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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.

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.

Related Articles

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

Remember when phasers made you talk in slow motion?

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.

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.”

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.

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+.

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

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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!

• 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.

• 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 .

Video Example(s):

Is that nancy, doctor.

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

Example of: Shapeshifter Guilt Trip

• Star Trek S1 E0 "The Cage"
• Recap/Star Trek: The Original Series
• Star Trek S1 E2 "Charlie X"

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11,241--> Report

The Man Trap Stardate: 1513.1 Original Airdate: 8 Sep, 1966

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Episode Preview: The Man Trap

Booby Trap (episode)

• View history
• 1.2 Act One
• 1.3 Act Two
• 1.4 Act Three
• 1.5 Act Four
• 1.6 Act Five
• 1.7 Log entries
• 2 Memorable quotes
• 3.1 Production history
• 3.2 Story and production
• 3.3 Continuity
• 3.4 Reception
• 3.5 Video and DVD releases
• 4.1 Starring
• 4.2 Also starring
• 4.3 Guest stars
• 4.4 Special guest star
• 4.5 Co-stars
• 4.6 Uncredited co-stars
• 4.7 Stand-ins
• 4.8.1 Other References
• 4.8.2 Unused production references
• 4.9 External links

Summary [ ]

Geordi La Forge enjoys a holodeck date with Christy Henshaw , but he gets rejected by her just after he calls up a holographic gypsy violin player to play Johannes Brahms - Hungarian Dance No. 5. Christy tells La Forge that, while she thinks he is a great person, she doesn't like him in that way. La Forge, dejected, yells at the violin player to knock it off. Meanwhile, Data and Wesley Crusher play three-dimensional chess in Ten Forward and remark on the asteroid remains at Orelious IX , visible from the lounge's large viewports . They discuss that neither side expected this site to be the final battle in their conflict; the destruction is impressive considering the primitive weapons used in the time period. Wesley sees La Forge enter Ten Forward and he realizes that his date didn't go so well since it ended earlier than expected. Just then, Commander Riker calls Data to the bridge .

The USS Enterprise -D picks up a distress signal from the asteroid field and sets a course to approach. Captain Picard believes it to be an ancient interplanetary code, which Data confirms it is. Riker dismisses it as it is not possible there are survivors after all this time. When they arrive, they discover a ship in the field, which Lieutenant Worf immediately identifies it as a Promellian battle cruiser with a hint of delight. An awestruck Picard identifies the ship's fusion engines are still intact. Data says there are no life signs aboard the ship and the captain says there shouldn't be: it's a ship which belongs in a museum. He explains that they are 'a little late' and that the signal for help from the cruiser was probably sent over a thousand years ago.

Act One [ ]

" Good Lord, didn't anybody here build ships in bottles when they were boys? "

Picard and Riker argue about the risks of the captain leading the away team to the ancient cruiser, an idea Riker is clearly not thrilled with, in a corridor as they head for a transporter room . Riker proposes that he and Worf conduct a security sweep first, but citing 'captain's prerogative', Picard wants to be among those doing the initial exploration of the ship. They've already gone over every conceivable risk, but Riker contends that the risks of being in a ship "that old and fragile" are inconceivable. However, Picard likens the ship in space to a ship in a bottle , explaining at Riker's uncomprehending look that he used to build model airships and starships inside bottles as a child. He probably had a Promellian battle cruiser in his collection as well, and now has his chance to "climb inside the bottle" and explore the ship within.

In the transporter room, Chief O'Brien has the coordinates laid in for the battle cruiser's main bridge. Data assures Riker that there is an adequate amount of oxygen aboard the cruiser, and Picard tells his first officer that the ship is exactly as the Promellians left it, in the bottle. This elicits confused stares from Worf and Data, prompting the disappointed Picard to ask if any of the others built ships in bottles as boys. " I did not play with toys, " Worf says. " I was never a boy, " Data remarks. " I did, sir, " Chief O'Brien pipes up. Picard thanks the chief and has him beam the away team over. Riker gives O'Brien a look after his comment, but O'Brien confirms that he truly did play with ships in bottles, and they were great fun. Suddenly, the Enterprise experiences a power loss. O'Brien surmises that the transporter 's secondary power bus may need adjusting. Riker tells O'Brien to keep him informed.

Picard, Data, and Worf explore the ship's dark, dingy bridge and discovers that the crew of the cruiser died at their posts, to Worf's admiration, and their bodies have been preserved. Picard comments that he would expect a bridge layout of the era to be clumsy and awkward, but the cruiser is anything but: it is a model of simplicity. Elegant and functional, it worked and was clearly designed to be used for generations.

La Forge sits in Ten Forward at the bar and asks Guinan for romantic advice. La Forge frustratedly tells Guinan that he can perform complicated engineering procedures such as field stripping a fusion reactor or realigning a power transfer tunnel but he cannot make things work with a woman like Christy. La Forge asks what Guinan looks for in a man and she says, "his head." La Forge mistakes this for one's mind but she really means someone's head. She tells La Forge that she was once taken care of by a bald man when she was hurting and therefore looks for that. La Forge says that's what he wants too, to take care of someone.

On the bridge, Wesley reports that the main power returner is acting strangely, giving fluctuating waveguide readings and Riker has him run a maintenance sweep. The away team meanwhile repowers the cruiser's bridge with the power pack they brought, and Worf takes tricorder images of the tactical display. Pinpointing the station that the distress signal was activated from, they turn it off. Nearby, Data finds a memory coil seated in its recording device. While he comments that it's crude in comparison to isolinear optical chips , Picard points out that the cruiser was built when Humans were perfecting the mechanical clock and using steel crossbows in battle. Data reseats and plays it, using his tricorder to compensate for the age of its components to amplify the image. Galek Sar , the Captain of the Cleponji , takes full responsibility for what happened to his ship and its crew, and that the crew behaved courageously. The recording ends, and as they've seen what there is to see, the away team returns.

" We should be going like a bat out of hell! "

Picard is on a high after the thrilling historical exploration, which Riker and Counselor Deanna Troi note with smiles. After ordering Data to contact the Astral V Annex so the Cleponji can be scheduled to be retrieved for posterity, the Enterprise tries to leave, but a Menthar booby trap begins to drain the power reserves of the Enterprise , which is unable to move, and creates a deadly radiation that bombards the Enterprise 's shields. The ship's power gradually increases when while Ensign Crusher tries to reverse course and leave at warp , with the ship still stuck. Picard upgrades their status from yellow alert to red alert . La Forge says that everything is running as it should, but he suggests that they slow down the engines as to not burn out the reaction chamber, and they're taken down to idle. Picard wonders if they've been caught in the same situation that killed the Cleponji 's crew.

Act Two [ ]

The Enterprise has three hours until energy reserves run out. In the observation lounge , Worf says the radiation strength is inhibiting the sensors, so they can't find the source. La Forge does not yet have an explanation for the energy loss. While there are many records of Menthar battle strategy, Data doesn't know of any mentioning their situation. Riker suggests leading another away team to the ship to check their records; the Promellians knew the Menthars and may have known the cause. As Worf states that the impact of dropping the shields long enough for a transport would be negligible, Picard assigns Data to go with Riker and leaves La Forge to research their energy conservation.

" Away team to Enterprise . Captain, we may have found something. "

Afterwards, Dr. Crusher recommends cutting life support to non-operational areas and grouping the families and crew to the odd number decks. She also wants to set up an assembly area to treat radiation symptoms, but the crew will only be treatable for 30 minutes after the shields fall; beyond that, the exposure will be lethal. Data and Riker find more memory coils on the cruiser in an open locker and bring them back to the Enterprise for analysis.

La Forge then checks with the computer on how to get out of the rut they've gotten themselves into. He finds Dr. Leah Brahms , the engineer who designed and built the warp engines of the Enterprise , in the database and recreates the conditions in which he can work with her in order to find more energy for the ship. He tries to come up with a solution using the help of a holodeck recreation of Drafting Room 5 at the Utopia Planitia Fleet Yards and accidentally ends up having the computer recreate a holodeck image of Dr. Brahms as well.

