Answering a distress call from the USS Constellation, the Enterprise arrives to discover the other starship floating dead in space, in the midst of a once-populated solar system that has been obliterated. Kirk, Scott, and McCoy find the ship empty save for its commander: Commodore Matt Decker (William Windom). Decker tells them that the system was destroyed by a planet killer. The Constellation attempted to fight the thing, but was no match for it. Decker finally beamed his crew down to safety, only to look on helplessly as the Doomsday Machine destroyed the very planet that was meant to be his crew's sanctuary.
Kirk has McCoy take the distraught Decker back to Enterprise, while he and Scotty try to get the Constellation's systems working again. No sooner have Decker and McCoy cleared the ship than the planet killer returns. An attack on Enterprise cuts Kirk and Scotty off from their home ship, and forced the Enterprise to retreat at warp speed. As Kirk and Scotty desperately work to repair the damaged Constellation, Decker pulls rank to take command of the Enterprise. His orders? Attack!
CHARACTERS
Capt. Kirk: Cut off from his ship, his top priority is to return to it. Seeing his ship under attack, he uses the limited resources available to keep the weapon from destroying the Enterprise. Kirk uses his authority and support from the crew to put a halt to Decker's insane attack. Finally, he uses the data Spock provides from the attacks to find a way to do the seemingly impossible, and destroy the seemingly unstoppable machine.
Spock: With Kirk out of action for the entire middle of the episode, Spock gets quite a bit of focus. With no chance of defeating the weapon in open battle, Spock's very sensible priority is to warn Starfleet of the danger. When Decker assumes command, Spock urges him against his course of action. He stops short of insubordination, and his strict adherence to regulations prevents him from removing Decker when McCoy urges his removal.
Dr. McCoy: Knows that Decker is not really up to command, and knows that Decker's plan of attack is insane and will result in heavy casualties. But when Spock will not back him in removing Decker, McCoy does not follow up on his threat to declare the commodore "unfit."
Insane Space Commander of the Week: William Windom is Decker, a character clearly somewhat modelled after Queeg from The Caine Mutiny. Decker was probably a good commander. But watching his crew be destroyed by the planet killer has destroyed him, and he is just barely holding his faculties together throughout the episode. Spock's insistence that they should get clear of the interference and warn Starfleet makes sense. If Enterprise is destroyed without warning Starfleet, they will have achieved nothing. But Decker only sees the thing that murdered his crew, and wants revenge. William Windom chews the scenery a bit in a role that was originally created for Robert Ryan (who proved unavailable). Ryan would have been splendid. But it's hard to really regret his absence, as Windom delivers one of Trek's more memorable guest performances, in one of Trek's meatiest guest roles, providing a strong human conflict that proves to be even more gripping than the battle with the weapon.
THOUGHTS
A mainstay in Trek "Top 5" lists, and deservedly so. Respected science fiction author Norman Spinrad stuffs his 50 minutes practically to overflowing. There's a hard sci-fi high concept in the use of a "Doomsday Weapon," the sort of thing that was very much a concern during the Cold War. There's plenty of action, with as much ship-to-ship combat as has been seen since Balance of Terror. Finally, Decker's irrationality combined with his rank provide a human conflict - one which works all the better given that Decker is, obsession aside, not an unsympathetic character.
The Doomsday Weapon moves at a cracking pace. There are no lulls. One crisis is followed by another, and another. It's Star Trek as action movie long before the J. J. Abrams version - and it's better plotted, with the complications coming sensibly out of the characters and situation. The resolution works because it comes at a cost and does not feel like it's been plucked out of thin air.
I've already mentioned William Windom's strong guest performance. Unlike some episodes that revolve around a major guest player, though, Spinrad's script remembers to keep the regulars at the forefront. The cast is all on top form. Shatner's frustration as he is cut off from his ship is well done, and the anger and innate authority as he orders Spock to take command back from Decker is probably Shatner's best scene since the death of Edith Keeler. Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelly, and James Doohan all get solid slices of action. Even Sulu, a peripheral character in this episode, is seen using what resources are available to him, restoring ship-to-ship communications before Decker can order him not to and showing palpable relief when Decker is finally removed from command.
This episode gets probably the biggest touch-up of any of the Remastered episodes. Unlike Amok Time, in which the remastered footage jarred with the original, the new footage fits seamlessly. It actually enhances the episode substantially. The original planet killer effects were less than stellar even at the time, and have aged quite badly. The CGI planet killer shots make this episode look practically cinematic. In its original form, I would have been on the fence on my final score, and probably given a "9" because of the clunky effects. Making this the only remastered episode whose score is actually raised by the CGI work, as I'm giving this version full marks.
Rating: 10/10.
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yes of the best episodes one of my favorites
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