Catspaw (Star Trek)

__NOTOC__ST episode
name = Catspaw


The fate of the "Enterprise" hangs by a thread
series = TOS
ep_num = 36
prod_num = 030
remas._num = 8
date = October 27, 1967
writer = Robert Bloch
director = Joseph Pevney
guest = Antoinette Bower
Theo Marcuse Michael Barrier Eddie Paskey William Blackburn Jimmy Jones (actor) Rhodie Cogan Gail Bonney Maryesther Denver John Winston (actor)
stardate = 3018.2
year = 2267
prev = The Doomsday Machine
next = I, Mudd

"Catspaw" is the first episode of the second season of "". It is episode #36, production #30, and was first broadcast October 27, 1967. It was repeated on May 24, 1968. It was written by Robert Bloch, and directed by Joseph Pevney. Its gothic horror elements are perhaps best explained by the proximity of the episode's release to Halloween.

Overview: Two powerful aliens threaten the well-being of the "Enterprise" and her crew.

Plot

On stardate 3018.2, the starship USS "Enterprise", under the command of Captain James T. Kirk, explores the apparently lifeless planet Pyrus VII. A landing team consisting of Chief Engineer Montgomery Scott, Lt. Hikaru Sulu, and crewmember Jackson, has been sent down to explore the surface. The ship soon loses contact with Scott and Sulu; however, Jackson transports back to the ship and falls dead. From his open mouth, his lifeless body emits an eerie voice telling Captain Kirk that the "Enterprise" is cursed, and must leave the planet immediately, or everyone will die.

Not willing to leave his men behind, Kirk beams down to the planet with Mr. Spock, and Dr. Leonard McCoy to search for the missing crewmen, leaving Lt. DeSalle and Chekov in charge of the ship. Exploring the mist-shrouded planet, they scan for life readings, picking up signals nearby. Walking in that direction, the landing party comes upon three apparitions that appear as witches, who warn the landing team not to proceed any further. The team ignores the warnings and comes upon what looks like a medieval castle.

Upon entering the castle, the landing party comes across a black cat which wears a sparkling diamond pendant, and then proceeds down a cobweb-draped hallway. Following the cat, the floor collapses below their feet, and the fall knocks them unconscious. They later come to, finding themselves held in irons, and locked in a dungeon. Scotty and Sulu soon arrive, but they appear as mindless zombies, controlled by some unseen force. The two take the landing party down from their shackles and begin to lead them away; however, Kirk puts up a fight and Spock and McCoy join him in trying to wrestle away Scotty's and Sulu's phasers.

The team finds themselves teleported to another part of the castle where they encounter the robed Korob, and his mysterious black cat whom he appears to consult for advice. Korob invites them to sit at his grand dining table. Spock questions Korob about why previous surveys of Pyrus VII indicated no life on the planet. Korob replies that he is not a native of the planet. He waves his ornate scepter and a large banquet seems to magically appear on the dining table, right before the seated crew, however the team indicates they are not hungry.

Korob then makes the food change into beautiful gemstones. He offers the stones to Kirk as payment, if he agrees to leave Pyrus VII immediately and never return. Kirk declares that the gemstones are worthless to him, since he has the technological means to manufacture his own on the "Enterprise" if needed. He demands his crewmen be released first and then an explanation of what is going on.

Korob's cat leaves the room and Korob's beautiful colleague Sylvia quickly appears. She wears an identical diamond pendant to the cat's around her neck. Kirk then wrests the phaser out of zombified Mr. Scott's hand, and points it at Korob demanding that Scott and Sulu be released. Sylvia then produces a silver chain, and dangling from it a miniature model of the "Enterprise". She holds the ship over a lit candle, and like a voodoo doll, the crew of the real "Enterprise" begins to suffer heat stroke from a rapid rise in hull temperature. Kirk reluctantly surrenders and offers to cooperate.

Not wishing any interference from the "Enterprise", Korob places the "voodoo model" of the ship in a glass cube, where the sensors aboard the real "Enterprise" show the ship to now be encased in an impenetrable force field. Kirk and Spock are led back to the dungeon and McCoy is zombified like Scotty and Sulu. Meanwhile Sylvia mocks Korob for being afraid to use his powers in "playing" with the human specimens. Korob upbraids Sylvia for abusing her powers.

Sylvia takes an interest in Kirk and decides to learn more about human feelings and experiences. Kirk pretends to fall in love with her, promising to fulfill her desires and be her loyal servant. She responds by changing into three different but attractive forms to test his emotions. Kirk tries to subtly extract information from her while he has her charmed, and learns that Sylvia and her partner Korob are explorers, but not from this galaxy. They wield their incredible power through a device called a transmuter, which gives them control over matter. Sylvia however, quickly figures out Kirk is just using her and becomes angry, sending him back to the dungeon.

Later, Korob secretly comes to free Kirk and offers to also release the "Enterprise", but Kirk and Spock must leave immediately, for he can no longer keep Sylvia under control. Sylvia discovers Korob's treachery and changes herself into a giant black cat, and attacks him. Korob releases his scepter and Kirk picks it up, believing it to be the transmuter device. Kirk then fends off attacks from his zombified crewmen and informs Sylvia he has the scepter and threatens to destroy it. She tries to finagle the device away from Kirk with a phaser, but instead he smashes it right before her eyes.

Instantly, everything disappears, including the whole castle, and Sulu, Scotty and McCoy return to normal. The "Enterprise" is also released from the force field. Looking down at a nearby rock, Kirk spots two tiny creatures, that appear to resemble blue and yellow stick bugs, Korob's and Sylvia's true form. Unable to survive without their transmuter, the two creatures soon disintegrate and die.

40th Anniversary remastering

This episode was remastered in 2006 and first aired October 26, 2006 as part of the remastered "Original Series". It was preceded a week earlier by "Arena" and followed a week later by "The Trouble With Tribbles". Aside from remastered video and audio, and the all-CGI animation of the USS "Enterprise" that is standard among the revisions, specific changes to this episode also include:
* The planet has been updated to look more realistic.
* When the landing party finds the castle, a more realistic castle matte backdrop has been added including realistic enhancements to the planet's sky.
* All original jump-cut transmuter effects have been smoothed and enhanced with an energy burst effect.
* The alien puppets have their "wires" removed.

Notes

*As the first episode of the season to be shot, it marked Walter Koenig's first episode as Pavel Chekov. Since the episode was pushed back for HalloweenFact|date=June 2008, Chekov's debut in airing order is the episode "Amok Time".
*This is one of two episodes where James Doohan's missing finger is visible, the other being "The Trouble With Tribbles".
*Writer Robert Bloch based his teleplay very very loosely upon his short story, "Broomstick Ride". [http://www.fastcopyinc.com/orionpress/articles/broomstick_ride_vs_catspaw.htm]
*Theo Marcuse, who played Korob, died in an automobile accident one month after the original airing of the episode.

External links

* [http://trekmovie.com/2006/10/28/catspaw-screenshots/ Catspaw side-by-side comparisons]
* [http://www.startrek.com/startrek/view/series/TOS/episode/68720.html "Catspaw"] at StarTrek.com