Act Three [ ]

" We're all smiles down here. "

Dr. Brahms continues with her analysis, triggering an idea by La Forge. He happily reports a solution to the captain to get more energy to maintain the shields. Continuing on, La Forge pauses to search for Dr. Brahms' personality profile from the collective databases and has the computer add that personality to the recreated facsimile. The result is a tough-as-nails, highly intelligent but argumentative personality which La Forge finds progressively more attractive; she "comes to life" when he asks her to show him which chambers to use for supplementing energy to the life support and ship's systems.

On the bridge at Science I , Data tries to use the information gathered from the memory coils to come up with a way to combat the problem. They discover that the asteroids have been booby-trapped with aceton assimilators , and that it is impossible to destroy the asteroids while they absorb the energy of the fired phasers .

" Energy reserves are dropping rapidly, sir. "

Commander La Forge and Dr. Brahms, now on a first-name basis, argue on how to make sure they can maintain the ship's life support and not lose additional power. Picard summons La Forge, who is so caught up with his discussion with Brahms that he says to her, "Don't go away," before coming to his senses and has the computer save the program and exits the holodeck.

Riker wants to fire on the asteroids, but La Forge says that the shields might not hold. Picard sends La Forge back to engineering and has Worf fire phasers at the asteroids anyway. As soon as that happens, the radiation increases, the energy reserves are being lost, and the programs running unnecessary energy are terminated, including the holodeck program La Forge is running, just as he is about to make progress with how to run the ship out of the trap.

Act Four [ ]

Picard and the rest of the senior officers discuss in the observation lounge how they can get out of the trap and how long they have until fatal exposure, which Dr. Crusher estimates to be about 26 minutes from the time the shields fail. La Forge has Picard reinstate the holodeck power so he can run simulations in order to find the solution. He gives him one hour to run the program.

" Now the machines are flying us. "

An hour later, Picard comes to the holodeck and finds Brahms and La Forge, to which he is confused. La Forge explains that in order to understand the ship's power, he needed to understand what the ship was made for when it was built. Picard asks for a solution and La Forge states that full control would need to be turned over to the ship's computer since the key to get moving lies in exploiting the very small delay between action and the booby trap's reaction. Human beings, and even androids such as Data, would not be quick enough to outrun the trapped asteroid field.

Picard discusses with Riker in his ready room the suggestion that La Forge has given. Riker doesn't believe it's a good idea because computers can take orders, but he is convinced that they can't creatively give them. Picard comments that Riker missed out on not playing with model ships: each one was a source of imaginary voyages as the model's captain or pilot, and treasures of adventure. Riker can't help but smile as Picard ponders on manning Earth 's earliest spacecraft, or flying an airplane with just a single propeller to keep it airborne, " can you imagine that? " Now though the machines are flying them, Picard notes.

La Forge continues to run simulations of the computer through Brahms taking control through the mine field of radiation. He gets at least one successful run, but with the exact starting criteria also gets a failure. At that moment, the deflector shields fail, starting a 26-minute countdown until fatal exposure.

Act Five [ ]

Picard takes the helm

Brahms still says that they must give control over to the ship and La Forge pleads for two more minutes with the captain to figure out a solution. When Picard signs off, La Forge then realizes that there is another way: approach the problem from the complete opposite direction and starts running new simulations.

It turns out the Human brain will provide a solution. La Forge explains on the bridge that all of their solutions have been focused on overpowering the trap, which is exactly what the trap's designers have intended. So instead, La Forge proposes that they under -power the trap; one burst from the impulse engines to accelerate the ship out of inertia, then they shut down all the ship's systems, including the main computer, except minimal life support and two thrusters to maneuver out of the asteroid field. Riker remarks that Picard's earlier analogy of a plane with only one propeller has become all too apt. Picard wants to know the risk factor; La Forge states that while the numbers say that either solution has an equal chance of success or failure, the computer has no compensation for the Human factor: intuition, experience... "and the wish to stay alive," Picard quips.

La Forge offers to take the conn since he's been the one running through the simulations, but the captain declines, stating this is his responsibility. In order to eliminate the time-differential between order and action, Captain Picard relieves Wesley of the helm to maneuver the ship himself, while Riker warns the crew to brace themselves for the impulse burst, as the inertial dampers are on manual. Riker also disables the radiation exposure warning from the computer as it will only be a distraction.

" We made a good team. "

" Make sure that booby trap doesn't bother anyone again. "

Picard and Data work together, with information provided to Picard as necessary from the bridge crew and begin to steer the Enterprise clear of the field. However, after getting around a large asteroid, Data finds that the variable gravity from the asteroids has sapped the Enterprise 's inertia by 8%; he calculates that they no longer have the momentum to escape the trap. Picard, unflappable, thanks him and plots a new course to take the Enterprise directly towards a large asteroid - the gravitational pull increases the ship's momentum, allowing Picard, at the right moment, to fire the starboard-aft thruster and slingshot the Enterprise around the mass and move the ship clear of the field, much to Data's amazement. Picard returns the conn to Wesley, and then orders Riker to make sure that booby trap does not bother anyone again. Riker in turn orders Worf to destroy the Cleponji and the aceton assimilators with photon torpedoes to prevent it from luring any more victims.

Back in the holodeck, La Forge says to Leah that he thinks technology improves people's lives, including his, and even his eyesight, lets species travel through the galaxy but sometimes, technology needs to be turned off. As he says his goodbyes to Leah, she reminds him that the ship is her and that she would never be far from him.

They kiss , and La Forge ends the holodeck program.

Log entries [ ]

• Captain's log, USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-D), 2366
• Captain's log, Cleponji

Memorable quotes [ ]

" Uh oh... " " I beg your pardon, Wesley. " " Geordi had that big date with Christy tonight. He spent days putting together the perfect program. Looked like it ended kind of early. " (brief glance at La Forge's depressed mood) " Uh oh... "

" Tell me something, Guinan. You're a woman, right? " " Yes, I can tell you I'm a woman. "

" That ship belongs in a museum. I'm afraid we're a little late; that call for help was probably initiated over a thousand years ago. "

" Oh, knock it off! "

" It is exactly as they left it, Number One, in the bottle. " (confused looks from Data and Worf) " The ship in the bot- Oh, good Lord. Didn't anybody here build ships in bottles when they were boys?! " " I did not play with toys. " " I was never a boy. " (Picard sighs) " I did, sir. " " (brief pause) Thank you, Mister O'Brien. Proceed. " (Riker gives O'Brien "the look" after the transport.) " I did. I really did. Ships in bottles, great fun. "

" Admirable. They died at their posts. "

" There were ghosts on board that old ship. One of them actually spoke to us. " " A friendly one, I hope. "

" I'm attracted to bald men. "

" Is it possible... that we've fallen into the same snare that killed them? A thousand-year-old booby-trap? "

" I'm not used to people questioning my judgment. " " And I'm not used to dying! "

" If we resist, we die. If we don't resist, we die. "

" You have used the asteroid's gravitational pull as a slingshot. Excellent! "

" I'm with you every day, Geordi. Every time you look at this engine, you're looking at me. Every time you touch it, it's me. "

Background information [ ]

Production history [ ].

• Revised final draft script: 31 August 1989 [1]
• Premiere airdate: 30 October 1989
• Mentioned approvingly in a one-page memo from Michael Piller to TNG writing staff: 11 December 1989
• First UK airdate: 20 November 1991

Story and production [ ]

• Initially, Picard was to have been involved with the simulated Leah Brahms. Michael Piller recalled, " It just said to me, 'Picard should be on the bridge, not chatting with some woman.' I said to myself, 'It should be Geordi, because Geordi is in love with the ship and this is a story about a guy in love with his '57 Chevy.' That played into Geordi's character, who's always been a fumbling guy around women, but if he could just marry his car, he'd live happily ever after. He gets to create the personification of the woman who created the engine he loves. It's sort of a relationship between he and his Pontiac. " ( Captains' Logs: The Unauthorized Complete Trek Voyages , p. 188)
• In an early draft of the episode, Brahms was named "Navid Daystrom" and was intended to be a descendant of Doctor Richard Daystrom from TOS : " The Ultimate Computer ". Unfortunately, the casting department did not realize that this would require a black actress to play the part until after Susan Gibney had been hired. At the suggestion of script coordinator Eric Stillwell , the character was renamed, but the Daystrom tie-in was kept by adding a line that she had graduated from the Daystrom Institute. ( Star Trek Encyclopedia  (1st ed., p. 35))
• Originally, the holodeck set was to have been a mockup of a warp engine, but time constraints forced the more limited set shown. ( Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion  (2nd ed., p. 106))
• The piece of music performed in La Forge's holodeck program is Johannes Brahms ' Hungarian Dance No. 5. Though the subtitles on Netflix erroneously say it's Franz Liszt 's Hungarian Rhapsody.
• This episode marked the first appearance of the final version of the Starfleet uniforms used in the series. The seams running down the sides of the chest were removed, the shoulder pads were made smaller, and an elastic waistband was added to the bottom of the uniform top. Only Captain Picard is wearing the updated uniform in this episode.
• A blooper exists from this episode. When the away team prepares to leave the Enterprise and Picard is asking if anyone ever built model ships when they were boys, Michael Dorn , as Worf, accidentally says, " I did not play with boys, " to the immediate hilarity of everyone on the set. [2]
• This was the first episode directed by Gabrielle Beaumont and the first Star Trek episode directed by a woman.

