10 Historical Figures That Appeared In Star Trek

Let us first remember that, with the Ripper case, we are talking about the brutal killings of at least five women with real lives, real hopes, and the very real right to our respect. The Original Series episode is already problematic enough in its attitude towards women for us to forget this fact.

Many (many!) have claimed over the years to know the identity of Jack the Ripper but, as Philip Sugden, who wrote the book on the matter (The Complete History of Jack the Ripper [3rd ed., 2002]), states, "It is exceedingly unlikely that the murderer will be unmasked now". Well, that was of course until the 23rd century. A boon or a blunder to all the Ripperologists out there, the mystery of Whitechapel's most infamous serial killer was definitively solved in The Original Series episode Wolf in the Fold.

As the episode opens, Scotty is having some time off to get his rocks off on the "completely hedonistic" Argelius II because, as McCoy notes, one error caused by a female crewmember has led him to resent all women. What?! And you thought Freud gave out some dodgy diagnoses!

Scott soon becomes the main suspect in a series of murders of which he claims to have no memory – he is caught each time with bloody knife in hand. Long story short, an investigation finds that an entity which feeds on fear (women are by nature more easily frightened than men apparently so it targets them… *facepalm*) is the real culprit. Now calling itself Redjack but having also been Jack the Ripper and other serial killers in the past, it had taken control of the body of Argelius' chief city administrator Mr Hengist to commit the crimes. Eventually, the lifeform is beamed into space in a billion little pieces, and everyone has a good old laugh, still high off that tranquiliser.

Later, in The Next Generation episode Relics, Scotty refers to the whole incident as "a wee bit of trouble".