Star Trek: The Original Series/Recap/S2/E14 Wolf in the Fold

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"Wolf in the Fold"
A story from Star Trek: The Original Series
Preceded by: "Obsession"
Followed by: "The Trouble With Tribbles"
Original release date: December 22, 1967
Central Theme:
Synopsis:
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After Scotty is granted therapeutic leave after a head injury, Kirk and Bones take him to Argelius II to visit a nightclub that has a sort of gypsy/Arabian Nights theme going on. Scotty seems to be recovering nicely and chats up a dancing girl named Kara. Kirk and Bones decide to leave Scotty alone with his new friend, but stop when they hear a screech from an alley. Kara is dead and Scotty is standing over her as if in a trance.

An inquest is held. Administer Hengist calls for Scotty's immediate arrest. Scotty can't remember a thing. Jaris introduces them to his empathic wife, Sybo, who will use her psychic powers to deduce who the killer is. Kirk wants to do things by Argelian law, but he certainly doesn't want to lose Scotty, yet, this "psychic" seems like just another superstition. When Yeoman Tarkis turns up dead and Scotty unconscious nearby, things look bad.

The crew finally agrees to a seance. Sybo goes into her trance and states she senses a great feeling of anger and hatred towards women and a desire to feed on fear. She mentions the name "Redjac" and states that he has a hunger that will never die. But Sybo will. When the lights come back on, Sybo has a knife in her back and Scotty has blood on his hands. Oh Crap.

Scotty, Jaris, Hengist and two other persons of interest (Kara's father and her ex-boyfriend) are beamed aboard the Enterprise with Kirk and Bones. Scotty is further questioned, using the ship's computer as a lie detector. The conclusion is that Scotty does not know if he committed the murders. He remembers black outs, coldness and a stench like a slaughterhouse. Kirk suggests using a brain scanner to learn what exactly happened. Then, Hengist suddenly goes berserk....

Tropes used in Wolf in the Fold include:

Spock: As we know, the value of pi is a transcendental figure without resolution. The computer banks will work on this problem to the exclusion of all else until we order it to stop.

  • Angst? What Angst?: While Jaris shows anger at his wife's murder, it's no stronger than what he feels at the murder of two strangers.
  • Belly Dancer: The first thing we see in the episode is Kara performing at the nightclub with finger cymbals.
  • Bloodless Carnage: Kara is stabbed "dozens of times", Yeoman Tankris is stabbed "over and over again", yet neither bodies bear any wounds and there's no blood at all until Sybo falls over with a blade in her back.
  • Clear My Name: Kirk's initial goal is to absolve Scotty of murders that he just knows he couldn't commit.
  • Complete Monster: Redjac
  • Crowning Moment of Funny: The big grin Sulu gets when Bones injects him with a mood affecting drug.
  • A Day in the Limelight: Probably Scotty's most developed part in the entire series.
  • Emotion Eater: Redjac feeds on fear
  • "Everybody Laughs" Ending: Justified. Redjac feeds on fear, so Bones injected everyone with mood lightening drugs that made everyone super cheerful. Kirk observes that for the next few hours, he's going to have the happiest ship in the fleet.
  • Fair Play Whodunnit: Well, Knox's 2nd Commandment is blown to Hell. Number 7 could be considered broken, depending on if you would see an administer as a detective.
  • Hey, It's That Voice!: Piglet is on a killing spree!
  • He-Man Woman Hater: Redjac. Scotty was said to be temporarily distrustful of women because a woman caused his accident. He seems over it by the time he meets Kara.
  • Jack the Ripper: Redjac's original incarnation. Incidentally, while the unidentified murderer was known as "Old Leather Apron" and "Saucy Jack", he was not known as "Red Jack".
  • Laser-Guided Amnesia: Scotty just can't seem to remember what happened when he was alone with those women.
  • Lie Detector: The ship's computer can act as one. We must assume it is more accurate than modern polygraphs.
  • Lights Off, Somebody Dies: How Sybo is killed
  • Mouthful of Pi: Spock prevents Redjac from taking over the ship's life support systems by ordering it to calculate the last digit of pi.
  • Nightmare Fuel: Lots! It was written by Robert Bloch; what do you expect?
    • The terrified screams just before the murders
    • The fact that Scotty just might have done those murders while possessed by Redjac.
    • Redjac has taken over the ship and could easily kill everyone on board, but he wants to frighten all of them first by laughing maniacally while telling them in gruesome detail what he wants to do.
    • Piglet laughing while screaming "Die! Die!" just might kill your childhood.
  • Ominous Fog: Odd juxtaposition. Scotty describes the fog of Aberdeen to be almost romantic. (He feels that way about anything Scottish.) Kirk and Bones leave the club to be surrounded by a thick fog not dissimilar from what would be found in a film on Jack the Ripper.
  • People Puppets: How Redjac commits his murders, being a Puppeteer Parasite. Maybe Dead Person Puppet in Hengist's case.
  • Spooky Seance: Sybo hosts one. It's her last.
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