Continuity [ ]

• In this episode, Guinan tells Geordi La Forge that she's always been attracted to bald men, because a bald man was once very kind to her. In " Time's Arrow, Part II ", Captain Picard (on an away mission to the past), meets Guinan and takes care of her when she gets hurt.
• Some of the graphics seen in Drafting Room 5 include a topographic map of Mintaka III from " Who Watches The Watchers " and a graphic from Doctor Paul Manheim 's lab on Vandor IV in " We'll Always Have Paris ".
• Dr. Brahms visits the Enterprise in person, in the fourth season episode " Galaxy's Child ", where La Forge quickly learns that her real-life personality is far more reserved than her holodeck-based avatar.
• In the series finale of TNG, " All Good Things... ", Picard makes reference to O'Brien's hobby of building model starship engines (though "Booby Trap" refers to "ships in bottles", not "model starship engines" per se). Without revealing he was from the future, Picard says he read the notation in O'Brien's Starfleet file.
• Also, in "All Good Things...", Picard asks Geordi, " How's Leah? " To which Geordi replies, " Busy as ever. She's just been made Director of the Daystrom Institute " which could indicate that, at least in another timeline, Geordi and the real Dr. Brahms marry.
• Drafting Room 5 features models of a Constitution -class , a refit Constitution II -class and a Galaxy -class starships. A D7-class starship is also featured.
• This episode is the second of only three occasions Picard is at the helm of the Enterprise during the series. The other times were in " 11001001 " and " Conundrum ".
• According to the later episode " New Ground ", Alexander Rozhenko (Worf's son) gives his birthdate as "Stardate 43205", which is around the time that this episode takes place.

Reception [ ]

• Peter Allan Fields commented, " To do a character story and blend it with science-fiction is that pinnacle we reach for and the one that comes to mind which I thought was marvelous was 'Booby Trap'. You couldn't have seen it on Thirtysomething . As science-fiction it worked and it was full of character, full of humanity and full of life. " ( Captains' Logs: The Unauthorized Complete Trek Voyages , p. 188)
• Michael Piller commented about writing the character of O'Brien a small part in this episode, " It worked out great. " ( Star Trek: Deep Space Nine Companion  (p. 15))
• A mission report for this episode by John Sayers was published in The Official Star Trek: The Next Generation Magazine  issue 11 , pp. 24-29.

Video and DVD releases [ ]

• Original UK VHS release (two-episode tapes, CIC Video ): Volume 27, 21 October 1991
• UK re-release (three-episode tapes, Paramount Home Entertainment ): Volume 3.2, 3 April 2000
• As part of the TNG Season 3 DVD collection
• As part of the TNG Season 3 Blu-ray collection

Links and references [ ]

Starring [ ].

• Patrick Stewart as Capt. Jean-Luc Picard
• Jonathan Frakes as Commander William Riker

Also starring [ ]

• LeVar Burton as Lt. Cmdr. Geordi La Forge
• Michael Dorn as Lieutenant Worf
• Gates McFadden as Dr. Beverly Crusher
• Marina Sirtis as Counselor Deanna Troi
• Brent Spiner as Lt. Commander Data
• Wil Wheaton as Wesley Crusher

Guest stars [ ]

• Susan Gibney as Leah Brahms
• Colm Meaney as Miles O'Brien

Special guest star [ ]

• Whoopi Goldberg as Guinan

Co-stars [ ]

• Albert Hall as Galek Sar
• Julie Warner as Christy

Uncredited co-stars [ ]

• Rachen Assapiomonwait as Nelson
• Majel Barrett as USS Enterprise -D computer voice
• Karin Baxter as operations division ensign
• James G. Becker as Youngblood
• Casey Kono as civilian
• Guy Vardaman as Darien Wallace
• Natalie Wood as Bailey
• Bridge science crew member
• Conn ensign
• Female ops ensign
• Holographic beach musician
• Two civilian women in Ten Forward
• Two Ten Forward waiters

Stand-ins [ ]

• James G. Becker - stand-in for Jonathan Frakes
• Dexter Clay - stand-in for Michael Dorn
• Jeffrey Deacon - stand-in for Patrick Stewart
• Nora Leonhardt - stand-in for Marina Sirtis
• Tim McCormack - stand-in for Brent Spiner
• Lorine Mendell - stand-in for Gates McFadden
• Guy Vardaman - stand-in for Wil Wheaton / hand double for Patrick Stewart

References [ ]

14th century ; ability ; acceleration ; aceton assimilators ; adventure ; aft thruster ; airship ; airplane ; " all hands "; " all smiles "; analysis ; answer ; area ; assembly area ; asteroid ; Astral V Annex ; author ; away team ; baldness ; " barrel out of "; battle ; battle cruiser ; beach ; blanket ; Bonaparte, Napoléon ; booby trap ; bottle ; breeze ; calculation ; captain's log ; captain's prerogative ; caucus ; century ; chance ; Chaya VII ; chief engineer ; circuit path ; Cleponji ; Cleponji crew ; climbing ; clue ; Coco-no-no ; computer ; conflict ; Constitution -class ; Constitution II -class ; coordinates ; course ; cross section ; crossbow ; D7-class ; data ; date ; day ; Daystrom Institute ; death ; debris ; debris field ; deck ; design specification ; Design Team 7 ; designer ; destruction ; device ; dignitary ; dilithium crystal ; dilithium crystal chamber ; discussion ; distress signal ; Drafting Room 5 ; Earth ; " eat (something) for breakfast "; enemy ; energy ; energy conservation ; energy reserve ; engineer ; engineering ; era ; evacuation ; " even money "; experience ; explanation ; exposure ; facet ; facsimile ; family ; fate ; Federation ; Ferengi ; Ferengi cargo ship ; file ; fungilli ; fusion reactor ; Galaxy -class ; Galaxy Class Starship Development Project ; generation ; ghost ; graduate ; gravity ; gypsy ; hand ; head ; heading ; heading : history book ; holodeck three ; holographic program ; holographic simulation ; hour ; Human ; Hungarian Dances ; hyronalin ; image ; image processor ; impact ; impulse engine ; impulse power ; inertia ; inertial damper ; information ; information storage device ; input ; " inside and out "; " inside story "; interplanetary code ; intermix ratio ; intuition ; isolinear optical chip ; Italian food ; job ; judgment ; junior member ; Kavis Teke elusive maneuver ; kiss ; " knock it off "; lab ; Lang Cycle fusion engines ; life sign ; life support ; light year ; " like a bat out of hell ": locker ; machine ; magnetic plasma ; main bridge ; main power returner ; main viewer ; maintenance sweep ; margin of error ; Mars Station ; Mars ; mass ; matter-antimatter mixture ratio ; matter-antimatter path ; matter-antimatter energy supply ; mechanical clock ; memory coil ; Menthars ; menu ; message ; meters per second ; microsecond ; Milky Way Galaxy ; mind ; minute ; mister ; model ship ; momentum ; Moonlight on the Beach ; museum ; mutual extinction ; " my God "; navigation processor ; number ; Number one ; object ; online ; optimist ; order ; Orelious IX ; outpost ; output ; override ; oxygen ; Passive Lure stratagem ; percent ; personal log ; personality ; personality profile ; personal log ; phaser ; photon torpedo ; playback unit ; port ; power ; power level ; power loss ; power output ; power pack ; power transfer tunnel ; problem ; Promellians ; Promellian battle cruiser ; propeller ; propulsion ; propulsion design model ; propulsion expert ; prototype schematic ; radiation ; radiation field ; radiation level ; radiation poisoning ; reactant ; reactants per unit time ; reaction chamber ; reaction sequence ; readout ; record ; red alert ; relic ; repairs ; research ; response time ; reverse course ; risk factor ; ruins ; second ; secondary power bus ; security ; security sweep ; sensor ; Seran T-1 ; shield ; ship in a bottle ; signal ; sky ; space ; spacecraft ; speed ; standard procedure ; starbase ; starboard ; static model ; steel ; subspace ; subspace design log ; subspace field ; subspace field processor ; suggestion ; survivor ; symptom ; system L-452 ; System L-575 ; tactical display ; technology ; Theoretical Propulsion Group ; Theoretical Propulsion log ; thousand ; three-dimensional chess ; thruster ; time period ; toy ; treasure ; tricorder ; tritium ; " up and running "; Utopia Planitia Fleet Yards ; variable ; vector processor ; velocity ; violin ; vision ; visual record ; warp drive ; warp drive coil ; warp energy ; warp engine ; warp field generator ; warp power ; waveguide ; weapon ; " whoa "; wreckage ; " wrote the book on "; yellow alert

