony on Tantalus V, where he meets the renowned Dr. Tristan Adams. Adams has been working on the development of a neural neutralizer to control and manipulate dangerous patients. When Kirk threatens to expose him as a dangerous megalomaniac, Adams uses the technology on the unfortunate captain. This tense piece set in a madhouse atmosphere makes for a riveting episode, with a few unhinged performances adding to the fun.--Tom Keogh

Customer Reviews:

"It's hard to believe someone could die from loneliness".......2007-02-07

What are Little Girls Made Of? A touch of horror here with 'Rok'. This episode stands up very well.

"It was the... Neu... ral... neut-ralizer!" In 'Dagger of the Mind' the Enterprise picks up a deranged lab assistant, Dr Van Gelder, formerly assigned to a prison for the insane. Kirk beams down to this prison planet to make sure every thing's alright. Kirk soon finds himself subject to the Neural Neutralizer, a brainwashing device used by prison director Dr Adams, that, 'empties the mind'.

Fearing Kirk is in danger Spock beams down to the planet and disables the power grid. With the power outage Kirk knocks out Dr Adams and escapes. But Adams was knocked out under the Neutralizer. When the power's restored, he's killed by his own device. McCoy saying, "It's hard to believe someone could die from loneliness".
"Not if you've sat in that chair" Kirk says.

A Keeper! Two of the Better Episodes of the First Season!.......2006-06-17

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.

Kirk vs. the mad scientists.......2005-09-24

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.

Breakout performance by Morgan Woodward.......2005-03-12

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.

Pretty good, but not one of my top favorites.......2004-02-06

Both episodes were pretty good. Both cases, they really shined due to the choice of female cast...the characters of Andrea in episode 10 and Helen in Episode 11. Both very gorgeous.

Not quite sure what legion1 is talking about with "banned" episodes, unless he means banned in England. The "Green Lady" wasn't from a "frightening" episode. She was, instead a human woman made to look like an Orion slave girl; one of the illusions forced upon Captain Pike in the original pilot, "The Cage," and then shown later in "The Menagerie."

Amazon.com

Volume 10 of Paramount's DVD series of original Star Trek episodes includes "Arena," based on a script by Trek producer Gene L. Coon, the other indispensable figure (besides Gene Roddenberry) in making Star Trek what it was. After writing what he believed was an original teleplay about a one-on-one battle between Captain Kirk (William Shatner) and the reptilian commander of an enemy vessel, Coon realized he had probably been subconsciously inspired by a similar short story written by Fredric Brown (who was promptly credited and paid). The concept of a human-and-alien duel to the death in primitive terrain, however, was slightly ubiquitous in the 1960s (see "Fun and Games," a masterpiece from the original The Outer Limits TV show), and was revisited in the '80s via the Arnold Schwarzenegger feature, Predator. But under Coon's guidance and direction by Joseph Pevney, "Arena" stands on its own as a particularly strong story of what battle does to one's humanity. Shatner is in great form for this one.

Also in this volume is a minor episode, "The Alternative Factor," in which Kirk encounters two versions of a fellow named Lazarus (Robert Brown), one from our own dimension and the other from an antimatter cosmos. The latter Lazarus intends to create an opening between worlds, potentially causing an intergalactic Armageddon. Though directed by Gerd Oswald, an interesting feature filmmaker from Hollywood, "The Alternative Factor" has to work a little too hard to make its point. Still, it isn't boring, and the theme certainly fits that long-standing Star Trek obsession with dualities. --Tom Keogh

Customer Reviews:

From heighths to the depths.......2007-03-30

This disc roller-coasters from one of Trek's best episodes to one of its worst. "Arena," in which Kirk faces off against a powerful reptilian enemy, has been a favorite of mine since I was a kid. The full-body monster suit is really high quality and holds up well even today. The frequent Trek moral about how we can all get along if we take the time to listen to each other gets one of its earliest expressions. Even the frankly ridiculous manner in which Kirk assembles his weapon doesn't detract from the fun of this episode.

"The Alternative Factor," however, is pretty bad. It has a promising opening as cosmological disruptions on a galactic scale lead Starfleet to evacuate a whole area of space and leave the crisis in the hands of Kirk and crew. The payoff, however, is distinctly underwhelming. This episode is a confused mess with some of Trek's worst visual effects.

Forgettable, Implausible and Among the Weakest Eps of the Season.......2006-07-15

If you are picking and choosing which volumes to collect, give this one a miss. The 2 stars are for "Arena" which although requires a massive leap of faith to believe Kirk invents a "gun" while on the run in a manner which to any observer would realise is much, much more likely to blow up in his face instead does have a very good moral about how jumping to conclusions and fighting before diplomacy is not the best way to solve differences (George Bush, you listening?)which redeems an otherwise very average episode.

