Kirk, McCoy and Scotty are on the planet Argelius II, enjoying some 'therapeutic shore leave'. Scotty leaves a night club with sultry belly dancer Kara, but is discovered moments later standing over the woman's dead body holding a bloody knife, but claiming he cannot remember what happened.
An investigation ensues, but things look even worse for Scott when two more women in his company wind up dead (Argelian empath Sybo and sexy red skirt Lt. Karen Tracy). Fortunately, the Enterprise is equipped with a box of flashing lights that can prove a man's innocence; with this amazing bit of kit, Kirk is able to find out who is really responsible for the murders, although the culprit's identity comes as something of a surprise, for it is none other than Red Jack AKA Saucy Jacky AKA Jack the Ripper of Old London Town. The infamous ripper is subsequently revealed to be an immortal, non-corporeal entity that lives on the emotion of fear and which possesses people to commit murder.
The idea of Kirk and his crew battling a Victorian serial killer is a pretty daft one, but certainly no sillier than quite a few Trek episodes. I'm willing to forgive the ludicrous premise because Wolf In The Fold is actually very entertaining, a classic murder mystery with a sci-fi setting that delivers intrigue, horror (the Rippers' victims are stabbed multiple times and there's a spooky Argelian seance), suspense, and atmosphere - it's particularly creepy when the killer possesses the Enterprise's computer and tries to frighten the crew with a disembodied voice.
The ending is perhaps a tad rushed, Kirk despatching the killer with ease by beaming it into space at 'maximum dispersion, but overall this one is a lot of fun.
7/10.