Other References [ ]

• Engineering Systems Database : antimatter ; antimatter containment pod ; antimatter injector ; antimatter purge vent ; artificial gravity ; Bryce, P. ; Bussard collector ; Construction Logs - Field Stress Compensators ; cryogenic fluid ; deuterium ; Emergency Field Quench Procedures ; Emergency Plasma Vent Procedures ; engineering manual author ; Engineering Systems Database ; field coil ; Field Maintenance Power Requirements ; field stress compensator ; flow sensor ; Gravimetric Power Limits (Theoretical) ; high energy plasma ; magnetic containment field ; Operating Protocol - Flow Sensors ; Operating Protocol - Primary Field Coils ; Operating Protocol - Secondary Field Coils ; Operating Protocol - Subspace Field Generators ; Operating Protocol - Subspace Harmonic Monitors ; Plan Transitional Field Stress Factors ; plasma ; plasma injector ; plasma injection throttle subsystem ; Probert, A. ; Scott, M. ; Secondary Harmonic Safety Requirements ; Subspace Design Logs - Theoretical Propulsion ; subspace field generator ; subspace harmonic ; subspace harmonic monitor ; subspace warp field ; Synthetic Grav Field Interaction Considerations ; teratogenic coolant ; Teratogenic Coolant Safety Protocol ; tritium
• Biographical Data File - Dr. Leah Brahms : 2305 ; 2307 ; 2336 ; Alpha Centauri ; Alpha Delphi IX ; Bachelor of Science ; Beaumont, Susan Brahms ; Brahms, Theodore ; Damascus City ; Daystrom Institute of Technology ; Design Consultant ; Design Engineer ; Design Team 7 ; dilithium crystal servo subsystem ; Doctor of Theoretical Physics ; Feynman Chair ; Higher Order Warp Field Propulsion Applications ; junior engineer ; Latin language ; Master of Cybernetics ; Optical Technologies ; Professor of Theoretical Physics ; plasma resonance sampling device ; Quayle Canals Northeast ; research assistant ; Scientific Tasmanian ; September ; Starfleet Design Consultant ; Subspace Processing Modes in Warp Propulsion Applications ; Subspace Physics ; thesis ; University of Alpha Centauri ; University of Tomobiki ; Utopia Planitia Gardens : Yamato , USS
• Other: asteroid field ; antimatter injection subsystem ; antimatter stream coil ; deuterium injector ; deuterium stream coil

Unused production references [ ]

positron duct ; Smithsonian Air and Space Museum

External links [ ]

• " Booby Trap " at Memory Beta , the wiki for licensed Star Trek works
• " Booby Trap " at Wikipedia
• Booby Trap at StarTrek.com
• " "Booby Trap" " at MissionLogPodcast.com , a Roddenberry Star Trek podcast
• "Booby Trap" script  at Star Trek Minutiae
• 2 USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-G)
• 3 Star Trek: The Next Generation

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Yes, the hearing is, at its core, a bit silly — Captain Rayner (Callum Keith Rennie) is being reprimanded for… *checks notes* …giving someone else an idea. But if the timeline were stretched a little it would go a long way toward believability. At the end of “Red Directive”, we learn during Burnham’s conversation with Vance that everything at Q’Mal happened earlier that day — and the events of “Under the Twin Moons” also happen in just one single day, if Burnham’s statement about Saru’s last day aboard Discovery is to be taken literally.

Through no fault of the characters themselves, they now find themselves living in a world in which galaxy-spanning events happen within just a few hours of each other. The incredible technology of the 32nd century has rendered time and space essentially obsolete, and that… well, that kinda sucks for the gravity of the storytelling.

We don’t stick around for the conclusion of the hearing because Discovery’s repairs are complete — that is to say, the DOTs are done dusting off the hull — and there’s still that urgent mystery to solve. Unsurprisingly, Book (David Ajala) will be traveling with Discovery for the rest of the mission since his experience as a courier will come in handy in the chase after Mol (Eve Harlow) and L’ak (Elias Toufexis), and Tilly (Mary Wiseman) tags along for the day too, since it’s always good to have another scientist around.

Discovery arrives at V’Leen, an M-class planet dotted with necropolises and other sacred sites left by the warlike and long-extinct Promellians (introduced in TNG ’s “Booby Trap”). The specific necropolis — and the specific area within that necropolis — that Vellek indicated in his notebook is quickly identified, because it’s where the eclipse would pass.

I’m not sure how well “Under the shadow of twin moons” really works as a clue here. Eclipses are roving phenomena, the path of totality cutting a swath across a planet’s surface. While predictable, it changes from eclipse to eclipse due to the relative orbital and rotational movement of the bodies creating the eclipse. Cleveland, Ohio, will be in the path of totality of the April 8th solar eclipse, but that fact isn’t a good way to uniquely identify it to someone 800 years from now! Everywhere on a planet is within a certain latitudinal boundary is within the path of an eclipse at some point or another.

Anyway , Burnham and Saru (Doug Jones) identify a target location, then beam down as close to it as they can. Unfortunately, because of an unusually strong electrical field emanating from the necropolis, they have quite a hike ahead of them. Fortunately for us, this means we get a nice long shot of the necropolis in the distance, rising through the jungle in the valley below, two crescent moons hanging in a purple sky. I don’t know if this was an intentional nod to the matte paintings of yesteryear, but if so then it’s a nice one.

As one would expect from Promellians, V’Leen is booby trapped. Saru and Burnham’s nice trek through the jungle is rudely interrupted when an ancient sentry system is activated, and a seemingly endless supply of attack drones pop out of the eyes of one of the many  fallen statues that litter the area. Saru and Burnham are pinned down, so it’s up to Tilly and Adira (Blu del Barrio) aboard Discovery to figure out a plan.

This is where things get tricky.

Discovery — along with Strange New Worlds and Picard — sometimes hits against a specific challenge of making Star Trek in the 2020s: balancing the technobabble-heavy “thinking out loud” problem solving that Star Trek has been doing since the 1960s (but really perfected in the 1990s) with the faster pacing and heightened stakes demanded of contemporary television. Taking just the dialogue of this scene, it’s perfectly good Star Trek -y problem solving. Taking just the pacing and action, it’s a perfectly good “Oh shit, how are we gonna get out of this?!” situation. But putting them together, I’m not sure it works.

It’s not that there’s too much conversation as they try to work out how not to be killed, it’s that stylistically the conversation no longer fits the action. In the slower pacing of The Next Generation ’s era of television, the technobabble feels like the means to the solution instead of a hindrance to it. In past iterations of Star Trek, even when Geordi or B’Elanna or whoever was “tech-ing the tech” that week weren’t sure that something was going to work, their idea still felt like a critical piece of the puzzle that only they could come up with.

On Discovery , between the pseudo-magical 32nd century technology — and the fact that some of our heroes missed 800 years of history class — Adira and Tilly’s problem solving feels like the least important contribution to the process. Yikes.

