Kirk and company encounter a planet run by a computer, aka Landru, who has complete control over the population of the planet.
The only time the people are “allowed” to do what they want is a time known as Festival. If I remember, it runs for about 12 hours and the people go slap crazy....much destruction, sexual aggressiveness, mayhem (or chicago on a saturday night). When festival is over, the people go back to being controlled by Landru.
The premise of the Purge reminded me of this episode.
I think the idea in the Return of the Archons clearly was drawn from the Amish Rumspringa. Even the clothes in the episode look similar to Amish wear. So this was the visit to the Amish Planet for Kirk and company.
Amish Rumspringa
Amish teenagers benefit of a period of time when they are free from the religious rules and allowed to experiment aspects of American culture, such as to drive cars, have a life on their own, drink and others without suffering consequences from elders. The word itself originates in the literal translation of “running around” in Pennsylvania German.
A traditional Amish family is very bound and leads its life after religious rules. Their religious lifestyle forgoes using electricity, cars or cell phones and imposes the wear of modest clothes all the time. The usual clothing for women consists in long dresses, along with bonnets. Men wear suits and have beards. Going frequently to church is part of their way of living. Young people may not apply all these rules and traditional behaviors during the Rumspringa.
This period of freedom starts with the age of 16. There are many Amish teenagers who, during Rumspringa, continue to live at home with their parents, but some choose to move out. The mainstream American culture is referred to as “English” life style and it includes driving cars, going to bars and nightclubs and also dating people who are not Amish. This period lasts for about two years, after which the young people are supposed to return to the community, be baptized and continue living the Amish way of life.