Return of the Archons is one of the Star Trek episodes I didn't much care for years ago, but has grown on me.The characters and themes seem close to the edge of outright silliness at times, but somehow, it works. The sense of a genuinely strange society, that the Enterprise crew have stumbled onto, is conveyed well. Seeing Captain Kirk dressed as if he were on his way to the gunfight at the OK Corral is odd enough to be memorable, along with the medieval dungeon they find themselves in, the hooded robes and staffs of the Lawgivers, and the obscure lingo about the Body, etc.
It's certainly imaginative and creatively done for a low budget TV show. Charles Macaulay, as the mysterious, seemingly benevolent Landru has such a marvelous voice and presence that I wish his character could have had more screen time.
One of the most oddly memorable scenes is that that of their host Reger showing the landing party to their quarters, and the following scene of them waking the next day, with Kirk sleeping standing up in a blanket, and Spock lying on his back in a bunk bed. The incongruity of the solemn Spock sleeping in a bunk bed is an image that tends to stay with me.
It's certainly imaginative and creatively done for a low budget TV show. Charles Macaulay, as the mysterious, seemingly benevolent Landru has such a marvelous voice and presence that I wish his character could have had more screen time.
One of the most oddly memorable scenes is that that of their host Reger showing the landing party to their quarters, and the following scene of them waking the next day, with Kirk sleeping standing up in a blanket, and Spock lying on his back in a bunk bed. The incongruity of the solemn Spock sleeping in a bunk bed is an image that tends to stay with me.