17 – The Squire of Gothos

Grade: B+

Summary

While the Enterprise crew are delivering supplies to a planet that needs them, Kirk and friends come across a planet that wasn’t there before. In fact, it has never before appeared on any star charts. Suddenly, Sulu and Kirk disappear from the bridge. Three officers beam down to the surface of the planet and find a breathable atmosphere, plants, and an old castle in the middle of what should be a complete wasteland.

Commentary

This is a fun episode where things are explained at the very end, but somehow, the ending doesn’t bother me this time. I suppose the difference is in the writing and the acting. The same actor who plays the Squire of Gothos also plays a Klingon in the Trouble with Tribbles, and he does a great job. I enjoy this episode a lot.

But there is one thing that bothers me. They say it’s 900 light years from Earth, and Trelane has been seeing Earth as it was 900 years before. Kirk became captain of the Enterprise in 2264, which means Trelane would have seen Earth as it was in 1364. But everything in Trelane’s castle – the harpsichord, the costumes, the decor – all appear to be from the 1600s. Then he also mentions Alexander Hamilton and how he was killed during a duel with a gun exactly like the one he has. But Hamilton was killed in the 1800s. So he’s at least 450 years too early. It’s a minor complaint, I know, but still, for consistency’s sake, they should have said 450 light years away. But it the characters here are as well-developed as in any great episode of the original series.

Of Note

Several years after Captain Picard met Q in the Next Generation, Gene Roddenberry said that the Squire of Gothos is the first alien we have met from the Q Continuum. Trelane never refers to himself as Q, and in fact, he insists several times that his name is Trelane. One other oddity is that Trelane’s parents arrive at the end of this episode. Watch the Next Generation episode called True Q to see why it’s strange that Trelane would have parents.

One of the creatures in Trelane’s castle is the salt sucking monster from the Man Trap.