Star Trek Retrospective: Episode 17 the Squire of Gothos
I have to admit I love this episode. There was something about Trelane that I loved. Perhaps it was the fact that the crew of the Enterprise is always better when faced with a vastly superior adversary. Also it drives Kirk nuts when someone fails to take him seriously and that is fun to watch.
Star Trek was never above recycling props from old episodes and reusing them later on and I have to give this episode massive props (haw!) for the best reuse when they took the Buffalo costume from The Man Trap, put in on a mannequin, and put it in the corner as a stuffed trophy in Trelene’s mansion. The fact that Kirk and the others never even remarked on it is even cooler. 
Possibly the first real example of a great sci fi Easter Egg like when a Star Wars Imperial Shuttle flew over the space port in Firefly (Image from one of my personal Firefly tshirts). Perhaps they just assumed Trelene had killed a buffalo in his travels, although it later proved he had simply created it along with the rest of the planet.
Honestly the “twist” of Trelane really being a child is a little prosaic IMO. I’m sure it was mindblowing back in the day but honestly the real enjoyment of this episode is in the crew and how they deal with him.
the Infamous Dave Inman
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