It’s hard to tell a satisfying story when the characters themselves seem extraneous within it because, through no fault of their own, they are the slowest and least capable thing about the world which they inhabit.

But Adira and Tilly do figure it out when Rayner shows up — holographically, because again, space and time have no meaning anymore and anyone can be anywhere at any time, it seems. Smartly (and a little sharply), he suggests they use appropriate historical knowledge instead of leaping straight to the high-end theoretical physics.

The solution ends up being a fairly simple one, the good old standby of “set your phaser to overload and put it next to something.” The only question is who’s going to do it — and who’s going to take on the much more dangerous task of drawing fire? Saru insists because as a Kelpien he’s much faster and heartier, but Burnham is, to put it mildly, not a fan. Saru is proverbially one day from retirement and besides, he’s about to be married — though no word on whether he’s getting too old for this shit. But today is not a day for action movie clichés and “Action Saru” lives to tell the tale.

Burnham and Saru eventually make it to the center of the necropolis, and what they find waiting for them isn’t the progenitors’ technology, but another clue, this time a Romulan poem carved into a standing stone. Mol and L’ak, it seems, did get to V’Leen first (defacing the poem before they left), but Burnham and Saru see past their efforts and find the needed clue — sending them to the Trill homeworld. (As with the false warp signatures, Mol and L’ak really don’t have good luck with their attempts at sabotage.)

Back aboard Discovery , it’s determined that the doo-dad (official scientific term) fits into one of the sections of a conspicuous circular design Vellek drew in his notebook, and all agree that it’s the beginning of a three-dimensional map. Neat!

Following the next lead to Trill will give us an opportunity to check in on Adira and Gray’s (Ian Alexander) relationship, but I’m also hoping the show will use this chance to explore more of what it means for Adira — a human — to be joined with a Trill symbiont. When Adira was first introduced this was the hook for their character, and it’s a really interesting idea that has been essentially forgotten once Gray’s lingering consciousness was removed.

Given what we’ve seen of other Trill and their complex relationship with their symbionts’ past lives and their own host-hood (especially when being a host isn’t something they’ve trained for), it’s hard to believe that Adira wouldn’t have any continuing thoughts on the matter. I hope this is revisited next week, even if only briefly.

While Burnham and Saru were checking out V’Leen, Book had been working with Culber (Wilson Cruz) and Stamets (Anthony Rapp) to try and learn more about Mol and L’ak. He decides to try contacting them over “dark comms” — which sounds like the dark web, and thus a little silly — and, happy for us, they answer (but not before Stamets gripes that “it doesn’t appear to be working” immediately after Book sends the hail. It’s been one whole second, take a breath, they might be in the bathroom or something!).

The conversation between Book, Mol, and L’ak is pretty anticlimactic, to be completely honest. Mol postures a lot, L’ak doesn’t say much, and Book plays it cool. The one bit of information Moll gives about herself is just a look, a reaction, to Book’s name. This jogs something in Book who, afterwards, puts it all together and realizes that Mol is actually Malinne Ravel, the daughter of his mentor, the previous Cleveland Booker. He’d never met Malinne, but he’d seen her picture and he decides that she’s the closest thing he has to family.

I mean, is she ? Does she want to be? This seems like a lot to put on someone to whom you’re a total stranger.

OBSERVATION LOUNGE

• We have our first stardate of the season: 866274.3.
• Some of the background extras at Starfleet Command are still wearing the mostly-grey Season 3 uniforms, with a solid-color jacket stripe. (Continuing to use old costumes is a longtime  Star Trek budget-saving tradition!)
• Zora notes that the Promellians used Lang Cycle fusion drives to power their ships, a fact established in “Booby Trap.”
• Saru remembers that Romulan homes often had a false front door (or shaipouin ), a notion first introduced into Trek canon through Soji Asha in Star Trek: Picard’s  “The End is the Beginning.”

• Mol and L’ak projected themselves as 3D holograms into Discovery’s engineering bay… so why does book need to play back a recording of their conversation on a 2D holographic display?
• Despite Saru’s departure, Burnham promises that his special ‘greenhouse’ quarters will remain a Kelpien arboretum.
• Admiral Charles Vance’s daughter is named Charlie; named for her father no doubt!
• Rayner’s been awarded with distinguished service citations, awards of valor, and the Grankite Order of Tactics — just like Jim Kirk.

Finally, the episode ends where it began, back at Starfleet Headquarters. I’m hoping Discovery doesn’t make a habit of having the ship return to port, as it were, at the end of each episode as it only serves to make the ocean seem yet again like a very small place. But at least they’re there with good reason: Burnham needs a new first officer and, after being asked to tender his resignation, Rayner needs a second chance.

Seems like a perfect fit to me. But, um, maybe they should pick up an expert on Romulan history while they’re at it? Just a suggestion.

Star Trek: Discovery Season 5 returns with “Jinaal” on Thursday, April 11.

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• Under the Twin Moons

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Star Trek: Discovery’s Season 5 Premiere Easter Egg Explained: Who Are the [Spoiler]?

Keisha hatchett, staff editor.

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Star Trek: Discovery co-showrunner Alex Kurtzman previously told TVLine that the sci-fi drama’s fifth and final season was dependent on a “very significant” Star Trek Easter egg , and we finally know what he meant by that.

The season’s first two episodes, which are now streaming on Paramount+, sent the Discovery crew on one last adventure to find the missing clues spread throughout the galaxy that will lead them to the ancient device used by an ancient species, known as the Progenitors, to create life as we know it.

That Easter egg came into play in the premiere , as outlaws Moll ( Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s Eve Harlow) and L’ak ( Shadowhunters ’ Elias Toufexis) stole a tan zhekran — a traditional Romulan puzzle box; Narek (Harry Treadaway) used one as a thinking aid in Star Trek: Picard Season 1 — from an 800-year-old Romulan science vessel.

The Federation was also heavily invested in finding this mystery box, and Dr. Kovich and Admiral Vance remained tightlipped while briefing Burnham on a secretive mission to retrieve it. Captain Burnham nearly caught Moll and L’ak aboard the science vessel but they escaped to the Dune -like planet Q’mau.

There, the fugitive duo convinced a Synth dealer named Fred to open the box under the guise of selling it along with other timeless treasures, including a self-sealing stem bolt (frequently mentioned throughout Star Trek: Deep Space Nine , though their specific use is unclear) and an old tricorder (a hand-held sensor issued by Starfleet that can be used for scanning, recording and analyzing data). 

Dr. Vellek found the ancient humanoids’ life-creating device and recorded everything he knew about it in that diary. He then hid the device sometime before disappearing 800 years ago, and the diary contains important clues — such as the drawing of two moons — to find it.

Book and Burnham tracked Moll and L’ak to Q’mau, where they came upon Fred’s lifeless body. As they continued pursuing the outlaws, Culber, Stamets and Saru examined Fred aboard Discover y and realized that he was built from one of Dr. Soong’s designs.

Dr. Noonien Soong (Brent Spiner) created several android prototypes, including Data, Lore and B-4 — all portrayed by Spiner throughout TNG’s seven-season run.

L’ak and Mall again evaded Burnham & Co., but not before starting a catastrophic avalanche that forced the Discovery captain and a frustratingly aggressive Captain Raynor ( The Umbrella Academy’s Callum Keith Rennie) to refocus their efforts on saving a nearby settlement.

When the dust settled, Saru, who’d been thinking over an offer to leave Discovery and become a Federation ambassador, accepted the new position to stay close to President T’Rina. That was met with a surprising proposal from T’Rina, who politely suggested they codify their mutual commitment in a more official capacity.

While the Federation mulled his future, Discovery embarked on a trip to Lyrek in search of another clue. The uninhabited planet was used by the Promellians as a burial ground before the species went extinct. (In the TNG episode “Booby Trap,” we learned that early Federation starships were influenced by their design.)

In their exploration of the forest-heavy planet, Burnham and Saru accidentally tripped a complex security system which launched droids that immediately opened fire. Saru leaped into action, though, drawing the killer bots away and buying Tilly enough time to disarm them. He and Burnham then reached their target location, where they uncovered a Romulan revlav, aka a message in a poem.

