Whom Gods Destroy

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.

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.

Something of a rehash of the season one episode Dagger of the Mind, Whom Gods Destroy sees Kirk & Spock beam down to a prison colony for the criminally insane. There, they find that the star inmate, a former Federation officer named Garth (the sadly short-lived Steve Ihnat (Hour of the Gun)), has taken over the asylum.

Garth is a most amusing villain, one of those megalomaniacs who is always "sure" of his having the upper hand, and possessed of an incredible arrogance. He has also learned how to take the form of those he encounters. This is how he fools Kirk & Spock in the first place. He's assisted by the sexy Marta (Yvonne 'Batgirl' Craig), whom he ends up treating HORRIBLY.

This goofy but fairly entertaining episode does allow Shatner an opportunity to do some hilarious overacting, and even have the actor be "beside himself" at one point. Leonard Nimoys' Mr. Spock has a great moment where he's confronted by two "Kirks" and has to figure out whom to subdue.

With the great Keye 'Number One Son' Luke as another top-notch guest star (the governor of the colony), this episode is notable for its hook of the creation of a medicine that can supposedly cure mental illness (!).

But the main draw is Ihnats' priceless performance. As they say, sometimes stories like this are only as good as the antagonists are, and Ihnat makes Garth one to remember.

Seven out of 10.

Master Po (Keye Luke) is Donald Cory, the governor of this little Penal Colony, Steve Inhat and Batgirl (Yvonne Craig) are inmates. Yvonne is a green skinned "Orion Slave Girl" "Marta" with a knack for writing other people's poetry and dancing.

Queen to Queen's Level Three anyone?

This episode brings in Lord "Garth" of Izar (Inhat) and the framework of a story about a great Starfleet battle at "Axenar" - A story that was to be finally told in a Fan Film production. We at least got a great "Prelude to Axenar" that sets up how and why the Constitution Class ships were built. Garth was part of that, when he was a respected Starship Captain.

But the process that healed him has also driven him mad, and has also given him the ability to shape shift.

And when Kirk and Spock deliver a needed medication to the colony, they are cleverly tricked by Garth. What ensues is a tale to make sane minds go mad, because when there is a Shape Shifter around, you just don't know who's who.

Queen to Queen's level 3.

We get to see the proper use of the Neural Neutralizer here, which Bookends "Dagger of the Mind", and maybe that is referenced by the fact that "Marta" (Craig) has one (A Dagger).

Dagger of the Mind was about how a Doctor was assaulting people with the Neutralizer, under the guise of an "all is well" appearance. Here, the kooks have taken over Arkham Asylum, an even more secured institution that Tantalus 5. Where in "Dagger of the Mind", Spock could not get in, in this, Spock cannot get out. Both institutions had a planetary shield, which work both ways.

This episode was partially written by science fiction author Jerry Sohl, who wrote "The Transcendent Man" and some other novels.

Queen to King's Level 1!

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.