The Corbomite Maneuver

Technically the first episode filmed after the 2nd pilot, "Where No Man Has Gone Before," this comes across as almost experimental, a dry run for the rest of the first season. You see rarely seen angles, such as from behind Kirk as he exits the turbolift onto the bridge. Though overall the episode comes across as not very eventful by the standards of most Trek episodes, its strengths are showcasing various crew members and their reactions to the presumed threat they face. Exploration is the key factor, as will be usual: the Enterprise is in an unknown sector of space and suddenly blocked by some revolving cube device. Forced to destroy this after it starts emitting radiation, Kirk now faces a choice or path - proceed further to face possible other dangers or turn around. We get a case study of how starship captains earn their pay - the buck seems to stop with him and his next decision could have long reaching ramifications. Within the possibilities of exploration, the theme here is the unknown: how do we, as a species, face it? Do we go on, advance, taking that risk, or do we stop and perhaps stagnate?

But despite grandiose ideas about mankind's future in exploring the galaxy, it boils down to the human equation of how men & women react and interact aboard such a ship. Guest star Call is excellent as the young navigator whom Kirk perhaps promoted too quickly. His nervous breakdown on the bridge is beautifully played. Then McCoy & Kirk get into it as the ship and crew have maybe three minutes of life to go, arguing over the distressed crewman. Even Spock seems uneasy as he fails to find an alternative for the now edgy Kirk, again a well-acted scene. It comes across as very true-to-life, a realistic study of people under tremendous pressure. Kirk's tactic of bluffing a far superior enemy shows, in the first of many such instances in the series, just how quickly and cannily Kirk thinks on his feet and why he is captain. No one aboard, including Spock (who prefers chess to poker) would have come up with such a play. That all being said, this episode is probably best remembered for that long shot of the colossal ship Fesarius approaching the Enterprise. With some of the best dramatic Trek score blaring away at us, it still gives me goose bumps.

'The Corbomite Maneuver' has the good stuff - drama, suspense - but it's mostly about attitude. When you're out there in deep space, dogged by (essentially) an intergalactic bully, do you fall to pieces like crewman Bailey (placeholder until a new navigator comes along) or do you hold steady in the captain's chair and outwit the pother guy with an epic bluff? In the end, it all turns out to be creepy Clint Howard behind all of this, and all he really wanted was a friend. But it's the poker-inspired standoff between himself and Kirk that really makes this one cool. You can see the seeds of the Kobayashi Maru being sown here with Kirk's creative solution to the problem, and it makes for some solid tension.

7/10

The Starship Enterprise is an old hand at meeting new cultures and William Shatner and the crew do not react hastily to challenges. Even though he's thoroughly provoked, Shatner does not react to the several provocations the Fesaurians give him.

Instead he runs a high stakes bluff with them when they with their large spaceship threatens to destroy the Enterprise. Shatner references poker in his dealings and DeForest Kelley offers to teach Leonard Nimoy the game. Imagine trying to run a bluff on that logical mind?

Of more concern to Captain Kirk is that Dr. McCoy thinks he may have promoted Anthony Call to the bridge too soon. Call does show signs of cracking under the strain.

In the end the Enterprise makes friends with the Fesaurians and what a surprise those humanoids turn out to be.

Like many other Star Trek episodes, The Corbomite Maneuver is a good exploration of an essential 20th century theme such as the futility of war, with the addition of a riveting portrait of what makes a commander worthy of the title, as seen in the episode's depiction of Captain Kirk's skills.

Once again, danger lies ahead as the Enterprise continues on its five-year mission. This time it's more serious than usual, since the mysterious alien attacker claims to be able to destroy the ship with no risk of anything stopping him, and therefore grants the crew ten minutes to pray or something to that effect. Of course, he hasn't considered Kirk who, being the stubborn son of a gun he's always been (when Spock points out the two always argue about decisions Kirk won't take back, the latter explains that arguing makes him feel good), threatens the alien by saying he has a device that will annihilate both the Enterprise and its attacker, and he's not afraid to use it. Obviously it's a bluff, but it may come with a price, as Kirk and his opponent engage in a dangerous battle of wits to determine who's more willing to go through with their alleged threats.

Whereas most Trek episodes have pretty predictable outcomes, mostly because of the formulaic structure of the scripts, The Corbomite Maneuver is commendable for offering a very neat and intelligent twist that sits well with the episode's overall critique of the political climate of the Cold War (yes, subtlety has never been one of the show's strengths, but NBC didn't care since it was sci-fi). The acting is as inspiring as ever (even William Shatner's much mocked speech patterns come off as more serious than usual), especially Clint Howard's (that's Ron's brother) cameo at the end. Fun, tense and clever.

Not so much a Cold War analogy as some Star Trek episodes tended to be, this particular installment of the classic 1960's Star Trek franchise dramatizes the push and pull, the ebb and flow, of two nations coming into conflict with one another, and how the game of denial, deception, and bluff (usually in the form of classic saber rattling) can remand relations to square one.

This is the genius of Star Trek. The ability to codify everyday experiences into a dramatized setting for comment. When I first viewed it I understood the underlying message, but not the entire theme and ramifications thereof. It would take another thirty years for me to go "Ah-HA! I get it now..." Oh sure, I understood the whole misunderstanding and suspicion thing, but I figured it was story filler. As it turns out, this episode, like nearly all Trek episodes, cleverly illustrates the extension of male oriented interpersonal relations manifested on a national level. A little counter to this high minded philosophizing is the introduction of a character on the bridge who represents the fear and loathing of the common man, and the innate reptile (or inner child) as he follows orders (or his inability thereof). And therein lies a whole other level of meaning above and beyond geo-politics.

Production Values; the SFX for 1960s television are what they are; i.e. not always convincing, but able to get their point across. Ditto with one artificial "alien", though this is countered by some optical effects and the overall thesping by the cast (including the voice actor for the off-screen dialog). I've not seen the remastered episodes, but, of all the classic Trek that have had their SFX and other production values tweaked for modern visual sensibilities, I'm very interested in seeing this one.

Enjoy.