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The Man Trap (episode)

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A shape-shifting, salt-craving creature terrorizes the crew of Enterprise . ( Series premiere )

  • 1.2 Act One
  • 1.3 Act Two
  • 1.4 Act Three
  • 1.5 Act Four
  • 2 Log entries
  • 3 Memorable quotes
  • 4.1 Production timeline
  • 4.2 Script and story
  • 4.3 Credits
  • 4.5 Costumes
  • 4.6 Visual and sound effects
  • 4.7 Production
  • 4.8 Continuity
  • 4.9 Preview
  • 4.10 Broadcast
  • 4.11 Syndication
  • 4.12 Reception
  • 4.13 Apocrypha
  • 4.14 Video and DVD releases
  • 5.1 Starring
  • 5.2 Co-starring
  • 5.3 Guest star
  • 5.4 Featuring
  • 5.5 Uncredited co-stars
  • 5.6 Stand-ins
  • 5.7.1 Unused references
  • 5.8 External links

Summary [ ]

M-113

Orbiting the planet

In 2266 , the USS Enterprise , in the service of Starfleet of the United Federation of Planets , arrives at the planet M-113 to provide supplies and routine medical exams to Doctor Robert Crater and his wife, Nancy , with whom their Crewman Doctor Leonard McCoy was once romantically involved. M-113 has supposedly been home to the Craters for five years, during which time they have conducted an archaeological survey of the planet's ruins. They are the only known inhabitants of the planet.

Captain Kirk , Dr. McCoy, and Darnell beam down to the planet and meet Dr. Crater and, apparently, Nancy Crater, but each of the landing party sees a different woman. McCoy, who says he is amazed at how little Nancy has changed since the last time he last saw her, sees the Nancy he knew twelve years before. Kirk sees a woman similar to the woman McCoy sees, but more appropriately aged. Darnell sees a completely different, younger blond woman who looks exactly like someone he met before on Wrigley's pleasure planet . When he mentions this, "Nancy" doesn't seem to mind, but Kirk and (especially) McCoy find this an offensive remark and ask the crewman to step outside. Minutes later, "Nancy" leaves and still looks (to Darnell) like a beautiful blonde woman, and he is lured away by this seductive version of Nancy Crater.

Act One [ ]

Dr. Crater then arrives, treating Kirk and McCoy with hostility, telling Kirk that the only thing they need are salt tablets. Otherwise, he and his wife want to be left alone. Kirk debates this, insisting they must need other supplies and that regulations require that McCoy give them physicals at a yearly interval. After Crater realizes that McCoy is the same man he heard his wife mention, his demeanor takes a turn for the better. During the physical, a woman's scream is heard from outside.

When Kirk goes to investigate, he finds Darnell dead, with "Nancy" standing over him. Darnell's face is scarred with circular marks. "Nancy", appearing very distraught, claims she saw him put a poisonous plant called a borgia in his mouth, but was unable to rescue him in time.

Uhura unsuccessfully chats with Spock

Uhura tries to elicit conversation from Spock

On the bridge, a bored and somewhat flirty Communications Officer Lieutenant Uhura is attempting to engage Commander Spock in conversation while he sits in the Enterprise 's command chair , to no avail, due to Spock's half- Vulcan heritage causing a lack of a sense of humor. Kirk and McCoy beam back up. When the transporter room reports that one of the party is dead, Spock, who is still talking to Uhura, unemotionally responds, " Bridge acknowledging. " This causes Uhura to express wonder that Spock did not even ask who among the party had died, as it could have been Captain Kirk, whom Uhura notes is the closest thing he has to a friend. Spock replies that showing concern would not change the outcome of the event and implies that therefore doing so would be meaningless.

Aboard the Enterprise , McCoy determines that Darnell was not poisoned, and in fact McCoy can find nothing wrong with him at all. When McCoy recalls that Nancy looked younger to him and notes that he could have been looking at her through a romantic haze, Kirk snaps, " How your lost love affects your vision, Doctor, doesn't interest me. I've lost a man. I want to know what killed him. "

Act Two [ ]

Later, McCoy discovers that Darnell's body has been completely drained of salt.

Kirk, McCoy, and two crewmen beam back down to the planet to investigate further, and Kirk insists that Dr. Crater and his wife beam up to the Enterprise until the investigation is complete. Abruptly Dr. Crater runs off to find "Nancy". Sturgeon , one of the crewmen who beamed down with Kirk and McCoy, is found dead. The other, Green , is also killed by "Nancy" and then "Nancy" transforms into Green.

Kirk and McCoy question "Green", and then the three beam up to the Enterprise .

The being Kirk and McCoy saw as Nancy Crater, and later Green, is a shape-shifting creature , the last surviving native of M-113, and can literally appear as a different being to each person it meets. By reaching into their minds and drawing on their memories, the creature can lull potential victims into a false sense of security, and hypnotize them, before killing them. Still in the image of Green, the creature follows Yeoman Janice Rand (who is carrying a tray of food, including a salt shaker) into a botanical laboratory where Lieutenant Hikaru Sulu greets Green by name. "Green" says nothing, which Rand finds curious. Eventually, "Green" exits without harming anyone, revealing the deception, or getting any salt.

Loose aboard the Enterprise , the M-113 creature still disguised as Green, bites his knuckle nervously, an idiosyncratic gesture "Nancy" had done earlier. When Uhura appears, the creature assumes a new form, one Uhura regards with curiosity and a sense of familiarity. When "he" begins speaking in Swahili , Uhura is delighted and responds in the same language. But then her smile fades as the creature apparently causes her to "freeze", to the point which she is unable to respond to hails for her to return to the bridge. It is only the appearance of Sulu and Rand leaving the botanical laboratory that saves Uhura from being the next victim. She comes to her senses and acknowledges through an intercom panel that she is on her way to the bridge. But soon another victim, Crewman Barnhart , is found dead by Sulu and Rand on the Enterprise , with the same distinctive markings on his face. Kirk now knows that whatever killed Darnell and Sturgeon on the surface has now killed again – on board the Enterprise .

Act Three [ ]

Kirk and Spock beam down to the planet to capture Professor Crater. While Kirk tries to reason with Crater, who is armed with a laser pistol , Spock finds the real Green's body. Kirk calls up to the Enterprise with his communicator and orders general quarters condition three, and has Sulu begin the search for "Green". Crater does not want to be captured and fires his laser pistol at Kirk and Spock, hitting and partially destroying one of the ancient archeological structures. Kirk and Spock set their phasers for stun. Spock then distracts Crater and Kirk fires a red bolt from his phaser and stuns Crater. Kirk and Spock question Crater about the creature. After Kirk inquires about Nancy, Crater says that she has been dead for a year, maybe two. He also describes the M-113 creature, comparing it to the buffalo on the planet Earth : once they were so plentiful, a herd covered three states, but no longer. The problem facing the M-113 creature is the need for sodium chloride – salt. The creature will die without salt. The rest of its race died due to this shortage, and now "Nancy" is the last of its kind.

Act Four [ ]

In the Enterprise 's briefing room, Kirk holds a conference with department heads and Professor Crater. The M-113 creature appears at this meeting as McCoy, whom the creature knows is asleep in his quarters. It is during this meeting that Crater reveals that he and the last surviving creature have formed a symbiotic relationship. Crater provides the M-113 creature with the needed salt and, in turn, the creature gives the professor companionship… something Crater has craved since the creature murdered his wife, the real Nancy Crater, for her salt. Crater also admits that he can recognize the creature in any guise--but does not reveal that the creature is presently sitting right next to him, in the appearance of Dr. McCoy. When Crater refuses to assist in the capture of the creature, Spock suggests a truth serum , and the captain asks "McCoy" about it. "McCoy" reluctantly agrees, and it (the creature) leaves with Crater. Spock volunteers to accompany them.

Kirk McCoy & Nancy

Kirk, McCoy, and the M-113 creature, posing as Nancy Crater

Finally, the creature kills Crater in sickbay and attacks Spock. Fortunately Vulcan physiology makes him an unappetizing victim for the creature (as Spock explains to the captain from sickbay). Now desperate, the creature, now once again appearing as (age-appropriate) Nancy, returns to McCoy's quarters, begging him to defend it (her) from Kirk and Spock, who have figured out the creature's secret. Kirk appears, with salt tablets in one hand and a phaser in the other, and tries to convince the doctor to stand clear: this is not the real Nancy. Even when the creature overpowers Kirk, and McCoy is standing dumbstruck at the turn of events, the doctor still cannot bring himself to shoot what appears to be the woman he once loved. Spock arrives, sees Kirk in distress, and immediately urges McCoy to shoot, but the doctor refuses. After a brief but unsuccessful struggle to take the phaser away, Spock repeatedly and violently strikes "Nancy", in an effort to convince McCoy that this is not Nancy. The creature, who is apparently not affected at all by Spock's blows, strikes the Vulcan, knocking him across the room. Then the creature reverts to its natural form, placing its hands on Kirk's face. Kirk cries out, and finally, in an emotionally painful move, McCoy kills the creature with a phaser blast, saving Kirk and the Enterprise crew. Afterwards, the Enterprise departs its orbit of M-113. Spock notices a solemn-looking Kirk in his captain's chair and asks what is wrong. Kirk solemnly replies " I was thinking about the buffalo, Mr. Spock. " The Enterprise departs M-113.

Log entries [ ]

  • Captain's log, USS Enterprise (NCC-1701), 2266

Memorable quotes [ ]

" Go away. We don't want you. " " What you want is unimportant right now. What you will get is what is required by the book."

" Mr. Spock, sometimes I think if I hear that word frequency once more, I'll cry. "

" Tell me how your planet Vulcan looks on a lazy evening when the moon is full. " " Vulcan has no moon, Miss Uhura. " " I'm not surprised, Mr. Spock. "

" This man shouldn't be dead. I can't find anything wrong with him. According to all the tests, he should get up and just walk away from here. "

" Message, Captain. Starship Base on Corinth IV requests explanation of our delay here, sir. Base Commander Dominguez says we have supplies he urgently needs. " " Tell José he'll get his chili peppers when we get there. Tell him they're prime Mexican Reds, I hand picked them myself. But he won't die if he goes a few more days without them. "

" Mr. Spock, outfit a landing party. We're beaming down with some questions. "

" But it's a mystery. And I don't like mysteries. They give me a bellyache. And I've got a beauty right now. "

" You could learn something from Mr. Spock, Doctor. Stop thinking with your glands! "

" Why don't you go chase an asteroid? "

" Hey, how'd you like to have her as your own personal yeoman? "

" May the great bird of the galaxy bless your planet. "

" Why do people have to call inanimate objects she ? "

" You been nipping Saurian brandy or something? "

" What's the matter? Can't you sleep? " " No. " " Try taking one of those red pills you gave me last week. You'll sleep. "

" Keep a tight fix on us. If we let out a yell, I want an armed party down there before the echo dies. "

" This thing becomes wife, lover, best friend, wise man, fool, idol, slave. It isn't a bad life to have everyone in the universe at your beck and call! And you win all the arguments! "

" Fortunately, my ancestors spawned in another ocean than yours did. My blood cells are quite different. "

" We don't want you here! We're happy alone! I'll kill to stay alone! You hear that, Kirk? Or you'll have to kill me ! I don't care either way! "

" Lord, forgive me. "

" Something wrong, Captain? " " I was thinking about the buffalo, Mr. Spock. "

Background information [ ]

Production timeline [ ].

  • Story outline "The Man Trap" by Lee Erwin : 7 April 1966
  • Revised story outline by Erwin: 15 April 1966
  • First draft teleplay "Damsel with a Dulcimer" by George Clayton Johnson : 23 May 1966
  • Second draft teleplay: 31 May 1966
  • Revised second draft teleplay "The Man Trap": 8 June 1966
  • Revised teleplay by John D.F. Black : 13 June 1966
  • Final draft teleplay by Gene Roddenberry : 16 June 1966
  • Additional revisions: 17 June 1966 , 20 June 1966 , 21 June 1966
  • Day 1 – 22 June 1966 , Wednesday (Half Day) – Desilu Stage 9 : Int. Bridge
  • Day 2 – 23 June 1966 , Thursday – Desilu Stage 9 : Int. Bridge
  • Day 3 – 24 June 1966 , Friday – Desilu Stage 9 : Int. Corridors , McCoy's quarters
  • Day 4 – 27 June 1966 , Monday – Desilu Stage 9 : Int. Botany section (redress of Sickbay), Briefing room , Sickbay
  • Day 5 – 28 June 1966 , Tuesday – Desilu Stage 10 : Int. Craters' dwelling
  • Day 6 – 29 June 1966 , Wednesday – Desilu Stage 10 : Ext. M-113 surface
  • Day 7 – 30 June 1966 , Thursday (Half Day) – Desilu Stage 10 : Ext. M-113 surface
  • Score recording: 19 August 1966
  • Original airdate: 6 September 1966 , by Canadian network CTV , and actually constitutes the worldwide premiere of Star Trek
  • First US airdate: 8 September 1966
  • First UK airdate (on BBC1 ): 4 October 1969
  • First UK airdate (on ITV ): 6 September 1981

Script and story [ ]

  • The first draft of this episode's script was completed on 13 June 1966 , and the final draft three days later . In The Star Trek Interview Book , p. 136-137, author George Clayton Johnson recalled that story editor John D.F. Black 's only major objection to his first draft was that the M-113 creature did not arrive aboard the Enterprise until the third act. Black argued that the crew had to be put in jeopardy sooner, and so Johnson revised the script accordingly.
  • An early title for this episode was "Damsel with a Dulcimer." In the original story outline, Professor Crater was, at one point, supposed to drive a futuristic tractor around the archaeological site.
  • In Johnson and Black's script version of 13 June 1966 , the moral dilemma of killing 'the last of its kind' had been more pronounced, with the creature, disguised as McCoy, trying to reason with the crew. Also in that version, Professor Crater lives in the end, mourning the loss of the creature. Gene Roddenberry's rewrite for the final draft toned down the emotional aspects of the McCoy relationship in favor of a more straightforward plot: as a cornered animal, the salt creature panics and actually kills its longtime companion, Professor Crater. ( These Are the Voyages: TOS Season One , 1st. ed., pp. 169-170)
  • Johnson's original draft lacked much of a presence of Spock; actually, it was Scotty who accompanied Kirk to catch Crater – which was also changed by Roddenberry. ( These Are the Voyages: TOS Season One , 1st ed., p. 170)
  • Sulu's botanical collection was much more lavish in Johnson's original script, including a plant resembling the face of a Chinese dog, etc. This was eliminated for budgetary reasons, Beauregard remaining the only moving "exotic plant". ( These Are the Voyages: TOS Season One , 1st ed., p. 168)
  • It was Roddenberry's idea to have the creature, in its illusory form, speak Swahili to Uhura. Kellam de Forest supplied him with the translation. In English, the illusory crewman says " How are you, friend? I think of you, beautiful lady. You should never know loneliness ." ( These Are the Voyages: TOS Season One , 1st ed., p. 170)
  • The episode was novelized by James Blish under the original scripted name "The Unreal McCoy" in the first Star Trek adaptation collection , released in the US by Bantam Books in January 1967 .
  • Blish changed some of the names in his novelization, possibly working from an earlier script draft. The planet is called Regulus VIII, and the archaeologists are Robert and Nancy Bierce.
  • "The Man Trap" was the first Star Trek episode to air, on 8 September 1966 . As Robert H. Justman and Herbert F. Solow recount in their book Inside Star Trek: The Real Story (pp. 163-164), the decision to broadcast this entry before any other of the few completed episodes was, largely, a process of elimination. Although it had good special effects and demonstrated the series' intelligent approach to alien life forms, " The Corbomite Maneuver " was not chosen because its completion was delayed by the post-production process. Moreover, virtually all of its action took place aboard the Enterprise . The latter drawback also weighed against " Charlie X ", which was further deemed "too gentle" a tale because it dealt with the problems of an adolescent. " Mudd's Women " was out of the running because it was questionable to lead off the Star Trek franchise with a risqué story about selling women to miners in space. The second pilot, " Where No Man Has Gone Before ", was considered too "expository" in terms of its background to be broadcast so early. Justman actually favored " The Naked Time " because he thought it would provide an ideal introduction to the different characters' personalities. "The Man Trap" won out because its straightforward action plot was not considered too exotic, it had the advantage of a monster to thrill the viewers, and it fulfilled the series' "strange new worlds" concept.
  • As the very first episode aired by NBC on 8 September 1966, "The Man Trap" was also the premiere for Star Trek as a whole. Yet, it was not NBC who could boast the world premiere of Star Trek , but rather the Canadian network CTV, which had actually aired "The Man Trap" two days earlier. [1] [2]

Credits [ ]

  • As the first episode actually telecast, the opening credits are slightly different from most other first season shows. Gene Roddenberry has "created by" credits and there is no "starring" before William Shatner 's name. This version of the credits was used only once more, in " Charlie X ".
  • In this episode, Garrison True and Larry Anthony both speak several on-screen lines, yet are not listed in the closing credits.
  • In the first season, directors and writers were not credited until the very end of each episode, while they are credited right after the title of each episode beginning in season two.
  • The very first Enterprise crew members whom the television audience saw in this premiere episode were Spock , Uhura , and Leslie , sitting in the command module on the bridge (which is, in fact, a recycled shot from " The Naked Time ").
  • James Doohan ( Montgomery Scott ) does not appear in this episode, but he is briefly heard on Kirk's communicator in dialogue lifted from another episode.

