Star Trek Flashback: The Conscience of the King

Star Trek has a long history of referencing Shakespeare -- in episode titles, in characters reciting quotes, and even in plot points. The first example of it stretches back to the original series, in the first season episode "The Conscience of the King."

A friend of Captain Kirk summons him (and the Enterprise) under false pretenses to meet Anton Karidian, the leader of a traveling acting troupe. In fact, this friend insists, Karidian is really Kodos the Executioner, a butcher who exterminated half the population of a planetary colony. To bring Kodos to justice, his identity must be confirmed -- and Kirk is one of the few eyewitnesses to his crimes. But Kirk also isn't sure whether to trust in his own memories.

Though there were many effective allusions to Shakespeare in Star Trek's future (especially once The Next Generation brought Patrick Stewart to the table), I find this effort to be the weakest episode so far in the original series' first season. It starts with a premise that simply doesn't make sense. There are both photos and audio recordings of Kodos the Executioner, and yet somehow only an eyewitness can confirm his identity? I understand that no one making this episode in the 1960s had any concept of computer-driven facial recognition... but the episode does contemplate both computer voice analysis and the fact that eyewitness statements are among the least reliable evidence upon which to base a prosecution. It simply isn't clear what Kirk is really expected to do in this story.

And indeed, he doesn't do much. In a rather stark about-face from the commanding bravado we've seen so far in the series, James Kirk spends most of this episode stewing in his own doubts. He does nothing to bring the story to a conclusion; Karidian confesses his identity in a conversation overheard by happenstance, and then is accidentally killed. Kirk is little more than a bystander.

That's not to say we get a completely unfamiliar Captain Kirk, though. His role in the story is to flirt with Karidian's daughter Lenore, in one of the earliest Kirk-as-love-interest subplots that would come to define the character. This iteration of that is both uncomfortable (given how young Lenore is supposed to be) and surprisingly sophisticated (since it turns out she's chasing him more than he's chasing her, and for ulterior motives). But I think it's safe to say this episode doesn't represent a shining moment for Captain Kirk.

It's a stronger moment for Spock, who uses logic to ferret out information Kirk is hiding from him. He also has none of Kirk's reservations; weighing the evidence, Spock concludes that obviously Karidian is Kodos, and indeed is proven correct in the end. It's also a decent episode for the secondary character Keven Riley, who returns here in a serious role after the far less serious "The Naked Time." Weirdly, this wasn't written as a return of the character; actor Bruce Hyde just happened to be cast again, and then his character was renamed when it was realized he'd already appeared on Star Trek.

The entire story bends over backwards to map to Shakespeare, highlighting a weird relationship between father and daughter that culminates in one killing the other and then going insane (in a development that not even Doctor McCoy can scientifically explain). Along the way, guest actor Arnold Moss gives a real "play for the back row of the house" kind of performance that feels too big for television (even 1960s television). Thus, the episode is another (less fortunate) Star Trek first: an episode that focuses so much on the guest characters that it forgets to involve the main characters.

Other observations: 

• We're told that in the production of Macbeth we see in the opening scene, Karidian is playing the title role and his daughter Lenore is playing Lady Macbeth. Ew.

• I kind of wonder if Kodos' actions here -- to kill half the population of his colony so that the survivors could have more resources -- served as inspiration for the Marvel Comics character of Thanos. Even the names are kind of similar.

• At a dinner party, we actually hear a lounge music version of the Star Trek theme! 

• It's worth noting the role of Yeoman Rand in this episode: she has no dialogue at all, and just one scene in which she stares daggers at Lenore. Grace Lee Whitney already knew she'd been fired from the show when she filmed this, in part because of the feeling that her character was interfering with putting Kirk in romantic situations. It feels like no acting was required in this final, ignominious moment for character and actor. (Even if one more episode with Rand, previously filmed, would air later.)

• In a truly weird exchange, Spock implies that Vulcans don't have alcohol, and then McCoy suggests that's why they were conquered. (By whom?)

• We get another lengthy musical interlude featuring Nichelle Nichols singing as Uhura.

• Classic Star Trek occasionally gives us the most humorously low-tech props. Here, when Kevin Riley is poisoned, we see a gloved hand just use a common spray bottle to put Windex (or something) in his drink.

• When a phaser overload threatens to destroy a deck of the ship, Kirk declares a "double red alert!"

"The Conscience of the King" doesn't really hold together for me. If I weren't engaged in a complete re-watch of the original series, I'd never sit down to watch it. I give it a D.