Dear lord do I hate this episode. It's so boring. Well, let's talk about it.
Plot:An actor traveling aboard the Enterprise may be a former governor who ordered a mass murder twenty years earlier.
Guest Stars:Arnold Moss as Anton Karidian, Barbara Anderson as Lenore
Nitpick:McCoy's laziness at recording in his log Riley's father was killed by Kodos with Riley standing right in the next room is remarkably bad writing. Man Kirk could have used his own office in this one, it's to bad those didn't come around until Next Generation. I get he is supposed to be smitten here but Shatner plays it a little to juvenile, I can't believe Kirk could act like that.
Summary:
Teaser-Kirk is at performance of MacBeth at the invite of a friend. He asks why he was invited, the friend explains he believes the actor on stage is also mass murderer Kodos.
Act 1-Kirk is upset that he was called off course for this accusation. The friend explains he wanted to trap Kodos, who Kirk believes his dead. Kodos butchered thousands of people twenty years ago. There are only about eight people who saw him, including Kirk. Kirk does a profile on the murderer and the actor, but is unable to match the id's. There is no information on the actor prior to Kodos's death. Kirk meets Lenore, Karidian's daughter, and is taken with her. The two go for a walk, where they find Kirk's friend now dead. Kirk then arranges to take the actors to their next show himself, so he has a chance to investigate Karidian.
Act 2-As the ship continues on course Kirk discovers another witness is Lt.Riley. Kirk has him transfered for his safety. Since Kirk has not confided in Spock at all, he goes to McCoy to ask his opinion on why. McCoy dismisses his concerns. Kirk and Lenore take a walk on the observation deck of the shuttle bay. Which we never see again on the show. Spock does his own research to find out what Kirk is doing and of course he puts it all together. There were seven eye witnesses, and all but Kirk and Riley survive. Also when they were killed, the actors were nearby. In Engineering, Riley is bored and gets Uhura to sing to him. While she does, someone poisons his milk (with a "futuristic" spray bottle) and he almost dies. McCoy manages to get to him in time, but Kirk is the next target.
Act 3-McCoy figures out someone tried to poison Riley, and Spock has him bring the report to Kirk. Spock reveals he has deduced the situation, and Kirk gets annoyed that Spock pried. Spock reminds him that it's his job. Kirk admits he isn't sure if he wants justice or vengeance but he has to be sure before he makes an accusation. As Spock and Kirk discuss the situation, they hear a noise. There's a phaser on overload. They rush to find and do, just in time (hiding it in the red alert signal was really clever). Meanwhile, Karidian is alone when Kirk barges in to argue with him. Kirk asks if he is Kodos but gets the run around. Kirk tries to do a voice verification but it doesn't help. Before Kirk leaves Lenore appears, and scolds Kirk for bothering her father and using her to get them on the ship. In Sick-Bay Riley overhears that Kodos is on board, and decides to get his own revenge.
Act 4-The players put on a show for the ship. After the voice recognition matches, though not enough to convince Kirk, McCoy realizes Riley has left Sick-Bay. As the play commences, Kirk catches Riley about to act and talks him down. Karidian is upset when Lenore reveals the truth. She was the one who killed all the witnesses, to protect him. When she sees the disappointment in his eyes, Lenore is surprised and tries to explain why she did what she did. But Karisian realizes know she shares his legacy of violence. Kirk hears this, as Lenore shows just how insane she is. Hard to describe this scene, she's kinda nuts. Lenore insists the play go on and steals a phaser. She fires it, and hits Karirian killing him. She then collapses at his body, and is fully insane. Seriously just watch the scene I can't describe it effectively. McCoy later reports tat she will be taken care. That in her head her father is alive and still performing.
Final Thoughts:The episode is reeking in Shakespearean allusions. Which is probably one of the reasons I can't get into it. Is it a bad episode? Not really, it's a good mystery, well performed and I can see the Shakespeare references being interesting to someone. But not me, it's slow and dull for me. Especially those endless scenes of Kirk and Lenore....yawn! By the way those scenes may have been boring but Barbara Anderson is excellent in this. A little more action would have helped but on the plus side this is our first real look at the trinity of Kirk, Spock, and McCoy in action (outside Enemy Within) which shows why it works.
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