The Squire of Gothos

An apt description by Spock of an all-powerful fop into whose clutches fall the crew of the Enterprise. This was one sector of space our starship should have avoided: first Sulu & Kirk simply disappear off the bridge; a landing party follows them to the surface of an unknown planet and encounter Trelane, a seemingly aristocratic man dressed in attire from an Earth of many centuries past. But he demonstrates abilities of someone or something far beyond human and doesn't register on McCoy's medical tricorder. The officers manage to escape back to the ship but, like some bad cosmic penny, Trelane keeps popping up. He brings them all back, including some female companionship, to continue his games. The dilemma now takes on elements of 'The Most Dangerous Game' out in space and there's an exasperating, even infuriating aspect to the crew's utter helplessness before such unbridled power.

What really makes this a great episode is the memorable performance by guest star Campbell as the overpowering but not all-knowing alien. His character is obviously an early version of Q, who was introduced 20 years later in the pilot for the TNG series. Trelane's confrontation scene with Spock stands out among all the strange drama which unfolds. As usual, Kirk quickly begins to look for possible weaknesses in his new nemesis, despite being quite outmatched. The answers to exactly what or who Trelane is are right in front of us the whole time so, when we do learn the truth, it makes complete sense in view of Campbell's pitch-perfect acting. He indulges himself constantly, preening before some unknown audience, remarking on things with a flair which is infectious but not quite right - we can't quite pin it down at first, but there's something missing here. Every few minutes, his tone becomes sinister and the crew now appears to be in serious danger. In a way, you can't take your eyes off him, always waiting to see what he does next. Actor John de Lancie captured that similar tone as Q on the Next Generation series.

The Enterprise encounters the planet Gothos and its resident.

This is an interesting episode that I found entertaining up to a point, but overall I think it wastes a great concept with too silly a tone.

The plot is a pretty unimaginative 'god-like being' narrative that pits members of the crew against someone much more powerful. These stories never work for me as I know our protagonists will triumph, it renders the antagonist as more of an irritating distraction than a genuine threat. This is mainly how I felt about Q, however Q was an improvement on the concept and was used for more than antagonism.

On a more positive note, ever since 'The Day The Earth Stood Still' I have loved the idea of the violent and barbaric nature of humanity being seen through the eyes of extra terrestrial beings. This one cleverly subverts the idea by presenting a child-like, non-corporeal being who seeks to emulate man's warlike behaviour. This works as fairly effective allegory for the example humanity sets its own children. My favourite parts are without a doubt Trelane's exchanges with Spock and his little observations on man.

The production values are generally very good with a good set, props and costumes. Trelane's hair and one instance of poor sound effects are the only downsides, but they do generate humour.

Performances are solid with William Campbell very much the star of this one. Only Leonard Nimoy for me can hold the screen with him, as William Shatner doesn't really get the opportunity to do much other than act impatient, irritable and generally go through the motions of standing up to a baddie of the week.

The Squire of Gothos is one of the "sillier" episodes of Star Trek, and therefore one of the most entertaining ones. The entertainment factor is, generally speaking, fueled by the stand-off between William Shatner and the episode's hilarious guest star, William Campbell.

During an unspecified routine mission, Sulu suddenly vanishes into thin air, and Kirk follows soon after-wards. Spock immediately begins looking for his missing colleagues (and, though he'd hate to admit it, friends), while the two stranded crewmen must deal with the mysterious, all-powerful, flamboyant Trelane (Campbell), the self-proclaimed Squire of Gothos, a being capable of creating or destroying anything he wants through the sheer power of his mind.

At first sight, the plot may seem recycled from previous episodes (honestly, are there any sci-fi shows that didn't feature at least one God-like character), but that feeling vanishes pretty quickly thanks to the script's winning use of exaggerated humor, all conveyed through Campbell's deliberately camp performance: his Trelane is essentially the Trek version of a spoiled child in the body of an adult, while his ignorance-fueled curiosity for the human race (his knowledge is quite limited) probably served as inspiration for Gene Roddenberry when he came up with the character of Q for the Next Generation pilot, some two decades after this episode aired.

In short, the key to appreciating The Squire of Gothos is this: "silly" doesn't necessarily equal "bad".

The planet Gothos has an irritating presence, a being that's progressing juvenescence, infantile and immature, devoid of all allure, at this rate he'll struggle to make it to adolescence.

The starship crew encounter a child who likes to throw its dummy out of the pram.

I did enjoy watching Squire Trelane jerk around the crew in this episode, though after a while the whole thing just seemed a little too long. Sure, the histrionics were kind of funny for a while, and the ending was a pretty good way to wrap the whole thing together. I think the problem was that I enjoyed seeing Trelane when he was full of bravado and fun, the fun seemed to vanish when Trelane became vindictive and nasty. Talk about a mood killer--going from the obnoxious but affable host to the guy sentencing Kirk to death! But, despite this, the episode was enjoyable and worth my time. For die-hard Trekkies, this is a must-see, for others it's just a pretty run of the mill one.