Star Trek S2 E6 "The Doomsday Machine" / YMMV

Anvilicious:
- The title "Doomsday Machine" kind of says it all along with Kirk's theory of the planet killer being an ancient weapon in a war.
  Kirk: Built primarily as a bluff. Never meant to be used for it's so powerful, it would destroy both sides.
  [...]
  Kirk: In the twentieth century, the hydrogen bomb was the ultimate doomsday machine and we used something like it to destroy another doomsday machine. Probably the only time such a weapon was used for constructive purposes.
  Spock: Appropriate, Captain. However, I can't help but wonder if there are more such devices wandering the universe.
  Kirk: I should certainly hope not. I found one quite sufficient.
- Naturally, this episode was An Aesop criticizing the Cold War arms race. And the fact that the superpowers thought that the fear of Mutually Assured Destruction was a deterrent to nuclear war. Both sides also had enough nukes to destroy human civilization many times over. This was a rare instance where anyone in universe explicitly pointed out an analog to real life.
Awesome Music: Sol Kaplan's original score for this episode, a suite of about 25 minutes of music (roughly half the episode's length), with extensive use of Leitmotif. Reviewers consistently point to his score as the highlight of what is already an otherwise-excellent episode, and those who have reviewed the music of TOS generally rank it at or very near the top of the heap. It gets prominently reused throughout the rest of the season and (along with Gerald Fried's score from "Amok Time") gets its own CD release.
Ensemble Dark Horse: Although he only appeared in this episode (well, obviously) his haunting story and William Windom's brilliant acting has made Decker one of the most memorable characters in the entire original series, and its status as a fan favorite is largely because of his contributions. His character was memorable enough that William Decker, Matt Decker's son, was created for Phase II, which would be transformed into Star Trek: The Motion Picture.
Ham and Cheese: William Windom thought the episode "seemed kind of silly, with the planet eater and the spaceships", and acted as though he was playing in a cartoon. Some have noticed Windom's exaggerated accent in some scenes and decided that Decker must be from "Bahston", Massachusetts. This backfired in that it gave his performance as Decker the intensity and unhinged lunacy it needed to become truly memorable and effective. Today, it's considered one of Windom's most iconic roles; upon his death, many obituaries reflecting on his career led with Decker even over his Emmy-winning turn as James Thurber or his long-running supporting role on Murder, She Wrote.
Harsher in Hindsight:
- In Star Trek: The Motion Picture, Commodore Decker's son, Capt. Will Decker, would have his own encounter with a destructive space machine ending with his demise (maybe).
- Windom would later play another character who would also inadvertently doom people thanks to his actions... though in their cases, death quite honestly would have been preferable to their actual fates.
Heartwarming in Hindsight: At the end of the episode, Kirk and Spock discuss how the Captain's Log will say that Decker died in the line of duty. A Freeze-Frame Bonus in the season 2 premiere of Star Trek: Picard confirms that Decker is indeed remembered as a hero, in more-or-less the way Kirk intended. ^note
Hilarious in Hindsight:
- Also a bit of Older Than They Think.... Let's see. The villain is a giant, mindless eating machine that can destroy just about anything in its path. Regular weapons have little effect on it. A major character is a ship's captain whose obsession with killing the eating machine puts other people's lives in danger, and his final fate is to be killed by the villain. The villain is killed, basically, by throwing a bomb into its mouth. And, last but not least, the villain is accompanied by a simple but very distinctive musical cue. (Dah-dum dah-dum dah-dum dah-dum dah-dum....) Gee, I wonder where we would see these things again...?
- The planet-killer is a massive, nearly invincible spaceship appearing several miles long, that dwarfs the Federation ships and, well, eats planets...looks and sounds remarkably similar to the Narada, right down to being destroyed by a smaller ship loaded up with an explosive payload launched down its gullet by a pilot who beams out at the last moment.
- In the years following the release of the episode various individuals have compared the planet-killer to a giant joint, doobie, massive lit cigar, cannol, or flying eggroll. Episode writer Norman Spinrad thought it looked like a giant turnip but after the episode initially aired referred to it as a "wind sock dipped in cement." [1]
Jerkass Woobie: Decker. We feel bad for him since he's mourning the loss of his crew and clearly suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder. Still, he can be a real jerk.
- Still, when the damage control team replays the Constellation logs Decker sounds like a much more rational and competent individual. For his part, the expression on Kirk's face clearly shows that he believes the situation could have very well been easily reversed, with Decker and a fully functional Constellation coming across a wrecked Enterprise along with a suicidal Kirk being the last survivor and suffering from major PTSD.
Narm Charm: The Planet Killer was literally a windsock dipped in cement due to the No Budget nature of the show with no discernable aerodynamics to make its movements seem anything less than a prop on wires. But a gaping maw that looks like a gateway to hell and appearing as a chunk of rock lacking evidence of intelligent construction makes it one of the most imposing enemies of the series.
Nightmare Retardant: For some viewers, the planet killer loses its menace when one realizes its shape and glowing orange insides make it look like a giant cannabis joint.

YMMV / Star Trek S2 E6 "The Doomsday Machine"

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