Star Trek
The Return of the Archons
TV Flash files “The Return of the Archons” as hour 21 of 79 in the TV Flash guide — Star Trek (1966–1969) on NBC, season 1, episode 21, aired 1967-02-09, 60 min.
From the desk
How this hour is filed
This leaf is S01E21: listed hour 21 of 79 in the Star Trek guide, hour 21 of 29 in season 1. It aired 1967-02-09 (60 min). The listed hour before it is “Court Martial” (S01E20). Next is “Space Seed” (S01E22).
Catalog log
Broadcast listing — not a TV Flash recap.
Six thousand years ago, the planet Beta III was torn apart by war, crime, and corruption. Then a visionary leader arose, Landru, who became a benevolent autocrat. He has maintained a simple, stable society that has survived since then without those "ancient evils". Enterprise is there to investigate the disappearance of the starship Archon in the vicinity a century earlier. It seems that Landru dislikes those who display individuality; they must be absorbed into "The Body" or destroyed. So it was with the "Archons" and so it will be with the Enterprise unless Kirk can defeat Landru. But will unseating him destabilize the society? Will it be a violation of the Prime Directive?
Viewer FAQ
Where does The Return of the Archons sit in the Star Trek guide?
S01E21 is listed hour 21 of 79 — hour 21 of 29 in season 1, season 1 episode 21.
When did Star Trek S01E21 air?
The Return of the Archons aired 1967-02-09 and is listed at 60 minutes.
Where should I start if I have never seen original Star Trek?
The aired opener is “The Man Trap,” but many first-timers prefer “Where No Man Has Gone Before,” the second pilot and a cleaner crew contract. Either is fair. Do not start at season three.
In the series
Why this series still plays
Watch it for the fandom operating system still running: letter campaigns that saved a starship, ship wars before we had the word, and hours the timeline still litigates. Cancelled is not dead if the group chat refuses to log off.
So about last night's group chat: someone said "The Man Trap" is a fake start, someone else dropped a Kirk/Spock still captioned canon, your honor, and a third person announced that season three is optional like that is a personality. This is not new discourse. This is 1966 with better lighting and worse sleep. NBC tried to bury a space opera on a Friday, then a Tuesday, then wherever the schedule could hide a show it did not understand. The audience refused to log off. (I said spoiler-free. I lied a little: the…
Filed against
- William Shatner as Capt. James T. Kirk
William Shatner’s Capt. James T. Kirk commanded Star Trek into cancelled immortality — fandom’s founding text, letter campaigns, conventions, ship wars before we had the word, and the doctrine that dead shows can live forever. Staccato…
- Leonard Nimoy as Spock
Leonard Nimoy’s Spock is Star Trek’s coworker who will not do small talk — a cancelled space opera that invented the fandom operating system. Letter campaigns, conventions, ship wars, the doctrine that cancelled can still mean immortal.…
- DeForest Kelley as Dr. Leonard McCoy
DeForest Kelley’s Dr. Leonard McCoy was Star Trek’s group chat that said the quiet part — ship’s doctor as workplace heat on a cancelled space opera that refused to die. Letter campaigns, conventions, ship wars before we had the word. TV…
- Nichelle Nichols as Uhura
Nichelle Nichols’s Uhura is Star Trek’s communications officer as a fandom operating system — bridge presence that letter campaigns and convention culture refused to let NBC bury. Original Trek invented ship wars before we had the word;…
- James Doohan as Scotty
James Doohan’s Scotty is Star Trek as the miracle in the engine room — a cancelled space opera’s practical magic, beamed up from a three-season NBC run that fandom refused to let die. Conventions, letter campaigns, and the idea that…