Trelane
William Campbell
Lt. Karl Jaeger
Richard Carlyle
Lt. Vincent DeSalle
Michael Barrier
Yeoman Teresa Ross
Venita Wolfe
Voice of Trelane's father
James Doohan
Voice of Trelane's mother
Barbara Babcock
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During
their travels the crew of the Enterprise find a previously uncharted planet
directly in their path. Before they can take evasive action Kirk and Sulu
vanish from the bridge. Sensor readings indicate that the planet is not
capable of supporting human life but a bizarre message in old English
received by Uhura persuades Spock to send a landing party down anyway.
On materialising they come across a large, extremely old-fashioned house
in which, on entering, they find Kirk and Sulu in a statue-like condition.
A man in period clothes appears, introducing himself as Squire Trelane,
and releases them from their 'frozen' state. He goes on to explain that
he couldn't resist the opportunity to meet real people from his favourite
planet and that he has the ability to control matter, which accounts for
the breathable atmosphere in the area.
Kirk refuses to play and, to Trelane's annoyance, attempts to leave but
immediately finds himself in the choking, poisonous atmosphere of the
planet outside the being's control. The experience is brief but compelling.
Spock manages to beam the landing party back aboard the Enterprise but
Trelane is not going to have his fun spoiled so easily.
He appears on board the Enterprise and transports several members of the
bridge crew back to the planet. He is particularly 'taken' by the ladies,
but not by their uniforms, which he transforms into exotic ball gowns.
He provides a large banquet for them, but the food and drink is completely
tasteless and the nearby fire produces no heat. This leads Spock to conclude
that the being has been observing Earth as it was centuries ago and that,
although Trelane knows about appearances, he has no concept of substance.
As Trelane dances with the women Kirk and Spock notice that he never strays
far from a large, ornate mirror. To test his theory, Kirk feigns jealousy
at his attentions to the women and challenges him to a duel. Trelane is
delighted and allows Kirk to fire a pistol at him but, instead of aiming
it at Trelane, he destroys the mirror, revealing some kind of mechanism.
The Squire is furious as their surroundings disappear and they transport
back to the Enterprise.
Kirk immediately tries to leave the vicinity of the planet but it follows
their every change of course. Kirk beams back down to face Trelane but
finds himself in a courtroom with Trelane as the judge and ready to hang
him. Kirk saves himself by proposing a more interesting method of getting
rid of him. Trelane agrees to the idea of a 'hunt' which immediately gets
underway. Things look bad for Kirk as Trelane insists on using his powers
unfairly to gain an advantage and soon has him trapped, at his mercy.
At that point two disembodied voices call to Trelane telling him to stop
playing and come in. The 'Squire of Gothos' turns out to be nothing more
than an extremely powerful 'naughty little boy'. His parents make their
apologies to Kirk for allowing Trelane to play with such a vulnerable
species and the 'Squire of Gothos' disappears, complaining that they never
let him have any fun. They maintain the environment until a bemused landing
party, free to leave now, returns to the Enterprise.
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