"The Doomsday Machine" is one of Star Trek's finest episodes, introducing a menacing adversary while also setting up a fascinating duel of wits between guest star William Windom and Mr. Spock (temporarily in command of the Enterprise while Capt. Kirk is on Windom's old ship trying to get it operational). Indeed, it's impossible to think of anyone else in Windom's role: more than any other guest star, he anchors this episode and gives what is easily the finest guest performance in the history of the franchise.
The story is also remarkably simple. Windom, as Commodore Matt Decker of the Starship Constellation (a sister ship to the Enterprise), is found aboard what is initially his mysteriously wrecked (and otherwise abandoned) ship, which shows scars of a titanic battle and is barely functioning. The Enterprise also finds planetary debris in a solar system that should have more planets than it apparently does.
Decker is initially almost catatonic, but under Dr. McCoy's ministrations he quickly recovers at least enough to tell Capt. Kirk that a terrifying device destroyed other planets in the solar system, including the one where Decker's crew had taken shelter. This "planet killer" used the same beam to wreck his ship and is moving toward the most heavily-populated part of the Milky Way galaxy. Capt. Kirk theorizes that the "planet killer" was once a "doomsday machine" -- a device created to intimidate the other side in some long-forgotten conflict without the intention it would ever be used, lest it destroy both sides.
But now that "doomsday device" is on the loose and destroying planets in this galaxy. Spock, initially in command in Kirk's absence, intends to make a strategic retreat and warn the rest of Starfleet. But then Decker, as the ranking officer, takes over, insisting that the Enterprise attack the "planet killer" in what is likely going to be a rerun of his own ship's fruitless (and suicidal) battle with the device.
Science fiction writer Norman Spinrad, the episode's author, described it as a retelling of the struggle between Captain Ahab and Moby Dick, and that is at least partly true. The plot moves relentlessly forward and the men of the Enterprise quickly realize that they are overmatched -- but then they are, at least initially, overruled by the monomaniacal Decker, who happens to outrank everyone else.
But as good as the story is, nothing in this production is quite as compelling as Windom's multi-layered turn as Matt Decker. Sporting a three- or four-day growth of beard, hollow-eyed and unkempt, Windom effortlessly portrays a man who was pushed past the breaking point . . . And, then having been brought back, is still haunted by the death of his entire crew. At first he is barely coherent and apt to lapse into uncontrollable sobs; later, recovering, he turns flinty and unyielding in his desire for revenge. Windom's portrayal is the backbone, the rock on which this episode is built.
He, and perhaps the episode's director Marc Daniels, add many interesting touches to Decker's characterization. As he sits in Kirk's command chair, Decker fiddles almost unconsciously with two of the rectangular library tapes that were used on the bridge, one yellow and one green -- perhaps personifying the struggle between Decker and Kirk, while also suggesting not Captain Ahab, but a different irrational ship's commander, Capt. Queeg of The Caine Mutiny.
He also goes out of his way to humiliate Mr. Spock. At one point he orders Spock to speak to Kirk only through the intercom on the command chair, forcing a subservient Spock to leave his station to come down to where Decker is sitting. And at another point, Decker refuses Kirk's request to speak to Spock at all, saying that, because he is now in command, Kirk can say anything he has to say only to him.
There's also a delightful interchange among Decker, Spock, and McCoy, as McCoy eagerly tries to assert his authority to relieve Decker as psychologically unfit, only to be blocked by Spock's suggestion that McCoy cannot do so unless he's given Decker a full examination. It recreates the "Bickersons" triumvirate that producer Gene Coon had constructed among Kirk, Spock, and McCoy -- the rational Spock, the emotional McCoy, and Kirk trying to balance their often-conflicting opinions. Decker listens to the exchange between the other two with something close to amusement, taunting McCoy's inability to act in the face of Spock's calm recitation of the pertinent regulations.
A final note: this episode is raised to an even greater level thanks to Sol Kaplan's remarkable score -- mournful when the Enterprise first encounters the seemingly burned-out hulk of the Constellation, later building to a pulse-pounding climax during the final confrontation between the starships and the planet killer -- and even a tad whimsical during the arguments among the crew. Sadly, Kaplan scored only one other episode (the first season's "The Enemy Within") -- but along with Windom's remarkable performance, Kaplan's music is an unforgettable part of this unforgettable episode.
