Court Martial

This episode is a little difficult for me to review because I love the first two thirds and I find the final third frustrating and annoying. Let's start with the plot. The story opens with Kirk and the Enterprise visiting Starbase 11 for repairs and to report the death of records Officer Ben Finney, who was jettisoned with a pod during an ion-storm (gotta watch out for those ion-storms).

It is revealed that Kirk and Finney have quite a past; once the closest of friends Finney ends up resenting Kirk for an incident years before when Kirk reported a mistake that Finney made, which Finney believes is what has held him back from promotion. The ship's computer records shows that Kirk jettisoned the pod too early for Finney to escape, the action then follows Kirk's Court Martial hearing, his defence (or lack of it) Samuel T. Cogley Attorney at Law; and the kicker of the Prosecution Lawyer, Areel Shaw, being an old flame from Jim's past (four years, seven months, and an odd number of days, but who's counting? Areel obviously...ha ha).

The court martial hearing has one of Shatner's finest performances in all of the original series. His intense and wonderfully underplayed speech defending himself, his actions and expressing his passion for his ship is a marvel to behold and still gives me shivers after forty years viewing.

The prosecution's rests upon the recorded evidence of the Ship's Computer Log; which is damning and shows Kirk jettisoning the pod whilst there was still only a Yellow Alert, meaning in effect that Kirk did not warn Finney about the action. The prosecution's case also puts forward the possibility that Kirk hated Finney and either consciously or unconsciously wanted him dead.

A claim that Kirk denies.

During an adjournment McCoy finds Spock in the Rec room playing chess with the ship's computer and (of course) accuses him of being blasé about the case; but of course Spock has a reason for his seemingly bizarre behaviour. He has beaten the computer 4 times, an impossibility as he himself had programmed the computer and so the best result he could achieve would be a draw, thus proving that the computer had been tampered with. Spock and McCoy rush back to the now concluding hearing (pausing only to change into their dress uniforms...LOL), and provide the necessary information to Cogley just in the nick of time...phew.

Now we get into the slow and rather boring part of the episode; the hearing is re-convened aboard the Enterprise (after an impassioned speech by Cogley about the rights of the accused to face his accuser - the computer). We then have to go through a drawn out process to discover that Finney is not in fact dead, but hiding on board the ship. Kirk confronts him, only to discover the Enterprises orbit is decaying because Finney has 'tapped out the main energy circuits' they fight, Kirk gets his shirt ripped and Finney is over-powered.

Back on the bridge we get the pleasure of seeing Uhura jump into the Navigation station and save the ship by some handy work at the computer...phew again.

Areel Shaw tells Kirk that Cogley is now going on to defend Finney in his Court Martial and then asks the Captain if he can kiss her whilst they are on the Bridge, he does, she leaves Spock and McCoy don't dare look at him, he tells them "She's a very fine lawyer", Spock responds with a clipped "Obviously"; Bones with "Indeed she is." End of episode.