After a routine delivery to the treatment centre for the criminally on Tantalus V a crate is beamed up to the Enterprise. It contains a man who initially appears to be one of the inmates; he certainly appears to be dangerous. It soon emerges that he was actually Dr. Simon van Gelder, one of the doctors stationed there, but he finds it impossible to go into details as to what happened. Returning to Tantalus V, Kirk and psychiatrist Lt. Helen Noel beam down to the planet and the institute's director, Dr. Tristan Adams, explains that van Gelder had exposed himself to a radical treatment, the Neural Neutralizer that had damaged his mind. This device is used to remove certain memories while implanting others; Kirk decides to try the machine himself while Dr Noel inputs some harmless suggestions; their session is interrupted by Dr Adams and he is soon putting other thoughts into Kirk's head. Realising that Adams is dangerous Kirk and Noel work to find a way to lower the force field that protects the facility before Adams can do more damage. Meanwhile on the Enterprise Spock learns what happened to van Gelder after performing a mind meld.
This episode gets off to a good start; Morgan Woodward does a solid job as van Gelder; when we first see him he appears to be a swivel-eyed loon, we are clearly meant to think of him as a dangerous threat. The more we get to know about the character the more sympathetic he becomes. Equally James Gregory comes across as reliable in the role of Dr Adams; a character with all the right answers who does little that is suspicious until the point he subjects Kirk to the Neural Neutralizer. The idea of this device is both simply and frightening; the idea of having ones thoughts and memories easily manipulated is a little scary. Marianna Hill does a good job as Dr Noel even if the character is a bit cliché at first; she does better later on when she dispatches one of Adams' goons in shocking style. The story is well told for the most part although it would have been better if we'd been given a greater insight into why Adams was going what he was.
This episode gets off to a good start; Morgan Woodward does a solid job as van Gelder; when we first see him he appears to be a swivel-eyed loon, we are clearly meant to think of him as a dangerous threat. The more we get to know about the character the more sympathetic he becomes. Equally James Gregory comes across as reliable in the role of Dr Adams; a character with all the right answers who does little that is suspicious until the point he subjects Kirk to the Neural Neutralizer. The idea of this device is both simply and frightening; the idea of having ones thoughts and memories easily manipulated is a little scary. Marianna Hill does a good job as Dr Noel even if the character is a bit cliché at first; she does better later on when she dispatches one of Adams' goons in shocking style. The story is well told for the most part although it would have been better if we'd been given a greater insight into why Adams was going what he was.