While all of that was happening, Book reached out to Moll and L’ak about buying the diary, which he knew would be a hot commodity in the galaxy. But his conversation with the fugitives revealed something else. Studying Moll’s image later on, Book figured out why Moll seemed so familiar. Her real name was Malinne and she was the daughter of his mentor Cleveland Book IV, making her the closest thing to family he has left.

But first, Burnham needed to secure a new Number One. She turned to Raynor, who’d been asked by Vance to retire. In offering him Saru’s old role, she was giving him a second chance — one that had been granted to her back in Season 1.

What did you think of the first two episodes of Star Trek: Discovery’s final season? Grade them below, and share your thoughts about the overarching mystery in the comments.

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I like Discovery, a lot, but this was a deep cut for anyone not a big fan of the entire Trekverse. Thanks for the recap and the thorough explanation, I know I needed it

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• Cast & crew
• User reviews
• Episode aired Oct 28, 1989

The Enterprise triggers an ancient yet effective trap left by an extinct race, with a perfectly preserved derelict ship serving as cheese for Picard. The Enterprise triggers an ancient yet effective trap left by an extinct race, with a perfectly preserved derelict ship serving as cheese for Picard. The Enterprise triggers an ancient yet effective trap left by an extinct race, with a perfectly preserved derelict ship serving as cheese for Picard.

• Gabrielle Beaumont
• Gene Roddenberry
• Michael Piller
• Patrick Stewart
• Jonathan Frakes
• LeVar Burton
• 18 User reviews
• 9 Critic reviews

• Captain Jean-Luc Picard

• Commander William Thomas 'Will' Riker

• Lieutenant Commander Geordi La Forge

• Lieutenant Worf

• Doctor Beverly Crusher

• Counselor Deanna Troi

• Lieutenant Commander Data

• Wesley Crusher

• Dr. Leah Brahms

• Chief Miles O'Brien

• Christy Henshaw
• Crewman Nelson
• (uncredited)

• Enterprise Computer
• Enterprise-D Ops Ensign
• Michael Piller (showrunner)
• All cast & crew
• Production, box office & more at IMDbPro

Did you know

• Trivia Susan Gibney (Dr. Leah Brahms) auditioned for the roles of Counselor Deanna Troi and Lt. Tasha Yar before Marina Sirtis and Denise Crosby were cast respectively. She was later a front runner for Captain Kathryn Janeway and Seven of Nine in Star Trek: Voyager (1995) and the Borg Queen in Star Trek: First Contact (1996) but Kate Mulgrew , Jeri Ryan and Alice Krige were cast in these roles.
• Goofs Geordi says that the Enterprise's warp engines have tens of thousands of light-years on them; however, it has been established throughout TNG, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine (1993) , and Star Trek: Voyager (1995) that it would take the average Federation starship from the late 24th century more than 10 years at maximum warp to travel 10,000 light years. The U.S.S. Voyager was stranded 75,000 light-years from Federation space, and it was revealed that even if it were possible to maintain maximum warp for the whole time (which it is not) it would take 75 years to return to the Federation. That averages about 10,000 light-years per decade. Intrepid-class starships like Voyager are faster than Galaxy-class starships, with Voyager's maximum sustainable speed being warp factor 9.975 and the Enterprise-D's being warp factor 9.6; so, with the Enterprise-D only being in service for three years as of this episode, there is no way it has more than 10,000 light-years of travel on it. In fact it likely has less than 3,000 light-years on it.

Captain Jean-Luc Picard : [of the Promellian battle cruiser] It is exactly as they left it, Number One - 'in the bottle'.

[Data and Worf, like Riker earlier, look at him rather blankly]

Captain Jean-Luc Picard : The ship in the bottle... Oh, good Lord, didn't anybody here build ships in bottles when they were boys?

Lieutenant Worf : I did not play with toys.

Lt. Commander Data : I was never a boy.

Chief Miles O'Brien : I did, sir.

Captain Jean-Luc Picard : [pleased] Thank you, Mr. O'Brien.

• Connections Edited into Star Trek: The Next Generation: Genesis (1994)
• Soundtracks Star Trek: The Next Generation Main Title Composed by Jerry Goldsmith and Alexander Courage

User reviews 18

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• Jul 20, 2022
• October 28, 1989 (United States)
• United States
• Official site
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• Paramount Television
• See more company credits at IMDbPro

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• Runtime 45 minutes
• Dolby Digital

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Why ‘Star Trek: Discovery’ Built Season 5 Around a Classic Episode From a Legacy Series

By Adam B. Vary

Adam B. Vary

Senior Entertainment Writer

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SPOILER ALERT: This story discusses major plot developments in Season 5, Episode 1 of “ Star Trek : Discovery,” now streaming on Paramount+.

By the end of the episode, however, the mission has pushed Burnham and her crew to their limits, including slamming the USS Discovery into the path of a massive landslide threatening a nearby city. Before they risk their lives any further pursuing this object, Burnham demands that Kovich at least tell her why. (MAJOR SPOILERS FOLLOW.)

Kovich’s explanation evokes the classic “ Star Trek: The Next Generation ” episode “The Chase” from 1993 in which Capt. Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) — along with teams of Romulans, Klingons and Cardassians — learn that all humanoid life in the galaxy was created by a single species that existed billions of years earlier, and seeded thousands of planets with the DNA to pass along their legacy. (Along with presenting a profound vision of the origins of life, the episode also provided an imaginative explanation for why almost all the aliens in “Star Trek” basically look like humans with different kinds of forehead ridges.)

Kovich tells Burnham that the Romulan scientist was part of a team sent to discover exactly how these aliens — whom they call the Progenitors — made this happen; the object they’re seeking winds up being one part of a brand new “chase,” this time in the 32nd century, to find the Progenitors’ technology before it can fall into the wrong hands. 

“I remember watching that episode and at the end of it just being blown away that there was this huge idea where we all come from,” Paradise says. “And then they’re going to have another mission the next week. I found myself wondering, ‘Well, then what? What happened? What do we do with this information? What does it mean?’”

Originally, Paradise says the “Discovery” writers’ room discussed evoking the Progenitors in Season 4, when the Discovery meets an alien species, the 10-C, who live outside of the galaxy and are as radically different from humans as one could imagine. “As we dug deeper into the season itself, we realized that it was too much to try and get in,” Paradise says.

Instead, they made the Progenitors the engine for Season 5. “Burnham and some of our other characters are on this quest for personal meaning,” Paradise says. Searching for the origins of life itself, she adds, “feels like a big thematic idea that fits right in with what we’re exploring over the course of the season, and what our characters are going through.”

That meant that Paradise finally got to help come up with the answers to the questions about “The Chase” that had preoccupied her when she was younger. “We had a lot of fun talking about what might’ve happened when [Picard] called back to headquarters and had to say, ‘Here’s what happened today,’” she says. “We just built the story out from there.”

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Why 'Star Trek: Discovery' deserves more credit as a barrier-breaking series

Starship Discovery will soon be ending its mission, and what a journey it's been.

“Star Trek: Discovery,” which premiered in 2017, is entering its fifth and final season Thursday on Paramount+. And you’ll need the Captain’s Log to remember all the twists, turns and transformations the show has gone through since it began.

One thing that hasn’t changed, though, is the hate the series has received from some Trek fans. (“Discovery” has an overall audience score of 37% on Rotten Tomatoes, a stark difference from the 87% critic rating.)

While the show is far from free of legitimate criticism, many of the complaints seem unfairly — though perhaps tellingly — placed on the show’s focus on a Black woman commander, its LGBTQ+ stars and allies and its inclusive storylines. “Woke agenda” and other dog whistles frequently surface on Reddit and social media posts about the series.

That so much of the negativity is rooted in a backlash against inclusivity raises questions. After all, the "Star Trek" franchise has long emphasized and celebrated culture, diversity and humanity coming together and preserving the integrity of beings they meet across the galaxy.

"It doesn't make any sense, because (these fans) say they love this franchise," series star Sonequa Martin-Green says in an interview. The show “has always been about breaking those boundaries. It's always been about diversity and equality. And our world has changed since the last iteration of 'Trek.' We have a responsibility to push that needle forward and to stay true to that."

