Star Trek has a message of peace and tolerance and seeing beyond the surface, but it’s not above doing an all-out monster movie from time to time. From its inception in 1966, Star Trek has taught audiences not to judge alien species by appearances. For example, Star Trek: Voyager villains Species 8472 were terrifying, Alien-inspired creatures, who turned out to be benevolent aliens that had been driven to violence by the actions of the Borg Collective. Earlier episodes like Star Trek: The Original Series‘ “Devil in the Dark” revealed hidden emotional depths to a creature that was ostensibly a disgusting rock monster.
Despite Star Trek‘s message of empathy, sometimes the writers can’t resist creating scary monsters and super creeps. Star Trek has always drawn on the history of science fiction, and the big monster movies popularized by studios like RKO are no exception. Over nearly six decades, Star Trek TV shows have drawn on classic monster movies like The Thing From Another World and King Kong, giving them a Gene Roddenberry-style twist.
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Star Trek: Voyager, Season 2, Episode 15, “Threshold”
Story by Michael de Luca, Teleplay by Brannon Braga
Star Trek: Voyager‘s notorious salamander episode, “Threshold” begins as an exploration of theoretical transwarp barriers and becomes something more akin to The Phantom of the Opera or King Kong. When Lt. Tom Paris (Robert Duncan McNeill) breaks the transwarp barrier, he begins experiencing some bizarre side effects. Breaking the transwarp barrier has triggered a strange evolution in Paris’ body, which turns him into a salamander, who decides they need a mate in the form of Captain Kathryn Janeway (Kate Mulgrew).
There are some obvious monster movie parallels in “Threshold”, from the way that the reptilian Paris carries an unconscious Janeway like the Phantom of the Opera to the body horror of the Voyager helmsman’s transformation. The climax of the notorious Star Trek: Voyager episode, in which the “monster” that is now Paris fights off the crew to take Janeway as his mate, is pure King Kong. It’s a Voyager episode that is rightly panned for its lack of narrative cohesion, but the monster movie elements ensure that “Threshold” is never boring.
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Star Trek: The Next Generation, Season 7, Episode 19, “Genesis”
Written by Brannon Braga
Star Trek: The Next Generation season 7, episode 19, “Genesis” is essentially The Island of Dr. Moreau set aboard the USS Enterprise-D. Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) and Lt. Commander Data (Brent Spiner) return to the Enterprise to discover that the crew has devolved into various terrifying monsters. For example, Lt. Reginald Barclay (Dwight Schultz) is de-evolved into a spider-like creature, while Lt. Worf (Michael Dorn) devolves into a savage proto-Klingon that tries to kill Picard. The cause of these transformations is a mistake made by Dr. Beverly Crusher (Gates McFadden) while reactivating a cell that would have given Barclay immunity to the flu.
Although the science is just as dubious as Star Trek: Voyager‘s “Threshold”, Star Trek: The Next Generation season 7, episode 19, “Genesis” has the benefit of being much more atmospheric. Interestingly, “Genesis” was directed by Dr. Beverly Crusher actor Gates McFadden, who injects what could have been a very silly story with genuine tension. The climax, where Picard tries to fend off an attack from a prehistoric Worf, while Data tries to concoct a cure using the DNA of Nurse Ogawa’s unborn baby, is well directed by McFadden, giving this daft TNG outing an exciting monster movie vibe.
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Star Trek: The Original Series, Season 1, Episode 26, “The Devil in the Dark”
Written by Gene L. Coon
“The Devil in the Dark” is a classic Star Trek monster episode, because it hinges on Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner), Lt. Commander Spock (Leonard Nimoy), and Dr. “Bones” McCoy (DeForest Kelley) learning to understand a creature beyond their understanding. Investigating a supposed monster that is attacking a mining operation on Janus IV, they soon discover that the titular “devil in the dark” is no monster, but a mother protecting their young. It’s thanks to Kirk and Spock’s open-mindedness that the miners manage to avert the destruction of the entire Horta race.
From a visual effects perspective, the actual Horta in Star Trek: The Original Series may look hokey by today’s standards, but it tells a story about the need for empathy. TOS’ cave monster isn’t able to communicate with the miners, and so has to resort to violence. Similarly, the miners want violent recriminations from the “monster” that killed their colleagues. The scene in which Kirk has to reason with the baying mob invokes images of the villagers with torches and pitchforks in the climax of Universal’s classic monster movie, Frankenstein. Thanks to Kirk, however, the Horta has a happier ending than Frankenstein’s monster.
