Court Martial
An inquiry into the death of Lieutenant Commander Benjamin Finney (the records officer on board the Enterprise) is conducted at Starbase 11. Finney died while the Enterprise was caught in an ion storm. Kirk insists that he had the ship at Red Alert just before Finney was killed but the ship’s records indicate that the ship was at Yellow Alert. Commodore Stone concludes that Captain Kirk committed perjury and may be guilty of willful negligence in the death of Finney.
Commodore Stone suggests Kirk be relieved of command and transferred to a ground assignment. Kirk balks at the suggestion which leads Stone to point out that the only other option is a general court martial.
Kirk meets up with Areel Shaw, an old flame, before the court martial begins. He learns that she is the prosecutor in the case. She recommends that he retain Samuel T. Cogley, attorney-at-law, as his lawyer.
The court martial begins. Commodore Stone and three other high ranking officers serve as the judges in the case. Mister Spock, Doctor McCoy, and the Enterprise’s HR officer are all called to testify. It is pointed out that there may have been some bad blood between Kirk and Finney dating back to an incident several years before.
A replay of the ship’s video recording of activity on the bridge at the time that Finney was killed doesn’t back up Kirk’s assertion that he had the ship go to Red Alert before Finney was killed.
Mister Spock double-checks the Enterprise’s computer. He finds no problems at first but then he discovers that something isn’t quite right when he beats the computer in four consecutive games of chess. He relays this information to Samuel T. Cogley who uses it in his closing arguments.
The court martial moves to the Enterprise. Cogley and Kirk prove that there’s only one person who had the motive and means to sabotage the Enterprise’s computer, Benjamin Finney. Mister Spock and Doctor McCoy then prove that there is someone aboard the Enteeprise who shouldn’t be there. Captain Kirk proves that it it Lieutenant Commander Finney and subdues him after a fist fight breaks out between the two men in Engineering. The charges are dropped and the case is dismissed.
Thoughts
They never really made any attempt to explain what happened with the ship’s computer other than to say that Finney messed with it.
It seemed a little nuts to me that they let Areel Shaw prosecute the case considering her past relationship with the defendant. Kirk said he didn't have any objections but it still seemed kind of preposterous to me.
I love how whacked out crazy Finney seems once he finally makes his presence known.
I’ve seen this episode at least once before (in 2015) but I suspect that wasn't the first time I watched it. It’s a really good episode but that doesn’t mean that it doesn’t rush through some things.
Notes
Percy Rodrigues played the part of Commodore Stone. This is the only episode of Star Trek in which he appeared. He looks familiar but I’m not sure what else I’ve seen him in. He made guest appearances on a number of shows I watched while growing up.
Elisha Cook, Jr. played the part of Samuel T. Cogley. This is the only episode of Star Trek in which he appeared. I’ve seen him in numerous movies. He was also in the episode of Alfred Hitchcock Presents (1955) that I watched yesterday, 1.06 Salvage.
Joan Marshall played the part of Areel Shaw. This is the only episode of Star Trek in which she appeared. She looks familiar but I’m not sure what else I might have seen her in. She was in one episode of The Twilight Zone (1959), but not one that I have watched yet.
Richard Webb played the part of Lieutenant Commander Benjamin Finney. This is the only episode of Star Trek in which he appeared. He has been in three movies that I have seen in the past few years but he wasn’t the lead actor in any of them: Sullivan’s Travels (1941), Out of the Past (1947), and The Big Clock (1948).
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