Court Martial

What should have been one of the worst first season episodes is salvaged by solid performances by William Shatner and guest stars Percy Rodriguez and Elisha Cook Jr, good editing and directing. Cook is especially charming as the defense attorney representing Kirk in a court martial concerning the death of a Lieutenant Commander who shares a rocky history with our captain, and Shatner's acting is spot-on for this difficult episode. Daniels' directing is also fairly good, but hampered by the limitations of the plot.

The initial premise is promising. Kirk is charged with negligence in the death of a Lt Comm Finney, whose career has been overshadowed consistently by Kirk's. Kirk repeatedly claims that he jettisoned Finney's pod after declaring a red alert and telling Finney to get to safety, but the ship's video record and computer logs tell a very different story. (Incidentally, one of the most ridiculous use of props I have ever seen in ST occurs in the crucial courtroom scene involving the video logs - take a close look at the control panel Kirk uses to jettison the pod. How many pods does the Enterprise jettison in a given day, and why does the Captain do this himself from a control panel on his arm rest???).

Unfortunately, just as the full story is revealed, the episode devolves into a poorly considered, rather cliché conclusion - which I will not discuss in order to avoid a spoiler.

This episode is rather dull and actually didn't make much sense. Even though Kirk has shown himself a very capable officer and has a long list of amazing exploits to his credit, he is framed and faces a court martial--gee, Federation, thanks for the vote of confidence!! About the only highlight in the show is the guest appearance of character actor, Elisha Cook. He was a fine actor and added a nice performance to the show. But apart from that, the show was way too static and uninvolving. Even the "surprise ending" was pretty dull and learning that Kirk had, some time back, "bagged" the female prosecuting attorney (is there ANY female Kirk hasn't put the moves on?!).

This episode is soo well written and acted i enjoyed every minute the story involves kirk being court martialed for the wrongful death of a crewman but theres one thing wrong the computer says he jettisoned the pod killing the crewman initially and the computer never makes a mistake this episode featured kirk being prosecuted by a woman he used to know and every actor involved did a terrific job if you want to see the best season 1 has to offer watch this theres never a dull moment

"Court Martial" (Feb. 2, 1967) Old TV Guide synopsis: 'A computer offers damaging evidence against Kirk, who has been brought to trial for criminal negligence.' An episode that seems to divide fans, I always enjoyed this courtroom drama where a Federation starship captain is tried for negligence and willful perjury, brought by Percy Rodrigues as Commodore Stone (Malachi Throne played a similar character in "The Menagerie"). It's nice to see longtime Hollywood veteran Elisha Cook as the bibliophilic attorney Samuel T. Cogley, pitted against the glamorous Joan Marshall as Areel Shaw, among Kirk's numerous loves scattered across the universe. Richard Webb had starred in his own syndicated series, BORDER PATROL, and would be typecast thereafter as lawmen for the most part (1972's "Beware! The Blob"). McCoy gets the best line as he berates Spock's seeming disinterest in his captain's fate while playing chess aboard the Enterprise: "you're the most cold blooded man I've ever known" "why, thank you doctor!"

This may be the ultimate emperor's new clothes episode.

It's interesting as the first Trek courtroom episode, but the lawyer vanishes entirely. Shatner has a lengthy voiceover in the last act to cover this up.

Kirk's foe is impossibly deranged to have been hiding all this time and his "plan" is ridiculous.

I can live with the Enterprise falling out of orbit so quickly because orbital mechanics were much less understood by those outside the space programs in the 60s. But risking the ship by beaming almost everybody off for a court proceeding?