Costumes [ ]

  • The costume of the M-113 creature was designed by Wah Chang . Chang used a modified gas mask as the creature's mouth. The costume later appeared, displayed on the wall of Trelane 's drawing room in " The Squire of Gothos ". Later, the "creature" found a new home in Justman's office, along with the two Gorn suits from " Arena " and the "frozen" mannequin from " The Naked Time ". ( Inside Star Trek: The Real Story , p. 215)
  • The suit worn by Barnhart previously appeared in The Outer Limits episode "The Production and Decay of Strange Particles" (guest-starring Leonard Nimoy ), even down to the numbers seen on the suit. [3] The same suit can be seen worn by an extra in the corridor scenes in " The Corbomite Maneuver ". There were several other alien creature costume holdovers from The Outer Limits that would appear in Star Trek , most notably creatures, created by Janos Prohaska , modified to create creatures seen in the Talos IV zoo in " The Cage " and the Horta in " The Devil in the Dark ".
  • For the first time on camera, Uhura wears a red uniform, instead of a gold one, from the earlier filmed episodes, "The Corbomite Maneuver" and "Mudd's Women".
  • A female crewmember wearing pants can be seen on a corridor. "Charlie X" is the last episode featuring a crew woman wearing pants.
  • In one of the red alert scenes on an Enterprise corridor, the crewmen are wearing turtleneck uniforms . It is a recycled (originally unused) shot from " Where No Man Has Gone Before ". (It can be seen at the beginning of Act One, in the original, pre-broadcast version of the second pilot.)

Visual and sound effects [ ]

  • The visual of the planet M-113 from orbit was reused footage previously representing planet Alfa 177 in " The Enemy Within ", though this episode aired first. This planet effect was reused again many times during the original series.
  • When Nancy Crater first walks into the dig headquarters, Nichelle Nichols ' singing from " Charlie X " was briefly dubbed in as Crater's voice. ( citation needed • edit )
  • In early episodes like this one, there are up and down indicators that light up outside the turbolifts. Although they are seen in subsequent episodes, only in the earliest ones do they actually light up to indicate direction of travel. Elevator indicator lights later show up in engineering above one of the consoles.
  • The bridge sound effects still retain sounds from the two pilots. By the time Roddenberry left as producer, those original sounds were not heard again, with the brief exceptions of being heard while on the bridges of the Exeter and the Lexington . The DVD releases, however, have overlaid these older sound effects in every episode. They are presented as "rear channel" sounds which gives the episodes a "surround sound" effect.
  • A unique phaser ricochet sound effect was used when Crater was stunned by a phaser shot, the only time this effect was ever used in the original series. Alfred Ryder 's voice then slows down, representing the stun effect.
  • In a Desilu Inter-Department Communication from Bob Justman to Bernard A. Widin , dated 3 November 1966 , it was noted that the music score cost for this episode was an exorbitant $9,029.63.

Production [ ]

Shooting The Man Trap

A moment from this episode's filming

  • Just prior to filming "The Man Trap", Alfred Ryder ( Robert Crater ) suffered a severe arm injury. Despite the pain, he performed his role without a complaint. ( Star Trek Encyclopedia  (2nd ed., p. 90))
  • The original version of " Where No Man Has Gone Before " has a couple additional corridor shots later edited for the aired version. One of those shots is recycled for this episode when the "General Quarters 3" order is given and cuts off before Gary Mitchell enters the shot.
  • Although this episode was filmed before " The Naked Time " stock footage from that episode is used for the bridge scene at the very beginning. Kirk's run down the corridor to the sickbay is also recycled footage from "The Naked Time" as is a reaction shot of Kirk when Spock is telling him about the borgia plant on the sickbay video display interface.
  • Recycled footage from " What Are Little Girls Made Of? " with Spock seated in the captain's chair is used for the same bridge scene at the beginning.
  • The shot of the computer monitor in sickbay, then in McCoy's quarters is the same shot, is recycled from " The Corbomite Maneuver " (with the close-ups of Kirk and Spock matted in during post-production).
  • This is the only segment of Star Trek in which McCoy's quarters appear. A pan and cut along a blank wall allowed two McCoys to appear in the same room. The three cylindrical containers on the shelf in McCoy's room were previously seen on Ben Childress 's table in " Mudd's Women ". These cylindrical containers later appear in the large lighted shelf display area in McCoy's lab.
  • The ship's arboretum is a redress of the sickbay set. ( The Longest Trek: My Tour of the Galaxy , p. 96)
  • Professor Crater's weapon is the MK. 2 version laser pistol seen in only two other episodes; "Where No Man has Gone Before" and "What Are Little Girls Made Of?"
  • The statue near the entrance of the Crater home can later be seen in Spock 's quarters in " Amok Time " and subsequent episodes.
  • The opening and closing theme music composed and arranged by Alexander Courage, utilizing an electric violin, was used for the first nine originally aired episodes. This music was actually recorded during the scoring sessions for "The Man Trap". On home video and syndication versions, note that only " Where No Man Has Gone Before " is correct and contains the original aired end credit music. The next eight, first season episodes, in sequence, video released versions of these first season episodes, incorrectly, substitute the Fred Steiner arranged "cello" end theme music. This music was recorded during "The Man Trap" as the score for " The Corbomite Maneuver ", " Balance of Terror ", and " What Are Little Girls Made Of? " ( These Are the Voyages: TOS Season One , 1st ed, p. 175).

Continuity [ ]

  • Several early episodes of Season 1, beginning with this one, have Uhura flirting with Spock. Although no relationship between them developed during the course of TOS or the "Prime universe" films, the 2009 Star Trek film , set in the Alternate reality established a relationship between them that predated Kirk's assignment to the Enterprise .
  • Uhura's seeming unfamiliarity with Spock was retroactively contradicted by Star Trek: Strange New Worlds establishing they previously served together under Christopher Pike .
  • In this 1966 episode, Spock states in his typical matter-of-fact delivery that Vulcan has no moon, but several stories beginning with the 1973 episode TAS : " Yesteryear " would apparently contradict this assertion by depicting a large body visible in the sky from the ground on Vulcan. Based on an idea by D.C. Fontana , a 1975 fanzine story would resolve this discrepancy by explaining Vulcan to have a sister planet, T'Khut (somewhat comparable to Pluto and Charon); this binary pair status would be picked up by several licensed novels and eventually be canonized by a computer graphic visible in the 2023 episode SNW : " Charades ".

Preview [ ]

  • The preview contains a captain's log recorded solely for the preview: " Captain's log, stardate 1324.1. On Planet M-113 we encounter a killer from a lost world. " Interestingly, the stardate is significantly different from those used in the episode.

Broadcast [ ]

  • September 8, 1966, is usually given as the first broadcast date for Star Trek . However, this episode aired in Canada on the CTV network on September 6, 1966, two days before it aired on NBC in the United States, making Canada the first place that Star Trek was ever broadcast. (See, e.g., Montreal Gazette , Sept. 6, 1966, p. 36. ) At the time, Canadian stations often aired TV programs earlier than American stations did ("pre-release"); since Canadian viewers could often pick up American transmissions directly, this avoided competing with the American stations for viewers and advertising revenue. [4] (X)
  • When first screened in the United Kingdom in 1969, the BBC partially edited the episode, removing much of Spock attacking Nancy during the climax and Kirk's screaming. The cuts remained until the 1992-94 repeat run. [5]

Syndication [ ]

  • During the syndication run of Star Trek , no syndication cuts were made to this episode.

Reception [ ]

  • Variety published a quite negative review of Star Trek on 14 September 1966 issue based on the episode "The Man Trap," stating the series "won't work." The reviewer said Star Trek is "dreary and confusing," stating that it would be "better suited to the Saturday morning kidvid bloc," and surprised the show actually made it to television; concluding the leading performers were trying to appear credible. ( The Star Trek Compendium , p. 31)
  • TV Guide also printed a negative review of the series in its 10 September Fall Premiere issue, stating that "the sky's not the limit for this Trek ." ( The Star Trek Compendium , p. 31)
  • This was the first Star Trek episode that David Gerrold viewed. Watching it upon its first airing, Gerrold was thrilled by what he saw, later reminiscing, " I watched it eagerly. I was amazed that something this imaginative had made it to television. " [6]
  • The episode also made an impression on future Star Trek: Enterprise staff writer Chris Black , who was in kindergarten at the time he saw the installment. " I remember […] seeing the M-113 creature,' the M-113 creature, and running out of the room in terror, " Black recalled with a chuckle, while working as a writing staffer on Enterprise . ( Star Trek: Communicator  issue 143 , p. 28)
  • Actress Grace Lee Whitney considers the arboretum scene of Rand and Sulu as one of her favorite scenes of the series. She recalled that shooting the scene was quite funny, and the entire cast and crew were in a lighthearted atmosphere. Some crude jokes were told in connection with Beauregard and her, and even the puppeteer below the table ( Bob Baker ) tried to reach for her short skirt with the puppet. Whitney later described this episode as " filled with plenty of horrific and suspenseful moments. It was a great debut episode for the series. " ( The Longest Trek: My Tour of the Galaxy , p. 96)
  • In his book Trek: Deepspace Nine (p. 44), writer Scott Nance stated about this episode, " It was only one step away from B-grade movies. "
  • In the Leonard Nimoy -hosted 1983 documentary Star Trek Memories , Nimoy mentioned the fact that NBC chose to air this episode first, since (at least to the network) it was "proper" science fiction with a "proper" alien menace. Nimoy also stated that of the episodes the cast and crew had already completed, this was their least favorite.
  • In William Shatner 's 1993 memoir Star Trek Memories , p. 189-190, he calls this episode " a dreadful show, one of our worst ever. "

Apocrypha [ ]

  • A cat version of "The Man Trap" was featured in Jenny Parks ' 2017 book Star Trek Cats .

Video and DVD releases [ ]

  • Original US Betamax/VHS release: 28 February 1985
  • Original UK VHS release (two-episode tapes, CIC Video ): Volume 4 , catalog number VHR 2247, release date unknown
  • US VHS release: 15 April 1994
  • UK re-release (three-episode tapes, CIC Video): Volume 1.2, 8 July 1996
  • Original US DVD release (single-disc): Volume 3, 19 October 1999
  • As part of the TOS Season 1 DVD collection
  • As part of the TOS Season 1 HD DVD collection
  • As part of the TOS Season 1 Blu-ray collection

Links and references [ ]

Starring [ ].

  • William Shatner as Kirk
  • Leonard Nimoy as Spock

Co-starring [ ]

  • Jeanne Bal as Nancy Crater

Guest star [ ]

  • Alfred Ryder as Robert Crater

Featuring [ ]

  • DeForest Kelley as Leonard McCoy
  • Grace Lee Whitney as Janice Rand
  • George Takei as Sulu
  • Nichelle Nichols as Uhura
  • Bruce Watson as Green
  • Michael Zaslow as Darnell
  • Vince Howard as Crewman
  • Francine Pyne as Nancy III

Uncredited co-stars [ ]

  • Budd Albright as Barnhart
  • Tom Anfinsen as Command crewman 2
  • Larry Anthony as Berkley
  • John Arndt as Sturgeon
  • Bob Baker as Beauregard (as "Puppeteer")
  • William Blackburn as Hadley
  • James Doohan as Montgomery Scott (voice only; recycled audio)
  • Sandra Gimpel as M-113 creature
  • Eddie Paskey as Leslie
  • Jeannie Malone as Yeoman
  • Walter Soo Hoo as a Command division technician
  • Garrison True as an Operations division officer
  • Ron Veto as Harrison
  • Bridge guard
  • Command crewman 1
  • Command crew woman 2
  • Navigator lieutenant
  • Security crewman
  • Maintenance engineer (archive footage)

Stand-ins [ ]

  • William Blackburn as the stand-in for DeForest Kelley
  • Frank da Vinci as the stand-in for Leonard Nimoy
  • Jeannie Malone as the stand-in for Grace Lee Whitney and Jeanne Bal
  • Eddie Paskey as the stand-in for William Shatner

References [ ]

2254 ; 2256 ; 2261 ; 2265 ; age ; affection ; alien ; alkaloid poison ; analysis ; ancestor ; animal ; animate ; answer ; apology ; arch : archaeologist ; archaeology ; argument ; artifact ; asteroid ; attitude ; autopsy ; beast ; bellyache ; bait ; best friend ; black ; blood cell ; body ; body heat ; " Bones "; borgia plant ; botany section ; braid ; bribery ; briefing room ; buffalo ; bully ; captain's log ; Carbon Group III ; case ; celery ; chameleon ; chance ; chemical structure ; chili pepper ; class M planet ; coincidence ; column (record-keeping) ; communications console ; communications officer ; complaint ; Constitution -class decks ; conversation ; coordinates ; Corinth IV ; Corinth IV starship base ; crewman ; crying ; danger ; day ; death ; deck ; demonstration ; digging ; dispensary ; doctor ; Dominguez, José ; door ; doubt ; dream ; duty ; earring ; Earth ; Earth history ; Electrographic Analysis ; engineering ; Engineering Deck ; engineering level ; error ; evening ; explanation ; eye ; face ; fact ; fang ; fear ; feeding ; feeling ; file photo ; flower ; fool ; foot ; frequency ; friend ; general quarters ; Gertrude ; girlfriend ; gland ; gold ; gray ; great bird of the galaxy ; hall ; hair ; hand ; harassment ; head ; health ; heat ; heaven ; " hello "; herd ; Human ; hunger ; hypnotic power ; hypothesis ; idea ; idol ; inanimate object ; incisor ; in love ; instruction ; intelligence ; intruder ; intruder alert ; job ; lady ; landing party ; life sciences department ; logic ; Lord ; love ; lover ; M-113 ; M-113 creatures ; machine ; marriage ; match ; MD ; medic ; medical department ; medical examination ; medical team ; medical test ; medical tricorder ; memory ; Mexican ; mile ; military log ; mind ; minute ; mission ; mistake ; moon ; mouth ; muscles ; mystery ; name ; natural ability ; natural state ; nickname ; nightshade family ; ocean ; orbit ; order ; passenger pigeon ; past tense ; person ; phaser ; physician ; pill ; place ; plant ; " Plum "; poison ; pound ; prairie ; professor ; provisioning ; quarters ; question ; quote ; reason ; red ; red pill ; record tape ; reference ; report ; research personnel ; risk ; romantic ; ruins ; salt ; salt depletion ; salt tablet ; sample ; Saurian brandy ; search ; search radius ; section ; ship's surgeon (aka starship surgeon ); shipment ; skin mottling ; slave ; sleep ; sodium chloride ; solitude ; space ; Space Commander ; space happy ; speaker ; starship base ; Starfleet regulations ; state ; subspace log ; subspace message ; Supply and Maintenance ; surface search equipment ; surgeon ; suspicion ; Swahili ; Swahili language ; swallowing ; symptom ; thing ; thunder ; time ; tonsil ; tongue depressor ; teeth ; tranquilizer ; transporter room ; tray ; trespasser ; trick ; trust ; truth ; truth serum ; United States of America ; universe ; vegetation ; violence ; vision ; Vulcan ; Vulcans ; water ; weeper ; wife ; wise man ; worry ; Wrigley's pleasure planet ; Wrigley's pleasure planet girl ; year

Unused references [ ]

M'Umbha ; mess call

External links [ ]

  • "The Man Trap" at StarTrek.com
  • " The Man Trap " at Memory Beta , the wiki for licensed Star Trek works
  • " The Man Trap " at Wikipedia
  • " "The Man Trap" " at MissionLogPodcast.com , a Roddenberry Star Trek podcast
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Star Trek turns 50: A look back at the desperately sad first episode

A half-century later, 'The Man Trap' has only gotten weirder... and better.

Darren is a TV Critic. Follow him on Twitter @DarrenFranich for opinions and recommendations.

star trek first episode the man trap

The original Star Trek TV show is half a century old, and I’ve never loved it more. It is talky, stagebound, narcotically slow. The alien planets look like sets, or they look like hiking trails in greater Los Angeles. The characters never change, no matter how many times they watch a world die, no matter how often they watch a fellow officer get murdered by aliens carved from rubber and nightmares. There is no running story — though there are semi-abstract will-they-won’t-theys, Nurse Chapel and Mr. Spock, Captain Kirk and Yeoman Rand, Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock. Science-fiction storytelling is now synonymous with serialized storytelling. We expect that events that happen in one episode will matter in the next episode. Watching the original Star Trek now, the characters’ complete lack of interest in their own history reads dispassionate, almost inhuman.

