See the Star Trek TOS Rewatch Index page for links to all the episodes covered so far.
“RETURN OF THE ARCHONS” Rating: 6.0
“Return of the Archons” is a pleasingly shambolic outer space version of Invasion of the Body Snatchers, with 19th century dress and, somehow, even more blatant anticommunism. There’s a touch of horror, a dash of totalitarian dystopia, and more than a bit of farce.
Watching the episode this time, though, I was most struck by how the Vietnam-era plot portrays local resistance forces. The on-the-ground knowledge of resistors is vital, and our heroes would be dead and/or assimilated without them. Nonetheless, Captain Kirk (William Shatner) treats his local helpers with steadily consistent contempt. By doing so, he inadvertently calls into question his own status as heroic liberator.
