"The Savage Curtain" (season three, episode twenty-two; production code: 077; 7 March 1969): Wikipedia-link.
Commentary: The Excalbians, who threaten the entire crew of the Enterprise with imminant death in an matter-antimatter explosion, are not just evil, they are also stupid. They pit Kirk & Spock, along with Excalbians disguised as Abraham Lincoln & Surak of Vulcan, in gladitorial combat against Excalbians disguised as four historical villains, to determine which philosophy, "goor or evil," is stronger. Yet when the good side prevails through principled self-sacrifice & the evil side reveals itself to be selfish & cowardly, the Excalbians conclude that there is no difference because both sides engaged in the gladitorial conbat that the Excalbians themselves had arranged. Yes, this trainwreck of an episode is really that dumb.
Many people have created in their minds an idealized version of Star Trek creator Gene Roddenberry. Star Trek was almost cancelled after its second season, & was only saved by a fan-led letter-writing campaign. The show returned with a reduced budget, & Roddenberry resigned. Fred Freiberger was brought in as producer & many Trekkies blame him for the third-season's uneven episodes & overall decline in quality. But Roddenberry is hardly blameless: Roddenberry wrote the story & co-wrote the teleplay for "The Savage Curtain," one of the worst episodes of the entire series.
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