More: Issa Rae says Hollywood needs to be accountable. Here's why diverse shows are so important

The series is originally set before the events of NBC's original “Star Trek: The Original Series” (later jumping to the future) and follows Michael Burnham (Martin-Green), who became the starship’s captain, and the rest of the crew of the USS Discovery: first officer Saru (Doug Jones), chief engineer Paul Stamets (Anthony Rapp), lieutenant and now Starfleet Academy teacher Sylvia Tilly (Mary Wiseman), medical officer Hugh Culber (Wilson Cruz), courier and Burnham’s love interest Cleveland “Book” Booker (David Ajala) and ensign Adira Tal (Blu del Barrio).

Many more characters have stood on the bridge, battled with Burnham or otherwise make up the world of "Discovery." The series had some trouble finding the right footing, but it’s always had heart, especially in its recurring theme of redemption. And it deserves more support for what it has meant for the entire "Star Trek" franchise.

Here’s why “Star Trek: Discovery” deserves more credit.

Prioritizing diversity and inclusivity

A Vulcan philosophy (and one espoused by “Star Trek” creator Gene Roddenberry) is IDIC, or “infinite diversity in infinite combinations,” and many of the related series, movies and books underscore this belief. “Discovery” also has diversity at its core: the show focuses on a Black woman who becomes captain. Stamets and Culber are an openly gay couple, engineer Jett Reno (Tig Notaro) is a lesbian. And the show introduced a few franchise firsts: Adira Tal as the first nonbinary character in "Star Trek ," and their boyfriend, Gray ( Ian Alexander ), is the first transgender character , both introduced in Season 3.

More: 'Star Trek' documentary unveils star Nichelle Nichols' impactful NASA connection

Starting a new age of Star Trek

“Discovery” helped launch the CBS All Access streaming platform, a CBS subscription service that would eventually become Paramount+, as well as a new era of "Star Trek" series including “Lower Decks” and “Picard.” Before “Discovery,” the last Trek series was “Star Trek: Enterprise,” which ended in 2005.

Exploring strange new worlds

The second season of “Discovery” also served as a launching pad for the well-received spinoff, “Star Trek: Strange New Worlds,” which resurfaced popular characters from the original series including Spock (Ethan Peck), Captain Pike (Anson Mount), Uhura (Celia Rose Gooding) and Number One (Rebecca Romijn).

Finding time for the simple things

In a few scenes scattered throughout "Discovery," we see characters like Culber and Stamets sharing a meal or talking about their day while brushing their teeth. It’s almost mundane, but there’s also something so lovely about watching LGBTQ characters who rarely are the focus in movies or television simply living their lives, being their whole selves. Burnham rocking braids at the beginning of Season 3 speaks cultural volumes. The subtle amid the big battles and overarching plots do have meaning, especially for those whose voices often go unheard.

Going boldly

The first season of “Discovery” went out of its way to highlight its connections to the original series: Burnham is Spock’s adopted sister, and there's a brief appearance by Spock’s father, Sarek. But it wasn’t always so neatly woven, sometimes seeming more like it was using franchise lore as a crutch. But “Discovery” wasn’t afraid to try new things, turning itself around after an overcomplicated first season and again after a very “TOS”-inspired second, slowly building up its own universe without relying too heavily on the old. 

The first episodes of Season 5 are a little rocky before it settles into a comfortable speed. 

"This time around, we wanted to bring in some levity," Martin-Green says. "But there's a grand sort of epicness to Season 5, even though we didn't know it was our last season when we were shooting it. I think looking back on it, and when we share it with the world, it'll seem that way because the season is so big. So people can expect a lot of fun. They can expect it to go really fast." 

It will be interesting to see if “Discovery” sticks the landing through the remainder of the season.

“The good outweighs the bad,” Burnham says in an upcoming episode about a mission, and that’s also true of “Discovery."

The fifth and final season of "Star Trek: Discovery" (two episodes now streaming, then weekly on Thursdays), streams on, Paramount+.

Screen Rant

Star trek: discovery season 5, episode 2 ending explained.

Saru has an eventful last day in Starfleet, while Burnham selects his surprising replacement as Star Trek: Discovery's treasure hunt continues.

WARNING: This article contains SPOILERS for Star Trek: Discovery, season 5, episode 2, "Under the Twin Moons".

• Captain Burnham picks her new Number One as Saru departs after exploring a sacred planet in search of Progenitors' treasure.
• Rayner becomes Burnham's Number One after proving commitment to the mission, diverging from Saru's suggestion of Book.
• Discovery's next destination is Trill, setting up a reunion between Adira and Gray.

Captain Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) selects her new Number One as Captain Saru (Doug Jones) leaves for pastures new at the end of Star Trek: Discovery season 5, episode 2, "Under the Twin Moons". Written by Alan McElroy and directed by Doug Aarniokoski, "Under the Twin Moons" depicts Burnham and Saru's " last dance " together, which takes them to the abandoned planet of Lyrek in the Vileen system in search of the Progenitors' treasure. Fighting off the planet's formidable security systems with assistance from Ensign Adira Tal (Blu del Barrio) and a returning Lt. Sylvia Tilly (Mary Wiseman), Burnham and Saru obtain the next clue in their hunt for the Progenitors' treasure .

Meanwhile, Book (David Ajala) and Dr. Hugh Culber (Wilson Cruz) attempt to create a psychological profile for Moll (Eve Harlow) and L'ak (Elias Toufexis), which reveals some surprising information. While Star Trek: Discovery season 5, episode 2, "Under the Twin Moons" largely focused on Saru's action-packed last day as a Starfleet officer , it also provides tantalizing teases about the backstories for Discovery 's new heroes and villains. As the reshuffled crew of the USS Discovery head toward their next location, it will be interesting to see if these new dynamics will help or hinder the hunt for the Progenitors' technology as Discovery season 5 continues.

When Does Every Star Trek: Discovery Season 5 Episode Premiere (& How Many Are There)?

Rayner is burnham's new number one, discovery's saru replacement isn't a yes man..

At the start of Star Trek: Discovery season 5, episode 2, Captain Rayner (Callum Keith Rennie) was severely reprimanded for his reckless actions on Q'Mau, jeopardizing his future as a Starfleet officer. However, despite this, Rayner reached out to the USS Discovery, helping Tilly and Adira find solutions to Burnham and Saru's predicament on Vleen . This impressed Burnham, who recognized that Rayner's gruffness and his recklessness on Q'Mau were borne out of an unwavering commitment to the mission at hand, and an overriding desire to protect Starfleet and the Federation.

Which is why, at the end of Star Trek: Discovery season 5, episode 2, Burnham requests to have Rayner assigned to the USS Discovery as her Number One . Burnham's decision is also inspired by Saru, who saw her potential way back in Star Trek: Discovery season 1, even when she was a convicted mutineer. Now that Saru has left the USS Discovery, she wants to honor his legacy by giving Kellerun Captain Rayner the sort of second chance that she too was afforded.

Elias Toufexis, who plays L'ak in Star Trek: Discovery season 5, also played Cold, one of Burnham's fellow prisoners in season 1, episode 3, "Context is for Kings".

Burnham and Rayner's dynamic should be fascinating to watch during Star Trek: Discovery season 5, especially as she's made it very clear that she doesn't want him to be a " yes man ", nor does Rayner wish to be one. More interesting still is that, by selecting Rayner, Burnham is ignoring Saru's initial suggestion of her ex-lover, Book, for the role of Discovery's new First Officer . Hopefully, later episodes will drill down into why the unpredictable and reckless Rayner is a better Number One for Burnham than the man that she used to trust with her life.

"Action Saru" Has Officially Left The USS Discovery

The kelpien lives up to his nickname on his final starfleet mission..

There are moments in Star Trek: Discovery season 5, episode 2, "Under the Twin Moons" that play on the cop show cliché of the detective being killed on their last shift before retirement. Thankfully, Star Trek 's first Kelpien doesn't meet his end on the mission to Lyrek, even if he does sustain some minor injuries while living up to his "Action Saru" nickname. While Michael believes that the nickname was given to Saru by Booker, her Number One reveals that "Action Saru" originated with Discovery's acerbic engineer, Commander Jett Reno (Tig Notaro) , who was impressed by how he handled himself in the 32nd century.