Too bad you can't give negative, anti-stars, as the "Alternative Factor" to put it candidly, really sucks big-time! The storyline is just simply ridiculous and the whole episode is riddled with errors. In the beginning, Spock tells Kirk there is no life on the planet below; if he meant animate life, he should have said so as we are soon transported to the surface where all manner of plant-life is seen. This is just one example but overall, the script-writing and acting are among the worst of this the first season.

Save your bucks for another volume.

An Alternative Opinion.......2003-10-24

Being an ORIGINAL trekkie (I care not for johnnie-come-lately Trekkors who have no clue what this series meant in '66), I have strong memories of watching Kirk and Spock every week. When the reruns began to be aired locally (some years after the rest of the country, apparently), I got to see stuff I did not remember. The Alternative Factor became my personal favorite because of the struggles: 1. Kirk and Spock not understanding the nature of the situation 2. Lazarus dealing with his opposite self's actions after they swap universes 3. Stopping anihilation successfully.
The state of budgets and special effects somewhat hurt the visual storytelling, but the rest of the show I find heroic in a very classical sense. I was always blown away by the magnitude of the sacrifice of the rational Lasarus, and Kirk's words at the end chill me even today. Maybe having a friend who looked like, and whose intellect was on the order of Spock's, gives me a different perspective toward this tale. I always felt like Kirk to his Spock, but without a ship to command (Boy, did we need one). Hey, If networks today would pay attention to what Gene and the guys were up to, we'd have shows like...like...like...Enterprise today. Hey, we do! Trek Lives! Long Live Treckkiedom!
This is story telling at it's peak, galactic in scope, human at it's heart, and gut wrenching in it's conclusion. They don't come better than this, even with bigger budgets. This is the stuff that inspires kids to be great achievers, and grown-ups to think about why we do what we do. Great stuff, if you pay attention.

One strong episode, and one very weak one.......2003-09-09

Arena-This strong episode sees Kirk locked in a life and death struggle with the lizard-like Gorn. The episode commences with the kind of in-the-trenches warfare rarely seen on TV. The brutality of the killing brings out bloodlust in Kirk, who seems ready to exact revenge until control is taken out of his hands. A rather innovative take is then applied to the battle, one which forces Kirk to rely on his wits and keep a level head. It is one of the trademarks of Trek that Kirk eventually shows mercy. Here that mercy is rewarded; if only it were so simple in the real world. (4 stars)

The Alternative Factor-This episode, in which a loner travels between universes in a small ship, just never comes together. Despite the fact that nothing short of the universe is at stake, the episode feels trivial. While Robert Brown certainly has a tough assignment here as the two Laseruses (Laserii?), he seems torn between trying to make each of them `real' while still being sufficiently different that the viewer will not become confused. Unfortunately he does not succeed in either regard, and the seemingly haphazard storyline doesn't assist the viewer any either. The team also seems to struggle to fill up the episode's allotted hour, but the main problem is the story is presented in a way that doesn't make sense; everything feels arbitrary and desultory. The self-flagellation between universes, while memorable, is not particularly effective either. About the best thing about this episode is the end-the disturbing idea of someone spending eternity battling a madman. (2 stars)

Two Classic Episodes for a Classic Series.......2003-08-07

"Arena" - Episode 19 - This episode features a duel between our Capt. Kirk and the Gorn. An interesting plot, surreal music, location and the Gorn character give this episode a wonderful campy feeling. Great episode to watch at pitch black night!!

Amazon.com

Description

"What are Little Girls Made Of?" Ep. 10 - Kirk and company are horrified to learn that famed scientist, Dr. Roger Korby has developed the ultimate android in hopes of populating the universe with them. "Dagger of the Mind," Ep. 11 - Kirk must beam down to a penal colony after a doctor escapes to the U.S.S. Enterprise, hinting at the horrors commited against the colony's patients.

Customer Reviews:

"It's hard to believe someone could die from loneliness".......2007-02-07

A Keeper! Two of the Better Episodes of the First Season!.......2006-06-17

Kirk vs. the mad scientists.......2005-09-24

Breakout performance by Morgan Woodward.......2005-03-12

Pretty good, but not one of my top favorites.......2004-02-06

Both episodes were pretty good. Both cases, they really shined due to the choice of female cast...the characters of Andrea in episode 10 and Helen in Episode 11. Both very gorgeous.

Amazon.com

Description

"Arena," Ep. 19 - While pursuing a ship that destroyed a Starfleet base, Kirk intrudes into the territory of the highly advanced Metrons, who decide to settle the conflict. "The Alternative Factor," Ep. 20 - The Enterprise takes on board a man with a dual personality. It is soon discovered that there are really two of them--one with the power to destroy the universe!

Customer Reviews:

From heighths to the depths.......2007-03-30

Forgettable, Implausible and Among the Weakest Eps of the Season.......2006-07-15

An Alternative Opinion.......2003-10-24

One strong episode, and one very weak one.......2003-09-09

Two Classic Episodes for a Classic Series.......2003-08-07

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