The Fantasy Review’s review of Star Trek: The Original Series Season 1, Episode 1 – The Man Trap.
The Man Trap is episode 1 of season 1 of Star Trek: The Original Series, airing in 1966. The episode was written by George Clayton Johnson and directed by Marc Daniels.
Stardate of The Man Trap: 1513.1
Spoiler-filled Recap & Review of Star Trek: The Original Series, Season 1, Episode 1 – The Man Trap
In the Eye of the Beholder
The Man Trap begins with the USS Enterprise arriving at planet M-113 to provide supplies and medical exams for Professor Robert Crater and his wife, Nancy. The Enterprise orbits the planet with Spock in temporary command.
The planet M-113 apparently is home to only the Professor and his wife, with the rest of the planet being a wasteland, all that remains of a fallen civilization.
McCoy (the ship’s surgeon) and Captain Kirk are beamed down to the planet’s surface (along with another crew member who is unnamed, I believe).
We learn that Nancy is an old girlfriend of McCoy’s, and so get an immediate characterisation of both Kirk and McCoy when the Captain gives the doctor a grin and says he should bring some flowers for his old flame. McCoy’s response is perfect:
“Is that how you get girls to like you? By bribing them?”
McCoy to Kirk
They waltz on into Robert Crater’s home/base of operations, or whatever, and Nancy soon follows them. She recognises McCoy immediately and they seem to have a little spark between them. The music, however, lets us know something creepy/strange is afoot, creating an ominous atmosphere, despite all the smiles.
Kirk looks like he can hear the backing music too when McCoy introduces him to Nancy. Either he’s fascinated watching McCoy’s reaction to an old flame, or he finds something suspicious.
Those suspicions might have been helped along with McCoy telling Nancy that she hadn’t aged a day, which sounds polite, but it is revealed that McCoy and Kirk are seeing two very different versions of the ex-girlfriend.
McCoy sees a younger version, like he remembers, and Kirk is shown the woman he expected to see.
Ah, the additional crewman has a name! It is Darnell. Well, he’s going to die, right? Especially after he sees Nancy looking like a completely different, but young woman, and starts hitting on her in front of McCoy. The doctor does not look pleased.
Kirk sends Darnell outside so McCoy doesn’t kill him and goes to leave too, before his version of Nancy stops him. She called McCoy “Plum” which I will try not to copy too much in this recap and review of The Man Trap.
Nancy leaves McCoy and Kirk behind to go and get “Bob” (Robert), giving poor Darnell a flirty look and waving her hips at him as she walks away. The kid never stood a chance.
I know another pilot episode was made – then scrapped – for this series, but if you were given a second chance like these guys were, this is the opening sequence you would hope you could come up with! Kirk and McCoy immediately have a playful, brash banter with each other, but have very different personalities you want to see more of.
There is a mystery straight away with the seemingly shapeshifting woman that is introduced so well, it is impossible not to continue watching the episode. So, let’s get into it!
Your Sense of Duty is Overwhelming
After the opening scene we see the title sequence for the first time. Along with the epic soundtrack, here are the words of Captain Kirk in this sequence:
“There are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. Its five-year mission, to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilisations, to boldly go where no man has gone before.”
Back on the planet with McCoy and Kirk, Robert Crater enters the room and cuts Kirk off on his introductions:
“The heroic captain and the intrepid doctor cross space to preserve our health. Your sense of duty is overwhelming.”
Robert Crater
It seems they are not unknown to Crater, as he mocks them as “heroic” and “intrepid” – the sarcasm on display is a delight. He tells them to leave.
He tells them that he and his wife just want to be left alone – except they need additional salt, and he sounded pretty desperate for that, with a lot of emphasis on the word “need”.
Crater gives in to their demands to have him medically examined, as is required by Starfleet protocol. During the examination, McCoy mentions that Nancy looks as young as she did twelve years ago, with no gray in her hair, to which Kirk, very kindly, but with some humor, replies, “there is some gray, Bones.”
All three men hear a scream and come running outside to see Nancy screaming over the dead body of Darnell – I told you so. There are weird tentacle patterns over Darnell’s face, like suckers have been all over it.
Kirk questions Nancy and she gives a story about not being able to find Robert, and on her way back she sees Darnell with a Borgia plant in his hand (the one they find in his mouth) and he takes a bite from it.
Kirk calls up to the Enterprise to be beamed up, along with McCoy, and Darnell’s body. Before they leave, Nancy mentions the salt. So, that’s definitely important for some reason.
Vulcan Has No Moon
On board the Enterprise, we meet Uhura and Spock for the first time. We are introduced to Spock’s character, who here can be seen as very confused by Uhura’s “illogical” dislike of the word frequency.
It is revealed he is not human, but an alien species from the planet, Vulcan. Uhura attempts to flirt with Spock, or is at least playing a game with him for her own amusement, and is immediately likable and fun. She asks him (sarcastically) to call her beautiful and tell her about the moon on Vulcan in a fun, flirty tone, to which he responds:
Spock: Vulcan has no moon, Miss Uhura.
