And why not? That first officer saved everybody's bacon (and eggs) more times than one can count. That is another reason that this episode is one of my very favorites.

Good catch. He also did the same in "Squire of Gothos." Spock sliced Trelane with words of not having discipline with great power Spock also made a speech about computers in the "Ultimate Computer." Spock does not want to serve a computer. He prefers to serve on a Starship with crewman and his Captain.

Shatner is an underrated actor.

@@MuzixMaker I get a kick out of shows where Shatner plays the villain (Columbo, Mission Impossible and 5-0), in the years right after Star Trek was canceled and his career was in the dumper. (Nimoy also ended up on Mission Impossible for a couple of seasons and was pretty good replacing Martin Landau)

@@zitacarno4443 This was Spock's finest hour.

kchishol1970 Many of Spock's statements were amazing eg. Those who fight must stop themselves, otherwise it is not stopped.

Beautifully put!

@@jenpeterson3712 You're right, I often still hear that line in my mind!

Spock was the first adult I could relate to at nine years old. He's never stopped being one of my heroes, even at 62.

that whacky spock!

The greatest series in television history.

Unsurpassed!

Great Actors + Creative Scripts = One Great TV Show (which has aged well!)

Now, it's the Simpsons which exemplifies American media.

55+ years later it's still the gold standard.

I miss him so much. 😥

Star Trek is without doubt the greatest series in television history.

@@lisasimmons5362 So do I.

And the guy they wisely signed to direct this episode did 52 Gunsmokes and many other westerns. Nothing quite like this one, of course

What is more remarkable is that it was on a shoestring budget! They did not even have money for real sets (just facades of buildings) and they used this in the story line. Brilliant!

@@144Donn Paramount Studios certainly had a "western" street they could have used to make things look a little more real -- they actually use it at the end of a Mission Impossible episode (with William Shatner!). But the crazy way they did it was far more memorable

...and a breathtaking demonstration of "wuh tapul t'wuh kashek"---the power of the mind. When Spock performed the triple-header mind-meld it was telepathic hypnosis at its most effective, most meaningful, and it set up the futility of the Earps' efforts. The only thing that got hurt was that back wall.

except for the empath

This episode resonates with me because I believe so much of our lives is a question of 'mind over matter' and determines our life success and our destiny.

Once again proving that you don't need special FX or expensive sets to create a masterpiece.

I would also add the brilliant set design: they took a painfully limited budget and used consummate talent and imagination to created one of the great TV surreal nightmares that becomes a triumph of logic, resolve and higher principle.

PETER JOHN BRANDAL, as a kid, the logic of Mr. Spock helped me deal with bullies in elementary school.

What is a B5 reference? This is one of my favorite clips...It is also a fantastic metaphor for people that know the concept of the story. as "The Spectre of a gun"- Cheers :)

Hey! Its been years now. At least correct "Spoke" to "Spock". Cheers :)

@@jsmythib B5 = Babylon 5

@@alicetremain7366 Ah. I never really watched it....But I loved this clip...Great perspective :) kzfaq.info/get/bejne/napxo7WXrJObhWg.html

Lots of people spend their lives ignoring physical laws....and pay the consequences for it.

montrealfilmguy I noticed that too

@@neneshubby It's like he's thinking, "Man..I'm glad we got this guy on our side".

His smiling in reality, makes no sense. Because it's either he is initially smiling, being cptn Kirk, because the dilemma is solved, or else he wouldn't be conjecturing further, as to the death of chekov. If it's still not understood, then it's simply like this: Kirk wouldn't be Kirk unless he can put 2 and 2 together quickly. And being Kirk, he can put 2 and ? together quickly. And because of his human flaws and rationale and or reasoning, through flaws that ironically, he uses for or happens, in which it gains him advantage. At the ropes end, no solution, all hope appears over, Kirk gets angry or laughs or whatever, and boom, finds a solution or exotic alternative in which now, maybe he even chuckles, because he KNOWS this has to be the right solution, because he, being Kirk, has thought of everything else. He can only deduce what appears to be arrogant, that he has thought of everything else conventionally, because, and this is the main thing.... he's sincere to his job. This means, the mission and crew and him last or however the star trek protocol goes, which is also a farce, like him smiling at spok his old good buddy, in the midst of a mortal dilemma and one chess piece dead already, but hasn't figured it out already? That makes as much sense as playing chess with only your king, queen and 3 of your other highest pieces....but remember, that's how the episode protocol always goes. Come on, get real. If anything, Kirk wouldn't be smiling right now unless he knew the solution like spok and ask about chekov. Ain't got time fo all dat mang.

