written by Jerome Bixby
STORY OUTLINE, dated June 3, 1968
report & analysis by David Eversole

This outline was scripted with very few changes. The few scenes that were eliminated would have severely dated the episode.

To wit:

The teaser opens earlier here than in the produced episode. On the Enterprise, the crew is celebrating "Peace Day," the day that the nations of Earth put aside their differences and decided to end all wars and work for a peaceful future. 2007 reaction to this: "Yeah, right!"

As has long been known, Bixby intended for the Klingon antagonist to be Kor. With John Colicos unavailable, the name was changed to Kang, and the brilliant character actor Michael Ansara was given one of his best roles.

One of the early indications that the crew is being affected by the entity in the shape of a "mushroom crystal" is this bit involving Uhura.

From the outline.

At her post, Uhura makes a remark smacking of hard-core racism against the Klingons. Sulu pointedly asks her what the correlated Earth date is. . . it’s "Peace Day," Sulu hums a portion of a PEACE DAY SONG -– the kind of worldwide "folksong" we all hope our grandchildren will know, though it will stay clear of actual events or the means by which enduring peace was brought about. Uhura sings a few words of the song, pertaining to the matter of racism. She is chagrined –- a little shaken –- why did she make such a remark?

Now, I fully acknowledge that Mr. Bixby’s hope for a world "Peace Day" is admirable, but inclusion of such naïve sentiments and a song would have severely dated this episode. It would have been so much a product of its time that we would have been laughing at it forty years later, much as we do "The Way To Eden."

Mara is identified in the outline merely as Kor’s Science Officer and his "consort." The other Klingon women beamed aboard are implied to be a "harem" for the service of the Klingon warriors.

The appearance of the swords is more dramatic (and would have cost more) in the outline. Entire bulkheads melt and droop and coalesce into swords, shields and spears, in addition to the everyday items which suddenly turn into swords.

At one point, McCoy is down and a Klingon swings a sword at his head. Suddenly, a helmet appears on McCoy’s head, and the blow is deflected.

McCoy’s outburst is present, but Scott’s is not. In the outline, Spock, without reason, suddenly turns on Kirk, but regains his composure before striking him.

Mara is attacked by two crewmen in the outline. Kirk rescues her, has her locked in a cubicle in Sickbay. She realizes the common enemy both crews face, and here, too, agrees to act as a go-between to convince Kor of their danger. She says that to prove her sincerity she will give Kirk an "earthly kiss." Dumbass agrees and as he kisses her, she pulls out a dagger to backstab him!

Our good Captain reacts, disarms her. Perhaps she meant her offer for a moment, he reasons, before hatred took over again.

Kirk beams to Engineering alone, faces Kor, tries to convince him to join in a fight against the malevolent energy being that is fueling their hatred.

Spock, McCoy, Sulu and Chekov beam down to a corridor near Engineering and fight a vicious battle against the Klingons.

Kor is finally convinced that the entity is behind the hatred.

From the outline:

Kirk hits an intercom -– commands Uhura to sing the "Peace Day" song. Puzzled, she starts it –- Kirk joins her. The first few lines are applicable to this situation –- "No more fighting forever –- " etc. . .

McCoy understands –- starts to sing also, and nudges the others to do so. The SONG builds raggedly, but with increasing vigor.

The entity retreats.

SHOTS of a brief, spontaneous "peace march" -– as the singing Kirk, Spock, etc., stalk the crystal. SHOTS, as fights fumble to a halt throughout the ship, as SINGING is heard over the intercoms. . .

Bixby describes Scotty as singing "gruesomely."

Bixby notes that if the "peace march" is not desired it could be dropped. I imagine that was the first thing to go.

In the recreation area, a "Peace Day" celebration is underway. Kor and his men join Kirk and his. Kor wonders why Humans revere peace. Kirk points out that it was the Human’s love of peace that saved Kor and his men from an eternity of fighting: "That rule holds true throughout the universe...perhaps someday the Klingons will learn the truth of it."

Or maybe not. "Day of The Dove," as aired, is a fine, though sledgehammer subtle, episode. Bixby’s "Peace Day," peace songs and peace march would have been too much. I see Kirk and Spock in bed, à la John and Yoko, singing "Give Peace A Chance" with Timothy Leary dropping acid in some dark Engineering corridor with Alan Ginsburg.

But we got Ansara’s Kang, and that ain’t a bad thing at all.

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