Star Trek – The Original Series, Vol. 5, Episodes 10 & 11: What Are Little Girls Made Of?/ Dagger of the Mind
Dec/095
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.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
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2:06 am on December 11th, 2009
I loved re-discovering it again. But I gave the DVD 4 stars for the lack of Spanish in the dubbed/subtitled options. A huge portion of the U.S.A. is hispanic and I being married to one would enjoy this much better if my wife who speaks english could also enjoy it in Spanish. Please add more languages in the future releases!
Rating: 4 / 5
3:47 am on December 11th, 2009
THE GREEN LADY episode.
While watching the end credits, you see clips from banned episodes. Like the Green Lady. This was so scary they had to ban it. How can I buy the banned Star Trek episodes?
Rating: 5 / 5
5:59 am on December 11th, 2009
“What Are Little Girls…” Nurse Chapel encounters her old flame Dr. Korby…but the question is…is it really him?
“Dagger of the Mind” Kirk must investigate a problem at a mental institution. Dr. Adams does everything in his power, including brainwashing Kirk, to persuade him that everything is fine.
Rating: 5 / 5
8:10 am on December 11th, 2009
Volume 5 of the lengthly Star Trek TOS DVD series has a good pair of episodes but not great. Neither episodes are too memorable but they both have decent plots and both are quite watchable. However apart from the cebut of Christine Chapel in WHAT ARE LITTLE GIRLS MADE OF? and Spock’s famous Vulcan mind meld in DAGGER OF THE MIND there is nothing particularily noteworthy about these standard Trek episodes.
WHAT ARE LITTLE GIRLS MADE OF? finds Kirk and Christine Chapel (Majel Barrett Gene Rodenberry’s wife who also appeared in the pilot episode THE CAGE) beaming down to the planet EXO III to find Christine’s fiancee Dr. Roger Korby. They find him and he reveals that he discovered how to build android that look and act like real humans. Soon however Korby eventually reveals his plan to replace humans with supposedly more efficient androids. Chirstine Chapel begins to discover that Korby has changed and eventually it is revealed that Korby is also android. His plan to replace people with androids comes into effect when he developes a andriod replica of Kirk in order to take over the enterprise. This episode has a good plot but their really is nothing ground breaking about this episode. It’s standard Trek at most.
The other episode here is DAGGER OF THE MIND which is another standard Trek episode but can sometimes be a headache to watch. The plot (which is a decent one) finds Kirk and the Enterprise invaded by a insane man named Dr. Van Gelder from the Penal colony Tantalus V. The Doctor claims that the Colony director Dr. Tristan Adams is an psychopathic madman who will destroy their minds. Not believeing the man because Dr. Adams is a respected man who has done a lot for mankind. Sure enough as Kirk and Dr. Helen Noel (an old flame of his) arrive at the planet to find out that sure enough Adams is a madman who brain washes people minds with a bizarre device. And his next test will be on the Captain unless the two can contact the Enterprise to come help them escape Tantalus V. DAGGER OF THE MIND is a decent episode but the scenes with Van Gelder are rather painful to watch or sit through. Sure Morgan Woodward plays the unstable character well but his cahracter was greatly irratating and I was happy when he was not in a scene.
Overall Volume 5 has two decent and watchable Star Trek episodes but they are really nothing to write home about. Neither are outstanding but they are entertaining so they are worth it. Recommended.
Rating: 4 / 5
8:41 am on December 11th, 2009
“Dagger of the mind” and “What are little girls made of?” have to be one of my favorite TOS episodes. While the episodes have absolutely no impact on the larger Trek universe, it pushed how far any television episdoe has ever gone before.
Hypnosis and clonning were topics that were not discussed – yet they are shown boldly on this DVD. Both of these episdoes deal with forms of Violations. Thought Provoking and probing, this DVD is well done!
Rating: 4 / 5