Stardate 3198.4: A sudden attack by the Klingons on a vulnerable neutral sector – a location of great strategic importance – puts the Enterprise on red alert, as the threat of another catastrophic war between the Klingon Empire and the Federation looms. Kirk and Spock beam down to Organia, the planet whose security is at risk due to the Klingon threat, and find that the inhabitants, who appear to be humans who have reached the medieval period of sociological and technological development, are not at all concerned that their world is currently being overrun by Klingon troops. Kirk and Spock try to conceal their identities, but fail, leaving Kirk and Klingon Captain Kor at each others’ throats – until the Organians reveal their true nature and intervene in the impending war.
written by Gene L. Coon
directed by John Newland
music by Alexander CourageCast: William Shatner (Captain James T. Kirk), Leonard Nimoy (Mr. Spock), DeForest Kelley (Dr. Leonard McCoy), James Doohan (Mr. Scott), George Takei (Lt. Sulu), Nichelle Nichols (Lt. Uhura), John Abbott (Ayelbourne), John Colicos (Kor), Peter Brocco (Claymare), Victor Lundiw (Lieutenant), David Hillary Hughes (Trefayne), Walt Davis (Klingon Soldier), George Sawaya (Second Soldier)
Notes: This episode introduces the Klingons to Star Trek. John Colicos makes two further appearances in the role of Kor in the Deep Space Nine episodes Blood Oath and The Sword of Kahless. The first bloody war between the Klingons and the Federation is chronicled in the first season of Star Trek: Discovery, and one of its chief combatants was Kol, a member of the Klingon House of Kor; Kol’s death (Into The Forest I Go, 2017) may explain some of Kor’s warlike zeal here.
LogBook entry by Earl Green