"Plato's Stepchildren" (season three, episode ten; production code: 067; 22 November 1968): Wikipedia-link.
Commentary: The good thing about this episode is the Enterprise crew's steadfast resolve to stand up to the alien bullies. The bad thing is the complete refusal to engage with Platonic philosophy; the aliens call themselves Platonians, but aside froma vaguely Hellenic aesthetic to the set & prop design & Greek-sounding names. Greek mythology was integral to the plot of "Who Mourns for Adonais?" (season two, episode two), as was Roman culture to "Bread and Circuses" (season two, episode twenty-five), but Greek philosophy is only window dressing for "Plato's Stepchildren," which was disappointing.
I would have preferred a resolution wherein our heroes figured out how to strip the lazy, arrogant, sadistic aliens of their telekinetic powers & left them to scrap out a living on their isolated planet by their own labors, instead of Kirk overpowering the alien leader using Kirk's own newly acquired telekinetic powers.
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