A Private Little War
Kirk returns to a peaceful planet her surveyed as a young officer to find his friends under attack from weaponry far beyond the world's development. The balance of power must be restored.
The Garden of Eden again? It could work just as well without the Paradise allegory. The Cold War-Vietnam comparison is much more novel. He makes a tough decision to keep the hill people armed, even if it takes a long time to get there. For a people who've just discovered flintlocks, these villagers sure know how to hurt our officers! Spock shot in the back, Kirk bit by a Mugatu, Bones grazed by a bullet - oh dear! The healing does allow us to spend time with the natives. Tyree is able to transcend his silly wig and become a sympathetic character, forced to violence and vengeance. Nona, however, looks and acts dumb. Her "love potion" is an unnecessary element, and Kirk's "You are beautiful!" is laughable. Her only poignant moment comes when she dies, with a superior weapon in hand. Spock's healing process is perhaps meant to provide comic relief, but Nurse Chapel's antics don't amuse. So, kind of a mish-mash episode, but it does firmly establish the Klingons as Soviet stand-ins, and again puts Kirk in the devil's advocate position. (The Biblical references are too tempting to resist.)
Spock Saves the Day: Spock takes command and beams Kirk up.
Oops: Er, shot in the back with a flintlock . . ?
Developments: The stages of Vulcan healing don't really seem logical, but their biological processes are understood to be more erratic than their thoughts. Good to have an expert aboard, since Bones doesn't seem to know what he's doing with Spock half the time. "His heart's where his liver should be" isn't very considerate. Kirk is worried about his friend, snapping at the bridge crew, but they all understand his agitation.