Star Trek TOS S1 E21 Review

Today's episode is an interesting one, as it is about a subject that I've enjoyed seeing on television, within reason. In this case, our episode today is all about the Enterprise going up against what is, for all intents and purposes, a cult.

The episode is called The Return of the Archons, and focuses on Kirk, Spock, and McCoy beaming down to a planet called Beta III after Lieutenant Sulu comes back acting very...blankly happy. It turns out that most, if not all, of the inhabitants of the planet act exactly like Sulu, praising a strange being known as Landru. Kirk eventually learns that the main populace is known as 'the body of Landru' and is basically peaceful, but mindless, although there is a small amount of people trying to resist against them. The rest of the episode is them learning more about who and what the mysterious Landru is and the resolution is very Star Trek.

I enjoyed this episode mostly because I love getting to see the Enterprise getting to encounter a corrupt society and helping them become better. The acting is pretty great, especially from the brainwashed cult members, and there is a sequence called the Red Hour which is basically Star Trek's version of The Purge, where literally anything goes and all inhibitions are lifted for a whole night, which, for a 1967 television episode, actually made its point pretty well.

Overall, if you want to watch Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock stop a planetwide cult, then this episode will be quite enjoyable to you. I'd say you'll probably have fun even if that isn't the case.

Next time is an episode that seemed innocuous when it first was released, but eventually became very important to the development of future Star Trek stories. I won't give away any plot details, but Trek fans will know what's coming. Keep an eye open for Space Seed.

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