Whom Gods Destroy

I read some of the other criticism of this episode and some feel it was a rehash of a season one episode that I haven't reviewed yet. That may be so but this particular episode is a favorite of mine because of Steve Ihnat's broad and somewhat overacted performance. This is not criticism of Ihnat but his part of former Starship commander Garth is a role that calls for it. Actors love playing crazy people because they can chew the scenery like mad and overact to the max and no one will criticize because that's what the part calls for.

As Captain Kirk and Mr. Spock are about to embark on an away visit to a prison planet to deliver medical supplies, they suspect something isn't quite right. William Shatner arranges a code signal with James Doohan before he beams him and Leonard Nimoy back on board.

That proved to be a wise precaution because when the two beam down the prison and it's a prison for the criminally insane. The warden/governor of the planet Keye Luke has been overthrown and Steve Ihnat has taken over. This former starship commander is as mad as the mad hatter and also has developed shape shifting abilities. The inmates have taken over.

He's got ambitions just as mad people do, to take over the immediate universe with the Enterprise at his disposal and his ability now to become Captain Kirk. But there's that signal code that Shatner arranged with Doohan. Can't do much until he's on the Enterprise.

Ihnat completely takes over this story and dominates this episode. His performance is very similar to the one he gave in Madigan as an absolutely nuts criminal. There are very few performances of the criminally insane on the big and small screen to rival what Ihnat did in this story and in Madigan. He was a great talent who died too young.

It may be a rehash, but absolutely see this one for Steve Ihnat.

Garth of Izar was revealed as the villain who stabbed Captain Kirk in the fifty-fifth issue of DC Comics's original STAR TREK series. Yet in that issue, he is depicted as an old man with a wrinkled face and a bald head wearing a green leotard and does not resemble Steve Inhat at all - this was due to issues surrounding the use of Mr. Inhat's image in the comic; he had died fourteen years earlier, in 1971. Garth had passed himself off as Ensign Bloemker and then as Sean Finnegan, Kirk's old nemesis from his Academy days, in order to kill him, but he ended up failing miserably, due to Mr. Spock's interference. This last of the regular stories from that series was one of the best as well, yet it is sad that the artist could not use Steve Inhat's image when he drew the evil Garth of Izar for the comic.

Another great title (i.e.Whom Gods Destroy, They First Make Mad), but this is one of those episodes which isn't so great. However, it is one of those guilty pleasures - much as I hesitate to admit it, I enjoy the histrionics here as Kirk & Spock enter the last insane asylum in the Federation (the loopy plot, involving eradication of all mental illness, is contradicted by such later TNG episodes as "Sarek," where-in it's clear some Federation members still suffer incurable mental problems). We meet the former fleet captain (a rank attained during interstellar war?) Garth, portrayed by Ihnat, an actor with a strong screen presence who never attained much fame. Though he doesn't look much older than Kirk, it's established that he's from a previous generation of starship captains, a prototype on which Kirk and his peers based their training. Unfortunately, Garth's seen better days - check out his differently-colored boots. We also finally see the first Orion female (Craig, better known as 'Batgirl!') since "The Menagerie" - but, whoops, she's as crazy as Garth. Adding to the madness, Garth also possesses a talent for mimicry; implausibly, he can take on the appearance of anyone, down to their clothes, leading to one of those 'two Kirks for the price of one' scenes (see also "The Enemy Within" and "What Are Little Girls Made Of?").

I wrote how I enjoy this episode and, yes, it's a cheap thrill. There are no profundities to be found here, no new ideas explored - it's strictly a thriller, seasoned with a flipped out tone. But it's this tone which makes it better than many of the boring 3rd season episodes. For most of the episode, we watch Kirk & Spock deal with a psychotic green dancing girl and listen to the rantings of the brain-damaged Garth regarding his deranged plans to take over the universe. However, Garth, it turns out, is not some harmless blowhard. He's apparently invented some explosive, proved by its use later, and the only thing stopping him from invading the Enterprise is a clever chess password invented by Kirk for this episode (convenient?). It is mentioned early in the episode that Garth was/is a genius. One wonders, as the story progresses, if a Garth who is out of his mind gives Kirk & Spock so much trouble, just how formidable would a sane Garth be? Luckily, he was one of the good guys. Ihnat gives a suitably magnetic, over-the-top performance as the insane leader, though he really shows what he was capable of in the moments when Kirk was able to break through Garth's madness very briefly. And lovely Craig as the Orion girl? Crazy, man, crazy.

A not so secure penitentiary, is as easy to get out as to gain entry, has an imitating inmate, who mimics impersonates, he's the person who acts as the places sentry.

Visiting a not so secure asylum Kirk and Spock find a delusional ex Starfleet captain running the place.

This is one of the best episodes in the final season as Kirk and Spock have to deal with an uprising in a treatment centre for the criminally insane. Excellent performances from Steve Ihnat as the self styled "master of the universe" and Yvonne Craig as his attractive but deadly consort. Another opportunity for Mr Scott to hold the fort on the Enterprise as well.