Court Martial - episode #15
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Court Martial - episode #15
COURT MARTIAL (1st season; episode #15) Air Date: 02/02/67
Directed by Marc Daniels / / writers: Don M. Mankiewicz, Stephen W. Carabatsos
In this episode, Captain Kirk is under fire not by some cosmic menace threatening the galaxy, science gone mad or warlike aliens (such as the Romulans) but - perhaps even more frightening to him - by Starfleet itself, the one entity you'd think would always back him up. We get to see some of the inner workings of this organization here and the proceedings are not really different from current military trials and bureaucracy ("Regulations, captain" commodore Stone says to him at one point). The story takes place at Starbase 11, next seen in The Menagerie, part one, but here with a different commodore, played by Percy Rodriguez.
Cogley even makes a statement during the trial about machines having no rights; this attitude may change by the time of TNG, when the android Data was placed on trial over this very issue, in the episode The Measure of a Man. Cogley is strictly 'old school' and probably would not like living in the 24th century. I wonder how he, in his anti-machine attitude, would react to someone like Data. On the other hand, Cogley would probably be yelling "I told you all so!" after the events of The Ultimate Computer.
I also liked the rare glimpses we get here of the social, political and cultural atmosphere of the 23rd-century, including (of course) the legal system, as seen briefly at this starbase. I really liked, for example, the scene in the bar or lounge, where Kirk runs into some of his peers - it's a nice glimpse into Starfleet outside the usual parameters of the Enterprise. In most episodes, the Enterprise and its crew are off in the far reaches of space, exploring, a bit away from the encompassing blanket of the Federation. In Court Martial, Kirk and crew are in the center of it.
The starbase is like an extension of prototypical 23rd-century civilization, a clear sampling of how we have expanded our society to other worlds. The episode, overall, is a little on the dull side, unless one is really enamored of courtroom drama. The revelation near the conclusion may surprise viewers who have not seen this before. It's a little on the hokey side, however, and maybe a bit too neat.
The Sun Sets on Starfleet and Civilization Proceeds...
Extra Trek Trivia: this was the first episode where someone speaks out-loud of Starfleet and Starfleet Command - Roddenberry and his writers finally nailed down the terminology at this point, rather than using such generic phrases as 'Space Command' or 'United Space Probe Agency.' Remastered FX scenes
Last edited by BoG on Sat May 02, 2015 11:12 pm; edited 4 times in total
Court Martial full episode
CLASSIC TREK QUOTES:
McCoy: "Well I had to see it to believe it!"
Spock: "Explain."
McCoy: "They're about to lop off the captain's professional head and you're sitting here playing chess with the computer!"
Spock: "That is true."
McCoy: "Mr. Spock, you're the most cold-blooded man I've ever known!"
Spock: "Why, thank you, Doctor..."
------ (McCoy turns to leave before he does something he may regret later)
- Spoiler:
- Spock: "...I've just won my fourth game."
McCoy: "That's impossible!"
Stone: "Counsels will direct their remarks to the bench!"
Cogley: "Oh, I'd be delighted to, sir, now that I have something HUMAN to talk about! Rights, sir – HUMAN rights! The Bible. The Code of Hammurabi. And of Justinian. The Magna Carta. The Constitution of the United States. The Fundamental Declarations of the Martian Colonies. The Statutes of Alpha III. Gentlemen, these documents all speak of RIGHTS! Rights of the accused to a trial by his peers, to be represented by counsel, the rights of cross-examination, but most importantly, the right to be confronted by the witnesses against him – a right to which my client has been denied!"
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