The Conscience of the King

As one might suspect from the title, this episode is full of Shakespearian intrigue. Not Shakespearian dialogue, mind you, but rather the brand of violent skullduggery of which the Bard was fond.

Twenty years earlier on Tarsus (isn’t that a bone in your foot or a town in Palestine or something like that?) IV, the planet’s governor learned a valuable lesson: if you’re going to go down in history as a mass-murdering tyrant, at least hire some flacks to make sure you end up with a cool nickname. “Schickelgruber the Painter” is just embarrassing. Even “Il Duce” ain’t too great; it makes it sound like you’re in danger of being passed ‘pon the left-hand side. On the other hand, “Kodos the Executioner” rocks. I have no problem imagining Axl Rose wearing a T-shirt with that on it.

However, one of the problems with notoriety is that it can make it hard to settle into a post-crimes-against-humanity gig. Personally, I would have gone with something like “janitor” or “librarian” or “Journalism teacher in Wyandotte County,” one of those lonely jobs that don’t draw a lot of attention. Unfortunately for Kodos, for some reason he went with “actor.”

Fortunately for him, he didn’t leave a lot of survivors who could recognize him. Unfortunately for him, two of them happen to be aboard the Enterprise: Lieutenant Kevin Riley (the singing asshole from “The Naked Time”) and Captain Kirk. After sitting through a couple of performances of Shakespeare starring Anton Karidan (Arnold Moss), Kirk is almost sure the actor and the criminal are one and the same. Though his judgment may be a bit impaired by Karidan/Kodos’s smokin’ hot daughter whom the writer named Lenore (Barbara Anderson), an attempt on Riley’s life leaves little room for doubt.

Turns out all the new killing was perpetrated by Lenore with the obvious motive of eliminating witnesses to the old killings perpetrated by her father. Dear ol’ dad becomes her final victim when he steps in front of a phaser blast intended for Kirk.

The thing that stood out for me the most about this episode was the set work. It took me a minute or two to get past the idea that a ship the size of the Enterprise would have room to spare for an onboard theater. Even stranger, however, was the observation deck to which Kirk takes Lenore to pitch a little I’m-not-yet-sure-your-dad’s-a-monster woo. On one side is a charming star-scape. The other side, however, overlooks the shuttle bay. Is it just me, or is that kinda like having plate glass windows in your living room that afford you an excellent view of your garage?

Episode rating:

Stardate: 2817.6

Episode type: Enterprise crew

Written by: Barry Trivers

Original air date: December 8, 1966

The Menagerie / Balance of Terror

Back to the Star Trek index