Saru's Kelpien abilities made him the ideal candidate to temporarily disable Lyrek's security systems for long enough to retrieve the next clue. Every skill that Saru possesses is on display in his final Star Trek: Discovery away mission ; moving through the jungle at speed, dodging phaser blasts, and shooting drone-destroying needles from his neck. All that's left is a final touching farewell between Saru and Burnham, in which he advises her on how to look after his garden, before he heads off to Federation Headquarters to take up his new diplomatic role.

While "Under the Twin Moons" sees Saru leave the USS Discovery, Doug Jones will continue to appear in the remaining episodes of Star Trek: Discovery season 5.

Star Trek: Discovery's 8 Best Saru Episodes

Moll and booker have a family connection, book's mentor was moll's father..

The end of Star Trek: Discovery season 4 saw Book sentenced to community service for his crimes against the United Federation of Planets and Species 10-C. After months of helping to resettle the refugees left homeless by the DMA, Book has now been assigned to the USS Discovery to track fellow Couriers, Moll and L'ak. Studying the intelligence that Discovery has acquired thus far, Book recognizes that they're a couple in love, not unlike Burnham and Book were at the start of Discovery season 3 . Convincing Moll and L'ak to talk to him, Book isn't able to lure the couple into his trap, as they once again evade Discovery.

However, Moll's birthmark reveals something more surprising; that L'ak's partner in crime is Moleen, the daughter of Book's mentor, Cleveland Booker IV . Book tells Culber that while he never met his mentor's daughter, he had seen a holo-image, suggesting that father and child were separated when Moll was around 7 years old. As Booker lost his entire family and home planet to the Dark Matter Anomaly in Star Trek: Discovery season 4 , Moll now represents the closest thing he has to a sister. However, it remains to be seen if this family connection will be enough to convince Moll to turn her back on her villainous ways.

Admiral Vance Has A History With Rayner

They saw action together after the burn..

It first becomes clear that Captain Rayner and Admiral Charles Vance (Oded Fehr) during the investigation into the events on Q'Mau. After Vance quietly chides Rayner for not helping his case, he later thanks Burnham for her words of support. Vance and Rayner's connection becomes clearer at the end of Star Trek: Discovery season 5, episode 2, when the Admiral reveals that the two men saw action together . Unlike Vance, Rayner is struggling to readjust to a time of peace in the Federation, warning President Laira Rillak (Chelah Horsdal) that " war is always a possibility. "

Vance and Rayner's friendship stretches back 30 years, meaning that they served together during the aftermath of the Burn. This 30-year bond enabled Vance to quietly convince Rayner to take early retirement, rather than leave Starfleet and the USS Antares, in disgrace. Admiral Vance was clearly touched when Burnham requested Rayner as her Number One , perhaps recognizing that she was the one officer who might get through to his wayward friend.

What DS9’s Kelleruns Can Tell Us About Star Trek: Discovery Season 5

Tilly is back as discovery's science advisor, she's on loan from starfleet academy..

After showing signs of frustration with the current crop of Starfleet Academy cadets in Star Trek: Discovery season 5, episode 1, Tilly gets assigned to her old ship in the second half of Star Trek: Discovery 's season 5 premiere . On loan from Starfleet Academy, Tilly is the USS Discovery's science advisor for the duration of their hunt for the Progenitors' technology. Given that it was Tilly who unearthed the recordings of Dr. Vellek (Michael Copeman) in the first place, this only seems fair. In episode 2, Tilly teams up with Adira - who is glad to have their friend and mentor back - to provide assistance to Burnham and Saru on their mission to Vleen.

Tilly's return to Star Trek: Discovery and her interactions with Captain Rayner's hologram suggest some fun material to come for both Mary Wiseman and Callum Keith Rennie. It's also fitting that, as Saru, one of Burnham's early champions, leaves Discovery, another of her closest friends and supporters comes back aboard. Tilly is also able to lend an ear to Adira's concerns about their relationship with Gray Tal (Ian Alexander), as they become more comfortable with their role aboard the Discovery. It's therefore hard to deny that Tilly being back aboard the USS Discovery is a very good thing indeed .

Discovery Has The First Piece Of The Treasure Map

All five pieces will lead to the progenitors' technology..

With the next piece of the puzzle - a piece of patterned stone - taken from Lyrek, Captain Burnham and the crew set to work figuring out what it means to Star Trek: Discovery 's treasure hunt. Consulting Dr. Vellek's journal once again, Commander Paul Stamets (Anthony Rapp) sees a link between the piece of stone and the illustrations in the journal. Producing a 3D version of the sketch, Stamets and Burnham realize that the stone segment fits neatly into one of the patterned slots like a jigsaw piece .

Burnham surmises that this is one part of a treasure map that will lead to the Progenitors' technology and the source of all humanoid life in the universe. Once all five segments are assembled, it will somehow show the USS Discovery the way to where the secrets of existence are hidden. While this is an exciting development, there are still four pieces left to find, and Moll and L'ak are hot on the trail as Star Trek: Discovery season 5 continues .

The Next Piece Of Season 5's Treasure Map Is On Trill

Adira and gray are about to be reunited..

As well as the piece of the treasure map, Burnham and Saru also found a poem that provided the next location. The full poem was obscured by one of Lyrek's many statues, meaning that Moll and L'ak only read the first verses, which would lead them to Betazed. Reading further, Saru recounted the next verses of the poem, and they were words that spoke to Adira and their thoughts about Gray.

"A world like no other, where two souls entwine, join as one..."

This, combined with the mention of water, invoked memories of the Trill homeworld for Adira. As the USS Discovery heads to Trill in Star Trek: Discovery season 5, episode 3, "Jinaal", Adira and Gray will be forced to confront their relationship. However, romantic reconciliations may need to take a backseat if Moll and L'ak are already heading to Trill to find the next piece of the Progenitors' puzzle.

Star Trek: Discovery streams Thursdays on Paramount+.

Star Trek: Discovery

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Star Trek: Discovery is an entry in the legendary Sci-Fi franchise, set ten years before the original Star Trek series events. The show centers around Commander Michael Burnham, assigned to the USS Discovery, where the crew attempts to prevent a Klingon war while traveling through the vast reaches of space.

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Jack Champion, Sophia Lillis, Kate del Castillo, Tony Dalton, Whitney Peak, Blu del Barrio & Bobby Cannavale Join Dave Bautista In Action Pic ‘Trap House’

By Zac Ntim

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Jack Champion ( Avatar: The Way of Water ), Sophia Lillis ( It, Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves ), Kate del Castillo ( La Reina del Sur ), Tony Dalton ( Better Call Saul ), Whitney Peak ( Gossip Girl ) and Bobby Cannavale ( The Irishman, Jumanji: Welcome to the Jungle ) have signed on to join Dave Bautista ( Dune: Part Two ) in action pic Trap House .

Inde Navarrette ( Superman and Lois, 13 Reasons Why ), Zaire Adams ( Senior Year ) and Blu del Barrio ( Star Trek: Discovery ) have also joined the cast.

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Trap House is produced by Marc Goldberg and Sarah Gabriel of Signature Films ( The Estate, Marmalade, Riff Raff ), Michael Pruss and Rebecca Feuer of Scott Free Productions ( Alien: Romulus, Napoleon, Boston Strangler ) with Ridley Scott executive producing alongside Bautista and Jonathan Meisner of Bautista’s Dogbone Entertainment ( My Spy, The Killer’s Game ) and Todd Lundbohm of 828 Productions ( The Fallout, Assassin Club ). The feature is financed and executive produced by Christian Mercuri’s Capstone Studios, Signature Entertainment, Creativity Media and Koala, and Ashland Hill Media Finance.

Dogbone and Signature developed Trap House after working together on 2018’s actioner Final Score , which starred Bautista alongside Pierce Brosnan.

Champion is best known for his performance in Avatar: The Way of Water . Cannavale’s film credits include Martin Scorsese’s The Irishman and Old Dads . Lillis had her breakout moment playing Beverly Marsh in 2017’s It , later reprising the role in the film’s sequel It: Chapter 2 . Del Castillo currently stars in Fox’s The Cleaning Lady . Dalton was last seen as the Swordsman on the Marvel and Disney+ series Hawkeye . Peak is best known for her starring role in Max’s reboot of Gossip Girl , playing Zoya Lott.

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