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Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Season 2, Episode 12, “The Alternate”
Teleplay by Bill Dial, Story by Jim Trombetti and Bill Dial
In one of Constable Odo’s best Star Trek: Deep Space Nine episodes, a mysterious monster stalks the corridors of DS9 late at night. It’s believed to be the mysterious sample that Odo (Rene Auberjonois) and scientist Dr. Mora Pol (James Sloyan) brought back from the Gamma Quadrant. However, in reality, it’s Odo, who is under the influence of mysterious alien toxins, and the stress of seeing his “father” again. “The Alternate” is a fun Star Trek spin on Robert Louis Stevenson’s The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll & Mr. Hyde, that has some genuinely unnerving moments of horror.
Odo’s transition into the monster toward the end of the episode is horrifying to watch as he rants and raves while struggling to remain in a solid state. Odo’s monstrous alter-ego is less Mr. Hyde, and more like the titular Blob from the classic 1958 sci-fi monster movie. Interestingly, Dr. Julian Bashir (Alexander Siddig) doesn’t categorically confirm it’s the alien toxins that caused the transformation, suggesting another cause. As the gelatinous monster bears down on Dr. Mora Pol, it becomes clear that the real cause of the transformation is Odo’s father issues.
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Star Trek: Voyager, Season 3, Episode 12, “Macrocosm”
Written by Brannon Braga
Star Trek: Voyager has many creepy episodes, but “Macrocosm” is the most overt monster episode. Like Star Trek: The Next Generation‘s “Genesis”, also written by Brannon Braga, “Macrocosm” has a silly concept that is realized like a survival horror movie. The monsters faced by Captain Janeway and the Doctor (Robert Picardo) are effectively giant viruses that become airborne, infecting those they come into contact with. To repel the viral infection of the USS Voyager, the Doctor created an antigen which Janeway eventually detonated inside the holodeck, killing the assembled macroviruses.
“Macrocosm” got a wryly funny sequel in Star Trek: Lower Decks‘ season 4 premiere, “Twovixed”, but the episode itself is a decent homage to the Alien franchise. As the Star Trek franchise’s first female captain, it’s great to see Janeway getting to be an action hero like Captain Kirk in Star Trek: The Original Series, or Picard in Star Trek: First Contact. While the monsters themselves weren’t anywhere near as terrifying as Alien‘s Xenomorph, “Macrosm” finally gave Captain Janeway her Ellen Ripley moment.
5
Star Trek: Discovery, Season 1, Episode 3, “Context is for Kings”
Teleplay by Gretchen J. Berg, Aaron Harberts, and Craig Sweeny
The disgraced Michael Burnham (Sonequa Martin-Green) is given a second chance after her mutiny aboard the USS Shenzhou in a Star Trek: Discovery monster episode. “Context is for Kings” explores what happened to the USS Glenn, the second of Discovery‘s crossfield-class starships. Following a catastrophic accident while experimenting with spore drive technology, the ship’s entire crew were killed, save for the tartigrade creature they had captured and wired to the spore drive. Freed from its shackles by the accident, the creature rampaged through the Glenn, killing a Klingon boarding party and turning its attention to Burnham and her away team.
The true monster in Star Trek: Discovery season 1, episode 3, “Context is for Kings” is Starfleet themselves. The cruelty that the crew of the USS Glenn had shown to the tartigrade was unbecoming of Starfleet, and showed how far they were willing to diverge from their principles to defeat the Klingon Empire. Captain Gabriel Lorca (Jason Isaacs) hammers this point home by having the tartigrade brought aboard the USS Discovery, taunting it as it tries to break free from the forcefield.
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Star Trek: Lower Decks, Season 4, Episode 2, “I Have No Bones Yet I Must Flee”
Written by Aaron Burdette
Star Trek: Lower Decks introduced Moopsy into the canon in the season 4 episode, “I Have No Bones Yet I Must Flee”. Visiting an alien menagerie, newly promoted Lt. junior grade Beckett Mariner (Tawny Newsome) and Commander Jack Ransom (Jerry O’Connell) had to conted with Moopsy, a soft fluffy creature that also happened to drink bones. Mariner and Ransom came up with a suitably irreverent Lower Decks solution to their problem, by punching out Ransom’s teeth and using them as treats to lure the Moopsy back into its cage.
