Things get spooky on the Enterprise when they face something strange in the episode that was originally broadcast on October 27, 1967. This is Catspaw.
Reminder, we are reviewing these episodes in timeline/production order so they will not line up to broadcast order which may cause some confusion.
The Episode:
Captain’s Log Stardate 3018.2
The ship is cursed after beaming up one member of a missing away team member. Investigating the missing crewmembers, Kirk, Spock and McCoy encounter ghosts and a haunted castle only to find themselves captured by people who appear to be witches and magic users as well as a giant cat. Kirk seduces one of the aliens and after discovering the source of their power, Kirk and his team relieve their assailants of their transmuter only to reveal that they are aliens who can no longer survive in our universe. Upon the aliens death, Kirk and team return to the Enterprise to continue their mission.
Is this a ‘Good’ Episode:
You know how most tv series have holiday specials to celebrate whatever holiday is occurring that month? Yeah, this is Star Trek’s Halloween special and was even aired the week of Halloween for this reason. That aside, this episode is…well…it exists. It’s very much a ghost story with an alien twist that should not come as a surprise to anyone who know that they are watching a science fiction series. I mean, sure, we would later get another ghost story in The Next Generation involving Doctor Crusher and this one is no where near that cringey, but, let’s just say this is a pretty by-the-numbers ‘alien ghost story’ with everything from Witches, haunted castles and even a giant black cat. Heck, we even find yet another ‘superior’ alien race that somehow Kirk and the crew manage to beat because, heck, there has to be a series right? That being said, to say it’s a bad episode would really be unfair, it’s fun but, outside of featuring the first appearance of Chekov (in a wig no less!), it is rather unremarkable.
Gleanings and Cool Bits:
- Chekov appears for the first time on the series! (although apparently he met Khan, which we will discuss at a later date)
- Kirk pronounces Telekenisis as Tele-Ken-eses instead of tele-kineesis
- Kirk makes out with an alien woman in this one….so he finally lives up to his reputation.
Thanks for reading the Retro TV Review, I look forward to discussing the rest of the series with you, one episode at a time every Monday, Wednesday and Friday! Next Review: Metamorphosis
For more reviews I have a weekly series called Key Movies Of My Life that comes out every Thursday and for more retro TV goodness check out the rest of the Retro TV Reviews here.
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Late To The Game 2/7/2022
Special Thanks to Memory Alpha as they are one of the best sources for details on Star Trek information available. Although I have a pretty deep knowledge on the subject, they have proven invaluable as a regular resource.
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Late to the Game Blog 
This episode is a guilty pleasure of mine, though I feel like they could have put a bit more effort into it. Then again, I once heard that, in the sixties, they had to play a new episode of a show every week and could only take breaks in the summer. Maybe the writers were just exhausted and put something lazy like this up as a Halloween episode.
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