Uhura: I’m not surprised, Mr Spock.
They get a call from the transporter room telling them three have been beamed up from the surface, with one crew member (unnamed) dead. Spock gives no indication that he is emotionally affected by the news that implies his friend, Captain Kirk, might be the one who is dead.
Uhura calls him out on this, to which he responds that his knowledge of who is dead does not change the sequence of events that must follow. The transporter room will manage, and will call him if they need him.
It makes sense, to be honest, and despite no play of emotion on his face that might indicate concern for his friend, I wouldn’t expect someone in his position just to rush off, away from responsibilities. His expertise is required on the Bridge in case there are hostile forces incoming, as he doesn’t know why someone is dead, so Uhura’s notion that he might “just sit there” is somehow a bad thing doesn’t make all that sense.
However, this scene does set Uhura up as a character who is willing to tell senior officers when she thinks they might be wrong, which makes for an interesting and strong-willed character. And, when Spock explains himself, she doesn’t berate him, but accepts the decision of a superior on the vessel and goes to her duties, as everyone else has.
Nothing Wrong With the Dead Man
In the medical bay, Spock tells Kirk and McCoy (from his seat on the Bridge) that the Borgia plant is poisonous, but the red mottling on the victim’s skin is not listed as a symptom. McCoy tells Kirk that Darnell shouldn’t even be dead, according to his examinations – he can’t find anything wrong with the man, other than he is dead.
McCoy begins to reveal that when he saw Nancy first, she looked young, but when they found Darnell, she looked older. But Kirk is a bit hot-headed and cuts McCoy off, wanting to know what killed his crewman. If he had been a little more patient, perhaps they would have come to the solution a bit faster.
This scene where Kirk cuts the Doctor off also shows us that despite their banter and friendship, Kirk is very much in charge and well respected. McCoy says nothing but “yes, sir” and gets back to work.
Cause of Death
On the Bridge, Uhura tells Kirk that the base on Corinth IV wants to know what’s keeping the USS Enterprise from delivering their supplies. I can’t help but be pulled out of the story a little by the hilarious comms earphones Uhura and Spock wear, but to be fair, this was 1966.
We learn from Spock that Robert and Nancy, over the past five years, have been sending out large shipments of artifacts and reports. However, over the past year there have been far fewer shipments.
Down in the med bay, McCoy has found something, so Kirk and Spock leave the Bridge to take a look. It turns out there is no trace of sodium chloride (salt) left in Darnell’s, which is his only cause of death.
Kirk makes the link between this strange fact and Nancy and Robert’s request for more salt tablets, so he takes a landing party and beams down to the planet’s surface with some questions.
I Don’t Like Mysteries
Kirk begins his investigations on the planet, ignoring Robert Crater’s insistence that they leave. The Captain can be seen as pretty complex already, with a jovial core to his personality, but when it comes to his role as a commander, he is quick, efficient, and will take no nonsense.
He does not raise his voice if he doesn’t need to though, and uses a stern, commanding tone to get what he wants instead. William Shatner’s excellent performance combined with the dialogue provides the audience with a good picture of who this man is, and we are only 16 minutes into the episode.
Kirk calls up to the ship and tells Spock to arrange quarters for both Robert and Nancy, wishing to bring them aboard while he deals with this mystery.
“…it’s a mystery. And I don’t like mysteries. They give me a bellyache. I got a beauty right now.”
Robert runs away outside and sees another crew member dead (an unnamed surgeon). He calls out immediately for Nancy, confirming what the audience can already guess, which is Nancy is the killer. Robert says he has salt for her, but the camera flicks to her and she doesn’t move, instead hovering over another dead crewmember (Green).
Kirk and McCoy find the dead surgeon and call out for crewman Green. Nancy shapeshifts into Green and joins McCoy and Kirk and they all beam up to the Enterprise (except for Robert Crater, who has disappeared).
Imposter
Back on the Enterprise, Kirk sends McCoy to get some rest and then takes himself to the Bridge. This leaves Nancy – disguised as Green – to do some exploring of the starship and look for some salt.
On the Bridge, Spock tells Kirk he can only get a reading on one person down on the planet. He says it’s probably Crater, but I don’t quite see what made him jump to that conclusion? He does not have all the facts we do about the nature of Nancy.
Nancy/Green is following Janice Rand through the Enterprise, wanting to steal the salt from her food tray. Nancy/Green overhears some of the other crewmen leering over the yeoman – a line that might have been challenged by another character if it had been written in the 21st Century.
Janice takes the food tray to Sulu, who is immediately likable and seems to have an interesting collection of plant life in his quarters. Green follows Janice into Sulu’s room but is scared off when one of the plants screeches at him/her.
The shapeshifter changes again when it sees Uhura come out of a lift and comes very close to killing her, but Kirk calls down just in time, ordering her to the Bridge.
In McCoy’s room, he’s struggling to sleep. Kirk tells him, over the intercom, that there is nothing to report on Nancy yet and tells him to get some sleep.
