The success of modern Star Trek series, as well as 80s movies, caused Star Trek to become more known among viewers for the geopolitical disputes in the alpha quadrant between Cardassians, humans (and their allies), Klingons, and Romulans, but the sci-fi saga was born, above all, with the spirit of taking us to new and strange worlds, and in that goal one of the best episodes is undoubtedly “The Devil in the Dark” from TOS.
Available for viewing through Netflix, this episode premiered in 1967 started with a premise that could initially make us think of Aliens: The Return. In it, a Federation mining colony is being attacked by a mysterious alien being that they cannot identify, but has taken the lives of fifty people. To hunt it down, Kirk and Spock’s Enterprise is sent to the location, but this will not be a simple tale of horror and action.
Learning not to fear the unknown
Unlike in other similar productions, in this Star Trek episode we didn’t learn to fear the unknown, but to try to understand it. The creature that was killing the inhabitants of the installation was not a monster, but a misunderstood being, a mother who the colonists, thinking they were only seeing rock, had almost wiped out its entire future offspring. Kirk quickly understood this upon seeing the mother, and avoided committing a terrible act, not without silencing angry mobs eager for revenge.
The Devil in the Dark is a perfect example not only of presenting sci-fi creatures, the “Horta,” as it was named, was a living being based on silicon; but also of imagining an optimistic future for ourselves where we have abandoned intolerance in favor of understanding. That’s why Leonard Nimoy cited this episode of The Original Series as his favorite Star Trek episode. He said it in a History Channel documentary.
“I think it was a wonderful episode about the fear of the unknown, about how we fear and even hate something we know nothing about. The message is to learn who your enemy is and maybe it will stop being your enemy.” 50 Years of Star Trek
Rod Roddenberry, son of Gene Roddenberry, and producer of several of his later series, claimed to be impacted as soon as he saw it: “I was impressed by the antagonist, a rock monster, which turned out to be just misunderstood, a mother protecting her young and the humans, unknowingly, were killing her children. I loved the twist, putting us as the devil in the dark.”
Spielberg suggested an Alien movie like this episode
At only 50 minutes long, and despite the “Horta” aging poorly, The Devil in the Dark is still very watchable over half a century after its television debut. It has well-written and easy-to-understand dialogues, so if you have an hour free this week, don’t hesitate to take a look. By the way, did you know that Steven Spielberg gave James Cameron an idea for Aliens that suspiciously resembled the premise of this episode?
In 3DJuegos | Why are almost all races in Star Trek humanoid?
In 3DJuegos | He ended up so frustrated with Star Trek that he went on to make the best sci-fi series of the 21st century (for many), Battlestar Galactica
