Day of the Dove

Plot

The Federation starship USS Enterprise responds to a distress call from a human colony on Beta XII-A, but on arrival finds no signs of any type of inhabited settlement. A landing party, including Captain Kirk and Ensign Chekov, beams down to investigate further. A few moments later, they are found and surrounded by Klingons who have transported to the surface from their own orbiting vessel. Commander Kang accuses the Enterprise crew of firing upon their vessel and demands that they surrender immediately. Suddenly, Chekov makes a move to attack the Klingons, claiming that they had killed his brother Piotr. Kang's men subdue him and use an agonizer device to torture him, forcing Kirk to agree to surrender. However, upon contacting the ship, Kirk surreptitiously warns First Officer Spock after asking to be beamed up. Spock uses the transporter to materialize the Enterprise crewmen first, followed by the Klingons, who have been brought aboard without their weapons. Kang surrenders and he and the other Klingons are escorted to secure quarters on the ship.

Meanwhile, a glowing entity composed of pure energy, which had initially emerged on the planet below, enters the Enterprise undetected and interfaces with its controls. The ship lurches into warp at maximum speed headed for the edge of the galaxy. With the crew panicked, the entity then causes various bulkheads on the ship to open and close, using the element of chance to isolate small groups of the crew and the Klingons in close quarters. With tempers high - and spurred on by the sudden materialization of swords and other combat weapons - they begin to fight. Spock soon discovers the presence of the entity, apparently feeding off the desperate, violent emotions which are surfacing. When informed by Lt. Sulu that Chekov never had a brother and is an only child, Kirk realizes that the entity is capable of implanting false memories in order to trigger aggression. Kirk and Spock try to calm the crew's escalating furor to no avail. Kirk believes that if he can get to Kang, the Klingon commander can help stop his crew from fighting and help return the ship to a normal state.

Kirk and Spock work their way through the animosity aboard the ship and happen upon Mara, Kang's wife, who has been cornered by a now lustful Chekov, still seeking his revenge. Kirk sees that Mara's clothing has been torn and promptly knocks Chekov out. Mara thanks Kirk for his help and is initially wary of his plan, but agrees to lead him to Kang. In Engineering, Kang distrusts Kirk's explanation of the entity despite Mara's assurance, and believing she was assaulted, challenges Kirk to a sword duel. As they clash, and with the entity hovering and pulsating a bright red nearby, Kirk implores Kang to stop, telling him that they may become its puppets for a thousand lifetimes if they continue to fight. Kang acknowledges Kirk's warning and the fact that their fighting is pointless. Kang lays down his weapon, commanding the other Klingons to do so as well. To stave off the entity, Kirk and Kang encourage their crews to act jovially and to laugh with one another loudly; the entity dissipates in silence, disengages from the computers and leaves the ship. The Enterprise regains control and sets course to return the Klingons to their space.

40th Anniversary remastering

This episode was remastered in 2006 and aired January 5, 2008, as part of the remastered Original Series. It was preceded three weeks earlier by the remastered version of "A Taste of Armageddon" and followed a week later by the remastered version of "Who Mourns for Adonais?". Aside from remastered video and audio, and the all-CGI animation of the USS Enterprise that is standard among the revisions, specific changes to this episode also include:

Reception

Zack Handlen of The A.V. Club gave the episode a 'B-' rating, describing it as having potential, but being hampered by a script that fails to act on that.