@@FIVE-0-APOCALYPTO holy crap. im happy the confinement didn't stop you from writing a book. Let me guess your job.. making over analytical mountains out of molehills.

I was thinking the same thing, In other episodes Scotty does the same thing

One never questions the two loves in Scotty's life. His liquor and his ship!

In Vulcan it's "wuh tepul t'wuh kashek". Yes, the power of the mind, and I have acquired a whole new appreciation of it and what it could be capable of.

Actually, the difference here is that this "dream" is as real as your mind accepts it to be. So, Spock figured out how to escape by applying logic and concluding what the true nature of their situation is.

None of us truly understands the nature of existence. How much is real and unreal. So not really a 'dodge'.

@@johnmorelli3775 I like your point -- but I have a feeling that TV writers are usually more like "Uh-oh, now how do I get the show's characters out of this predicament?" A similar situation for discussion regarding the nature of existence is when Bob Newhart wakes up after six years of his New England sitcom with the blond wife and finds he's back in bed in Chicago with Suzanne Pleshette

I know not many "caught" your John Lennon reference!

@@tonyginnetti5828 I gotta admit I didn't even catch it -- I didn't know Lennon is associated with this saying! But I always enjoy coming back to this great little slice of Trek and going over the new comments

The "stripped-down approach" works perfectly here because the sets, lighting and staging are skillfully impressionistic -- as opposed to some episodes where the fake planet is just cheap and cheesy and the director does not have a plan. They could have done the show in a realistic style (like a Gunsmoke episode or the classic movie High Noon) but it might not have worked so memorably

The end of Mirror, Mirror was pretty good.

Insert “the smallest doubt would be enough to kill you” into everyday conversation. Also a great pick-up line.

And for those who took issue with William Shatner's so-called overacting and hamming it up: You must remember that he was a trained Shakespearean actor, and when you're doing Shakespeare on the stage---be it "Macbeth", "Julius Caesar" or a comedy role like Petruchio in "The Taming of the Shrew"---you HAVE to go over the top! Of course, he could go the other way, as in the theft-of-the-Enterprise scene in "Star Trek III" where he responded to Captain Styles' threat with his two-word "Warp speed" in the same tone one would use to say "Please pass the potatoes" at dinner.- Yes, it was not only the writing, it was the actors' delivery of same. And I say it in Vulcan: "Vaskurik!" ("Beautiful!")

First Officer. :)

@@leftcoaster67 Duly noted! Lol!!!!

FINALLY, someone around here offering up some goddamn value. Tangible optionality. Spock has the answer. He understands the truth. Self evident only by what is to come? Now we have a problem of reality contrary to truth. Kirk should be dead unless, when it came time for his turn for the HELP ME SPOCK vulcan convincer chi kung which...(wake up to a brand new day, holes and inconsistencies but never the less 🙄 star trek = ipso facto x machina) ...kirk theoretically if no one else, shouldn't need the spock touchy feely vulcan temple move....thats ok ...Spock I GOT.....a plan Why? Because kirk would understand reality enough that dictates why kirk beats spock at chess. Because of illogical understanding. Why is kirk therefore, fistfighting FRONTIER STYLE! WEEEE! ...with what does not exist except illogical revenge for what a bullet can not do if it doesn't exist, transparent, spectres...but I guess kirk broke THE SPELL and came back to the unreality of whooping dat ass....pleased tuh meet yuh...KIRK👊🏻💥💫BOOM

"Imagine the people giving the test are naked." - An old TV/movie trope.

