Star Trek: "The Empath"

Data
Title: Star Trek: “The Empath”
Year: 1968
Network: NBC
Episode: the twelfth (of twenty-four) from season three; 50 minutes
Creator: Gene Roddenberry
Director: John Erman
Writer: Joyce Muskat
Starring: William Shatner
With: Leonard Nimoy, DeForest Kelley, Kathryn Hays, Alan Bergmann
Music: Alexander Courage (theme); George Duning
Cinematography: Gerald Perry Finnerman
Editing: Donald R. Rode
I saw it: on video and TV several times, most recently yesterday (have on DVD)
Synopsis: aliens torture Kirk & friends in an experiment

My reaction
Concept:
Story: If you can learn anything from Star Trek, it's that the galaxy is filled with technologically advanced species that exist purely to teach/learn a lame moral (such as the mind-blowing "compassion is good" or "war is bad").
Characters:
Dialog:
Pacing:
Cinematography:
Special effects/design: Bare stage!
Acting:
Music:
Subjective Rating: 6/10 (Okay, ). There are too many cliches, but at least it makes sense. Seems like it's been a while since one of these episodes has made sense.
Objective Rating (Average):