Wolf in the Fold

Production # 36

Original Air Date 12-22-67

Stardate 3614.9

Synopsis:

Kirk and McCoy decide to take Scotty, who is recovering from a head wound accidentally caused by a female crew member, to a nightclub on the planet Argelius II. Scotty becomes infatuated with a lovely dancer at the club and they leave together. In the meantime, Kirk and McCoy decide to sample some of the planet's other pleasures and leave.

A scream sends them to a foggy alley to find the dancer dead with Scotty holding a bloody knife. McCoy suggests that perhaps Scotty's subconscious distrust of women, since his accident, has manifested itself in murder.

Hengist, the local authority, wants to arrest Scotty, but Kirk intervenes and seeks the help of a priestess of an old psionic cult. Unfortunately, she's killed and once more the blame seems to fall at Scotty's feet. Before she dies, the priestess says that something with an insatiable hunger and hatred of women is present in the room. Scotty still claims to have amnesia during the time when the women were killed.

In the end, the entity turns out to be an ancient life form, Redjac, previously known on Earth as Jack the Ripper. It now appears in true form; a non-corporeal vampire who thrives on others' fear. It preys on women because they are more easily frightened. It has been living in the body of Hengist and, when discovered, kills Hengist and flees to the U.S.S. Enterprise.

McCoy administers tranquilizers to everyone on board so that the creature cannot evoke fear. Enraged, it is forced to return to Hengist's body. Kirk, knowing this would happen, beams it into space at maximum dispersal, where it will die for lack of nourishment.

Cast:
William Shatner as James T. Kirk
Leonard Nimoy as Spock
DeForest Kelley as Leonard H. McCoy
James Doohan as Montgomery Scott
George Takei as Hikaru Sulu

Guest Cast:
John Fiedler as Mr. Hengist
Charles Macaulay as Jarvis
Pilar Seurat as Sybo
Charles Dierkop as Morla
Joseph Bernard as Tark
Tania Lemani as Kara
John Winston as Transporter chief
Virginia Aldridge as Lt. Karen Tracy
Judy McConnell as Yeoman Tankris
Judi Sherven as Nurse
John Winston as Argelian bartender

Creative staff:
Director: Joseph Pevney
Written By: Robert Bloch
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Episode information from startrek.com.