The story is also remarkably simple. Windom, as Commodore Matt Decker of the Starship Constellation (a sister ship to the Enterprise), is found aboard what is initially his mysteriously wrecked (and otherwise abandoned) ship, which shows scars of a titanic battle and is barely functioning. The Enterprise also finds planetary debris in a solar system that should have more planets than it apparently does.
Decker is initially almost catatonic, but under Dr. McCoy's ministrations he quickly recovers at least enough to tell Capt. Kirk that a terrifying device destroyed other planets in the solar system, including the one where Decker's crew had taken shelter. This "planet killer" used the same beam to wreck his ship and is moving toward the most heavily-populated part of the Milky Way galaxy. Capt. Kirk theorizes that the "planet killer" was once a "doomsday machine" -- a device created to intimidate the other side in some long-forgotten conflict without the intention it would ever be used, lest it destroy both sides.
But now that "doomsday device" is on the loose and destroying planets in this galaxy. Spock, initially in command in Kirk's absence, intends to make a strategic retreat and warn the rest of Starfleet. But then Decker, as the ranking officer, takes over, insisting that the Enterprise attack the "planet killer" in what is likely going to be a rerun of his own ship's fruitless (and suicidal) battle with the device.
Science fiction writer Norman Spinrad, the episode's author, described it as a retelling of the struggle between Captain Ahab and Moby Dick, and that is at least partly true. The plot moves relentlessly forward and the men of the Enterprise quickly realize that they are overmatched -- but then they are, at least initially, overruled by the monomaniacal Decker, who happens to outrank everyone else.
But as good as the story is, nothing in this production is quite as compelling as Windom's multi-layered turn as Matt Decker. Sporting a three- or four-day growth of beard, hollow-eyed and unkempt, Windom effortlessly portrays a man who was pushed past the breaking point . . . And, then having been brought back, is still haunted by the death of his entire crew. At first he is barely coherent and apt to lapse into uncontrollable sobs; later, recovering, he turns flinty and unyielding in his desire for revenge. Windom's portrayal is the backbone, the rock on which this episode is built.
He, and perhaps the episode's director Marc Daniels, add many interesting touches to Decker's characterization. As he sits in Kirk's command chair, Decker fiddles almost unconsciously with two of the rectangular library tapes that were used on the bridge, one yellow and one green -- perhaps personifying the struggle between Decker and Kirk, while also suggesting not Captain Ahab, but a different irrational ship's commander, Capt. Queeg of The Caine Mutiny.
He also goes out of his way to humiliate Mr. Spock. At one point he orders Spock to speak to Kirk only through the intercom on the command chair, forcing a subservient Spock to leave his station to come down to where Decker is sitting. And at another point, Decker refuses Kirk's request to speak to Spock at all, saying that, because he is now in command, Kirk can say anything he has to say only to him.
There's also a delightful interchange among Decker, Spock, and McCoy, as McCoy eagerly tries to assert his authority to relieve Decker as psychologically unfit, only to be blocked by Spock's suggestion that McCoy cannot do so unless he's given Decker a full examination. It recreates the "Bickersons" triumvirate that producer Gene Coon had constructed among Kirk, Spock, and McCoy -- the rational Spock, the emotional McCoy, and Kirk trying to balance their often-conflicting opinions. Decker listens to the exchange between the other two with something close to amusement, taunting McCoy's inability to act in the face of Spock's calm recitation of the pertinent regulations.
A final note: this episode is raised to an even greater level thanks to Sol Kaplan's remarkable score -- mournful when the Enterprise first encounters the seemingly burned-out hulk of the Constellation, later building to a pulse-pounding climax during the final confrontation between the starships and the planet killer -- and even a tad whimsical during the arguments among the crew. Sadly, Kaplan scored only one other episode (the first season's "The Enemy Within") -- but along with Windom's remarkable performance, Kaplan's music is an unforgettable part of this unforgettable episode.