“ Star Trek is old” — that’s not what I’m saying at all. Fifty years of creative evolution — in television storytelling in general, in science-fiction television storytelling in particular, in Star Trek storytelling to be laser-precise — have only made the original Trek look more wondrously strange, more cosmically lysergic. The realism vogue long ago took hold in popular genre storytelling; for this franchise, that trend apexed with Star Trek Into Darkness , shot in real, expensive places and gilded with real, ludicrous sociopolitics. So when you see the original Trek – the episodes are all on Netflix – what you glory in is the marvelous unreality.

The colors, first and foremost! The episodes on Netflix are remastered versions, and that’s a bit of a double-edged sword. There is added CGI – mostly for scenes where the Enterprise floats around the latest mission-planet. Really, this just means the primitive and unconvincing original effects are now primitive and unconvincing digital effects. But the remastering adds wild new dimensions to the show. The worldscapes look more garish, painted-red skies almost Sirkian in their intensity. In “The Man Trap,” the first episode of Star Trek to air on television, the crew beams down to a planet called M-113. It’s a cruel name, clinical, bureaucratic. Surely, it had a real name once, but all we see is disparate carved stones across desert waves, the very abstraction of ruin.

Watching the original Trek in high-definition adds another level, too. Fifty years ago, television was shot with the expectation that the audience would experience the absolute worst viewing conditions. The season Trek debuted was the first year ever that the major networks aired all-color schedule, and the majority of American households still had black-and-white televisions. (There’s a story that Trek was so primary-colored because NBC’s parent company wanted to sell color TVs; there is a counter-myth that Trek was shot with such bright-dark contrast so that it would play well in monochrome.)

The point is: It’s unlikely anyone working on Star Trek 50 years ago was imagining a future where viewers could experience every frame in microscopic count-the-pores-on-Shatner’s-face detail. Like a lot of television back then, “The Man Trap” seems to be at least 50 percent composed of close-ups, and the close proximity to the actors’ faces becomes intense and merciless in high-definition. You can see the make-up; you can see them sweat; some say you can even see where the real hair ends and the wig begins.

Actually, one of the most fun parts of “The Man Trap” is an effect that I can’t believe anyone experienced properly on 1966 televisions. At one point, Kirk and Spock beam down to planet M-113. (Strange things keep happening; people keep dying.) William Shatner’s face positively glistens with sweat; you can feel the spotlight just off screen. But Leonard Nimoy doesn’t seem to sweat at all.

I’m guessing this is the makeup Nimoy wore — Spock’s skin color is vaguely yellow-gray, though the remastering makes the reddish tinge of his cheeks freakishly vivid — but it deepens the character’s essential strangeness. Kirk runs hot; Spock’s ice-cold even when they’re taking fire.

This might sound like I’m somehow criticizing the remastering, or declaring that the people who worked on Star Trek somehow failed. Nothing could be further. “The Man Trap” was directed by Marc Daniels, a lifer who helped create the look of I Love Lucy , which itself became the look of all sitcoms for an eon. There aren’t many flourishes, but half a century later, the professionalism of Trek is its own flourish. I love how some episodes become face-parades, a close-up cacophony. And I love the moment toward the end of “The Man Trap,” when a furious Dr. Leonard McCoy comes very close to betraying everything he believes in for a woman who isn’t a woman, and the camera can’t quite find the right focus on DeForest Kelley’s face.

Was that a “mistake”? Did they figure nobody would notice, on black-and-white televisions slurping grainy content through fragile antennas mom and dad can’t afford to fix? That mistake has become a haunting effect all its own, dreamlike, wall-bursting. A lot of Star Trek feels like that, 50 years on. It’s primitive the way cave paintings are primitive; unadorned by aesthetics, the obvious fakeness plunges you into some weird deeper truth.

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“The Man Trap” wasn’t the first first Star Trek episode, nor the second. Gene Roddenberry tried in late 1964 and produced “The Cage,” a famously half-stoned slow-groove adventure about brain-aliens and the illusion of reality, man. Another pilot, “Where No Man Has Gone Before,” cracked the code. In that episode, Captain Kirk watches Gary Mitchell — one of his best friends, old pal from the Academy, claims that young-man Kirk was a dweeb! — go mad with god-power. Ultimately, Kirk has to kill Mitchell. Like everything that happens on Trek , this is never mentioned again. You wonder if, in the 23rd century, people have evolved beyond grief, or if they’ve just gotten much better at compartmentalization, at pretending trauma never happened.

But “The Man Trap” aired first. It throws you right in. The Enterprise is on an assignment, and the task couldn’t be more banal. Kirk literally describes their mission as a “routine medical examination.” An archaeologist named Robert Crater has been working on planet M-113, “in the ruins of an ancient and long-dead civilization,” with his wife Nancy. (“Robert Crater” sounds like a porn star; “Nancy Crater” sounds like a Bond girl.) Says Kirk, “All research personnel on alien planets are required to have their health certified by a starship surgeon at one-year intervals.” Is this what the Enterprise crew’s life would be, if aliens didn’t keep attacking them? Checking boxes on a file form?

A twist: Nancy Crater is an old flame of Dr. McCoy’s. (“That one woman in Dr. McCoy’s past,” per Kirk’s narration — are all Captain’s Logs so saucy?) In an old temple, McCoy finds Nancy, remarkably unchanged in 10 years.

Or at least, McCoy thinks she looks unchanged, “like a girl of 25.” In Kirk’s eyes, though, Nancy looks very different.

“She’s a handsome woman, yes,” Kirk admits, “but hardly 25.” Like a lot of Star Trek ‘s dialogue, this line has aged weird; it is accidentally funny and oddly cruel. The actress who plays Nancy, Jeanne Bal, was 38 at the time. Perhaps you sense some ambient cruelty in how the episode purposefully ages her, with an excess of gray hair and the implication that she’s the same age as DeForest Kelley, not quite 50 yet somehow unmistakably an old man.

There’s a third member of the Enterprise crew, a Michael Phelps-looking doofball with “expendable” tattooed across his forehead. When he looks at Nancy, he doesn’t see Nancy at all:

Fake Phelps and Blondie Nancy walk off screen left. There’s a scream, and then viewers see their first dead Enterprise crewman, a man trapped.

Nancy says that the crewman ate a poisonous plant; if you believe that, there’s a bridge on Planet M-113 I’d like to sell you. Between the episode’s title and the lead creature’s male-gaze-baiting superpower, you could argue that “The Man Trap” belongs to a particularly debased sub-subgenre of Star Trek story: The Dizzy Dame Strikes Back. Nancy, malicious ex-girlfriend of Dr. McCoy, will very soon run rampant through the Enterprise , at one point even taking the form of Dr. McCoy. This first episode rhymes uncannily with Trek ‘s last episode, “Turnabout Intruder,” the episode where a malicious ex-girlfriend of Captain Kirk runs rampant through the Enterprise , even taking over Kirk’s body.

“Turnabout Intruder” has the baddest of raps — it does gender politics the way UnReal did police shootings — although there’s something desperately Joan Crawford-esque about that last episode’s villain, and the bare residual hint that Starfleet still runs on Sterling Cooper sexual politics. There are many episodes of the original Star Trek that make as much or vastly more sense if you pretend the villain is the tragic hero.

That is certainly true of “The Man Trap,” which we quickly learn isn’t just about trapping men — the thing we know as Nancy shapeshifts once, twice, thrice. She becomes a man, and flirts with Yeoman Rand. She becomes another man, and flirts with Uhura – in Swahili!

So Nancy is a woman who is also a man; can be white, can be black. That fluidity actually feels more convincingly human, 50 years later, than Kirk’s brash assurance. And Kirk won’t notice when McCoy starts acting funny, won’t even barely realize that one of his best friends is a shapeshifting monstrosity. Actually, Kirk mainly seems annoyed with McCoy throughout the whole episode. When the Doctor begs Kirk not to leave Nancy all alone on planet M-113, Kirk brushes him off: “You need to get some sleep.”

Entertainment Weekly’s Ultimate Guide to Star Trek is available now .

Eventually, it becomes clear that the thing bedeviling the Enterprise isn’t Nancy at all. Kirk and Spock battle Professor Crater, played by Alfred Ryder with mad-scientist poignance.

Subdued, Crater spins quite a story. There is a creature on the planet, the last of its kind; a species gone extinct, like “the Earth buffalo.” The Craters found this creature, and it’s implied that they took care of it. But it needed salt to live, and their salt stores ran out. It’s never entirely clear what happened. It’s implied that the creature attacked Nancy, but Crater also says, with no explanation, “Nancy understood,” which sounds like a sacrifice. Either way, Nancy’s long-dead, “buried up on the hill.” (The budget was too small for a hill; much sadder to imagine it, I think.)

What happened to Nancy is a mystery; what has happened since Nancy is deeply weird. “I loved Nancy very much,” Crater says. “Few women like my Nancy. She lives in my dreams. She walks and sings in them.” The shapeshifter becomes Nancy for him: “It needs love as much as it needs salt.” Oh yeah: Crater’s been cratering . But he casts his xenophilia in noble, philosophical terms. “It isn’t just a beast. It is intelligent, and the last of its kind.”

Kirk has no time for this. In the first great Shatner soliloquy, he provides his own straightforward summation of the matter at hand:

You bleed too much, Crater. You’re too pure and noble. Are you saving the last of its kind, or has this become Crater’s private heaven, here on this planet? This thing becomes wife, lover, best friend, wise man, fool, idol, slave. It isn’t a bad life to have everyone in the universe at your beck and call, and you win all the arguments.

“You’re too pure and noble.” Ironically, that line would become an all-encompassing critique of Star Trek in the years to come. Roddenberry, a utopian thinker and the foremost evangelist of his own cult of personality, didn’t care much for interpersonal drama nor grime nor grit; this is why nobody likes the first Star Trek movie, or the first season of The Next Generation , or, hell, “The Cage.” (Though of course, everyone’s entitled to their own goofy opinion .)

So I love how, in this first aired episode, Kirk’s defining trait is that he isn’t pure, that he isn’t too noble.

Crater’s response to Kirk is beautifully simple: “You don’t understand.” And we never will; a couple minutes later, Crater’s dead, killed by the creature he tried to protect. (It’s impossible to tell if Crater died accidentally or on purpose; so much of Star Trek ‘s action happens off screen, probably a budget thing, accidentally making major plot turns into open-text ambiguities.)

Things progress quickly now. The creature flees to McCoy’s cabin, once again takes on the form of Nancy. Kirk walks in, phaser out, demanding McCoy step aside. McCoy refuses. A monster? Needs salt to live? What is his Captain ranting about? McCoy grabs the phaser out of Kirk’s hand — and then Nancy somehow stops Kirk from moving, maybe telekinesis, maybe mind control. (The creature’s powers are tantalizingly ambiguous; sometimes it seems to be physically shapechanging, and sometimes it must just be beaming images into people’s heads.) Spock runs in, tries to convince McCoy to fire his phaser. “I won’t shoot Nancy!” says McCoy. “If she were Nancy,” yells Spock, “Could she take this ?” And then Mr. Spock swing-punches Nancy seven or eight times.

Jeanne Bal really gives a great performance in this episode. She’s coy, freaked out, her salt-lust playing out like smack-addict desperation — and, in this final scene, she’s Terminator-precise. She knocks Spock over, returns to Kirk for her feeding. She looks back at McCoy — and she changes into her true form.

I think this true “Nancy” is one of the great horrific cosmic visions. It is the definition of a nightmare, gillman-green skin and madwizard hair, Birdo mouth and suckling tentacular fingers. Yet there is something so sad in that face; you feel how completely this thing cannot help itself. Worth pointing out, by the way, that there aren’t really any bad guys in this first Star Trek episode. The creature seeks salt, because it has to; it might be “intelligent,” but it’s also an animal that will do what it has to do to survive, like the buffalo, like a human. Crater just wants to save the thing, even if it kills him. McCoy battles Kirk, but only because they both think the other has gone crazy, fighting for their own good. Everyone winds up depressed, or dead.

McCoy shoots the creature. It turns back into Nancy: “Leonard! Leonard, no! Leonard, please!” McCoy asks the Lord’s forgiveness, and shoots again. In that moment, of course, McCoy must know that Nancy is already dead — yet in that moment, he also has to feel like he’s killing her. (He never loved but one woman, and today he lost her twice.)

The creature lies dead; Kirk says he’s sorry. And then we’re back to the bridge. Sulu asks, nonchalantly: “Ready to leave orbit, Captain?” Kirk’s got Spock on his right, McCoy on his left. McCoy looks magnificently sad; Spock looks like Spock. Kirk’s mind is elsewhere:

Kirk looks at McCoy. And then McCoy does this.

What’s your read on that expression? Why the smile? It doesn’t quite seem to connect with Kirk’s summation line, unless McCoy’s realizing that all things must pass, old lovers and bison both, and somehow that realization gives him peace. There’s a “snap out of it” quality to McCoy’s expression, too — a sense that the time for mourning is finished, that there are further adventures (and creatures, and crazy ex-girlfriends?) awaiting out in the cosmos. Maybe McCoy’s smile expresses some deeper understanding that the problems of three little people don’t amount to a hill of beans in this crazy universe.

When the Enterprise arrived at Planet M-113, there were two lifeforms on the surface. Now the planet is empty, an unmarked grave for a species lost to history. “Warp one, Mister Sulu,” Kirk concludes. They leave orbit. There are more planets to seek out, more graves to dig.

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Flashback | Recap | Star Trek: The Original Series S1E01: “The Man Trap”

Star Trek - Original Series - Man Trap

Show Name: Star Trek: The Original Series

Episode Title: “The Man Trap”

Episode No.: 1

Network: Netflix

Air Date: September 8, 1966

Screen Shot 2017-11-08 at 11.49.17 AM

What happened?

While resupplying the science outpost on planet M-113, Doctor McCoy (DeForest Kelley) must deal with old feelings brought about by reuniting with an old flame, Nancy Crater (Jeanne Bal). At the same time, Captain Kirk (William Shatner) and Spock (Leonard Nimoy) must figure out just who or what is slowly killing the Enterprise crew.

Let’s dig deeper into  Star Trek: The Original Series

Gene Roddenberry planned Star Trek as an anthology series. This would enable the writers to tell a wider variety of stories, meaning that “[t]here was no limit to what we could do,” in terms of story; “[a]ll you had were these people on a spaceship who could go to any damned planet they felt like. It was a genius concept because it literally left them open to do anything at all” (Norman Spirad qtd. in Gross & Altman 118). This leads to a fair amount of criticism concerning continuity. Particularly because they weren’t concerned about continuity. It was the characters and the messages that the writers were concerned about.

They found themselves able to tackle hard issues, and as long as “it happens in outer space…the censors let us go” (John D.F. Black qtd. in Gross & Altman 118). Stories about touchy topics were allowed because they didn’t happen on Earth, which allowed Roddenberry to tell some deep stories.

Partially because of the anthology format, and partially because it was presented out of the original writing and filming order, this episode suffers from not actually being a pilot. I totally understand that TV shows didn’t work the same way in the 60s as they do now. Serialization was just not a thing, but it’s so ingrained in me that I’ve got a hard time looking back on these early episodes without wondering why they didn’t take the time developing these characters’ backstories or motivations (yes, I know, we get McCoy’s old girlfriend, sort of, but then she’s never referred to again), when Roddenberry took quite a lot of time with Pike. I suppose that, because they’d gotten the series order, they figured character development could be spread out.

Screen Shot 2017-11-08 at 11.56.55 AM

While we don’t get any introduction to the crew, we do see the relationship between the trio of Kirk, Spock, and McCoy right off the bat. From the moment Kirk and McCoy beam down to M-113, Kirk offers some persistent, gentle ribbing, and I love it, telling Bones he should pick her flowers, then picking up some straw sticking out of the ground and handing it over. Then, when Nancy mentions McCoy’s nickname, “Plumb,” Kirk keeps bringing it up. It’s really demonstrative of how quickly this show worked out some of these relationships. Yet, when it comes time to face hard truths: a dead crewman and an autopsy to do, Kirk is all business, pushing Bones to do what needs to be done. He tells McCoy to “learn something from Mr. Spock…stop thinking with your glands.”

Their working and personal relationships are well-developed from the get-go. Spock isn’t as well-defined here, which is strange seeing as it’s his third outing, and Kirk and McCoy’s first (aired) one. Yet, Kirk and Bones can rib one another, with Spock being their touchstone for reality. The final look that the trio shares is a silent one, knowing that they’ve all been through something together and saved one another’s lives once again. As this series moves forward, I know that I’ll explore this dynamic from myriad angles. But the beats here are momentous.

