‘Star Trek’ Retro Recap: ‘The Doomsday Machine’

Written by John Edward Betancourt 

There are a great many reasons to love the original iteration of Star Trek. For this series really did push the envelope on a regular basis week in and week out, and I love how it consistently presented the audience with new concepts to chew upon as often as possible, as the crew of the Enterprise faced new challenges that sometimes resembled moments and situations from our world. But one thing that was always supremely unique about this series, is the sheer fact that it would occasionally challenge itself storytelling wise by revisiting concepts it explored in the past, which is a risky venture in its own right. Because such an act has the potential to re-hash or re-tell an older story, something that always draws the ire of a fanbase.
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But this series figured out how to keep a concept re-do in fascinating territory and for proof, look no further than the next episode of the series, ‘The Doomsday Machine’. For this particular tale harkened back to a notion that season one dove into here and there, in that; space exploration is a dangerous business and sometimes there are some serious threats to be found amongst the stars. And it revived this idea by pitting the crew of the Enterprise and a lone survivor of a horrendous attack, against a seemingly invincible ship, one that consumed planets for raw fuel and well… that alone helped to remind us of the scary nature of space. For this ship was unrelenting in its quest to devour worlds and it was quick to attack any ship that got in its way, and while that should have been enough to hammer the point home, the story took everything one step further by offering up some incredibly bleak visuals and plot points.

Take for example the condition of the U.S.S. Constellation in this tale. For the once sanitized and orderly decks of this Constitution class vessel are disheveled and burned and trashed when we see them early on in this story, something that I don’t think anyone was prepared to see in this particularly upbeat universe. And the same goes for the exterior of the hull as well since there are gaping holes to be found, complete with warp nacelles that are incomplete, and the horror of this attack is brought to its peak when we discover that the intrepid crew of this vessel died shortly after the planet they beamed down to, was consumed by the planet-killer, and I have to admit I was quite stunned to see the series go to such incredibly dark places. But it works here, and it all helped to sell the gravity of some supremely powerful moments.

Those came about by way of one Commodore Matthew Decker, who was the commanding officer of the Constellation and his journey in this tale completed the exploratory arc this episode wished to embark upon. For it was not enough to point out the physical dangers of space travel, it also sought to explore the potential damage to one’s mental health as well. For Decker was horribly shaken up by his encounter with the Doomsday Machine, to the point where it outright broke him and drove him toward revenge, and it was just fascinating to watch a Starfleet Officer put another crew at risk in order to avenge his former one and thanks heavens both Spock and Kirk were quick to get him out of the big chair otherwise the Enterprise would have suffered a similar fate akin to its sister ship.

If anything, this is quite the sour episode when all is said and done, and I mean that as a compliment. Because this is that rare episode of The Original Series that holds nothing back and everything we’ve discussed thus far, along with the subsequent suicide/sacrifice of Decker, makes for a powerful episode, one that was intense and fast paced and devastating really and I truly applaud Star Trek for going down this road. For it is just a rarity to see upbeat science fiction take a moment to truly examine some of the dangers of the universe a particular story inhabits and this one, serves as a fine reminder that this franchise knows to tell a strong story and once again, season two of this series continues to impress and it definitely has motivated me to press on and see what other powerful stories await. Until next time.

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