LogFAQs > #967319237

Episode 21: The Return of the Archons

I always appreciate when an episode starts in media res. Let's us try to figure out the rules of the world, whilst the characters can get on with stuff. Beta 3 is a creepy place and Sulu and McCoy got to act nicely disturbing for a bit.

Spock's shawl is silly. I get why he's wearing it, but he looks like his husband just died. Nice touch that he can barely be arsed to pretend to be absorbed.

Figured out that Landru was a computer even before they started dropping hints. Kirk and the rest did too, but they left it mostly unsaid which is some impressive respect for the audience.

Seamlessly going from Stepford puritanism to anarchic mayhem to zombie apocalypse added to the terror of the concept and the music helped sell it, too. I don't usually notice music (apart from the Enterprise's theme), but I definitely did here. Reger and the rest being reluctant to actually move against Landru was a nice human touch that didn't overstay its welcome. Maybe it's all in my head, but I'm sure a rape was implied through silhouette during the Purge.

A slightly throwaway mention of the Prime Directive. With this and Starfleet finally figuring out its name in the last episode, the lore is beginning to solidify. Curious how some relatively minor things are picked up on to be important over others. Kirk was in the right: The culture was stagnant and needed a shakeup.

Beating Landru through paradox was a fine solution. I had a dark thought about having the Enterprise hold the population of the planet hostage in order to get Landru to back off, but even with Kirk's ruthlessness, that's probably a bit too bleak.

Seeing Scotty was nice, even if he's just a clock for this episode.

Early Sci-fi really had some strong paranoia over computers. Usually it comes off as slightly cringey by today's standards, especially when they start ranting about souls (I've mentioned that Cogley started to annoy me), but here I didn't mind it. Wasn't subtle by any stretch of the imagination, but does it need to be? Considering that Star Trek is clearly big on utopianism, suggesting that its less a destination and more a march of progress is a pretty mature perspective. Ending with an observation on the uptick of squabbles and brawls is a perfectly human way to end a very human episode.

Simply brilliant, this one.

Tomorrow is Space Seed.