I said before that the bad in season 3 are either dull as hell or stupid as hell. Well we did dull as hell the other day, so why not have a stupid as hell one? And man oh man, is this one stupid as hell!
Plot:A group of children on the Federation outpost Triacus, under the influence of an evil spirit, commandeer the Enterprise.
Guest Stars:Craig Hundley as Tommy Starnes, Melvin Belli as Gorgan
Nitpick:It isn't enough we had a goody premise with a goody execution, but the stunt casting totally fails. Melvin Belli was an attorney, and no actor. In case you couldn't tell.
Summary:
Teaser-The Enterprise responds to a distress call from the Starnes Exploration Party at the Federation outpost on the planet Triacus. When Kirk, Spock and McCoy beam down they only find dead bodies. One person is still alive, briefly. Kirk knows him, and more searching reveals the people killed themselves. As they wonder what could have happened, a group of kids appear and begin playing around the dead bodies. All Kirk can do is watch in horror.
Act 1-The scientists have all been buried, and the kids seem disinterested and run off at the first chance. The three wonder if maybe the kids are suffering from some kind of denial. McCoy suggests waiting until questioning them about what happened. Kirk tells the kids to beam up to the ship with McCoy. After they leave Kirk and Spock check out a nearby cave. As they enter, Kirk gets a feeling of anxiety and all he wants to do is get out of there. Once out he feels fine, and the two return to the ship. In the arboretum or whatever the room is, the kids are given some ice cream while Kirk tries to talk to them. McCoy says they seem physically fit, they just act like nothing happened. The kids talk about how their parents loved the planet they were on, but they did not. The kids start playing before they can say anything else. Kirk tries to speak to Tommy, as the oldest, but is evasive. In their quarters, the children do a chant which summons an odd alien. The "friendly angel" congratulates them on getting rid of the adults on the planet, and tells them that they must take over the Enterprise next. The alien, named Gorgan, tell them to use the power he gave them to control the adults by making them see and do what the children want them to see or do.
Act 2-The Enterprise is still in orbit and Kirk has a security team on the surface. As he and Spock go over the tapes from the head of the scientists, Tommy's father, the man talks about a strange unease on the planet. As the logs play, the man's paranoia was clearly growing. When Tommy walks on the bridge, he fist pumps the playback so it stops. Wow that sounds dumb. Kirk and Spock leave the Bridge to discuss the tapes, and after they are gone he starts fist pumping the officers. He makes them all believe they are in orbit, even though he compels Sulu to actually leave orbit. In Engineering another child works on making the Engineers also believe the ship has left orbit (this scene is especially weird). The scientists last message he realized that his mind was being directed, and they had to destroy themselves. Spock says what overwhelmed them must have been fast. They wonder if maybe he kids could somehow be involved. Kirk has two security guards beam down to the planet to relieve the two on the planet, but after the two officers beamed down Spock realizes they are no longer in orbit (ouch, nothing like checking first!). Kirk calls the Bridge but Sulu insists that they are still in orbit. Kirk and Spock arrive on the Bridge in time to see the kids doing their chant and Gorgan appearing.
Act 3-Gorgan does not address Kirk at all and just tells the children that their operation has begun. The kids begin playing on the fears of the crew. They make Sulu see swords surrounding the ship, and Uhura sees herself old and dying. They briefly control Spock, but he is able to fight them off. They make Kirk believe he has lost command, and here is where we get the famous Shatner overacting. I do like how Spock helps Kirk to overcome the "beast", but man does Shatner over do it. Kirk and Spock try to take over the ship in auxiliary control, but the children have the men there under control. In the corridor Spock says that as long as the children are on board there is danger. Saying they are followers and without followers evil cannot exist. Suddenly Chekov appears with a security team to place them under arrest. Saying he'll kill them if he has to.
Act 4-Kirk and Spock defeat Chekov and the security. Kirk tells Spock to take them to detention and join him on the Bridge. There, Tommy is sitting in Kirk's chair. Kirk gets him out of it and tells them to summon the "angel". They refuse, but Spock plays the tape of the chant to make him appear. With all the children on the Bridge, Spock plays tapes of them playing with there parent. The happy footage of the loving parents with the kids is smash cut with footage of the bodies dead and then buried. This seems to get through to the kids, and they start to cry. Gorgan beseeches to the kids to keep at it, but the children are no longer listening as they experience their grief. Spock points out that Tommy's father would have defeated him but he was to late. The Gorgan then starts to turn ugly, Kirk tells them to look at him and don't be afraid. Gorgan finally fades away. As the crew recover, McCoy arrives happy to see the children are crying. We'll just forget the two dead security guards and other two still waiting on the planet to be beamed up.
Final Thoughts: Honestly, this could have been a good episode. But it's not, and ironically it isn't even the kids fault they are decent. I already broke down the stupidity on display in my "Underrated" article a few years back. So there's no reason to repeat myself. Suffice to say, this episode is so lame and so goofy that it feels the actors, especially Shatner, basically gave up while making it. Is it the worst episode of the entire series? No I don't think so. Is there anything good? The teaser is kind of chilling. And I like the very end, the way they tap into the kids grief. Yeah the other 48 minutes can be tossed in the trash.
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