Whom gods Destroy

DVD, Star Trek S3 (Whom gods Destroy)

One thing that stands out about this one is the continuity of bringing back several aliens. We get an Orion slave girl, an Andorian, and a Tellarite (though sadly, without the inset eyes that made the race so distinctive), but aside from Marta they were more like wallpaper than contributors to the story. Garth is a fun character to watch, as you never know quite what he'll do at any moment (and he has a good costume, with one yellow boot, and one turqoise), although he does seem a bit over the top sometimes.

The only major criticism of the story (and like any problems in the episode it can easily be put down to insanity), is Garth's claim he's invented the most powerful explosive ever. Where would he get the materials, or have the opportunity to research it? He does have the tendency to exaggerate and arrogantly proclaims himself Lord of The Universe, so what he says may not be entirely true, but it's Governor Cory who validates the claim by believing such an impossibility is true! You can make the point that the Governor was under a bit of strain at the time after his mistreatment, but even so...

It strikes me as being a rather dicey prospect to leave one man in charge of an asylum full of dangerous inmates. We do hear of a guard who let Garth out when he was in Cory's shape, so there were supposedly other staff members. I don't remember ever hearing about them. It stands to reason they'd be there, for with only the insane denizens of the facility, and a planet-wide shield to prevent beaming in or out, it would be enough to drive a man... well, mad.

The environment of the planet was well devised, as we really only see a small portion of it out of a window. The green, gaseous atmosphere looks more real than some recent episode's planets. The shock comes with Marta, the Orion actually being executed for no apparent reason by being blown apart. I didn't see that coming (though I appreciated the environmental suits being used again!), nor did I guess that Cory was in fact Garth. I did twig Mr. Spock before the giveaway. Maybe it was the way he stood behind Kirk, and the suggestion that Kirk would be about to give away the very detail that the madman needed if they were to beam up, that was enough for me to entertain the possibility of Mr. Spock not being who he seemed, a little bit before it became obvious, which was most gratifying. But I had been tricked before they entered the control room, so I can't feel too smug.

Kirk gets to fight himself again (is that the fourth time we've had two Kirk's so far?), and I noted how close the double appeared. So you don't get a good view, but usually you can easily tell it's not Kirk. It was good to get off the Enterprise, but not so good that none of the other characters played much of a part. Scotty always has the hard decisions thrust onto him in the absence of Kirk, I bet he wishes he could just get back to tinkering with his 'wee bairns'!

I think the ending helped to bring the episode up to the standard of most episodes. The glimpse of the real Captain Garth, and his last turn back to ask Kirk if he should know him, hit the right note, for some resolution and a happier ending than you'd expect. Perhaps it was a bit unlikely that the asylum held the last ever mental health issues in the galaxy, as was claimed, since later series' dealt with such problems, but it helps to give the place a more remote feel. The solution to Spock's quandary, was a kind of reverse of a famous decision made by Soloman (of Bible fame), and was well done (false Kirk says don't shoot, real Kirk says shoot them both, so Spock realises who's who), Kirk referencing that to Spock's bemusement at the end.

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