On the Bridge, Spock says there is no chance anyone else is down there on the planet except Crater, so Kirk and he go to rest too, while the crew triangulate on the professor. As he turns to leave, Kirk says:
“If we yell, I want an armed party down there before the echo dies.”
Kirk
It is lines like this that make you love this character. He anticipates trouble and is in a stressful and difficult situation, but his humor, wit, and commanding voice never falter.
Meanwhile, Nancy finds McCoy’s room and he invites her in immediately. I know she’s an ex-girlfriend, but they must have been pretty damn close for him to trust her sudden apparition onto the ship. Kirk would have said something.
This is one of the reasons we see McCoy and Spock at odds/arguing a lot of the time – McCoy is led a great deal by his emotions, sometimes to the detriment of his safety. Spock, on the other hand, is led mostly by logic, sometimes to the detriment of his relationships.
I’ll Kill to Stay Alone
Sulu and Janice find another dead member of the crew and the first thing they notice are the red blotches on the victim’s face. As Sulu goes to examine the man’s face – for some reason – the very dead victim flinches at his touch. A little nugget they probably didn’t want us to notice! (For anyone interested, this is about 30 minutes into the episode)
In his quarters, McCoy allows himself to be drugged by Nancy and she strokes his face while he nods off to sleep. He is called to the Bridge, so Nancy takes it upon herself to change into him and go to the Bridge herself.
Back on the planet, Kirk and Spock have beamed down to talk to Professor Crater, as they believe only he can have the answers they need to solve the murders. Crater keeps them at bay with a gun, leading them to keep their distance. They find the body of crewman Green, leading them to discover that whoever – or whatever – beamed back on board with them before was not Green, but an imposter.
Kirk tells Sulu (who is on the Bridge) they have an intruder, so everyone is to go back to their quarters. He then goes to get Crater, but the professor shoots at them and they have to find cover.
Back on the Enterprise, Nancy, disguised as McCoy, asks Sulu to fill him in on what they know about the “creature” which surprises Janice, Uhura and Sulu, as they had no indication they were looking for a creature at all.
On the planet, Kirk stuns Crater with his phaser and they get the truth out of the professor. He says his wife was the last of its kind, then goes on to clarify that his wife died one or two years ago, so some kind of creature has been living with him since then – the last of its kind.
Not Dangerous When Fed
Kirk, Spock, Janice, Uhura, Crater, and Nancy disguised as McCoy sit in a meeting room, discussing what they know of the creature. When asked for a medical report, Nancy/McCoy suggests giving the creature what it wants, without trying to trick it.
Crater joins in, saying it is not dangerous when fed and it is only taking other forms to protect itself. The professor admits to being able to recognise the creature, no matter the form it takes, but refuses to do so for Kirk, so Spock recommends truth serum.
Nancy/McCoy is then forced to try and work a way out of this predicament, as it should have control over such a medical procedure. Spock goes with them to the medical bay, clearly not trusting McCoy, and is immediately proven right when he is attacked by the creature.
The creature attacked Spock, Crater took his phaser, then the creature killed Crater for his salt and probably took the phaser too. So much for loyalty.
Move Aside, Bones
The creature – back in the guise of Nancy – wakes Bones and begs him to save her life as Kirk walks in and tells him to move aside. Bones refuses to move aside, not believing Kirk – or not wanting to – but Kirk offers it salt tablets.
As McCoy shouts at Kirk, the tablets are split and the doctor takes his captain’s phaser, allowing the creature to prepare to kill Kirk. Spock runs in and tells McCoy to kill the creature but he refuses to kill her.
Spock then proceeds to batter the face of the smiling creature to prove to McCoy that it isn’t Nancy, and she bats him away like a fly – this final action proves to the Doctor that she isn’t Nancy and her true form is revealed, so he shoots it.
The creature takes Nancy’s form once more, begging McCoy not to kill it, and he asks for forgiveness before taking a final shot, killing the creature. And so ends The Man Trap.
Concluding Thoughts to This Recap & Review of The Man Trap
At the heart of The Man Trap is a story of accepting that all things must die. It shows the desperate attempts Crater, McCoy, and the Creature take to avoid accepting this fact, giving us a story of how grief can twist a good mind if not managed properly.
McCoy refused to save Kirk because he refused to believe Nancy was dead. Crater allowed the creature to kill because it made him feel like he was not alone, like his wife had not died. And the creature mourned the death of its people and refused to die like the rest of its kind, but as the last one, on a planet with no salt, it would surely die.
Now, the creature could have reached out for help from Starfleet through Crater, and I am sure they would have done. But perhaps the creature feared it might be experimented on, or its desperate need for salt removed any logical thinking from its brain?
Whatever the reason behind the course of action the creature chose, this ending was tragic for all closely involved.
The Man Trap was a fantastic first episode and set the tone of the series and gave us the basic characterisation of the main cast we will come to love. The Man Trap is such a special moment in Star Trek history and should be watched by all fans of the franchise, especially if you enjoy the latest shows but have never gone back to where it all began.
