Star Trek: 0020: "Court Martial"

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The Original Series (1967)
Season 1: Episode 20: “Court Martial"

Stardate: 2947.3 (2265/12/01 - 18:20:55)

Story by: Don M. Mankiewicz
Teleplay by: Don M. Mankiewicz, Stephen W. Carabatsos
Directed by: Marc Daniels

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PLOT INTRODUCTION

Arriving at Starbase 11, Kirk faces court-martial for negligence in the death of a colleague. Accused by the victim's family and persecuted by a former lover, Kirk's career seems doomed.

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REVIEW

"In the name of humanity, fading in the shadow of the machine"

Now here’s an underappreciated episode if ever there was one. ‘Court Martial’ plays out like any other well conceived court room drama except with excellent sci-fi twists and with characters who we have had many hours now to get to know. It has to be said, for a science fiction show that rarely ever left its genre; Star Trek did well here, never seeming amateur or silly. It also greatly expands on the rather simple judicial system seen during ‘The Menagerie’ and uses guest and recurring characters well throughout, creating a very memorable episode.

The premise of the show (Kirk being accused responsible for the death of a crew member) finally gives the show a little bit of grounding at least when it comes to all those red-shirt deaths. Many people have remarked that it is strange that this one case is investigated when in fact many people have died at Kirk’s command before. I however don’t find this a problem: The problem with this crew member’s death is that Kirk essentially shot the man between the eyes by jettisoning him out into space without any real reason. Other deaths on the show haven’t been as directly linked with the Captain and have usually been at the hands of another force. The very beginning of the episode in which Kirk and Commodore Stone are conversing establishes that these people know each other and that they have been through this before (with the other deaths). The big shock this time though is that Kirk is seemingly to blame, and so he goes on trial. I apologise for that long winded explanation but I feel that it is something that needed to be cleared up (there will be another one later too I’m afraid). The devil’s in the details, someone said.

The initial questioning of Kirk from the Commodore is a brilliantly performed scene from both Shatner and Rodriguez, eventually escalating into a whirlwind exchange of angry and passionate words. The back-story told by Kirk never bores and has a definite interesting nature to it. It also sets up the rest of the episode and establishes a more emotional motive to be found under the events that have transpired. It also helps to have a former lover of Kirk on the prosecution side, acting against Kirk. Just a simple small detail such as this really goes a long way in furthering the conflict during the court room scenes.

Perhaps my favourite set of scenes during ‘Court Martial’ involves the testimonies of Spock and McCoy. Spock at first testifies that he believes his Captain to be even more reliable than a computer and that he has no reservations about trusting his word over that of a machine. McCoy in a much similar vein goes on to say that he believes Kirk to be far more reliable and unlikely to break-under-pressure than any other man might; Two statements that may not scratch any of the trio’s personal relationship’s surface, but it certainly does show how these two have grown to admire Kirk, in a professional sense.

Essentially, ‘Court Martial’ isn’t an episode about character development, it’s about character establishment. It fills in the little cracks of knowledge that we don’t know and it reaffirms certain qualities that we may have already known. Kirk in particular is shown in definite Captain-mode, stern, confident and always in command. It’s a side that Kirk will often tone down when on general duty, but in situations such as this, it’s good to see him take charge; realise what the problem is and do what has to be done. What the episode does best however is that it shows us the strings that bind Kirk, Spock & McCoy together. It shows their closeness and absolute trust in each other, never stopping in trying to prove Kirk’s innocence.

Eventually the team’s combined effort pays off, refuting the otherwise very shocking and convincing evidence of Kirk jettisoning Finney whilst on yellow alert (Daniels does a brilliant job directing very tense scenes as usual, and this was particularly well-done). This paves way for an unexpected twist in the plot that utilises a strange but completely believable sci-fi plot device: The scene where there is only one heartbeat left beating for the bridge to hear is extremely effective and a brilliant way to certify the episode’s eventual outcome.

So in the end we learn that Kirk is innocent; it was all an elaborate sabotage, masterminded by the supposed victim himself. Finney is now painted in a tragic light, shown to be a man driven crazy by lost ambition, refusing to accept responsibility and blaming others for his mistakes. Here is a man that is so tormented by his failure that he decides he cannot rest until both Kirk and the Enterprise go down with him; until Kirk’s glorious name is shunned and he becomes a mere shadow of his former glory. Perhaps this is what I loved most about ‘Court Martial’; it is rich in back-story but is never over-indulgent; It knows what is essential to conflict, suspense and drama and it uses it wisely, eventually climaxing with a fantastic battle between the two men in conflict. When I talk of the battle I’m not referring to the mediocre fist fight with obvious stunt doubles, I’m talking about the battle of words that occurs between them. It reminded me somewhat of ‘Where No Man Has Gone Before’ and comes to a close just as well.

My one problem with the ‘Court Martial’ is that it is undoubtedly dry. There is next to no humour or internal or personal conflict until the last ten minutes. Plus, I didn’t quite appreciate the Absolute Final Ending, but nevertheless I tend to enjoy this one a lot more than others. With some great performances, a solid script, intense direction and a focus on human conflict rather than extraterrestrial, ‘Court Martial’ is definitely a well-made hour of TV, and an original one for Star Trek at that.



Written by Jamie Robert Ward, 10/11/2007.