Wolf in the Fold (TOS episode)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Star Trek: TOS episode | |
| "Wolf In The Fold" | |
 Mr. Scott reacts after he is accused of murder in Wolf in the Fold. |
|
| Episode no. | 43 |
|---|---|
| Prod. code | 036 |
| Airdate | December 22, 1967 |
| Writer(s) | Robert Bloch |
| Director | Joseph Pevney |
| Guest star(s) | John Winston John Fiedler Charles Macaulay Joseph Bernard Charles Dierkop Tania Lemani Judy McConnell Virginia Aldridge Judi Sherven Eddie Paskey William Blackburn |
| Year | 2268 |
| Stardate | 3614.9 |
| Episode chronology | |
| Previous | "Obsession" |
| Next | "The Trouble With Tribbles" |
"Wolf in the Fold" is a second season episode of Star Trek: The Original Series. It is episode #43, production #36, and was broadcast on December 22, 1967. It was written by Robert Bloch, and directed by Joseph Pevney.
Overview: A series of bizarre murders points to Mr. Scott as the prime suspect.
[edit] Plot
On stardate 3614.9, the starship USS Enterprise arrives at Argellius II, a planet with a Middle-Eastern cultural influence primarily dedicated to peaceful hedonism. Ship's Captain James T. Kirk, chief medical officer Dr. Leonard McCoy, and chief engineer Montgomery Scott, beam down for some shore leave.
Once there, Scotty becomes enthralled by an attractive belly dancer named Kara. When her performance is over, Scotty invites her out for a walk down a fog-shrouded alley. Shortly thereafter, Kara is found murdered. She is stabbed to death and Scotty is in a state of shock and holding the murder weapon. When the knife is analyzed, only Scotty's fingerprints are found on it, but Scotty claims he has no memory of the event and is sickened by the experience.
Dr. McCoy indicates that Scotty is suffering from a mild concussion, an injury caused by a previous accident aboard the Enterprise, which was caused by a female crew member. McCoy has already concluded that Scotty has developed a resentment towards women, and that distrust has manifested itself in murder. The shore leave was meant as therapy.
Mr. Hengist, from Rigel IV (who is the Chief Administrator of Argellius II), takes charge of the investigation. He immediately wants Scotty locked up suggesting he may murder again if left unsupervised. Prefect Jaris suggests that Kirk seek the advice of his wife Sybo who is an Argelian empath. Kirk agrees, but he wants Scotty monitored by a psycho probe tricorder and orders Lt. Karen Tracy to beam down and administer the test. Meanwhile, Kirk and the others question Kara's father who reveals a suspect; Kara's former fiancé Morla. The father says Morla has been abusive to her and the pair constantly argued. Contrary to typical Argelian moral standards, which are extremely open, Morla is subject to fits of jealousy. Morla is brought in for questioning but he claims he had nothing to do with the killing; he actually left the cafe where she danced in order to maintain his composure.
Lt. Tracy begins the test on Scotty in another room while the others set up for Sybo's séance-like meditation. Suddenly, screams are heard and the others come running to find Lt. Tracy stabbed to death and Scotty once again in a state of shock. Hengist is certain that Scotty is the cold-blooded killer since the only other way into the room is a door that has been locked for years. Kirk isn't convinced however.
Regardless of what has happened, Jarris and his wife Sybo insist on continuing with the meditation. The séance begins and Sybo falls into a deep trance focusing her mind on a monstrous evil that is present. She gives the evil several names: "Beratis", "Kesla", "Redjac", all names for an ancient entity that has intense hatred for the life of women. As Sybo's séance gets more turbulent, candles begin to blow out and the lighting starts to flicker until the whole room goes pitch black. Just then, Sybo screams. When the lights come back on, Sybo is dead, having been stabbed like all the others. Scotty is at her side holding her up, except this time he says he didn't black out; he heard Sybo scream and moved to help her.
