And the Children Shall Lead

"And the Children Shall Lead" is a third season episode of ', and was broadcast October 11, 1968. It is episode #60, written by Edward J. Lakso and directed by Marvin Chomsky.

Related Topics:
October 11 - 1968 - Edward J. Lakso - Marvin Chomsky

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Quick Overview: The crew of the Enterprise rescues a group of children stranded on a planet, along with their "evil" imaginary friend.

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On stardate 5029.5, the starship USS Enterprise intercepts a distress call from the planet Triacus, where a scientific expedition is located. Arriving at the planet, Captain Kirk, Dr. McCoy, and Mr. Spock beam down to investigate. They find the expedition leader, Professor Starnes, and all the other adult members of the team, dead from an apparent suicide. The expedition's five children however, who consist of four boys and one girl, remain alive and well. The group of children seem to follow the lead of the oldest child, Tommy, the preteen son of Professor Starnes.

Related Topics:
Stardate - Starship - Planet - Captain Kirk - Dr. McCoy - Mr. Spock

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A recording is found that was made by the research team, indicating they were driven to suicide to escape what they call "the enemy within". The landing team buries the dead adults and conducts a makeshift funeral as the children watch on in silence. They team notices the children seem strangely emotionless toward the loss of their families. Afterward, the children and Dr. McCoy beam to the Enterprise while Kirk and Spock investigate a nearby cave. Spock has been getting anomalous readings on his tricorder which seem to come from the cave. Once inside, Kirk finds himself in the throes of an anxiety attack which abates the instant he leaves the cave. He speculates the anxiety may be caused by the same phenomenon that is causing the unusual tricorder readings.

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McCoy looks the children over and finds them in perfect health. They believe their parents are still enjoying their work on Triacus and do not miss them. He speculates that the children witnessed the shocking deaths of their parents and are now suffering temporary lacunar amnesia. They are temporarily unaware of what has happened and incapable of grieving. He warns that confronting them with the truth too soon could damage them psychologically, and that it would be best to wait until they begin to remember in the natural way. Kirk tries to talk to them and they reveal that they did not like living on Triacus and were resentful their parents wanted to stay. Kirk tries to ask more questions but the children begin to chant "busy busy busy" and rudely ignore him.

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The children are assigned quarters, and once they are left alone, they form a circle and begin to perform a summoning ritual, chanting: "Hail, hail, fire and snow, call the angel we will go, far away, for to see, friendly angel come to me". Answering the call, a humanoid apparition forms appearing as a richly dressed man surrounded by a green glow named Gorgan. He is happy that his children have completed their "first step" and encourages them to take over the Enterprise and change its course to the planet Marcos XII. There he promises the children will be happy, and offers a life without responsibilities or rules, once they are with the others of his kind.

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Tommy gets permission to visit the bridge where Captain Kirk and Spock look over data from the expedition site. He asks Kirk to take him and his friends to Marcos XII, explaining that he has relatives there. Kirk refuses the peculiar request and tells him the plan is to take the kids to Starbase 4 where their relatives will be contacted.

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Kirk and Spock listen to an audio recording from Professor Starnes who documents the bizarre onset of paranoia and anxiety among his staff just after the recent excavation of a new archeological site. Just then, Tommy concentrates deeply and uses a series of gestures made with his clenched fist to telekinetically fry the recording.

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Kirk and Spock are confounded over the tape's malfunction and then leave the bridge. Tommy stays behind and observes Mr. Sulu and Mr. Chekov at the helm. He then concentrates and telepathically forces Sulu and Chekov to change course, however, in their minds, they are still orbiting the planet. Lt. Uhura notices the planet is gone and she questions Sulu, but Tommy affects her as well, and she gets a share of the same illusion, brushing it off as just seeing things.

Related Topics:
Mr. Sulu - Mr. Chekov - Lt. Uhura

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In a briefing room, Kirk, Spock and McCoy listen to the rest of Professor Starnes' recordings. Starnes speaks of doing things against his will and how he requested a transport with no apparent need of it. When he realized what was happening, he decided to send out a dispatch to Starfleet to warn them. Starnes closes the entry confessing that the adults have decided to commit suicide, shouting "Alien upon us, the enemy from within!"

