The Man Trap (TOS episode)
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| Star Trek: TOS episode | |
| "The Man Trap" | |
 The M-113 Creature, disguised as Nancy, attacks Kirk, "The Man Trap". |
|
| Episode no. | 1 |
|---|---|
| Prod. code | 6149-006 |
| Airdate | September 08, 1966 |
| Writer(s) | George Clayton Johnson |
| Director | Marc Daniels |
| Guest star(s) | Jeanne Bal Grace Lee Whitney Sharon Gimpel Alfred Ryder Michael Zaslow Bruce Watson (actor) John Arndt (actor) Larry Anthony (actor) Vince Howard Francine Pyne Sharon Gimpel Eddie Paskey William Blackburn Frank da Vinci Garrison True Bob Baker (actor) Budd Albright Jeannie Shepard |
| Year | 2266 |
| Stardate | 1513.1 |
| Episode chronology | |
| Previous | "The Cage" |
| Next | "Charlie X" |
"The Man Trap" was the first episode of Star Trek: The Original Series to air on NBC. It is episode #6, and was broadcast on Thursday, September 8, 1966 as a special preview a week prior to the official beginning of the '67 TV series. It was written by George Clayton Johnson, and directed by Marc Daniels.
Although it was first aired, it was not the first produced (the pilot "Where No Man Has Gone Before" and several regular episodes had been produced before it). The current official timeline considers "Where No Man Has Gone Before" to be set first.
Quick overview: A shapeshifting, salt-hungry creature terrorizes the crew of the Enterprise.
On stardate 1513.1, the Federation Starship USS Enterprise, under the command of Captain James T. Kirk, arrives at the planet M113 and sends down a landing party to check up on scientist Dr. Bob Crater and his wife Nancy, who have been living alone on the planet for five years. Nancy also happens to be an old flame of Dr. McCoy.
Without realizing it, each member of the landing party sees Nancy differently. In fact, each sees her as their vision of the "perfect woman". Crewman Darnell sees a voluptuous blonde (like one he says he met on Wrigley's Pleasure Planet), McCoy sees the attractive woman of 25 who was his girlfriend, and Captain Kirk sees an older woman with more mature qualities.
The couple appears to be in good health; however, Dr. Crater wants to cut the visit short and appears to rush things along to get rid of the landing party as soon as possible. He also requests, before their departure, that they give him additional supplies of salt from the ship's stores.
Soon thereafter, Crewman Darnell wanders off to speak with Nancy alone; however, when he fails to report back, the landing party searches for him and discovers his lifeless body nearby. Darnell's skin is a pale white and his face is covered with a strange ring-shaped mottling. Dr. McCoy discovers a plantlike substance in his mouth and determines it to be a plant similar to deadly nightshade containing an alkaloid poison. When Nancy is confronted about what happened, she says she saw Darnell eating the plant and tried to stop him but it was too late. Oddly enough, Darnell's body doesn't show any sign of such poisoning and McCoy discovers the body is devoid of salt.
Kirk orders additional security to come down to the planet and begin an investigation. Crewmen Sturgeon and Green are beamed down, but are soon killed off. Sturgeon's body is discovered drained of salt, however the creature that kills him assumes the form of Green. It resumes Green's duties, transporting aboard the Enterprise with Kirk and Bones who are really the only remaining survivors of the landing party.
Once aboard, "Green" makes his rounds, first wandering into Lt. Sulu's botanical laboratory after observing a lunch tray with a salt shaker being brought in. The creature becomes startled and runs away when Sulu's pet plant begins shrieking at him. Green then transforms into a handsome Swahili man and attempts to seduce Lt. Uhura. Fortunately for Uhura, the man's advances are interrupted by a call to the bridge.
Later, while scanning the M113 planet, Mr. Spock reveals that there is only one lifeform on the planet; that being Dr. Crater. It is believed Nancy must have somehow beamed aboard the Enterprise and Kirk orders a search for her. While the search begins, the creature manages to kill another crew member, then pays a visit to Dr. McCoy and morphs back into Nancy. She charms McCoy and then puts him to sleep using his own sleeping pills. After McCoy is out, Nancy takes on his appearance.
Kirk and Spock beam down to the planet to question Dr. Crater and discover Crewman Green's body. They drill Crater about what is going on and Crater confesses that his real wife was killed by the last indigenous creature of the planet. The being has shapeshifting capabilities, and an incredible hunger for salt, killing anything to get it.
Kirk beams back up to the Enterprise along with Dr. Crater who immediately sees the shapeshifted McCoy for what he really is. Crater doesn't reveal this however, and the creature repays Crater's loyalty by killing him. The creature then attacks Mr. Spock, but owing to Spock's unique Vulcan physiology, he manages to survive the attack with minimal injury.
McCoy reawakens and finds the creature has retaken Nancy's form while everyone else sees it for what it really is: a large horrific monstrous creature with green flaky skin and a large elliptical mouth. Still seeing her as Nancy, McCoy prevents Captain Kirk from trying to kill the creature and watches idly while it begins to suck the salt from Kirk's body. Spock returns and frees Kirk from the creature and tries to convince McCoy that Nancy is not what she seems. Spock punches the creature solidly, but it knocks him across the room. As the being tries to kill Kirk again, its true form is revealed to McCoy who kills it with a phaser.
[edit] Trivia
- The Salt Creature is one of two alien races the crew encounters that is the last of its kind.
- During this episode, Mr. Spock indicates his home planet of Vulcan has no moon.
- Many fans have adopted David Gerrold's satiric nickname for this episode, "The Incredible Salt Vampire".
- It is believed that this episode was chosen to air first because it offered the best glimpse into several of the main characters (e.g., McCoy's past, Spock's home planet, Sulu's interest in botany) of any of the episodes filmed at that time.
- The episode received an unauthorised Turkish remake called Turist Ömer Uzay Yolunda. [1]
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- "The Man Trap" article at Memory Alpha, the Star Trek wiki.
- Five-Minute The Man Trap — Parody version
| Last produced: "The Enemy Within" |
Star Trek: TOS episodes Season 1 |
Next produced: "The Naked Time" |
| Last transmitted: first episode transmitted |
Next transmitted: "Charlie X" |