Moopsy was the sort of creation that could only feature in the irreverent world of Star Trek: Lower Decks, and yet it plays on existing creatures in the canon. Moopsy is basically a monstrous Tribble, unable to control its base urges. However, Mariner and Ransom don’t kill the creature to save themselves, they find a humane – if slightly painful – solution to their situation. Not only that, but Mariner also unmasks the truly dangerous monsters – greedy humans seeking to bulk up their business portfolios, in this case by staging a hostile takeover of an alien menagerie.
3
Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, Season 1, Episode 9, “All Those Who Wander”
Written by Davy Perez
“All Those Who Wander” combines the classic Star Trek: The Original Series episode “Arena” with Alien to provide a terrifying episode of Star Trek: Strange New Worlds. The vicious Gorn babies that are encountered by the Enterprise away team are relentless, rampaging through the ship and killing everything in their path. It’s through the noble sacrifice of Lt. Hemmer (Bruce Horak) that the away team is able to get back to the safety of the USS Enterprise. However, the scars of the terrifying encounter between the Enterprise and the Gorn carry over into Strange New Worlds season 2.
Because there’s genuine dramatic stakes and a cost to life, Star Trek: Strange New World‘s Gorn survival horror movie is the best version of the subgenre after the classic movie, Star Trek: First Contact. As an hour of television, it wears its genre influences on its sleeve, particularly the similarities between the icy crash site with the colony in Aliens. However, it’s not just the Alien franchise that Star Trek: Strange New Worlds riffs on in “All Those Who Wander”. The Gorn infants move like raptors, drawing comparisons with the climax of Steven Spielberg’s Jurassic Park.
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Star Trek: The Next Generation, Season 1, Episode 23, “Skin of Evil”
Teleplay by Joseph Stefano & Hannah Louise Shearer
Armus (Ron Gans) in Star Trek: The Next Generation, is a truly monstrous creation, and even refers to himself as “evil“. Unlike the Horta in Star Trek: The Original Series, Armus isn’t attacking the Enterprise away team to protect its children, he’s doing it because he’s a monster. A black, oily mass of everything impure and evil rejected by a “race of Titans“, Armus was abandoned on the planet Vagra II. There, he fantasized about torturing any visitors to the planet, but he quickly got bored after killing Lt. Tasha Yar (Denise Crosby).
“Skin of Evil” is one of Star Trek‘s best monster episodes because, like “All Those Who Wander”, it takes a toll on the characters. Star Trek: The Next Generation loses Tasha Yar to this monster, which proved that it would be a very different show to Star Trek: The Original Series. A TOS version of “Skin of Evil” would have played out in a similar fashion, but with the deaths of some disposable red shirts thrown in. Tasha Yar was no red shirt, and her death at the hands of the monster of the week makes “Skin of Evil” an impactful entry in the TNG canon.
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Star Trek: The Original Series, Season 1, Episode 5, “The Man Trap”
Written by George Clayton Johnson
Star Trek‘s best monster episode is also its very first, setting the tone for those that would follow. Star Trek: The Original Series, season 1, episode 5, “The Man Trap”, features a Salt Vampire that feeds on salt, which can also shapeshift to take the form of anyone that can help it achieve its goals. In essence, “The Man Trap” is Star Trek‘s take on the 1951 movie The Thing From Another World, later remade by John Carpenter as The Thing. Both the Star Trek episode and the Thing movies center on a shapeshifting creature that feeds on the human characters.
Both iterations of The Thing and Star Trek: TOS season 1, episode 5, “The Man Trap” also play on paranoia and being unable to trust your own eyes. In “The Man Trap”, the Salt Vampire has the ability to take the form of the woman most desirable to each of the male characters. For example, Dr. McCoy believes it to be his former lover, Nancy, driving a wedge between him, Kirk and Spock. “The Man Trap” was chosen as the first episode of Star Trek: TOS to air in 1966, and its influence can be felt in Star Trek‘s monster episodes nearly 60 years later.
All these episodes of Star Trek are available to stream on Paramount+.