And a lot more. Remember, Vulcans were---and are---a telepathic species, primarily touch-telepathic. Spock could do the mind-meld and other variations of it both with and without physical contact---I've see both kinds throughout the series---and with hypnotic suggestion added to the mix, this was one powerful tool he could and did use in the service of getting the Enterprise crew out of trouble. If you remember that scene in "Dagger Of The Mind" he used the combination with telling effect. Immensely logical---and this is just one reason I loved the series so.

When Spock performed the Vulcan mind-meld---in triplicate---to convince the others that everything was unreal and was to be disregarded, I saw this as a terrific example of telepathic hypnosis, a specialty of this particular Vulcan. He worded his quiet, powerful suggestion differently for each member of the landing party, but the end was the same---all was unreal, the bullets can't hurt you. It was breathtaking to watch. Myllie, if you were a part of this scene you would no doubt be similarly inf,luenced. And by the way, it was hilarious to watch that wooden fence being turned into Swiss cheese!

Myllie Myllette He can mind meld with me, anytime!

absolutely

Plato described this in his Allegory of the Cave thousands of years ago. The Matrix was partially based on that, but then so have many works of fiction.

Actually, this script was written by the other creative force on Star Trek: Gene Coon, under a pen name, a writer/producer to created much of Trek's foundational ideas and a driving force for its idealistic spirit.

Where any of them ever off the bridge?

@@roby14 I think you're on to something. It always struck me as odd that they skipped the standard scene where they gather in the transporter room and beam down. They're just there.

And a most entertaining and exhilarating meeting.

Or possibly, the "Night Gallery"

And Spock performed it in triplicate. As I saw it, he was actually doing a type of telepathic hypnosis, and most effectively too. I noticed that he was wording his suggestions differently for each member of the landing party, but the end result was the same for all three: "The bullets do not exist." No matter how many times I watch it, this scene continues to grab me. +6::

Plato's Allegory of the Cave was the first time someone wrote this concept down.

@@rikk319 that is highly debatable!

@@cullysloy2705 What do you base "highly debatable" on? Historians and philosophers have pointed out how the Allegory of the Cave is a thought experiment on questioning what you think is reality, and how one would react if they found out what they thought was real--wasn't. The films The Conformist, The Matrix, Cube, Dark City, The Truman Show, Us and City of Ember were all based in some way on it. The creators of The Matrix even reference it in their commentary on the film. Don't believe me...look it up for yourself. The proof is right there. Something of a perfect example of it right here, arguing with me about it :P

@@rikk319 A cave wall is not the matrix, at all a cave wall does not kill you if you think it can. you are stretching and so are the wakowski's

@@cullysloy2705 Green is not red, but they are both colors. An allegory is a comparison, and the concept of "what is reality" isn't unique to the Matrix, this Star Trek episode, or Plato's musings. Gene Roddenberry was a genius, but let's not act like he invented the concept of questioning reality.

Cheesy? You have to be more specific and tell us what kind of cheese. There are Vermont cheddar, white and yellow American, Swiss, fontina, havarti plain and with dill, brick, Parmesan, ricotta, mascarpone, cream cheese, and of course the so-called stinky varieties.

You can say that again! (In Vulcan it would be "Du mokuhlek tar ik va'ashiv!") And especially nowadays the writers of not only TV science fiction but also just about TV everything else seem to be gearing things down to the third-grade level; I was thinking just now of baseball great Casey Stengel and his remarks about "Ned in the third reader". He was right on target. And so I am thankful for the original Star Trek.

It was a sound stage at Desilu wasn't it?

He implied that his mind killed him; not the bullets. Just like in The Empath. Fear killed the earlier victims.

And I thought The Matrix was ground breaking....Spock dropping Morpheus knowledge in the 60's

Leonard Nimoy had something like 3 _Twilight Zone_ eps to his credit before TOS, so it fits he would know how to play this.