I love TOS. But once in awhile something makes you think. On Youtube I came across a clip from “Wolf In The Fold” where Hengist, while possessed by the Jack the Ripper entity, is tranquillized then beamed out into space.
Yes. they killed the entity, but what of Hengist? We can assume the entity controlled him from the beginning, but was Hengist even aware that he’d been possessed? At some point prior to the entity possessing him Hengist must have been himself and his own person. But here Hengist was killed and he never had any say in the matter.
Given the entity can transfer from one person to another it could kill with impunity given the similar crimes could be perpetuated by different people the entity chooses to possess at any given time. In Scotty’s case the entity could have been “on the prowl” so to speak and came across the convenient setting of Scotty escorting the dancer home, wherein he possessed Scotty in order to kill the girl. The entity then took flight leaving Scotty completely disoriented with a bloody knife in his hand.
Scotty’s assertions of not remembering what happened support the idea the entity completely overwhelms whomever it possesses wherein they’re not even aware of whats happening and what they’re physically doing. So Hengist, like Scotty, could have committed murders and not even have been aware of it.
So we’re expected to exonerate and forgive Scotty for something he could not prevent, but Hengist gets de-materialized without any chance to exonerate himself.
Of course, there is the question of whether Hengist was ever a willing participant. Maybe the entity chose him because it sensed something like minded in Hengist. Who knows.
It’s not my intention to trash the episode. TOS is by far my favourite television series. But, as I said, sometimes you see something that makes you think.
Yes. they killed the entity, but what of Hengist? We can assume the entity controlled him from the beginning, but was Hengist even aware that he’d been possessed? At some point prior to the entity possessing him Hengist must have been himself and his own person. But here Hengist was killed and he never had any say in the matter.
Given the entity can transfer from one person to another it could kill with impunity given the similar crimes could be perpetuated by different people the entity chooses to possess at any given time. In Scotty’s case the entity could have been “on the prowl” so to speak and came across the convenient setting of Scotty escorting the dancer home, wherein he possessed Scotty in order to kill the girl. The entity then took flight leaving Scotty completely disoriented with a bloody knife in his hand.
Scotty’s assertions of not remembering what happened support the idea the entity completely overwhelms whomever it possesses wherein they’re not even aware of whats happening and what they’re physically doing. So Hengist, like Scotty, could have committed murders and not even have been aware of it.
So we’re expected to exonerate and forgive Scotty for something he could not prevent, but Hengist gets de-materialized without any chance to exonerate himself.
Of course, there is the question of whether Hengist was ever a willing participant. Maybe the entity chose him because it sensed something like minded in Hengist. Who knows.
It’s not my intention to trash the episode. TOS is by far my favourite television series. But, as I said, sometimes you see something that makes you think.