Man Trap Janice and Green

“The Man Trap” boasts the first instance of a trope which will become a staple of Star Trek : the terrifying, yet misunderstood creature. We’ll see this in “The Devil in the Dark,” “The Corbomite Maneuver,” and others. The last remnant of a once prolific race, Nancy the salt vampire just wants to live, and it uses whatever it has at its disposal to do just that. It can camouflage itself as anything it wishes.

The first time we see Nancy, each shot is cut together quite well. Seamlessly transitioning to the three men’s different perceptions of the same creature. We don’t know what this means at first, but it’s effective and strange. Eventually, this leads to a particularly eerie series of sequences of the creature stalking Yeoman Rand and then Uhura throughout the ship. Leaving body after body in her wake. Even eerier is Nancy’s final attack on Kirk. Before she even transforms into the terrifyingly tragic creature, she begins to look truly inhuman .

The message behind this trope is clear: we so often vilify the people and creatures which we don’t understand. Now, that doesn’t mean the creature isn’t dangerous; on the contrary, it’s deadly – but it’s just trying to survive. “It has that right,” Dr. Crater (Alfred Ryder) says, “it uses its ability just as we would use our muscles and teeth in order to stay alive.” The creature, disguised as McCoy for this conversation and speaking for itself in ways that the buffalo or other endangered species cannot, chimes in, “And like us, it’s an intelligent animal. There’s no need to hunt it down.” This is no mere killing machine, but an intelligent life form that must go on living: “It needs love as much as it needs salt. When it killed Nancy I almost destroyed it but, it isn’t just a beast. It is intelligent, the last of its kind.”

Screen Shot 2017-11-08 at 11.46.46 AM

What’s interesting here is how Kirk reacts in a way that Jean-Luc Picard ( Star Trek: The Next Generation ) never would. This is no criticism of either Captain, just an observation of their differences. Following Crater’s assessment that this creature who has murdered half a dozen of Kirk’s crew actually needs love, Kirk says, “You bleed too much, Crater. You’re too pure and noble. Are you saving the last of its kind or has this become Crater’s private heaven, here on this planet? This thing becomes wife, lover, best friend, wise man, fool, idol, slave. It isn’t a bad life to have everyone in the universe at your beck and call, and you win all the arguments.” Picard would likely have bent over backwards to help this creature. To save it. While Kirk only sees the dead men it has left behind.

The rub comes when Kirk asks Crater point blank if he can recognize the creature, despite its different forms. Crater is sitting next to the creature at that moment, looking like McCoy, and Crater refuses to out it. Moments later, Crater is dead on the floor of the sickbay. Yes, this creature is intelligent, but Kirk was right. Crater still sees his wife in the creature. Which is all well and good, but in the end, it is a cornered creature who kills. Bearing no loyalty for the man she calls husband. Kirk must save his crew, for “the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, or the one.”

Random Thoughts

I think that J.J. Abrams, Alex Kurtzman, Roberto Orci, and the other producers of the Abramsverse Star Trek films watched “The Man Trap” and took the idea of Spock and Uhura’s relationship from their first scene together. I really hadn’t thought about it before, because it seemed that relationship had come out of left field. I’m not saying it’s not ridiculous, but I think at least this is where it came from. It’s also highly unprofessional on Uhura’s part – she just fawns all over him, telling Spock he should tell her she’s pretty and to ask her about being in love. On one hand, it tells us so much about Uhura (who often gets short-changed in the series). She’s romantic and passionate, and maybe doesn’t know where the line is. And maybe she’s got a thing for Vulcans – it also tells us a lot about Spock: he’s just cold.

Uhura: “Tell me how your planet Vulcan looks on a lazy evening when the moon is full.” Spock: “Vulcan has no moon, Miss Uhura.” Uhura: “I’m not surprised, Mister Spock.”

It doesn’t have a moon; it has sister planets though:

Vulcan_and_sister_planet

Finally, multiple crewmen die here. One in the first five minutes, and none of them have red shirts, which I find interesting! I may do a redshirt count from this point on, just because.

Memorable Quotes from Man Trap

“But it’s a mystery. And I don’t like mysteries. They give me a bellyache. And I’ve got a beauty right now.”

– Kirk, being all noir-detective-y.

Keep Watching Star Trek: The Original Series ?

Look, my answer is going to be the same for each entry. Yes, keep watching! However, I promise when we get to some shaky (OK, really really shaky) episodes in the future, I’ll be honest. Even still, I won’t tell you not to watch. I might just urge you to watch with one eye sort of squinted shut.

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Article by Tyler Howat

Tyler Howat joined Ready Steady Cut in November 2017, publishing over 100 articles for the website. Based out of Wenatchee City, Washington, Tyler has used his education and experience to become a highly skilled writer, critic, librarian, and teacher. He has a passion for Film, TV, and Books and a huge soft spot for Star Trek.

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Star Trek: There's a Good Reason 'The Man Trap' Was the Series' First Episode

Star Trek beamed onto TV sets in 1966, but behind the scenes shuffling ran the series out of order with the hopes of getting it right.

If early reviews were anything to go by, the original Star Trek didn’t stand much of a chance to venture beyond a few episodes. Yet, when "The Man Trap" premiered in 1966, entertainment changed forever. The pilot was actually the sixth episode in  Star Trek 's production order. But choosing "The Man Trap" as the debut episode was no accident.

Created by Gene Roddenberry , Star Trek  was going to be unlike anything else that came before it, which is also why the choice was made to air the episodes out of order. Selling such a cool, high-concept sci-fi series like Star Trek depended on getting the audience on board with the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise 's adventures. That meant forging an immediate connection with people watching at home. The show needed to capture audiences' imaginations and hold on tight.

RELATED: Star Trek's Longest Running Series, Revealed

When Star Trek was first beamed into peoples’ living rooms, executives chose "The Man Trap" because of its all-encompassing elements. The episode managed to display most of its main crew members (although Scotty is only heard, never seen) while also giving viewers an episode that was entertaining, but not overly complex with its themes or storylines.

While there were other episodes with more detailed storylines and bigger plot themes, "The Man Trap"'s straightforward presentation helped keep things simple for conveying Star Trek 's overall concepts. It also showcased cool technology that became central to the show, like the transporter. The transporter was not part of Roddenberry’s initial outline. It was an idea that came later, partially due to budget constraints. The transporter allowed the Enterprise crew to go between locations much faster and cheaper, at least from a production point of view. It saved creators from having to shoot scenes and create transition sets. Beaming folks and supplies around was easy -- and viewers loved it.

By the time Star Trek  was green-lit and in full-swing production, the transporter -- one of its most captivating concepts -- was not going to be seen until much later in the series. This is why executives felt it was better to put "The Man Trap" first and introduce the technology right out of the gate. Executives felt the transporter was better seen for the first time, rather than explained by the characters. It also didn’t hurt that another early episode, "The Corbomite Maneuver," was still in post-production and not ready to air. When executives looked at the roster of other available episodes, "The Man Trap," seemed like the best choice.

RELATED: Picard: Patrick Stewart, John De Lancie Tease Q's Star Trek Return

Despite the thought process behind it, "The Man Trap" was met with significant negativity. One of the biggest trade publications in Hollywood had extremely harsh words for the show back in ’66 and had little faith the series would ever get off the ground. Even  Captain Kirk himself, William Shatner, had less than kind words for the episode in his memoir, calling it  “ one of our worst ever.” Nonetheless,  Star Trek defied critical expectations and lasted 80 episodes over three seasons.

To this day, the transporter remains one of Star Trek 's biggest contributions to pop culture. Though it was never actually spoken in the series, the familiar phrase, “Beam me up, Scotty,” has transcended pop culture boundaries, proving the power of merging innovative ideas with great storytelling.

KEEP READING: Star Trek: Why Captain James T. Kirk Replaced Christopher Pike

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The Man Trap

The Man Trap

  • Dr. McCoy discovers his old flame is not what she seems after crew members begin dying from a sudden lack of salt in their bodies.
  • In the series premiere, the Enterprise visits planet M-113 where scientists Dr. Crater and his wife Nancy, an old girlfriend of Dr. McCoy, are studying the remains of an ancient civilization. When Enterprise crewmen begin turning up dead under mysterious circumstances, Kirk and Spock must unravel the clues to discover how, why, and who is responsible. — JW Kearse
  • When the Enterprise visits the planet M-113, Kirk and McCoy meet with scientist Professor Crater and McCoy's past love Nancy Crater. While there, members of the Enterprise start dying with no explanation besides having tentacle marks on their bodies and having a depletion of salt in their bodies too. Kirk, Spock, and McCoy all help investigate this to find out who is the killer and why. — James Hake
  • Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner) is The commanding officer of the USS Enterprise. Commander Spock (Leonard Nimoy) The ship's half-human/half-Vulcan science officer and first/executive officer Lieutenant Commander Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy (DeForest Kelley) The ship's chief medical officer Lieutenant Commander Montgomery "Scotty" Scott (James Doohan) The Enterprise's chief engineer and second officer Lieutenant Nyota Uhura (Nichelle Nichols) The ship's communications officer Lieutenant Hikaru Sulu (George Takei) The ship's helmsman Nurse Christine Chapel (Majel Barrett) The ship's head nurse The Enterprise visits planet M-113 for routine medical examinations of the husband-and-wife (Robert Crater and Nancy) archaeological team stationed there. McCoy used to have a relationship with Nancy, ten years ago. Nancy appears to all 3 men of the landing party in 3 different forms. Nancy lures Darnell, a member of Kirk's landing party away, seducing him. Robert comes to meet McCoy and Kirk. Robert asks for more salt to be sent to the planet due to its heat. McCoy talks about how Nancy has no gray hair and Kirk thinks its his affection for Nancy talking, to him Nancy appears of a normal age. They hear Nancy screaming and find Darnell dead. Nancy claims that Darnell died by eating a local plant species which was poisonous. Nancy has been replaced by a shape-shifting creature forced to survive by extracting the salt from the bodies of members of the crew, killing them. Kirk beams back up with McCoy and Darnell. A proper check reveals Darnell has no salt in his body. He is curios as both Nancy and Robert specifically wanted salt tablets to be supplied. Spock is the logical Vulcan. Uhura is a passionate lady. Down on the planet, Kirk and McCoy land with 2 men, who are sent to find Nancy, who both die. Kirk wants to arrest Nancy and Robert and take them to the Enterprise. Nancy shape shifts into a dead crewman Green to meet Kirk and McCoy who found the other dead crewman Sturgeon. Kirk, McCoy and Green (Shape Shifted Nancy) return to the Enterprise. Spock can only find Robert on the planet, while Green goes off in search of salt. Green gets more & more desperate and shape shifts into Nancy to meet McCoy. Nancy is able to put McCoy to sleep in his cabin and then shape shifts into McCoy to hunt for more crewmen. Kirk and Spock beam down to meet Robert. Spock finds Green's dead body on the planet. Meanwhile the creature as McCoy reaches the bridge and gets access to all security protocols. Robert meanwhile reveals that Nancy was killed by the shape shifting creature of the planet (who needed salt to survive), who is the last of its kind. Kirk returns to Enterprise with Spock and Robert and lays salt tablets as bait to catch the creature Kirk wants Robert to help him find the creature, but Robert refuses as the creature is simply trying to survive. Kirk orders the truth serum to be injected into Robert and Spock accompanies McCoy. The creature, as McCoy, attacks Spock and kills Robert. Creature gets back to the real McCoy and shape shifts into Nancy and wants McCoy to protect it from Kirk. Kirk and Spock enter the room and beg McCoy to see that the creature is not Nancy. The creature has super human strength and can paralyze Kirk. It is about to kill Kirk when Spock intervenes. Only when the creature shape shifts into its original form, is McCoy able to shoot and kill it.

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star trek first episode the man trap

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http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Recap/StarTrekS1E1TheManTrap

Recap / Star Trek S1 E1 "The Man Trap"

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Original air date: September 8, 1966

Kirk, McCoy and a random crewman beam down to medically examine two scientists, living alone on an archaeology planet. One of these scientists (the lady , Nancy) was apparently previously romantically involved with McCoy. She shows an ability to disguise her appearance, seeming different to each person. She and the random crewman leave and he is killed off screen. Nancy says he ate some of the local vegetation and thus poisoned himself, but any reasonable viewer would doubt that.

McCoy and Spock determine that the unfortunate fellow didn’t die of poisoning and Kirk beams back down to investigate with McCoy and two more random crewmen. Both crewmen are killed, but Nancy disguises herself as one of the dead and beams aboard the ship. Here she proceeds to creep people out as she hunts for salt . It is determined Nancy isn’t on the planet and now Spock and Kirk beam down to question her husband.

Nancy takes McCoy’s form as an alarm sounds for the man she killed on board. Her husband willingly tells them that she’s actually a shapeshifting alien that killed his wife . She’s also the last of her kind – which Kirk finds unimpressive as she is killing his people. They report back to the ship where Nancy continues to impersonate McCoy. They plan to administer a truth serum on her husband so he will reveal where she is... at which point she kills her husband and attacks Spock. She goes to McCoy’s room and tries to convince him not to let them kill her. He is eventually forced to when she tries to kill the captain.

The Man Tropes:

