Okay, this is probably the first "just turn your brain off and enjoy" episode of Star Trek. If you think about the outlandish plot, then you'll probably hate the show, as there really is no conceivable reason why James Gregory turned this prison into his own personal Hell. It just didn't make any sense, but on a purely non-aesthetic level, it sure was fun to watch--mostly so you can see Kirk tortured into loving his very hot female crew member who accompanied him on the mission. I also liked seeing Dr. Simon van Gelder run about and act like a mad man--this must have been a very fun role for Morgan Woodward. Also, I gotta admit that the ending involving Gregory in the chair was so brilliantly written and powerful. Not a great episode, but one well worth watching since it's anything but boring.
BY THE WAY--I recently watched the schlocky 1950s film BRIDE OF THE GORILLA and was surprised to see one of the characters was named "Dr. Van Gelder"--the same name as the crazed doctor who stows away on the Enterprise at the beginning of this episode! Obviously someone was having a cute little inside joke!
Also, this episode ushered in two firsts. Spock uses the mind meld and Kirk shows that he has a sex drive!! Apart from the evil Kirk (when he was divided into an aggressive and passive copy), he was always married to his ship in earlier shows. Here he shows that MAYBE he might like girls. This would be shown to DEFINITELY be the case in subsequent shows as well as the second Trek movie!!
BY THE WAY--I recently watched the schlocky 1950s film BRIDE OF THE GORILLA and was surprised to see one of the characters was named "Dr. Van Gelder"--the same name as the crazed doctor who stows away on the Enterprise at the beginning of this episode! Obviously someone was having a cute little inside joke!
Also, this episode ushered in two firsts. Spock uses the mind meld and Kirk shows that he has a sex drive!! Apart from the evil Kirk (when he was divided into an aggressive and passive copy), he was always married to his ship in earlier shows. Here he shows that MAYBE he might like girls. This would be shown to DEFINITELY be the case in subsequent shows as well as the second Trek movie!!