Kirk has everyone beamed back to the Enterprise so that the computers can analyze Mr. Scott's testimony of innocence. Once aboard, a hearing convenes. Scotty is monitored by the computer, along with testimony by Morla to see if they are telling the truth. The computer confirms that both Scotty and Morla know nothing about the murders. Scotty insists however, that he felt the presence of a cold, evil creature during Sybo's meditation.
Mr. Spock has the computer verify if such a creature could exist. The machine confirms and indicates the creature would most likely be incorporeal; existing as formless electromagnetic impulses; a "ghost". The computer cites an example: the creatures of Alpha Carina V who subsist on the emotion of love. It also suggests that the creature may take a solid form at will, as the miletus cloud creature of Alpha Madoris that can change from gaseous to solid forms. Spock believes this "Redjac" to be an entity that gains nourishment from the fear of its victims.
Kirk decides to run the names spoken by Sybo through the computer. The machine returns information that Beratis (of Rigel IV), and Kesla (of Deneb II), are names given to the unresolved identities of serial killers on those worlds. It also identifies Redjac as "Red Jack", the name of the elusive 19th Century Earth serial killer Jack the Ripper.
The computer goes on to say that Redjac may have been responsible for other killings: the murders of seven women in Shanghai, China, Earth, in 1932; five similar murders in Kiev, U.S.S.R., Earth, in 1974; eight murders of women in the Martian Colonies in 2105; and ten murders of women in Heliopolis, Alpha Eridani II in 2156. Spock notes that all these locations lie sequentially between Argelius and Earth.
The computer mentions that the Beratis killings took place on Rigel IV less than one solar year ago. This immediately implicates Mr. Hengist who has informed everyone that he comes from Rigel IV. The computer also analyses the knife used in the killings. Its material composition matches knives crafted by the indigenous Hill People of Rigel IV's Argus River region.
Mr. Hengist becomes nervous and denies the evidence points to him. He then gets up and tries to dash from the room, somehow developing great athletic prowess usually unheard-of in a man of his years, but Captain Kirk subdues him and knocks him to the floor. Dr. McCoy checks Hengist out and discovers the man is dead.
Suddenly, the ship's computer system goes haywire and Hengist's distorted laughter is heard throughout the ship. He makes threats that they can never catch him and that they will all die. Spock believes the Redjac entity has taken over the ship through its computer and that the entity will become stronger by feeding off the crew's growing fear.
Dr. McCoy decides to administer a tranquilizer to everyone on the ship (they appear "stoned" as a result). Meanwhile, Spock neutralizes Redjac's control of the ship's computer by ordering it to compute to the last digit the value of π, (an insoluble problem), which keeps it too busy for the creature to interfere. Without further concern for their safety, everyone's fear quickly fades, which weakens Redjac's energy. The evil force returns to Hengist's body, the only place it can go now, and Kirk has him rushed to the transporter room. Setting the machine to disperse Hengist's atoms, he beams him away along with the Redjac entity and scatters them into the void of space.
[edit] Trivia
- In a comic adventure of Star Trek: The Next Generation, the crew of the Enterprise-D face Redjac once again. Having provoked a planetwide war, Redjac transfers himself into the Enterprise's computer and creates an 1890s style London in the holodeck, abducting various crewmembers to act as his victims. Data confronts Redjac in the scenario in his Sherlock Holmes persona, rescuing some of the crewmembers before confronting Redjac face-to-face. Tricking Redjac into facing Worf in single combat, Redjac focuses all his energy into one location, allowing the crew to transfer him into a storage pod and trap him on a distant moon.
- The entity's description bears a striking similarity to "The Horla" from Guy de Maupassant's short horror story of the same name. The story had been adapted for the film Diary of a Madman just a few years earlier.
[edit] External links
- Wolf in the Fold at StarTrek.com
- Wolf in the Fold article at Memory Alpha, a Star Trek wiki.
| Last produced: "The Doomsday Machine " |
Star Trek: TOS episodes Season 2 |
Next produced: "The Changeling" |
| Last transmitted: "Obsession" |
Next transmitted: "The Trouble With Tribbles" |