  • 20 Minutes into the Future : The population of the American buffalo increased by a factor of fifteen between 1951 and 2000. A half-million buffalo roam North America (still a much smaller number than their pre-1800 population over 60 million), and they are no longer considered endangered or threatened.
  • Affectionate Gesture to the Head : Subverted as Nancy is just rubbing the salty sweat off McCoy's face.
  • Adaptation Title Change : The title was changed to "The Unreal McCoy" (which may have been a working title from a draft script), when James Blish adapted it as a short story.
  • Alas, Poor Villain : Spock: Something wrong, Captain? Kirk: I was thinking about the buffalo, Mister Spock.
  • Alternate Character Interpretation : Kirk offers one In-Universe deconstructing Crater's motives for protecting the creature. Kirk: You bleed too much, Crater. You're too pure and noble. Are you saving the Last of Its Kind or has this become Crater's private heaven, here on this planet? This thing becomes wife, lover, best friend, wise man, fool, idol, slave. It isn't a bad life to have everyone in the universe at your beck and call, and you win all the arguments.
  • Always on Duty : Kirk is shown drinking coffee and eating on the bridge. As he's allowing Bones to get some rest at the same time, it's implied that Kirk is staying awake until he's tracked down what killed his men.
  • Appearance Is in the Eye of the Beholder : The salt monster projects false images into the people around it. This is made clear by the fact that it can simultaneously project different likenesses of "Nancy" to Kirk, McCoy, and Green in the opening scene.
  • Beehive Hairdo : Yeoman Rand's famous do, made by gluing two wigs together!
  • Bilingual Bonus : It was Gene Roddenberry 's idea to have the creature, in its illusory form, speak Swahili to Uhura. Kellam de Forest supplied him with the translation. In English, the illusory crewman says "How are you, friend? I think of you, beautiful lady. You should never know loneliness."
  • Bizarre Alien Biology : Spock, obviously. Since Vulcan's oceans do not contain the same types of salts that Earth's oceans do, the Salt Vampire found him very unappetizing.
  • Bluff the Imposter : Spock was starting to get suspicious of Vampire!McCoy, and was attacked just before he was about to confront her.
  • Bullying a Dragon : Spock slapping the Salt Vampire numerous times when it has proven itself strong enough potentially to take him in a fight. The only thing that saves it from being Too Dumb to Live is that Spock was trying to prove that the Salt Vampire wasn't Nancy in order to get McCoy to shoot her and hence didn't mind the risk.
  • …But He Sounds Handsome : While disguised as McCoy, the Salt Vampire tries to argue that "the creature" is an intelligent being who is only trying to survive, and if they just provided it with salt it wouldn't have to kill anyone . This makes Spock suspicious enough to accompany "McCoy" when he leads off Crater to be injected with truth serum.
  • The Enterprise is held up from delivering a shipment of food to the Corinth IV starbase by the Salt Vampire's antics. The starbase commander describes the cargo (prime Mexican red chili peppers) as "urgently needed", not unlike how the Salt Vampire urgently needs salt.
  • Yeoman Rand delivers food to Sulu (which she can't help sampling en route) in the ship's conservatory. When she arrives, he is feeding the plants.
  • When Kirk tells Bones to take some sleeping pills, he is eating a snack.
  • The Salt Vampire attempts to mask Crewman Darnell's cause of death by making it appear as though he was eating Borgia plants (described as similar to the Terran "nightshade family" — which includes potatoes and tomatoes — many of which are toxic to humans).
  • Character Tics : The Salt Vampire has a habit of chewing on a knuckle when it's desperate for salt.
  • Spock being so open in his fear for Kirk could count as this. In fact, he has numerous emotional outbursts in this episode which is radically different to his cold, logical personality later in the series. To be fair, Uhura calls out Spock on his coldness early on in the episode, so perhaps Spock was compensating for that.
  • Sulu is the Ship's Botanist, not the Helmsman. Later Sulu's penchant for botany is explained away as a fleeting hobby.
  • Spock attempting to knock out the Salt Vampire by repeatedly punching it in the face is jarring when, in any other episode, he would simply use the Vulcan nerve pinch. Then again, being an alien shapeshifter, it's questionable if it has nerve bundles susceptible to the pinch, or if Spock would have any idea where they might be.
  • Neither Kirk nor Spock shows any concern in destroying what is actually just a Obliviously Evil creature trying to survive, not to mention the last of its kind. While Kirk may be focused on his crewmen's deaths, the pacifistic scientist should really know better, especially considering his efforts in "The Devil in the Dark". That being said, they do still somberly reflect on the whole ordeal.
  • While the vampire is attacking Kirk, Spock tries to wrest the phaser from a befuddled McCoy's hands, and when that takes too long, throws himself between the creature and Jim. Considering Vulcan strength, and how he is in later episodes shown tossing around well trained humans like ragdolls in a hand-to-hand fight, it should have taken only minimal effort to get the weapon away from the doctor.
  • Doppelgänger Replacement Love Interest : Dr Crater's wife Nancy actually died a year or two ago, and the alien has taken her form and lives with him.
  • There is a unique Lower-Deck Episode emphasis here not seen elsewhere in TOS , with several scenes prominently featuring crewmen and several of the lower-ranked officers (particularly Sulu and Uhura) getting significant character moments.
  • A couple of Kirk's captain's log entries are given as though Kirk were discussing the story retrospectively. Nearly every other captain's log in the franchise would be narrated in the present tense.
  • Instead of sickbay, the Enterprise has a "dispensary".
  • Eating the Eye Candy : A couple of crewman express envy that a lucky officer (in this case, Lt. Sulu) has Yeoman Rand bringing him lunch.
  • Embarrassing Nickname / Affectionate Nickname : Apparently McCoy's was "Plum" when he was with Nancy.
  • Evil-Detecting Dog : In this case an alien plant; Beauregard, an animate plant in the botany lab, freaks out when the creature gets near.
  • Extinct in the Future : Bison are extinct in Star Trek 's future.
  • Expy : The salt vampire is similar to the alien monster in Who Goes There? , with its ability to read minds, hypnotise prey and impersonate through shapeshifting. The Coeurl from The Voyage of the Space Beagle may be another influence, involving a creature that feeds on the potassium in its victims.
  • Gaussian Girl : Played straight with Nancy, as seen (as Dr. Crater puts it) through the eyes of Dr. McCoy's past attachment. But generally averted: unusually for a woman on Star Trek , when Nancy is seen at her "appropriate" age, close-ups of her are clear and not blurry. (Doing the math, Nancy is not yet 40, but is described as middle-aged and even shown to have graying hair . Jeanne Bal, who played Nancy, was 38 years old at the time of filming.)
  • Get A Hold Of Yourself Man : Kirk snaps at Bones when he starts going on about Nancy when there's a dead crewman on the table and Kirk wants answers as to why. They apologise to each other later.
  • Girl of the Week : And for once, the girl is McCoy’s. And she’s been killed by an alien. Typical.
  • Go Through Me : Spock positions himself directly between the salt vampire and Kirk.
  • Gratuitous Foreign Language : The Salt Vampire, taking on the guise of Uhura's "ideal man", speaks Swahili to her, and she replies to him in kind. The context is obvious that Swahili is her mother tongue and that she "thinks" in Swahili as opposed to English , which is confirmed in the later episode " The Changeling ". However, with 432 crew members aboard, and Uhura as a bridge officer, the presence of a crewman, especially a black man that ALSO speaks Swahili, would likely be strange ("Crewman...do I KNOW you?"). You'd think Uhura, at least with the presence of mind to get away from the guy and join Sulu and Rand in the elevator, would tell THEM of this unknown crewman, who apparently resembles some man she was reminiscing about. THAT wouldn't see off a few alarms? Starfleet's security started off being for shit and never improved!

star trek first episode the man trap

  • The broken nature of the Aesop is actually Lampshaded : Prof. Crater : It's the last one. The buffalo. There is no difference. Kirk : There's one, Professor. Your creature is killing my people!
  • It is however also noted that, necessary or not, this episode does result in the final extinction of a species at the hands of Starfleet officers, and no one's precisely happy at the outcome.
  • Hollywood Old : The "real" Nancy Crater, depicted as settled into her middle age and clearly over-the-hill with her looks having faded, is ( doing the math ) as old as a positively geriatric 37 . Jeanne Bal, the actress playing her, was only a year older than this. For reference, she was all of two years older than Grace Lee Whitney , and four years older than Nichelle Nichols , both of whom were consistently depicted as young women despite also being well into their thirties. Nancy appears to have been written as older than both her actress and her own logical age to make her more appropriate for the two men playing her love interests, DeForest Kelley (eight years her senior) and Alfred Ryder as Dr. Crater (twelve years her senior), both of whom looked older than they were.

star trek first episode the man trap

  • Hypocritical Humor : Rand chides "Green" (actually the Salt Vampire) for trying to take the salt shaker from a dinner tray that she's eating some celery off of. It then turns out that the dinner tray actually belongs to Sulu .
  • Impersonation-Exclusive Character : Crewman Green.
  • Kick the Dog : Crater is killed by the creature, despite his refusal to aid the crew in tracking it down. One factor may have been hunger, as it had just failed to feed on Spock, but this is also after Crater told the Enterprise crew that he can see through the creature's shapeshifting. Whether or not this is true, and regardless of his initial refusal to help find the creature, it turns Crater from an ally to a potential threat in the creature's eyes. The creature probably figured out that Kirk wouldn't let Crater go back down to the planet, and that eventually he'd be found out ANYWAY; at that point, the Salt Vampire is DESPERATE.
  • Kill and Replace : The Salt Vampire kills Green down on the planet, then beams up to Enterprise in his form. Crater later reveals the real Nancy died a couple of years ago, and the salt vampire took her place.
  • Kiss Me, I'm Virtual : McCoy is seduced by his old flame "Nancy Crater", who is actually a hideous salt monster impersonating her.
  • Last of His Kind : The Salt Vampire is the remnant of a once-large number of the same variety. Dr. Crater even uses this when arguing against killing the creature, comparing it to destroying animals on Earth in the past.
  • Leave Me Alone! : Crater pretends to be a cantankerous old hermit who prefers his solitude, but he's actually trying to get rid of our heroes as quickly as possible so they won't find out the truth.
  • Let's Split Up, Gang! : Every victim of the salt monster was singled out after the party split up for some reason, with the exception of Crater, who was with Spock ( who was taken by surprise and overpowered first ) and Kirk (who was attacked in McCoy's quarters while trying to kill the alien).
  • Make It Look Like an Accident : 'Nancy' puts a berry in the mouth of her first victim, to make it look like he died after carelessly eating a native plant that was poisonous. It doesn't work as the symptoms don't match.
  • Mind Manipulation : The salt vampire is able to mentally paralyze human beings at close range. This keeps the victim from fighting back and prevents any interference with the creature's feeding.
  • Morally Ambiguous Doctorate : Dr. Crater is more concerned with protecting the creature than with the creature killing people. When Kirk and Spock go to confront him over what he knows, he pulls out a laser pistol and starts shooting at them.
  • Never Give the Captain a Straight Answer : McCoy calls Kirk on the bridge with news that he's found something about Darnell's death, but he doesn't want to put it on the speaker. Probably justified since complete salt depletion is pretty weird.
  • Nonindicative Name : The Salt Vampire wasn't picky about gender and would've preyed on a woman as easily as a man. If by "Man" the concept of "human" was meant, the Salt Vampire went after Spock, only to find Vulcans didn't have the right kind of salt.
  • No-Sell : Spock, who can effortlessly dent steel with a single punch, gives the Salt Vampire multiple double-fisted haymakers to the face and it only looks mildly annoyed before backhanding him across the room.
  • Oh, My Gods! : Sulu thanks Yeoman Rand for serving him lunch with "May the Great Bird of the Galaxy favor your nest."
  • Only Friend : After Spock reacts with his standard stoicism to the landing party reporting a casualty, Uhura chastises him for his lack of concern about a man dying. She points out that the casualty could have been Kirk, who she describes as the closest thing to a friend Spock has. Spock answers that getting emotional wouldn't change anything. However, Uhura's description of Kirk is vindicated later in the episode when the salt monster moves in on Kirk as its next meal and Spock suddenly decides emotion is in order.
  • Our Vampires Are Different : The "salt vampire" (a Fan Nickname for what was officially called "the M-113 Creature") can look like its victim's ideal love/sex object. This allows it to find victims when straight salt isn't available.
  • Out-of-Character Alert : The Salt Vampire tends to give herself away a bit because of this, especially when posing as Doctor McCoy.
  • Out-of-Character Moment : Spock violently striking a monster-disguised-as-a-woman to prove that she really wasn't Nancy. The "woman" in question showing no ill effects and casually throwing Spock across the room in retaliation.
  • Punched Across the Room : Spock, by the Salt Vampire.
  • Red Alert : Kirk orders "General Quarters, Security Condition 3" on realizing that the creature is on board his ship. He raises this to GQ Four on discovering that the creature can take any form, putting the Enterprise in Lock Down with teams of redshirts patrolling the corridors.
  • Red Shirt : Four crewmember deaths in one episode. None of whom were actually wearing red .
  • Screaming Woman : "Nancy" screams and is found covering her face with her hands, alerting the others to Crewman Darnell's death. Subverted, as the creature is only pretending to be horrified, in order to cover up her preying on Darnell.
  • Shapeshifter Default Form : Though we see the alien’s actual appearance — it looks something like a swamp monster with a fish face and big teeth — it takes this form only when it has been stunned or weakened (and upon its death); it seems to be most comfortable in the form of Nancy, because it is implied that it "feeds" on positive emotions, and both Crater and McCoy are very fond of her.
  • Shape Shifter Guilt Trip : McCoy hesitates to shoot the alien because it has taken the form of his old flame. This tactic apparently worked on Crater given that the alien adopted the form of the wife it killed.
  • Shapeshifting Seducer : When we first meet "Nancy", McCoy sees her as the young beauty he fell in love with, Kirk sees the same woman but at middle-age , and the crewman that accompanied them sees a completely different young woman whom he met on a Pleasure Planet . Uhura later sees the alien as a handsome African male who can speak her native language. However, the blond girl that Darnell saw was played ALSO by Jeanne Bal; the wig and a LOT of makeup make her look like the young lady that Darnell recalls from "Wrigley's Pleasure Planet". We can only presume that the Wrigley Corporation branched out from the Chicago Cubs baseball club and chewing gum.
  • The Spock : Uhura can't get Spock to flirt with her. Then he shows no outward concern that a member of the landing party has been killed, to her irritation. Later when McCoy is overly emotional because he thinks Nancy is in danger, Kirk snaps that he could learn a lesson from Spock.
  • The first establishing shot of the bridge, with Spock in the command chair, Lt. Leslie at helm, and Uhura at navigation, is recycled from " The Naked Time ".
  • The next shot, a closeup of Spock in the command chair, is taken from " What Are Little Girls Made Of? ".
  • A closeup of Kirk, listening to McCoy in sickbay is again lifted from " The Naked Time ".
  • A shot of crewmembers buzzing around on a corridor during red alert is recycled from the original pre-broadcast version of " Where No Man Has Gone Before ". It's easily noticeable, as the people are wearing the turtleneck shirts seen in the pilots.
  • Another brief shot taken from " The Naked Time ": Kirk running through a corridor during red alert.
  • Telepathy : The Salt Vampire creature can read the memories of human beings well enough that it can project the form of someone the human remembers and pretend to be that person. It also seems to be able to "speak" any language instantly through a similar mechanism.
  • The Worf Effect : The salt vampire smacking Spock against the wall might surprise the viewer (at least in hindsight). Granted, Spock hitting "Nancy" in the face with the patented Star Trek two-fisted punch instead of using the nerve pinch (which had been invented for "The Enemy Within", shot before "The Man Trap" though aired later) is also worth noting.
  • This Was His True Form : The alien reverts to its true form after it dies.
  • Tranquil Fury : Kirk does not take the situation coolly because it's a mystery (he hates them) and his crewmen are dropping dead. However, he shows that he can go one level higher than angry ham both when he orders McCoy to focus on the problem rather than his ex and when he tells Crater that he needs to help or Kirk will have his skin.
  • Truth Serum : Apparently this exists in the future. It will never be brought up again in any episode, with the Enterprise computer functioning as a Lie Detector in future episodes. Alternatively, it could very well be little more than "truth serum" as it is today — a drug that makes the user highly susceptible to suggestion. Desperate times call for desperate measures.
  • Vampiric Draining : The creature on planet M-113 lives by draining all of the salt from other living creatures and thus killing them.
  • A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing : Once the creature takes Crewman Green's appearance to get aboard the Enterprise .

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Is that nancy, doctor.

Dr. McCoy hesitates to shoot the salt vampire when it's taken on the form of his old flame.

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The Man Trap

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“The Man Trap” is the first episode of the first season of the original Star Trek television series, which aired in 1966.

The USS Enterprise arrives at planet M-113 to conduct routine medical exams on archaeologists, Professor Robert Crater and his wife, Nancy, who are the only known inhabitants of the otherwise deserted planet. Dr. Leonard McCoy, who was once romantically involved with Nancy, and Captain James T. Kirk accompany a crewman to the planet.

The crew sees Nancy differently. While McCoy sees her as she was when he knew her years ago, Kirk sees her as an older woman, and the crewman sees a completely different woman altogether. When the crewman ends up dead, drained of salt, it becomes evident that something is amiss.

The entity, which we come to know as the last of a dying shape-shifting species known as the Salt Vampire, can not only change its appearance to match anyone’s expectations but also craves salt to survive. It had been masquerading as Nancy to live with Professor Crater. The entity stows away on the Enterprise, where it kills more crew members for their salt.

Crater is brought on board the Enterprise for questioning, where he reveals the truth about the creature, comparing its survival to the buffalo’s plight on Earth. He views the creature with sympathy, as it is the last of its kind.

The salt vampire, disguised as various crew members, stalks the Enterprise, causing chaos and confusion. The climax is reached in Sickbay, where McCoy is alone with the entity, now in the form of Nancy. Despite being emotionally compromised, McCoy is forced to kill the creature when it threatens Captain Kirk’s life, marking a tragic end for the last of an alien species.

“The Man Trap” is an exploration of themes such as survival, deception, and the illusion of perception. It also delves into the moral complexities of actions taken in the name of survival.

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The Man Trap

Cast & crew.

Grace Lee Whitney

Yeoman Janice Rand

Crewman Sturgeon

Sandra Lee Gimpel

M-113 Creature

Garrison True

Security Guard

Larry Anthony

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56 years ago, Star Trek established a canon rule — then immediately broke it

Remember when phasers made you talk in slow motion?

Kirk fires his phaser (on stun) in the Star Trek episode "The Man Trap."

Captain Kirk is leaving his phaser on stun! In the first Star Trek: The Original Series episode to ever air — “The Man Trap” — the functionality of the famous Starfleet weapon, the phaser, is slightly different from what we see in the rest of the Trek franchise moving forward. As the world celebrates the 56th anniversary of Star Trek , let’s talk about the first zany appearance of the phaser.

Spoilers from 1966 ahead.

Although “The Man Trap” was the fifth installment of the regular series in terms of episode order (or the fourth, if you don’t count the second pilot), it was selected by NBC to be the first episode aired. This means that, on September 8, 1966 (and September 6 in Canada!) the world’s first glimpse of Star Trek was a thrilling episode in which a salt-sucking-shape-shifting monster terrorizes the crew of the Starship Enterprise .

As an introductory episode to the entirety of the Trek pantheon, “The Man Trap” is both a perfect and terrible representation of what The Original Series is. While Star Trek isn’t really a monster-of-the-week series, the twist in “The Man Trap” encourages the audience to have some sympathy for this salt vampire, even if it does put its gross suckers on Kirk’s (William Shatner) face.

Kirk and Spock in "The Man Trap"

Spock (Leonard Nimoy) messes with his phaser settings, while Kirk (William Shatner) thinks about how stunning he is.

