For those of you wxig nostalgic for Star Trek reviews, “The Night of the Freebooters” has a couple big trek connections. First, it was written by Gene L. Coon. He wrote a number of episodes for the series, but is more famous for creating the prime Directive an Klingons for Trek. Second,--speaking of Klingons, William Campbell stars here as a henchman Campbell is most well know for playing Trrelane I TOS ad the Klingon Koloth in TOS and DS9. The plot here is nothing new. A renegade American colonel has recruited a band of outlaws and mercenaries to tae over Mexico. Jim goes undercover as recruit, is eventually discovered, and has to be rescued by Artie in drag. Artie makes one butt ugly woman, too, let me tell you. He plays a madam, no less. What would Miss Kitty think?
The twist is the colonel has invented the tank. The Mexican army has no defense against it, but neither do the mercenaries when Jim steals it to use against them.
The plot may be nothing new, but the episode is good otherwise. There is more action than in a typical episode with far more gunplay than usual. I do not necessarily think firefight resolutions automatically make for good storytelling, but every nowand then, that is how things should work out. “The Night of the Freebooters” is nothing special, but it is not boring.
Rating: *** (out of 5)
