The Man Trap

Did You Know?

• The first adaptation of the episode was a short story by James Blish titled "The Unreal McCoy", published in January 1967.
• The episode was released on Compact Cassette by Startone Productions in 1982.
• The creature was redesigned for possible inclusion in the 2009 film Star Trek but was not used.

Plot

The USS Enterprise arrives at planet M-113 to resupply and conduct medical exams on the only known inhabitants, Professor Robert Crater and his wife Nancy, who run an archaeological research station. Captain Kirk, Dr. Leonard McCoy, and Crewman Darnell beam down; Kirk teases McCoy about his past affection for Nancy. Each man sees Nancy differently: McCoy as she was ten years earlier, Kirk as her age-appropriate self, and Darnell as an attractive blonde from a pleasure planet.

Nancy beckons Darnell to follow her. Professor Crater resists examination, requesting only salt tablets. A scream is heard; Darnell is found dead with red ring-like mottling on his face and a plant root in his mouth. Spock analyzes the plant as poisonous but notes the mottling is not a symptom.

McCoy determines all salt was drained from Darnell's body. Kirk returns with McCoy and two crewmen, Green and Sturgeon. Crater runs off seeking Nancy, who kills Sturgeon and Green, then assumes Green's form. Kirk and McCoy beam back to the ship with Sturgeon's body.

Production

The episode originated from Gene Roddenberry's original pitch for Star Trek, featuring wish-fulfillment traps that become real. Lee Erwin was commissioned for a treatment, handing in an outline about a salt-devouring vampire on April 8, 1966. George Clayton Johnson, assigned a different storyline, was hired after story editor John D. F. Black recommended him. Johnson based his work on Cyril M. Kornbluth's 1953 novel The Syndic, but Roddenberry disliked the treatment and asked Johnson to write "The Man Trap" instead.

Erwin was paid in full plus a kill fee. Roddenberry added the creature's apparition ability for more action. NBC's Stan Robertson suggested seeking medical advice on whether rapid salt depletion could kill instantly; Kellam de Forest Research confirmed a quick death would be likely. Johnson proposed the creature be the last of its species, comparing its plight to the American bison's decline, which Roddenberry found intriguing.

Themes

Lincoln Geraghty observed that episodes like "The Man Trap" show a recurring theme: the more barren a planet, the greater the danger to characters, a pattern also seen in "The Cage" and "What Are Little Girls Made Of?". He noted that while the original series often depicts alien predators as lower life forms to be destroyed, this episode presents the alternative argument that such creatures should not be killed. However, Geraghty felt the writers undercut sympathy by revealing the creature's true appearance at death.

Paula M. Block and Terry J. Erdmann agreed that killing the creature was "the right thing to do" but suggested the death would have troubled McCoy afterward, though this was not shown. The vampiric alien concept recurs in science fiction, appearing in Blake's 7, Babylon 5, and Gustave Le Rouge's 1908 French work. Block and Erdmann also highlighted a scene where Uhura flirts with Spock on the bridge, calling it a "quintessential scene" that may have inspired the Spock/Uhura relationship in the 2009 film; Nichelle Nichols later noted hints of such a relationship in other original series episodes.

Reception

"Mudd's Women" was considered risky for its "space hookers" references; "Where No Man Has Gone Before" had too much exposition. The final choice was between "The Man Trap" and "The Naked Time". Robert H. Justman initially preferred "The Naked Time" for character clarity but later agreed with NBC's decision, calling "The Man Trap" scarier and more exploitable. Roddenberry initially disagreed but later, with Herbert Franklin Solow, believed it correct; William Shatner thought it the worst available episode.

It aired on NBC on September 8, 1966, as part of "Sneak a Peek Week", leading into Tarzan and out of The Hero. The episode placed first in its timeslot with Nielsen ratings of 25.2 for the first half-hour (46.7% of televisions in use) and 24.2 for the second half (42.2%). Competing shows The Tammy Grimes Show and My Three Sons scored 14.1 and 9.4; later, Bewitched and CBS's Thursday movie raised their networks' ratings to 15.8 and 10.7.