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Mr. Spock reports his findings on the obscure history of Triacus that may be linked to the disturbances felt by the research expedition. He informs Kirk that Triacus was the ancient base of operations for planetary marauders who fought wars throughout the sector thousands of years ago. The marauders were eventually defeated, but according to legend, the embodiment of their evil remained behind waiting for an escape. He believes that it only needs some sort of catalyst to bring it alive again.

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Armed with the news that something inimical may be lurking on the planet, Kirk assembles two security members to beam down to the planet to assist personnel already looking over the excavation site. As they are beamed away, Kirk notices the transporter did not have a surface lock and he has just beamed the two men into the vacuum of space since the Enterprise no longer orbits Triacus.

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Kirk rushes to the bridge to discover the children in the midst of their circling, chanting routine and the bridge crew are merely watching, smiling indulgently, as if they think this is an innocent game. Gorgan appears on the bridge. The entity informs the children that they are near victory, and encourages them to not allow the adults to gain control of the ship.

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Kirk sees all of this, and realizes the kids have taken over and are utilizing the crew as their puppets. He appears to consider questioning Tommy but inexplicably decides against it. Instead, he confronts his two helmsmen about the change of course, but they insist there is no change. Kirk again orders Sulu to change course, but enormous daggers appear on the viewscreen that only Sulu can see, and he has to focus all his attention on piloting the ship through them. Kirk tries to take over the controls, but is forced away by Sulu who shouts: "No Captain! We'll all be killed!", as he desperately avoids having the ship damaged by the imaginary blades.

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He then realizes Tommy is affecting their minds and demands it be stopped, but Tommy ignores him. Kirk turns to Spock to override the controls but Spock's mind is affected too, so that he is physically unable to carry out his Captain's orders.

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When Kirk orders Lt. Uhura to alert Starfleet, she too becomes useless, as the children make her think she has become a disfigured old woman. All she can do is look horrified at her reflection in the console and sob, saying that she sees her own death. Kirk orders the bridge security officer to escort the children away, but all the officer hears is gibberish and just stands there in a daze.

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Angered, Kirk goes after the children himself, but they converge their powers and affect his mind convincing him that he has lost his ability to command. As Kirk breaks down, Spock manages to shake off the children's control and quickly leads his shaken captain off the bridge. Kirk, now a mess of anxiety, collapses in self pity on the turbolift floor. Spock reassures him, perhaps with a bit of telepathic influence, that he is indeed in command.

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Once back on his feet, Kirk goes to auxiliary control to convince Chief Engineer Scott to put the Enterprise back on course, but Scott too is influenced by the children and refuses to obey. In the ensuing brief struggle, Kirk notices one of the children standing behind a screen making the same peculiar gestures. Spock says that the children are not evil, but are being used by an evil, alien power. In the corridor, they encounter Chekov, who believes he's received an order to arrest them. Again, they notice Tommy nearby, making the same gestures.

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Kirk finally confronts Tommy and Mary on the bridge, leveling a number of accusations against their alien friend and demanding that he show himself. When the children refuse to call him, Kirk replays the audio recovered from Starnes' tape. Gorgan appears and sneeringly describes his plan, saying that people who are full of goodness and gentleness are unworthy of being his followers, and will always be vanquished by stronger forces.

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Kirk queues up the rest of the recording and plays back video of the children's families. The images show the kids having fun and laughing, playing games with their parents. Kirk observes smiles returning to their faces as they watch. Then the images appear of the adults' dead bodies, and their smiles quickly turn to tears. Kirk tries to make them understand that Gorgan is behind the deaths of their parents. He implores them to see Gorgan as he really is.

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The children begin to cry as their ideas about Gorgan change. This obviously affects the being's powers. The entity's face begins to hideously decay as it tries to win the children's faith, but they are repulsed by it. Gorgan weakens and finally fades away chanting "death to you all." With the evil gone, the illusions subside, and control of the ship is restored.

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