Much of Trek’s internal continuity was still in flux in the first season of the series, which explains why Spock (Leonard Nimoy) doesn’t bother using the Vulcan nerve pinch on Nancy Crater (Jeanne Bal); at that point, the Vulcan nerve pinch hadn’t been depicted on screen yet. (Though it had been filmed for “The Enemy Within.”) But, space monster smackdowns aside, detailed-oriented Trek fans might notice something else unique about “The Man Trap”: The way the famous Trek phasers are used. Here, they stun Professor Crater (Alfred Ryder) in a way that is different from the rest of the classic show and the whole franchise.

When Kirk and Spock set out to apprehend Professor Crater on the surface of the planet M-113, Kirk tells Spock to set his phaser on “one quarter,” while Kirk leaves his “on stun.” The idea that phasers have all sorts of different levels isn’t that weird. Throughout the franchise, the technology is revealed to have gradients of power, including different kinds of “stun.” But what is weird is what happens when Kirk actually uses his phaser on Crater.

At the moment Crater is hit by Kirk’s phaser shot, we hear a unique sound effect, which many have described as sounding like a ricochet. This sound effect was never again used when someone was stunned with a phaser in The Original Series , nor on any other Trek series or film. It’s pretty cool, but it’s unique to “The Man Trap.”

Crater in Star Trek's "The Man Trap."

This guy was stunned like nobody was stunned before, or since!

And if that wasn’t enough, when Kirk and Spock question Crater, right after the stunning, the voice of actor Alfred Ryder is slowed down to represent his post-stunned grogginess. As this deeper, slow-motion voice effect happens, he even stops himself and says, “Ooh! I feel strange.” And Kirk responds, “Just stunned. You'll be able to think in a minute.”

Although various complaints about the after-effects of being stunned have been referenced throughout the Star Trek canon by other characters, the ricochet in tandem with the slowed-down voice effect never happened again. In First Contact, Zefram Cochrane (James Cromwell) complains about a “hangover” from “your laser beam,” while in the Strange New Worlds episode “Spock Amok,” Number One (Rebecca Romijn) complains “Ow! that really stings.” But neither character speaks in slow motion.

In most of Trek canon, putting your phaser on “stun” effectively means putting your phaser on “tranquilize.” But, in “The Man Trap,” the stun setting actually means what it means. Crater is dazed and confused by the phaser, not rendered unconscious. For the most part, Star Trek never pivots back to this exact use of the phaser. Recently and notably, in Strange New Worlds , Number One and La’an (Christina Chong) have a brief phaser duel. Number One says to put the phasers on the “lowest setting,” which results in the phasers being set to “sting.” (Is there a “zing” setting?)

Although the exact in-universe effect of the phasers didn’t stick within the Star Trek canon, the nomenclature of giving a spacey weapon a non-lethal setting made a big impact. By the time the first Star Wars film dropped in 1977, sci-fi audiences were already primed to know what setting a weapon for “stun” meant. When those two stormtroopers decide they need to take Leia alive, they say “set for stun.”

Captain Pike (Anson Mount) with a phaser in Strange New Worlds

Captain Pike (Anson Mount) with a phaser in Strange New Worlds.

Star Trek changed the face of science fiction and pop culture in ways that are perhaps innumerable. But, right at the very start, in the first episode that audiences saw, it also established a very specific and quirky way to diffuse conflicts.

The idea of setting a phaser on “stun” might seem like a nerdy reference; unpacking its functionality might seem like a way of getting way too in-the-weeds about Trekkie technology. But, within that narrative choice, the entire philosophy of Star Trek is made clear. Despite some of its more dated elements, one nice message of “The Man Trap” shines through, thanks to the phaser: there’s no need to mortally wound someone when you can just zap them instead.

The Star Trek franchise celebrates “Star Trek Day” on September 8 every year, which marks the first US airing of “The Man Trap.” You can watch that episode on Paramount+.

Phasers on Stun!: How the Making — and Remaking — of Star Trek Changed the World

Ryan Britt's new book on the history of Star Trek's biggest changes. From the '60s show to the movies to 'TNG,' to 'Discovery,' 'Picard,' Strange New Worlds,' and beyond!

This article was originally published on Sep. 7, 2022

  • Science Fiction

star trek first episode the man trap

TOS: S1 – E1: The Man Trap

STARDATE: 1513.1

A memorable episode, but unlike many other series, Star Trek’s debut on television in 1966 was not its pilot. That episode, The Cage , would be effectively repackaged later into The Menagerie (Part 1 and 2). What would turn out to be the second pilot ordered by NBC was titled Where No Man Has Gone Before and was saved for the third episode of the first season of Star Trek.

“The Man Trap features the story of men and women who are fooled by a shape-shifting alien, who was the last remaining creature of its race.”

The Man Trap features the story of men and women who are fooled by a shape-shifting alien, who was the last remaining creature of its race. Ordinarily, as done by countless humans in the past, this “last of its kind” would be annihilated (see dodo, woolly mammoth, etc.), but it seems that by the 23rd Century, we have evolved a little because there was at least a little talk of not destroying the creature. Just a little.

The episode begins as the Enterprise is in orbit around the planet M-113. Kirk and “the ship’s surgeon McCoy” beam to the planet’s surface to medically examine Archeologist Robert Crater and his wife, Nancy. The Craters were on the world exploring the ruins of a long dead society — which looked it was inspired by Mesoamerican architecture.

Nancy Crater

Actress Jeanne Bal as Nancy Crater on “The Man Trap.” Courtesy of CBS / Paramount

It turns out that Mrs. Crater had a relationship with McCoy ten years before. When Nancy greets the captain and McCoy, she appears not to have aged in years to McCoy. But to Kirk, she looked very aged. Crewman Darnell saw a blonde woman who he swore he left behind on “Wrigley’s Pleasure Planet.” In a few moments, she would lure Darnell out of the main building … and …

When Prof. Crater appears, he demands that Kirk and McCoy leave the planet immediately, and to refurbish their salty supply. As McCoy examined Crater, the group heard screaming in the distance. As Kirk and company went out to investigate, they found Darnell dead with some red “mottling” on his face. Nancy was standing over him screaming and crying.

Kirk questioned her, and she said that she saw him with a Borgia plant in his hand. Before they beamed back to the ship, Mrs. Crater pressed again about the salt.

Meanwhile, back on the ship, there was a little flirty-flirty going on between Spock and Uhura. This may have inspired the relationship which was fleshed out in the Kelvin-timeline Star Trek (2009) film. Spock also noted that Vulcan had no moons.

After examination, McCoy told the captain that Darnell should not be dead, but it wasn’t poisoning from the Borgia plant. Later, in his captain’s log, Kirk would say that Darnell was “dead by violence” and was not poisoned.

McCoy finally checked the one thing that he almost did not check — the sodium levels of Darnell. He had none. Kirk then noted that Crater and Nancy both wanted salt beamed down.

Kirk returned to the planet with an away team to do a more thorough investigation.  Crater showed Kirk and McCoy the depleted salt stores that they had. Spock then reported that the Borgia plant that was of the standard variety found on Earth and would not have caused Darnell to die. Kirk told Crater that he and Nancy would have to come back aboard the Enterprise until the cause of the death had been determined. Upon hearing this, Crater disappeared.

The USS Enterprise NCC-1701

The USS Enterprise NCC-1701 — which now hangs in the Smithsonian’s Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. Courtesy of CBS / Paramount

Crater left the main building and ran off to find another dead Starfleet crewman; while Nancy was hovering over a third. Kirk and McCoy caught up and found Crewman Sturgeon dead with the same marks on his face. Kirk immediately started looking for Crewman Green, who was also dead. Nancy then shifted into the shape of Green.

McCoy started to lose control of his emotions, thinking that Nancy herself could be a victim of … whatever was attacking the men. The three beamed back aboard the ship. As “Green” got off the transporter pad, he began to wander around the ship looking for salt. The first person he encountered was Yeoman Janice Rand, who happened to be carrying a tray of food, complete with a salt shaker.

Janice brought Mr. Sulu the tray in the Botany Section of the Life Sciences Department. This scene was enjoyable thanks to a plant, which responded to the humans around it. When Green entered the room, this particular plant reacted violently.

Green wandered again and shifted into a crewman who was not based on anyone on the ship… but instead based on someone Lt. Uhura was thinking about. He spoke with Uhura for a few moments, and attempted to touch her face or throat, but was interrupted. Uhura then escaped.

The new crewman wandered again, eventually finding Dr. McCoy’s quarters. He shifted into the form of Nancy and encouraged McCoy to rest and relax.

Meanwhile, Sulu and Janice found another dead crewman… with red “mottling” on his face.

McCoy fell asleep, and Nancy took his shape and reported to the bridge. Kirk and Spock returned to the surface to interrogate Crater, but instead, they found the dead body of Crewman Green. Crater then attacked Kirk and Spock (with an older generation phaser pistol prop, which was seen on The Cage). Kirk eventually stunned Crater, who admitted that his wife Nancy was a creature, not a human. She was “the last of its kind,” as the passenger pigeon.

Crater then compared her to the buffalo, which were “gone,” according to Spock. But luckily, there are still 31,000 bison living in refuges as of this writing.

“McCoy” spoke with Sulu and Uhura on the bridge, and eventually infiltrated a meeting of the senior staff as they were trying to determine who the creature could be pretending to be now. McCoy then suggests that the crew ought to not hunt the beast, but instead offer it salt without tricks.

When Crater refuses to help Kirk find the creature, Kirk orders McCoy to administer truth serum. But when Crater, McCoy, and Spock leave the ready room, “McCoy” assaults Spock, who bleeds green for all to see. Crater was then victim to the salt lust of the creature… though she was not able to attack Spock in the same way. Spock told Kirk that the ancestors of Vulcans spawned in a different ocean than humans and that Vulcans have no salt in their system.

Kirk eventually tracked the creature to McCoy’s suite (who was now in the form of Nancy Crater again) and then demanded that McCoy stand aside. McCoy refused and tried to disarm his captain. But as this happened, Kirk lost his phaser to the doctor, and the creature began to absorb the salt from Kirk’s body. Spock burst in and started attacking Nancy, who easily defeated the Vulcan. Eventually, Nancy dropped her guise and showed her pure form. McCoy shot her with the phaser twice.

TREK REPORT SUPPLEMENTAL:

This episode is remembered by many as the “space vampire” episode, but it was more than just that. It was also a whodunit, and right from the start, the show was not ashamed of showing off its diverse cast with major speaking roles (Sulu, Uhura). While there was no mention of the Prime Directive, there was a hint of what was to come later in the series. Much like the Cub Scouts, Starfleet officers would be ordered to “leave no trace” to planets they visit in future episodes. While that did not stop McCoy from ultimately killing the creature, Kirk did lament its loss before credits ran. I enjoyed this one, but am puzzled as to why the network or producers decided that this would be the first show to appear on TV. Perhaps the space vampire theme was easy for an audience to jump into this new space adventure quickly.

RATING: 3 out of 5

Directed by Marc Daniels Written by George Clayton Johnson Created and Produced by Gene Roddenberry

Associate Producers: Robert H. Justman, John D. F. Black Director of Photography: Jerry Finnerman Production Designer: Walter M. Jefferies Music composed and conducted by: Alexander Courage

William Shatner as Kirk Leonard Nimoy as Spock

CO-STARRING Jeanne Bal

GUEST STAR Alfred Ryder

DeForest Kelley as Dr. McCoy Grace Lee Whitney as Yeoman Rand AND

George Takei … Sulu Nichelle Nichols … Uhura Bruce Watson … Green Michael Zaslow … Darnell Vince Howard … Crewman Francine Pyne … Nancy III

Art Director … Rolland M. Brooks Film Editor … Robert L. Swanson Assistant Director … Michael S. Glick Set Decorator … Carl F. Biddiscombe Costumes created by … William Theiss Post Production Executive … Bill Heath Music Editor … Robert H. Raff Sound Editor … Joseph G. Sorokin Sound Mixer … Jack F. Lilly Photographic Effects … Howard Anderson Co. Script Supervisor … George A. Rutter Music Consultant … Wilbur Hatch Music Coordinator … Julian Davidson Special Effects … Jim Rugg Property Master … Irving A. Fenberg Gaffer … George H. Merhoff Head Grip … George Rader Production Supervisor … Bernard A. Windin Makeup Artist … Fred B. Phillips, S.M.A. Hair Styles by … Virginia Darcy, C.H.S. Wardrobe Mistress … Margaret Makau Casting … Joseph D’Agosta Sound … Glen Glenn Sound Co.

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The Man Trap

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Professor Robert Crater and his wife Nancy are archeologists, investigating the ruins of a civilization on M-113. Enterprise visits for the annual physical examination required by regulations, but the professor seems oddly reluctant. He insists all he and his wife need is salt to cope with the heat. Then Crewman Green dies, his face marked by odd red rings. Crater says he ate the borgia plant which contains toxic chemicals. But its symptoms do not include the red mottling. Kirk and Spock are determined to discover what's going on, and doubly so when a crewman on the ship dies the same way as Green.

star trek first episode the man trap

DeForest Kelley

Lt. Cmdr. Montgomery "Scotty" Scott

James Doohan

Lt. Nyota Uhura

Nichelle Nichols

Lt. Hikaru Sulu

George Takei

Yeoman Janice Rand

Grace Lee Whitney

Vince Howard

Vince Howard

Prof. Robert Crater

Alfred Ryder

Darnell

Michael Zaslow

Green

Bruce Watson

Cast appearances.

Captain James Tiberius Kirk

William Shatner

Mr. Spock

Leonard Nimoy

Episode discussion.

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star trek first episode the man trap

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Episode Preview: The Man Trap

star trek first episode the man trap

10 Star Trek: TNG Actors Who Appeared In Lost

  • Star Trek: The Next Generation and Lost share a connection through actors appearing in both iconic shows.
  • Both series feature characters navigating strange occurrences and mysterious phenomena in their respective universes.
  • From renowned guest stars to memorable roles, these actors brought their talent to both TNG and Lost.

Star Trek: The Next Generation and Lost may not seem to have much in common beyond being science fiction television shows, but several actors appeared in both shows. Following the adventures of Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) and the USS Enterprise-D, TNG picked up about a century after the events of Star Trek: The Original Series . Although TNG got off to a bit of a rocky start in its first two seasons, it would go on to produce some of the best science fiction television of all time. Over the course of seven seasons, the Enterprise-D explored the galaxy, encountering numerous strange aliens and unexplainable anomalies.

The characters on ABC's Lost also experienced their fair share of bizarre and unexplained mysteries. After Oceanic Flight 815 crash lands on an island, the survivors must continue to fight for their lives as increasingly strange occurrences begin happening on the island. After Lost 's debut twenty years ago in 2004 , the J.J. Abrams-produced series quickly became a hit, its twists and turns inspiring intense speculation and numerous conspiracy theories. Both Star Trek: The Next Generation and Lost are often ranked among the best television shows of all time, and here are 10 actors who appeared in both iconic shows.

10 Star Trek Guest Star Actors You Forgot About

Fionnula flanagan, star trek: the next generation season 7, episode 10 - "inheritance" / 7 episodes of lost.

Fionnula Flanagan only appeared in one episode of TNG , where she played Dr. Juliana Tainer, the ex-wife of Dr. Noonien Soong (Brent Spiner). Juliana aided Dr. Soong in his work, including helping him create the android Lt. Commander Data (Brent Spiner) . In "Inheritance," the Enterprise visits Atrea IV, where Juliana is living, and she reunites with her "son," Data (although he does not remember her). In Lost , Fionnula Flanagan played the oldest version of Eloise Hawking, the mother of physicist Daniel Faraday (Jeremy Davies), and the leader of the group known as the Others.

Data later discovers Juliana to be an advanced android created by Soong and imbued with the memories of the real Juliana.

Daniel Roebuck

Star trek: the next generation season 5, episodes 7 & 8 - "unification" / 9 episodes of lost.

Popular character actor Daniel Roebuck played a Romulan Civilian (identified in tie-in fiction as Jaron) in the Star Trek: The Next Generation two-parter , "Unification." Jaron was a member of the underground movement to reunite Romulans and Vulcans that Ambassador Spock (Leonard Nimoy) had begun. When Captain Picard and Data first arrived on Romulus, Jaron was one of the Romulans who led the pair to the caves where the underground movement had its base of operations. In Lost , Roebuck portrayed former science teacher Dr. Leslie Arzt, who survived for 44 days on the island before accidentally blowing himself up with some dynamite the survivors found.

John Pyper-Ferguson

Star trek: the next generation season 6, episode 8 - "a fistful of datas" / lost season 6, episodes 17 & 18 - "the end".

TNG's "A Fistful of Datas" followed Counselor Deanna Troi (Marina Sirtis), Lt. Worf (Michael Dorn), and Worf's son Alexander (Brian Bonsall) as they became trapped in a Western program on the holodeck. Initially, John Pyper-Ferguson played the holographic outlaw Eli Hollander, who was known as one of the best gunslingers in the West. Worf arrested Hollander, but the character was later replaced by an image of Data (complete with his android abilities) when the holodeck malfunctioned. Pyper-Ferguson only had a brief appearance in Lost , as an Oceanic Airlines delivery man who delivers a coffin in the series finale.

