Star date: 3614.9
Summary: Kirk and McCoy are with Scotty on Argelius II, a planet well-known for its hedonism, shortly after Scotty has suffered a concussion. A belly dancer at a nightclub strikes Scotty's fancy, and the two of them leave to take an evening walk. But Kirk and McCoy hear a scream as they are leaving the club, and they find the belly dancer (named Kara) dead and Scotty standing next to her holding a knife. Scotty claims to have no memory of the events leading to Kara's death --- presumably an effect of his concussion.For me, this episode belongs in the "it was okay" category. There are a couple of problems with the script, but in general it tells a good story. I guess what I don't like about this episode is that it sets you up with the expectation of a good, old-fashioned murder mystery --- and then pulls the rug out from under you when it turns out that Jack the Ripper did it. That just breaks the rules of telling a murder mystery: the viewer is supposed to have a fair chance of figuring out whodunit.
Having little in the way of formal law enforcement, the death is investigated by the Chief City Administrator, a man named Hengist, who originally hails from Rigel 4. Also involved in the investigation is Jaris, the Prefect for Argelius II. Jaris takes Hengist, Kirk, McCoy and Scotty to his home to convene a seance of sorts, to be performed by his wife Sybo, who is an empath. Kirk would prefer to take Scotty back to the Enterprise, where his memory can be scanned by computer, but Jaris will not allow it. Instead, a Lieutenant Karen Tracy beams down from the Enterprise to do Scotty's memory scan. Jaris leads Scotty and Tracy to a private room to do their analysis just as Hengist leaves to round up other patrons from the night club who might have information about Kara's death.
Before Hengist returns, however, Tracy is heard to scream out. When Kirk, McCoy and Jaris go to investigate, Tracy is dead and Scotty is unconscious and holding a knife --- apparently guilty of a second murder. Hengist returns with two men from the nightclub, and they just happen to be Kara's fiance and father. Convinced that Sybo can discover the truth, the seance begins, with the room sealed and the only light a fire around which everyone is seated. However, after Sybo has called out some information about a terrible evil, and some unfamiliar names such as "Redjac," the fire goes out and Sybo is also stabbed in the dark. When the lights come back on, Scotty is holding her body and has blood on his hands.
For reasons which aren't clear, the recently-widowed Jaris agrees to have the whole party beamed back aboard the Enterprise for Scotty to stand trial. The Enterprise computer is apparently an infallible lie detector, and it corroborates Scotty's claims to having no memory of the first two murders, and of being innocent of the third. Hengist finds this preposterous. In an effort to find more information, the little bit of information they got from Sybo before her death is run through the computer, which informs everyone that "Redjac" is a nickname for the 19th-century English murderer Jack the Ripper. Since Jack the Ripper was mortal and therefore clearly long dead, Spock and Kirk theorize that Redjac is actually an immortal being made only of energy, which feeds on fear and death and possesses mortal bodies. When Hengist once again protests the hearings, Kirk invites him to be subjected to the computer's lie detection, which Hengist refuses. When the computer further reports that the murder weapon in all three murders was a knife made on Rigel 4, Hengist lashes out at the Enterprise crew.
Kirk subdues Hengist, who falls lifeless on the floor. Redjac has left Hengist and moved into the Enterprise computer, threatening to kill everyone aboard. While Spock works on a plan to get Redjac out of the computer, Kirk tells McCoy to inject everyone aboard with a heavy tranquilizer. Since Redjac feeds on fear, Kirk is determined to keep his crew calm. Spock successfully forces Redjac out of the computer, and Redjac possesses Jaris briefly before once again occupying Hengist. McCoy quickly tranquilzes Hengist, thus neutralizing Redjac's ability to do any harm. Kirk whisks Hengist's body to the transporter room, and beams him and Redjac out into space, dispsersing its molecules over billions of miles.
Kirk is then disappointed when he realizes that Spock is the only member of his crew left un-tranquilized, and is therefore the only one who might accompany him back down to Argelius II for some fun.
Or does it break the rules? It's possible the writers just screwed up, but it turns out that Hengist actually gives himself away after the second murder. When Hengist first learns of Karen Tracy's murder, he is only told that it was a member of Kirk's crew and (cryptically, by Jaris) "same as Kara". Yet he asks "How was the girl killed?" indicating he knew the victim was female. Later, he also states that Scotty again has no memory of the killing --- but no one has told him that. Hengist tips his hand quite a bit here, but our intrepid ship's Captain fails to notice it (in fairness, I only noticed it myself during my second viewing).
Also, Scotty gets a laughably large number of second chances. One killing? Okay, fine, let's dig a bit further and see what the truth really is. Two killings? Well, we're all set to do this seance-thing anyway, I guess we might as well go ahead. THREE killings? No, I don't think I'll let you return to the Enterprise, Mr. Scott. Stand still while I strangle you to death with my bare hands. No really. Stop squirming.
Then there's the cringe-worthy line of the episode. During Scotty's trial, once they've discovered that the word "Redjac" was used in 19th-century England to refer to Jack the Ripper, Kirk states: "Everything we've uncovered points to Jack the Ripper". No Kirk, only ONE thing points to Jack the Ripper; everything else points to Scotty.
Other observations about this episode . . .
Argelius II is well-known as a planet devoted to hedonism, and at one point Jaris states that jealousy is strongly disapproved of. And even though Kara had a fiance, she still agreed to go for a walk with Scotty. I know they couldn't say this on TV in the 1960's, but it's pretty clear Argelius II is a planet of swingers.
And before the murders begin, Kirk says to McCoy: "I know a little place across town where the women . . ." and McCoy cuts him off, saying he knows where it is. Also pretty clear Kirk and McCoy were heading to a brothel before murder got in the way.
I don't know whether the writers intended it to be funny, but it's downright hilarious to see Kirk walking down the corridor of the Enterprise with a drugged-out Hengist draped over his shoulder, laughing and saying benignly "I'll kill all of you. Die, die, die, everybody die. Kill, kill, kill you all."
As usual, at the end of the episode, Kirk doesn't let a little murder get in the way of his fun. Sure, three women were killed, including one of his crewmen, at the hands of one of the most notorious serial killers of all time, but Kirk's still looking to head down to Argelius II and get his freak on.
The Moral of the Story: Murder will out.
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