This isn't an episode I was familiar with, so when I saw the name, description and remembered what season this is I got worried. But I was wrong to be worried, this is a surprisingly good episode. Now to be fair, this is an episode that is outstanding in a season mostly know for being total garbage, but even in a more decent time period it would have been a solid episode. It really helps that rather than another helpless damsel in distress Elaan is a powerful woman whose only weakness is her lack of knowledge about the customs of people other than her own.
The episode opens with the Enterprise on a secret mission mission to the planet Elas on behalf of the ambassador from Troyius. The ambassador refuses to answer any questions before beaming over the leader of the people of Elas, the commanding Elaan. She is to be married to the king of Troyius to end a war between the two peoples, but she doesn't seem happy about it. She also isn't happy about the quarters she is given (Uhura agreed to let Elaan use hers) and she can't stand the Troyiun ambassador either. On the bridge Spock is tracking a ghost in the sensors. Elaan and her entourage tour engineering and keep messing with things there. Back on the bridge the ghost turns out to be a Klingon war ship. Just then Kirk is summoned to Elaan's quarters. He discovers she has stabbed the ambassador!
In sickbay the abassador tells McCoy and nurse Chapel that the tears of women from Elas are a powerful love potion with no cure. Meanwhile Kirk now has the job of attempting to teach Elaan manners to deal with living on Troyuis. It isn't going well until he touches her tears and falls instantly in love. Kirk doesn't want to leave when Uhura calls, but when he learns someone on the ship is calling the Klingons he rushes to the bridge and Elaan follows. He learns that one of her guards has turned against her and destroyed the Enterprise dilithium crystals crippling warp drive and weapons. Kirk tries to get Elaan to go to sickbay to be safer, but she makes it back into for the action.
The Klingon ship demands the Enterprise surrender and fires on them when they refuse. After a few rounds the shields are failing. Spock suddenly notices the necklace Elaan is wearing, it is made of large crystals. When Spock scans them they are dilithium! Spock rushes the necklace to engineering and along the Scotty get it installed just in time to pull a fast one of the Klingons warping out of the way and hitting them with photon torpedoes. The Klingons flee and Kirk now has to send the woman he loves off to marry a royal ugly dude. She doesn't like it either, but both have to do what is demanded of them. As a token of her love she even gives Kirk her royal dagger.
Review: This episode does a good job playing around with the idea of who is in charge of the situation. Just when you think you have it figured out it manages to twist things around again to keep it interesting. Not what I expected from the maligned third season.
7 out of 10
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