The story opens with Sulu and one of those expendables exploring what appears to be sort of an old Western town (that's probably where the set came from). They are pursued by guys in monk's cloaks. They cower in a doorway as one of these guys shoots Sulu with a bamboo pole. He immediately starts grinning as Kirk simultaneously beams him up. The next part of the show has them trying to rescue the other guy. Sulu is under house arrest. The kicker is that this planet is full of benevolent (to a fault) people who walk around in a giddy daze, greeting each other. But at the "Red Hour" everyone goes berserk. There is murder and rape and all manner of violence. If you are lucky enough to survive you hop up, dust yourself off, and head for home or wherever. This a world dominated by an an entity called Landru (didn't he used to coach the Dallas Cowboys? Just kidding). He can inflict great pain on those who defy him. It is up to Kirk and Spock to figure out who he is and what to do. This is another episode where a computer somehow wields great power. It won't be the last.
Review of The Return of the Archons
