Star Trek S1 Ep. 17: The Squire of Gothos

• Written by Paul Schneider
• Directed by Don McDougall
• January 12, 1967
• NBC

Episode Cast

• Captain James T. Kirk-William Shatner
• First Officer and Science Officer Commander Spock-Leonard Nimoy
• Chief Medical Officer Lt. Commander Leonard “Bones” McCoy-DeForest Kelley
• Chief Engineer Montgomery “Scotty” Scott–James Doohan
• Communications Officer Lt. Nyota Uhura-Nichelle Nichols
• Helmsman Lt. Hikaru Sulu-George Takei
• Head Nurse Christine Chapel-Majel Barrett
• Jaeger-Richard Carlyle
• Lieutenant Hadley-Bill Blackburn
• DeSalle-Michael Barrier
• Yeoman Teresa Ross-Venita Wolf
• Lt. Brent-Frank da Vinci
• Enterprise Crewmember-Carey Foster
• Lieutenant Leslie-Eddie Paskey
• Trelane-William Campbell
• Trelane’s Mother (voice)-Barbara Babcock
• Trelane’s Father(voice)-Bart La Rue

The crew of the USS Enterprise come across a being that controls matter and creates planets with a penchant for the 1800s.

The Squire of Gothos is among my favorite episodes of TOS. It’s a mixture of fun and fantastic. We have the usual god like alien but in this case a little bit silly making him closer to a playful imp (and dangerous) rather than a being able to warp reality to his whims.

I need to address something before I start. Ever since I was young one thing that really jumped out of me were the number of coffee cups this opens up with the cast of characters using. Everybody on the bridge has one. Stranger still they place them casually on the control panels with no concern over spillage and/or causing a short. It was always very weird and very noticeable to me. I guess when you have seen something as often as I have this, you notice the minutia.

The episode embraces the strangeness that the original series could do so well. It wasn’t strange for the sake of being strange. It’s just they were supposed to be encountering things that no one had ever seen before with each story being about something a little bit more than you can get from the surface. Usually. This is more a character driven story involving a bratty kid rather than an attempt to examine the human condition.

Trelane (William Campbell) is one of several god-like enemies that the crew encountered during the course of TOS though not nearly as god-like as some of the others. Clues to his true nature are scattered throughout the episode but you don’t quite get it until the big reveal. His powers being connected to a machine are hinted at during the course the episode as well. They don’t just throw it in there, but the clues once they come together make you go “That’s what was going on!”

William Campbell also played one of the first Klingons Koloth in Star Trek S2 Ep. 15 episode The Trouble with Tribbles and doesn’t do too much different here as he did (eventually) there. It was just a little bit of a twist on his part to make Trelane more childlike and flamboyant with a sense of glee over having fun rather than stern elocution over matching wits with Kirk.

The story is driven by the masculine and dedicated Captain Kirk (William Shatner) facing off against the boyish and quite juvenile Trelane. Not (entirely) with fists and not (entirely) with guns but entirely with brains. Due to the era effects shots are limited meaning story and acting needed to (and did) carry the day. The episode has the dynamic of a stern adult facing off against a willful child even before you know Trelane is a willful child.

I think the big clue that he is just a kid is how Trelane reacts towards Yeoman Teresa Ross (Venita Wolf) and Uhura (Nichelle Nichols). It comes off as a lonely boy in the throws of hormones enamored with the latest pretty faces he has come across.

The story takes place not only on the planet’s surface but on the Enterprise as the crew tries to figure out what to do. Scott (James Doohan) is a much more willing to do nothing because they know nothing than Spock is. Spock pushes for action with the implication that he feels action is better than doing nothing. It’s his dedication to duty if nothing else.

There are some great lines delivered largely by Spock in a very Vulcan yet very tough way. His threat to Trelane when asked by the entity if his people were predatory with his response “Not generally though there have been exceptions” or his utterance to Trelane of “I object to you. I object to intellect without discipline; I object to power without constructive purpose.” Tough yet logical without emotion. He flexed his muscles so to speak without brandishing a gun. He was even talking down to a significantly stronger individual without flinching giving a very good picture of the character of Spock.

As always Kirk, Spock and McCoy are one person split into three. McCoy gives an emotional analysis while Spock gives an intellectual analysis and Kirk filters both into a solution. It’s a fun and exciting episode not carried by special effects of the time but by fine acting on all parts. Trelane moves from a nuisance to a genuine threat. He is one that must be solved with intellect and not brute force. It’s a battle of wits. A gun may be used by brains are still the answer. 

Perhaps not an episode with something to say but The Squire of Gothos is a fun character driven story and enjoyable addition to the Star Trek mythology.