"Spectre of the Gun" (season three, episode six; production code: 056; 25 October 1968): Wikipedia-link.
Commentary: "Spectre of the Gun" is one of the many episodes of the third season with which I have only a passing familiarity. It's not like "Balance of Terror" (season one, episode fourteen), "The Trouble with Tribbles" (season two, episode fifteen), or "The Doomsday Machine" (season two, episode six), episodes I've seen over & over again.
Upon re-watching the episode, it's interesting to see the strong pacifist streak throughout, a streak at odds with many other episode of The Original Series. Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Scott, & Chekov (no disposable "redshirts" this time) are trapped in a surreal representation of the American frontier town of Tombstone on the day of the far-famed Gunfight at the O.K. Corral. Time and again, our intrepid heroes decline to engage in violence against the Earp brothers & Doc Holliday & are eventually released from the cage when they realize that nothing in it can harm them unless they believe it can. Jim Kirk as a pacifist is an interesting idea to explore, but it is utterly consistent with many other episodes (including, but not limited to, the aforementioned "Balance of Terror" & "The Doomsday Machine"), which is to say it feels too conveniently tailored to this particular episode.
The other odd aspect of the episode is the Enterprise's mission to establish friendly relations against the express wishes of the Melkotians to be left alone. A Melkotian probe intercepts the Enterprise as she approaches the Melkotian plnet & warns them away; Kirk presses on regardless, obedient to his orders. When Kirk & company beam down to the planet, a Melkotian appears & sentences them to death for trespassing. Once they prove themselves non-violent in the weird Tombstone scenario, the Melkotians agree to talk, but should Kirk have even pressed the issue? I'm aware of the Perry Expedition (1852-1855) & the forced opening to trade of Japan by the United States & other Western powers, but is that consistent with Federation ethics?
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