Dan Gauthier

Star trek: the next generation season 7, episode 15 - "lower decks" / lost season 5, episode 9 - "namaste".

In TNG's "Lower Decks," Dan Gauthier played Lt. Sam Lavelle, a lower decker on the USS Enterprise-D who strongly desired a promotion. Sam tried to ingratiate himself with Commander William Riker (Jonathan Frakes), believing that the senior officer did not care for him. Sam often joined his fellow lower decker friends for poker nights, and he soon learned that one of his friends, Barjoan Ensign Sito Jaxa (Shannon Fill) , was up for the same promotion as him. After Sito was tragically killed on a mission, Sam got the promotion, but felt some guilt regarding his friend's death. Gauthier briefly appeared in one Lost episode as a pilot named Peter Ross, who is killed when his plane crash-lands on an island.

What Happened To Star Treks OTHER Lower Deckers After TNG?

Sam anderson, star trek: the next generation season 2, episode 12 - "the royale" / 24 episodes of lost.

Another recognizable character actor, Sam Anderson appeared in TNG's "The Royale" as the Assistant Manager of the hotel and casino called Hotel Royale. When Riker, Data, and Worf visit this strange casino on a planet that should not be able to support life, Anderson's character is the first person they speak to. Eventually, the Enterprise away team uncovers the truth about the strange casino and its cast of characters - they were all created by mysterious aliens based on a cheesy crime novel entitled Hotel Royale . Anderson played survivor Bernard Nadler on Lost , who chose to live in seclusion with his wife Rose (L. Scott Caldwell) on the island away from the other survivors.

April Grace

5 episodes of star trek: the next generation / 4 episodes of lost.

In five episodes of TNG , April Grace played Ensign Maggie Hubbell, one of the transporter chiefs aboard the Starship Enterprise. Chief Miles O'Brien (Colm Meaney) was the character most often seen acting as the transporter chief, but Maggie's occasional presence helped the Enterprise crew feel larger. Maggie also appeared in the pilot episode of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine , in which Captain Picard temporarily relived her to personally transport O'Brien to space station Deep Space 9. On Lost , Grace portrayed Bea Klugh, one of the mysterious Others who seemed to hold a leadership position.

Saul Rubinek

Star trek: the next generation season 3, episode 22 - "the most toys" / lost season 2, episode 2 - "adrift".

Although Saul Rubinek only appeared in one episode of TNG , he portrayed one of the most memorable and hated guest characters. In "The Most Toys," Rubinek played the trader Kivas Fajo, who kidnapped Data in order to add the unique android to his own personal collection. Fajo had little regard for anyone but himself and he did not care at all about Data's autonomy. Fajo was so loathsome that Data seemed prepared to shoot him with a deadly disrupter weapon despite the android's protocols preventing violence. Rubinek also appeared in only one episode of Lost , as an attorney for Oceanic survivor Michael Dawson (Harold Perrineau).

Susan Gibney

2 episodes of star trek: the next generation / lost season 4, episode 4 - "eggtown".

Susan Gibney played scientist Dr. Leah Brahms in two episodes of Star Trek: The Next Generation . She was first introduced in TNG season 3, episode 6, "Booby Trap," as part of a holodeck program Lt. Geordi La Forge (LeVar Burton) used to help repair the engines of the Enterprise. Brahms had helped design and build the Enterprise's warp engines, and her expertise helped La Forge solve the problems the Enterprise was experiencing. Geordi also developed a crush on the holographic Brahams, which became even more awkward when the real Brahams visited the Enterprise in TNG season 4, episode 16, "Galaxy's Child." On Lost , Gibney portrayed Los Angeles District Attorney Melissa Dunbrook, who tries to convict Oceanic survivor Kate Austen (Evangeline Lilly) of several crimes.

Susan Gibney also appeared in two episodes of Star Trek: Deep Space Nine as Captain Benteen. Gibney briefly reprised the role of Leah Brahms as part of an illusion in Star Trek: Lower Decks season 3, episode 3, "Mining The Mind's Mines."

"#MeToo Moment": LeVar Burton Got Star Trek: Picard To Fix Geordi's TNG Mistake

Michelle forbes, 9 episodes of star trek: the next generation / lost season 4, episode 12 - "there's no place like home, part 1".

Michelle Forbes' Ensign Ro Laren debuted in the aptly titled Star Trek: The Next Generation season 5 episode, "Ensign Ro." Prior to being assigned to the Enterprise-D, Ro had been court-martialed and demoted after a disastrous away mission. Although Captain Picard became a mentor to the Bajoran officer, she eventually abandoned Starfleet to join the rebel group known as the Maquis. As seen in Star Trek: Picard season 3, however, Ro later returned to Starfleet and warned Picard about the Changeling infiltration. In one episode of Lost , Forbes played Karen Decker, a public relations representative of Oceanic Airlines who helped prepare the so-called Oceanic Six to speak with the press.

Terry O'Quinn

Star trek: the next generation season 7, episode 12 - "the pegasus" / all 121 episodes of lost.

In one of Commander Riker's best TNG episodes , "The Pegasus," Terry O'Quinn played Admiral Erik Pressman, Riker's former commanding officer. As a young ensign on the USS Pegasus, Riker escaped with Captain Pressman when the ship's crew mutinied due to Pressman's involvement in illegal activity involving an experimental cloaking device. When Pressman visited the Enterprise-D many years later, Riker struggled with his conscience but eventually revealed the truth to Captain Picard.

Locke was one of the show's most interesting and complicated characters , whose belief in the magic of the island led him to make some very questionable choices.

In his most well-known and Emmy-winning role, Terry O'Quinn portrayed Oceanic survivor John Locke in every episode of Lost . Locke was one of the show's most interesting and complicated characters , whose belief in the magic of the island led him to make some very questionable choices. Although Locke is very different from Star Trek: The Next Generation's Admiral Pressman, Terry O'Quinn brought his stoic, confident energy to both characters.

Star Trek: The Next Generation

Cast LeVar Burton, Brent Spiner, Wil Wheaton, Jonathan Frakes, Patrick Stewart, Marina Sirtis

Release Date September 28, 1987

Showrunner Gene Roddenberry

Cast Harold Perrineau, Matthew Fox, Michael Emerson, Josh Holloway, Evangeline Lilly, Ken Leung, Yunjin Kim, Terry O'Quinn, Naveen Andrews, Jorge Garcia, Henry Ian Cusick, Emilie de Ravin, Elizabeth Mitchell, Dominic Monaghan, Daniel Dae Kim

Release Date September 22, 2004

Showrunner Damon Lindelof, Carlton Cuse

10 Star Trek: TNG Actors Who Appeared In Lost

Screen Rant

Enterprise actor sad star trek’s next movie is exploring section 31 “without me”.

Star Trek: Enterprise's Dominic Keating confirms Oscar winner Michelle Yeoh's Star Trek: Section 31 movie won't include Lt. Malcolm Reed.

  • Dominic Keating misses the opportunity to explore Lt. Malcolm Reed's connection to Section 31 in the new Star Trek movie.
  • Keating believes Reed was destined to become a captain, hinting at missed potential in Enterprise's storyline.
  • Section 31 movie, starring Michelle Yeoh as Emperor Philippa Georgiou, will stream on Paramount+ and is currently filming in Toronto.

Star Trek: Enterprise actor Dominic Keating is sad that Star Trek: Section 31 is happening without him, confirming that Lt. Malcolm Reed won't be in the next Star Trek movie starring Academy Award-winner Michelle Yeoh . Malcolm Reed had ties to Section 31 on Star Trek: Enterprise , which was set in the 22nd century and makes it difficult to incorporate Lt. Reed into the film without time travel shenanigans. However, it isn't clear when, exactly, Michelle Yeoh's Section 31 movie takes place in the Star Trek timeline .

Dominic Keating and his fellow Star Trek: Enterprise cast member Connor Trinneer joined The 7th Rule host Ryan T. Husk for a lively panel at ST-SF: Trek To San Francisco. As reported by TrekMovie , Trinneer and Keating were asked how they would have liked their Enterprise characters, Commander Trip Tucker and Lt. Malcolm Reed, to continue, and Keating mused about the missed opportunity with Star Trek: Section 31 . Read Keating's quote below:

That Section 31 stuff was quite fun, wasn’t it? That would have been worth some exploration. I believe they’re actually in Toronto now exploring it without me. And you know, Malcolm was always going to be captain eventually. Good British captain, I would say.

Star Trek: Section 31 is filming in Toronto and is planned as the first Star Trek movie made to stream on Paramount+.

10 Section 31 Things To Know Before Michelle Yeoh's Star Trek Movie

Star trek: section 31 has a new cast of characters, fans are disappointed in section 31's lack of star trek legacy characters.

Star Trek: Section 31 announced a new cast of actors including Sam Richardson, Omari Hardwick, Sven Ruygrok, Robert Kazinsky, Kacey Rohl, Humberly González, and James Hiroyuki Liao playing yet-unnamed characters. They all join Michelle Yeoh, who is headlining the next Star Trek movie as Emperor Georgiou, her anti-heroine from Star Trek: Discovery. Star Trek: Section 31 's logline indicates Georgiou will confront the "sins of Section 31's past" , and this could take the former Mirror Universe Emperor back in time to the very origins of Starfleet's top secret black ops agency.

Section 31 is going a different direction than a Star Trek all-star reunion so that new characters will interact with Emperor Georgiou, barring any secret Star Trek cameos.

Since Section 31 likely involves time travel, long-time fans hoped it would be an opportunity to pluck Star Trek legacy characters with ties to Section 31 to meet Emperor Georgiou like Star Trek: Deep Space Nine 's Dr. Julian Bashir (Alexander Siddig) and Luther Sloan (William Sadler), Star Trek: Discovery 's Ash Tyler (Shazad Latif), and Star Trek: Enterprise 's Lt. Malcolm Reed. Alas, Section 31 is going a different direction than a Star Trek all-star reunion so that new characters will interact with Emperor Georgiou, barring any secret Star Trek cameos. Sadly, given Dominic Keating's comments, it's unlikely Star Trek: Section 31 will feature a Lt. Malcolm Reed comeback.

Source: TrekMovie.com

Star Trek: Section 31

’Star Trek: Discovery’s Cast Discuss the End of the Series and Heartfelt Stories From Fans [Exclusive]

Sonequa Martin-Green, Doug Jones, Wilson Cruz, Blu del Barrio, David Ajala, and Mary Wiseman share special moments from filming Season 5.

The Big Picture

  • Collider's Steve Weintraub sits down to chat with the crew of USS Discovery for the Star Trek: Discovery Season 5 world premiere at SXSW 2024.
  • Cast members Sonequa Martin-Green, Doug Jones, Wilson Cruz, Blu del Barrio, David Ajala, and Mary Wiseman emotional farewell at SXSW highlights the impact the show has had on fans, inspiring personal growth and positive change.
  • The cast shares emotional stories about meeting fans and what the show means to people around the world.

Back in 2017, the ever-expanding final frontier took fans on a new adventure in Star Trek: Discovery . Five seasons later, viewers will say goodbye to this chapter in the final fifth season, which introduced us to a brand-new crew of starfaring adventurers. What better way to celebrate the finale and the U.S.S. Discovery’s last mission with us than the world premiere of Season 5, Episode 1, “Red Directive,” at SXSW 2024 ?

While at SXSW, lead and Season 5 executive producer Sonequa Martin-Green , Doug Jones , Wilson Cruz , Blu del Barrio , David Ajala , and Mary Wiseman joined us in the Collider media studio for their world premiere farewell. It's an emotional conversation where the Discovery crew shares special moments from filming Season 5.

'Star Trek: Discovery' Comes to an End in Season 5

"it means as much to us as it does to them," martin-green says of their time on the series..

It was clear that saying goodbye to Discovery was a struggle for this cast. Not only are they bringing their journey with one another to an end, but with the fans, as well. They reflect on their characters' growth, the highs and the lows, and also share the impact that the fandom has had on their lives.

Of her interactions with fans, Martin-Green recalls the unforgettable moments she's had:

"‘I decided not to take my own life because of your show.’ ‘My family has been brought together because of your show.’ ‘I know how to end the cycle of racism in my family because of your show.’ ‘I will go into STEM because of your show.’ ‘Now I’ll speak up at work because of your show.’ ‘Now I’ll follow my dreams because of your show.’ It has been so many stories. There are too many for us to say."

Cruz goes on to say:

"To see young LGBTQ+ fans wearing that white uniform, trying to emulate Culber in some way, having young queer people saying, ‘I want a career in medicine because you’ve inspired that in me,’ that’s why we do this kind of work — to inspire people to do better, to be better. This franchise has always done that for people, but to now be the cause of someone’s inspiration in that way is overwhelming. I love meeting the fans. I love that there is such passion in the fandom for this show. We never claimed to want to be everything to everyone, but we wanted to be the best version of ourselves for people who are going to receive it in that spirit, and we’ve done that."

Check out the full interview below or tune into the video above with Steve Weintraub for Season 5 teases, what they took from set, memories, and tons more. It's a great and emotional conversation.

COLLIDER: Everyone, this is Steve with Collider, and I am here in our SXSW studio with the great folks behind Star Trek: Discovery . How are you guys all doing?

CAST OF ‘STAR TREK: DISCOVERY’ : Great. Thank you. So good. Good. You?

Listen, I'm doing great. I love Star Trek , and I love that the fact that I'm talking to all of you guys in a studio. This has to be like both incredibly exciting and also so bittersweet because you are promoting something you're a part of, but also the ride is over. You've filmed the finale, you know? What is it like to be at SXSW and the end of the run, if you will?

DOUG JONES: Celebratory. We had a lot of back patting today like, you know what I think we did okay. But the bitter part of course is obvious, no one wants to see a good thing come to an end. But the sweet part is, is that we got five seasons out of a great show and we found each other through it all.

What do you think fans are going to say after they've seen the series finale? What do you think fans will be feeling emotionally?

WILSON CRUZ : Oh man, they should have got two more seasons. [Cast of Star Trek: Discovery laughs] That's what they're going to say. I think it's.. I mean, I'm not just saying this. I think it is really, if not the strongest season, one of the strongest seasons we've had. Just story-wise, the performances, the special effects, the entire thing was just beautiful. And I've been saying like if this was going to be the last season, this is a good one to go out on. We went out on a high note. You know, I think we leave them wanting more.

COLLIDER: Anyone else want to add anything?

DAVID AJALA: Yeah, and I hope the fans are like, you know what, man, after that season finale, I'm going to buy the Blu-ray and DVD. Yeah! I see you, Tracy. [Cast of Star Trek: Discovery laughs]

COLLIDER: In all seriousness, I think that physical media is awesome. It would be great for the fans. I'm sure most of you have done conventions, you know that sci-fi fans are very passionate people. I would imagine that at least some of them are interested in like a box set of all the seasons with extras and all that stuff in 4K.

WILSON CRUZ: I'm sure that's coming. I'm sure of it.

COLLIDER: I don't trust any studio at this point. I want physical media. I keep pushing for it. So for each of you, one of the things that fans love is the relationship between you two. [points to Sonequa Martin-Green and David Ajala] What can you tease about, because things were left, in a way, at the end of last season. What can you tease about the relationship this season?

DAVID AJALA: The course of true love never did run smooth.

SONEQUA MARTIN-GREEN: There it is. It's the old Facebook status is complicated. [Cast laughs] That's what I always say.

COLLIDER: I believe when you guys found out that it was going to be a series finale, you went back to do some additional filming. I'm curious, when you know you're going back, and it's the series finale, and this is it, how much are you stuffing your pockets? You know it's the end. So what can I take without them noticing? Because come on, I would have done it. So who took what? No one from Paramount is in the room...

SONEQUA MARTIN-GREEN: Look, wait now. What you trying to do? You're trying to trap them.

COLLIDER: No, no. They're not from Paramount.

DOUG JONES: I did it out loud with permission. I took my final Saru makeup prosthetics. That's at home now. And I also took my Kelpien High Council pin, my brooch.

SONEQUA MARTIN-GREEN: That's beautiful. I got to take two different chair backs. I got to take the Burnham chair back for my cast chair, and they also gave me my producer chair as well. And then I did become executive producer for season five. So I got to take that with me as well. That's in the heart. But yeah, I have those two chair backs.

MARY WISEMAN: I took all the memories. Five wonderful seasons of memories and friends.

DOUG JONES: Make us all sound trite why don't you?

MARY WISEMAN: And I also took some hair, Doug. I took some hair.

SONEQUA MARTIN-GREEN: Nice. [Cast laughs]

MARY WISEMAN: It's not easy to match my color, so I took some hair. Blu?

