Responding to a distress call Kirk, Spock, McCoy and a couple of red shirts beam down to a planet and find people claiming to be Kelvans from the Andromeda Galaxy. They also say that they are taking command of the Enterprise and its crew for the three hundred year journey home taking a message back that our galaxy is suitable for conquest. They demonstrate the power they have over Kirk and his team by first using a device on their belts which instantly immobilises a person; then when Kirk defies them another feature is used to turn the redshirts into cuboctahedral blocks. The leader of the Kelvans, Rojan, then crumbles one before bringing the other back to life. It doesn't take long for the Kelvans to take the Enterprise and make the modifications required to return home. Kirk misses one possible opportunity to destroy the ship before Rojan turns most of the crew into blocks. The Kelvans have a weakness though; by taking human form they are susceptible to human weaknesses and emotions.
This episode gets off to a decent enough start with the introduction of the Kelvans, in particular their leader Rojan and an attractive female named Kelinda. Their powers are nicely demonstrated and Spock's attempt to use his mind powers tells us a bit about their true nature. Once on the Enterprise we have the dilemma of whether to destroy the ship in order to prevent an invasion that might come in six hundred years' time not that that anybody will expect that to happen! Once the senior crew realise the Kelvans are susceptible to human weaknesses things get quite amusing as Scotty gets one of them drunk, McCoy gives another injects saying they are vitamin supplements but actually they just make him very irritable and, perhaps inevitably Kirk sets about seducing the beautiful Kelinda causing Rojan to get jealous. Since the Kelvans have taken human form they aren't particularly interesting in appearance and the backless costumes worn by their females are clearly designed to please the male viewers not that I'm complaining!
This episode gets off to a decent enough start with the introduction of the Kelvans, in particular their leader Rojan and an attractive female named Kelinda. Their powers are nicely demonstrated and Spock's attempt to use his mind powers tells us a bit about their true nature. Once on the Enterprise we have the dilemma of whether to destroy the ship in order to prevent an invasion that might come in six hundred years' time not that that anybody will expect that to happen! Once the senior crew realise the Kelvans are susceptible to human weaknesses things get quite amusing as Scotty gets one of them drunk, McCoy gives another injects saying they are vitamin supplements but actually they just make him very irritable and, perhaps inevitably Kirk sets about seducing the beautiful Kelinda causing Rojan to get jealous. Since the Kelvans have taken human form they aren't particularly interesting in appearance and the backless costumes worn by their females are clearly designed to please the male viewers not that I'm complaining!