"The Mark of Gideon" (season three, episode sixteen; production code: 072; 17 January 1969): Wikipedia-link.
Commentary: "The Mark of Gideon" is a dumb overpopulation story, dumb because the Gideons' plan (Gideonites'?) is needlessly complex. Supposedly, the planet is so overpopulated that no one is every alone, yet they were able to construct an exact, multi-story replica of the Enterprise & keep everyone else out of it so that a kidnapped Captain Kirk & the seductress Odona can be alone together? They rendered Kirk unconscious & stole some of his blood, which contains a disease that will be used to reintroduce death into Gideon's population; the Enterprise replica is completely unnecessary, as is Odona feigning ignorance. (She repeatedly claims she's not from Gideon, but doesn't know what her supposed planet is called. I call shenanigans!)
The best part of the episode is the surprising anti-contraception, anti-abortion message. Kirk suggests sterilization & contraception to limit the grow of Gideon's population. Hodin, the Gideon ambasador, says that their regenerative biology will reject any attempt at sterilization (but somehow won't be able to overcome the space menigitis?) & that their culture will not accept any form of contraception: Life is too precious to them to contracept. It'san anti-sterilization & anti-contraception message, but not a pro-life message, since the whole plan is to use Odona to inspire other Gideonites to volunteer to die of the space meingitis. There are other planet, you know? You guys could colonize other planets. Or buy disintegration chambers from Eminiar VII ("A Taste of Armageddon," season one episode twenty-three), they aren't using them anymore.
Why is the planet called Gideon? What are the odds of an alien world having the same name as an Old Testment personage?
Fun fact: "The Mark of Gideon" was co-written by Stanley Adams (1917-1977), who played Cyrano Jones in "The Trouble with Tribbles" (season two, episode fifteen).
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