BLU DEL BARRIO: I took also.. well, I didn't take it. I was given my chair back with Adira on it. And I took nothing else because I'm a wimp, and I was too scared to take anything else. And I..

MARY WISEMAN: You can also say you took Mary's hair. [Cast laughs]

BLU DEL BARRIO: I also took a lock of Mary's wig hair, and I have it on my keychain. [Cast laughs] No, I took nothing and I wish I did, but I'm too scared.

DAVID AJALA: What did you take?

WILSON CRUZ: I wasn't there.

DAVID AJALA: What do you mean by that?

MARY WISEMAN: Yeah, but you took stuff before.

WILSON CRUZ: I haven't taken anything. I wasn't there. I couldn't be there at the end because I had already taken a job. I was in Thailand, but they were lovely enough to actually call me from there and make me cry all my makeup off. The makeup artist there was really pissed. But I didn't get to go. So this is actually my last goodbye here now.

COLLIDER: Or could it be at a screening in the future? Fingers crossed.

SONEQUA MARTIN-GREEN: That's exactly right.

DOUG JONES: Perhaps at a Collider screening.

SONEQUA MARTIN-GREEN: Perhaps.

DAVID AJALA: I took Grudge the Cat. [Cast laughs] And then I handed her back. She's high maintenance. I was like, y 'all can keep the cat. I took her for a day and I handed her back.

WILSON CRUZ: Did you really?

DAVID AJALA: No, like on set, I had her. I just spent a bit more time with her on set than I ordinarily would. She's high maintenance.

Cast Members Share Their Favorite TV Shows

COLLIDER: We're doing a super cut of everyone who's coming in. If you could only watch one TV show for the rest of your life, what would you watch and why?

SONEQUA MARTIN-GREEN: Come on!

COLLIDER: Everyone has answered. You'd be surprised.

DOUG JONES: I don't have to think about it: Golden Girls . Some of the best writing and acting I've ever seen, and making me laugh.

MARY WISEMAN: That is a good answer.

DOUG JONES: Thank you. Boom!

WILSON CRUZ: Only because it helps me imagine a better reality is... I would watch The West Wing for the rest of my life. I was gonna say Six Feet Under , but there's so much death.

DAVID AJALA: Any more for any more?

SONEQUA MARTIN-GREEN: Touched By An Angel ? Was that what you was gonna say?

MARY WISEMAN: No, I thought you had a different answer and I was gonna give it to you because I thought you'd like it.

SONEQUA MARTIN-GREEN: Really? You were gonna give me that?

MARY WISEMAN: No I was gonna give you a different one. I was gonna say [whispers in Sonequa Martin-Green's ear]

SONEQUA MARTIN-GREEN: Aww yeah!

MARY WISEMAN: There's so much there.

SONEQUA MARTIN-GREEN: There is so much there.

SONEQUA MARTIN-GREEN: You could say that one.

MARY WISEMAN: I know but I'm kind of torn. Did you have one too?

DAVID AJALA: Yeah. Two?

COLLIDER: Some people said two but you should push for one.

BLU DEL BARRIO: You don't get two.

DAVID AJALA: You don't get two! You don't get the answer sway! The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air . Yeah.

MARY WISEMAN: Did you get yours?

WILSON CRUZ: I did, because I want to imagine a better political reality.

COLLIDER: The West Wing .

MARY WISEMAN: OK, I'm going to say Buffy the Vampire Slayer because–

BLU DEL BARRIO: That's mine! That's mine! [Mary Wiseman laughs] You used it!

MARY WISEMAN: All part of my plan to fuck you over. [Cast laughs] There's so many seasons, and there's so many episodes per season. There's comedy and there's drama. So I'm thinking, like, if it's all I get for the rest of my life, like, that'll do her.

COLLIDER: You can share the same show.

MARY WISEMAN: No, no, they can't have it. I got it. I got it. I'm so sorry. What do you want? Something different?

BLU DEL BARRIO: Fuck you. [Cast laughs]

DOUG JONES: Haven't heard of that one.

BLU DEL BARRIO: Oh man, I thought so hard, I thought so hard for so many minutes.

MARY WISEMAN: You can say that one, I'll pick a different one.

COLLIDER: You can go with Angel .

BLU DEL BARRIO: No.

SONEQUA MARTIN-GREEN: They're like, please no.

MARY WISEMAN: Yuck. No offense.

BLU DEL BARRIO: Oh, you know what? Nope.

MARY WISEMAN: Okay, they can have Buffy the Vampire Slayer , I'll take Deadwood . Okay. But it's only three seasons, so you see my dilemma.

SONEQUA MARTIN-GREEN: I'm gonna say something really gushy-mushy, just to tail end it.

COLLIDER: Wait, I thought you said Touched By An Angel .

SONEQUA MARTIN-GREEN: I did, but no, this is not necessarily an answer. It's a cheat. I know, I made you only have one. But listen, I would love to watch all of their work [points to her cast members] in perpetuity. Everything that they've done, I mean, I know that there's so much more work beyond Discovery with the people here, but their work on Discovery , I could watch it every day. I really could, I mean that.

COLLIDER: I'm almost out of time, but, I'm not sure, have all of you done Star Trek cons? I actually don't know.

CAST OF STAR TREK: DISCOVERY: *nods* Yes!

The Discovery Cast Discuss Star Trek Fandom and What the Show Means to People Around the World

COLLIDER: One of the things about Star Trek fandom is that Star Trek means a lot to a lot of people all around the planet. Not every show can like go to a con and have such passionate fans. What is it actually like being part of something that really means so much to so many people? And you really meet these people all around at these cons, and you know what I mean, like emotionally, it really matters to a lot of people.

WILSON CRUZ: You know I'll just start. I know for me to see young LGBTQ fans wearing that white uniform, you know, trying to emulate Culber in some way. You know, having young queer people saying, "I want a career in medicine because you've inspired that in me." I mean, that's why we do this kind of work, right? To inspire people to do better, to be better. This show, this franchise has always done that for people, but to now be the cause of someone's inspiration in that way is overwhelming. I love meeting the fans. I love that there is such passion in the fandom for this show. We never claimed to want to be everything to everyone, but we want it to be the best version of ourselves for people who are going to receive it in that spirit. And we've done that.

DAVID AJALA & SONEQUA MARTIN-GREEN: Click, click, click, click.

SONEQUA MARTIN-GREEN: Yeah. I mean, it means as much to us as it does to them.

COLLIDER: Is there a certain convention that you've been to or a certain fan interaction that you've had that has really stuck with you through the time?

SONEQUA MARTIN-GREEN: There's so many.

DOUG JONES: So many.

SONEQUA MARTIN-GREEN: That's the blessing. There's so many.

DOUG JONES: So many heartfelt stories we've heard from individuals over the years. A lot of them that touch me the most are when you've got someone who is, their Make-A-Wish Foundation gift is a trip to this convention to meet us, or someone comes up and says, "Watching your show reminds me of my dad. We watched it together. He's gone now." So we're a part of their family legacy as well as ours. Story after story after, so we've been a part of people's families and lives. I haven't found that in any other franchise or show I've been in before.

SONEQUA MARTIN-GREEN: "I decided not to take my own life because of your show." "My family has been brought together because of your show." "I know how to end the cycle of racism in my family because of your show." You know what I'm saying? "I will go into STEM because of your show." "Now I'll speak up at work because of your show." "Now I'll follow my dream because of your show." It has been so many stories. So many. There's too many for us to say.

COLLIDER: I honestly can't imagine... I'm emotional hearing this. I can't imagine what it's like for you guys experiencing that and feeling.

WILSON CRUZ: I'll add one thing. I was in the airport maybe six months ago, and this older retiree aged couple came up to me and said, "Are you Dr. Culber on 'Star Trek: Discovery'?" I was like, "Yes." The mother turned to me and said, "I just want you to know that watching you and your chosen family has allowed me and my husband to understand our trans daughter better. It has given us something to talk about with her that we both have in common. You gave us our family back." You don't even know how to respond when someone comes up to you to say that, right? She's saying to me "We didn't have the vocabulary or the instincts to actually be able to speak to her in a way so that she could understand how much we supported her until we had that show to refer to." It was really beautiful.

COLLIDER: Thank you for sharing these stories as I'm very emotional sitting here. I really wanna say I really enjoy your work. I can't wait to see the rest of the last season, and good luck with the rest of your interviews at SXSW. Thank you for coming in.

Star Trek Discovery Season 5 returns with new episodes on Paramount+ on April 4.

Star Trek: Discovery

Taking place almost a decade before Captain Kirk's Enterprise, the USS Discovery charts a course to uncover new worlds and life forms.

IMAGES

  1. Star Trek Episode 1: The Man Trap

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  2. Star Trek Episode 1: The Man Trap

    star trek first episode the man trap

  3. Star Trek (S01E01): The Man Trap Summary

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  4. Watch Star Trek: The Original Series (Remastered) Season 1 Episode 1

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  5. "Man Trap" (S1:E1) Star Trek: The Original Series Screencaps

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  6. "Star Trek" The Man Trap (TV Episode 1966)

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VIDEO

  1. The Monster Revealed

  2. Star Trek The Original Series Season 1 Episode 1 'The Man Trap' Review

  3. Star Trek

  4. Star Trek TOS (Preview S1-E01)

  5. Star Trek

  6. Star Trek Abridged Ep 1 (The Man Trap)

COMMENTS

  1. "Star Trek" The Man Trap (TV Episode 1966)

    The Man Trap: Directed by Marc Daniels. With William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, Jeanne Bal, Alfred Ryder. Dr. McCoy discovers his old flame is not what she seems after crew members begin dying from a sudden lack of salt in their bodies.

  2. The Man Trap

    "The Man Trap" is the first episode of season one of the American science fiction television series Star Trek. Written by George Clayton Johnson and directed by Marc Daniels, it featured design work by Wah Chang and first aired in the United States on September 8, 1966.. In the episode, the crew visit an outpost on planet M-113 to conduct routine medical exams on the residents using a ...

  3. The Man Trap (episode)

    "The Man Trap" was the first Star Trek episode to air, on 8 September 1966. As Robert H. Justman and Herbert F. Solow recount in their book Inside Star Trek: The Real Story (pp. 163-164), the decision to broadcast this entry before any other of the few completed episodes was, largely, a process of elimination.

  4. Star Trek turns 50: A look back at the desperately sad first episode

    In "The Man Trap," the first episode of Star Trek to air on television, the crew beams down to a planet called M-113. It's a cruel name, clinical, bureaucratic. Surely, it had a real name ...

  5. Star Trek: The Original Series S1E01: "The Man Trap"

    Join us in our mission to recap every episode of Star Trek: The Original Series - read the break down for Season 1, Episode 1 - The Man Trap. Join the Ready Steady Cut Newsletter. ... "The Man Trap" boasts the first instance of a trope which will become a staple of Star Trek: the terrifying, yet misunderstood creature. We'll see this in ...

  6. Star Trek: The Original Series S1E1: The Man Trap Recap & Review

    A mysterious shape-shifting creature threatens the Enterprise in the first aired episode of Star Trek: The Original Series, The Man Trap. Join as I recap and...

  7. Star Trek: Why 'The Man Trap' Was the Series' First Episode

    RELATED: Star Trek's Longest Running Series, Revealed. When Star Trek was first beamed into peoples' living rooms, executives chose "The Man Trap" because of its all-encompassing elements. The episode managed to display most of its main crew members (although Scotty is only heard, never seen) while also giving viewers an episode that was ...

  8. "Star Trek" The Man Trap (TV Episode 1966)

    Down on the planet, Kirk and McCoy land with 2 men, who are sent to find Nancy, who both die. Kirk wants to arrest Nancy and Robert and take them to the Enterprise. Nancy shape shifts into a dead crewman Green to meet Kirk and McCoy who found the other dead crewman Sturgeon. Kirk, McCoy and Green (Shape Shifted Nancy) return to the Enterprise.

  9. The Man Trap

    "The Man Trap" is the first episode of season one of the American science fiction television series Star Trek. Written by George Clayton Johnson and directed by Marc Daniels, it featured design work by Wah Chang and first aired in the United States on September 8, 1966.

  10. The Man Trap

    The Man Trap. Available on Pluto TV, Paramount+, Prime Video, iTunes. S1 E1: Dr. Leonard "Bones" McCoy meets a former girlfriend when the Enterprise brings supplies to a remote archaeological survey group. Still attractive to McCoy, the woman's current appearance and her colleague hide a deadly secret, ultimately revealed as a tragedy of ecology.

  11. 'The Man Trap' was the first Star Trek episode to air

    Star photographer Reg Innell's historic pictures of 'The Man Trap,' the first Star Trek episode to air in 1964. Francine Pyne as Nancy Crater on set with the television crew filming "The ...

  12. Star Trek S1 E1 "The Man Trap" / Recap

    Recap /. Star Trek S1 E1 "The Man Trap". Bones and "Nancy". "Captain's Log, Stardate 1513.1. Our position: orbiting planet M-113. Onboard the Enterprise: Mr. Spock, temporarily in command. On the planet: the ruins of an ancient and long-dead civilization. Ship's Surgeon McCoy and myself are now beaming down to the planet's surface.

  13. Star Trek: The Original Series

    Star Trek Star Trek: The Original Series S01 E01 The Man Trap - Dr. McCoy discovers his old flame is not what she seems after crew members begin dying from a...

  14. The Man Trap

    Star Trek Original Remastered The Man Trap Sci-Fi 8 Sept 1966 48 min Paramount+ Available on Prime Video, iTunes, Paramount+ S1 E1: After landing on planet M-113 ... The Man Trap Sci-Fi 8 Sep 1966 48 min Paramount+ Available on Prime Video, iTunes, Paramount+ ...

  15. The Man Trap

    "The Man Trap" is the first episode of the first season of the original Star Trek television series, which aired in 1966. The USS Enterprise arrives at planet M

  16. The Man Trap

    Available on Prime Video, iTunes, Paramount+. S1 E1: Mysterious deaths of Enterprise crew on a desolate planet disrupt McCoy's unexpected reunion with an old love. Sci-Fi Sep. 8, 1966 48 min. G. Starring Grace Lee Whitney, John Arndt, Sandra Lee Gimpel.

  17. "The Man Trap"

    Happy 51st anniversary to Star Trek -- "The Man Trap" the 1st episode to air. May not have been the ideal start to the canon, but no matter -- the effect on sci-fi/pop culture started here and has been profound. ... In any event, as a first episode of TOS The Man Trap works fairly well, particularly if you consider the historical context behind ...

  18. 56 years ago, Star Trek established a canon rule

    The Star Trek franchise celebrates "Star Trek Day" on September 8 every year, which marks the first US airing of "The Man Trap." You can watch that episode on Paramount+. Amazon

  19. TOS: S1

    STARDATE: 1513.1. A memorable episode, but unlike many other series, Star Trek's debut on television in 1966 was not its pilot. That episode, The Cage, would be effectively repackaged later into The Menagerie (Part 1 and 2). What would turn out to be the second pilot ordered by NBC was titled Where No Man Has Gone Before and was saved for the third episode of the first season of Star Trek.

  20. The Man Trap

    The Man Trap. Professor Robert Crater and his wife Nancy are archeologists, investigating the ruins of a civilization on M-113. Enterprise visits for the annual physical examination required by regulations, but the professor seems oddly reluctant. He insists all he and his wife need is salt to cope with the heat.

  21. The Man Trap

    Today TrekHammer begins a complete review of the original Trek series when Zoë gives a quick review to The Man Trap, season 1 episode 1 of Star Trek!

  22. Episode Preview: The Man Trap

    © 2023 CBS Studios Inc., Paramount Pictures Corporation, and CBS Interactive Inc., Paramount companies. STAR TREK and related marks are trademarks of CBS Studios Inc.

  23. 10 Star Trek: TNG Actors Who Appeared In Lost

    Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 7, Episode 15 - "Lower Decks" / Lost Season 5, Episode 9 - "Namaste" In TNG's "Lower Decks," Dan Gauthier played Lt. Sam Lavelle, a lower decker on the USS ...

  24. Enterprise Actor Sad Star Trek's Next Movie Is Exploring Section 31

    Star Trek: Section 31 announced a new cast of actors including Sam Richardson, Omari Hardwick, Sven Ruygrok, Robert Kazinsky, Kacey Rohl, Humberly González, and James Hiroyuki Liao playing yet-unnamed characters. They all join Michelle Yeoh, who is headlining the next Star Trek movie as Emperor Georgiou, her anti-heroine from Star Trek: Discovery.Star Trek: Section 31's logline indicates ...

  25. 'Star Trek: Discovery's Cast Discusses Season 5 & the End ...

    Back in 2017, the ever-expanding final frontier took fans on a new adventure in Star Trek: Discovery.Five seasons later, viewers will say goodbye to this chapter in the final fifth season, which ...