Yeah, sure, that's what she meant...
Star Trek TOS Re-Watch
- Thread starter Commander Troi
- Start date
"Court Martial" by Don M. Mankiewicz and Steven W. Carabatsos
Wow. I can't imagine how long it's been since I've seen this. I'd forgotten practically everything!
The Enterprise has put in for repairs. One crewmember was lost during an ion storm. Kirk swears that he didn't eject the pod until the last possible moment, after a red alert was started. However, the computer log says he ejected while still under yellow alert.
The crewman, Finney, was friends with Kirk in the past, but that friendship was strained when Kirk reported an incident where Finney made an error. Finney then blamed Kirk for his lack of advancement. Finney's daughter, Jamie, distraught, comes in calling Kirk a murderer.
Word gets around fast on these starbases! Stopping at the bar, Kirk and Bones find that everyone already assumes Kirk is guilty. We meet Areel Shaw, an old flame of Kirk's.
There's an Inquiry. We get the background on Finney and Kirk (see above). Stone gives Kirk the option of quietly stepping down and burying the whole thing. Kirk refuses, opting for the trial, as he's sure he did nothing wrong. But computers cannot lie.
Back at the bar, Kirk meets with Shaw and finds out she's prosecuting him. She refers him to Samuel Cogley for his defense. Cogley is All About Those Books.
The trial itself is fascinating. This is the first courtroom episode in the series. Spock refers to himself as Vulcanian. One of the members of the tribunal is Indian. The personnel officer of the Enterprise is a young Asian woman. Even in these tiny roles, that was a Big Deal and we need to applaud the casting director.
I love Cogley letting Kirk's service record go on.
Between that and Spock's testimony, it's obvious that Kirk isn't the sort to panic or do something cowardly. We get a view of the computer log - obviously things are recorded. It shows Kirk pushing the eject button while still on yellow alert. It doesn't look good for Our Captain! Back in his quarters, Kirk even has a moment where he wonders if he did it, but rejects the idea.
Spock has checked the computer thoroughly and nothing's wrong with it. However, in talking to Kirk, Spock gets an idea. Meanwhile, Jamie comes in and asks Cogley to get Kirk to stand down, no longer blaming him and wanting to save him.
Spock is playing chess with the computer - and beating it. He realizes it was tampered with and he and McCoy rush back to the trial.
Cogley's remarks about human rights were probably the first time I'd ever heard of the Code of Hammurabi the Magna Carta. Cogley requests - no demands! - they reconvene aboard the Enterprise. Spock testifies about beating the computer and that the only people who could've reprogrammed it were himself, Kirk... and Finney!
I love the look on Kirk's face when he realizes that Cogley is saying that Finney isn't dead.
COGLEY: Describe a phase one search.
KIRK: It's a painstaking, thorough attempt in and around the ship to find a man who's presumably injured and unable to respond.
COGLEY: It presupposes, does it not, that a man wishes to be found?
KIRK: I beg your pardon?
We get a fun little thing with heartbeats being heard by the computer and McCoy gradually "shutting off" each of the people left on the ship (it was evacuated). After everyone is eliminated, one heartbeat remains.
Kirk's log switches to past tense here, recorded after the events. Cogley went to get Jamie to help calm Finney. But Finney has gone coocoo for cocopuffs.
FINNEY: They told you to do it to me. You all conspired against me.
There's a fight. Sadly, I could easily see the stunt doubles. Kirk's shirt tears. Finney has sabotaged the ship so the orbit is decaying and can't be stopped. Kirk has to fix it. Uhura takes navigation (yay!)
The wrap-up:
SHAW: Do you think it would cause a complete breakdown of discipline if a lowly lieutenant kissed a Starship Captain on the bridge of his ship?
KIRK: Let's try.
To be fair, it's a very sweet and chaste kiss.
Spock and McCoy are stone-faced, pretending to have seen nothing. 
Wikipedia says, "This is the first episode to refer to the organization the main characters are part of as Starfleet and the top of the hierarchy being Starfleet Command. It is also the first appearance of a starbase in the series."
A good little story, setting the stage for courtroom stories throughout the various series.
Next is The Menagerie, which I may skip right now. Or I may not.
Wow. I can't imagine how long it's been since I've seen this. I'd forgotten practically everything!
The Enterprise has put in for repairs. One crewmember was lost during an ion storm. Kirk swears that he didn't eject the pod until the last possible moment, after a red alert was started. However, the computer log says he ejected while still under yellow alert.
The crewman, Finney, was friends with Kirk in the past, but that friendship was strained when Kirk reported an incident where Finney made an error. Finney then blamed Kirk for his lack of advancement. Finney's daughter, Jamie, distraught, comes in calling Kirk a murderer.
Word gets around fast on these starbases! Stopping at the bar, Kirk and Bones find that everyone already assumes Kirk is guilty. We meet Areel Shaw, an old flame of Kirk's.
There's an Inquiry. We get the background on Finney and Kirk (see above). Stone gives Kirk the option of quietly stepping down and burying the whole thing. Kirk refuses, opting for the trial, as he's sure he did nothing wrong. But computers cannot lie.
Back at the bar, Kirk meets with Shaw and finds out she's prosecuting him. She refers him to Samuel Cogley for his defense. Cogley is All About Those Books.
The trial itself is fascinating. This is the first courtroom episode in the series. Spock refers to himself as Vulcanian. One of the members of the tribunal is Indian. The personnel officer of the Enterprise is a young Asian woman. Even in these tiny roles, that was a Big Deal and we need to applaud the casting director.
I love Cogley letting Kirk's service record go on.
Between that and Spock's testimony, it's obvious that Kirk isn't the sort to panic or do something cowardly. We get a view of the computer log - obviously things are recorded. It shows Kirk pushing the eject button while still on yellow alert. It doesn't look good for Our Captain! Back in his quarters, Kirk even has a moment where he wonders if he did it, but rejects the idea.Spock has checked the computer thoroughly and nothing's wrong with it. However, in talking to Kirk, Spock gets an idea. Meanwhile, Jamie comes in and asks Cogley to get Kirk to stand down, no longer blaming him and wanting to save him.
Spock is playing chess with the computer - and beating it. He realizes it was tampered with and he and McCoy rush back to the trial.
Cogley's remarks about human rights were probably the first time I'd ever heard of the Code of Hammurabi the Magna Carta. Cogley requests - no demands! - they reconvene aboard the Enterprise. Spock testifies about beating the computer and that the only people who could've reprogrammed it were himself, Kirk... and Finney!
I love the look on Kirk's face when he realizes that Cogley is saying that Finney isn't dead.
COGLEY: Describe a phase one search.
KIRK: It's a painstaking, thorough attempt in and around the ship to find a man who's presumably injured and unable to respond.
COGLEY: It presupposes, does it not, that a man wishes to be found?
KIRK: I beg your pardon?
We get a fun little thing with heartbeats being heard by the computer and McCoy gradually "shutting off" each of the people left on the ship (it was evacuated). After everyone is eliminated, one heartbeat remains.
Kirk's log switches to past tense here, recorded after the events. Cogley went to get Jamie to help calm Finney. But Finney has gone coocoo for cocopuffs.
FINNEY: They told you to do it to me. You all conspired against me.
There's a fight. Sadly, I could easily see the stunt doubles. Kirk's shirt tears.
Finney has sabotaged the ship so the orbit is decaying and can't be stopped. Kirk has to fix it. Uhura takes navigation (yay!)The wrap-up:
SHAW: Do you think it would cause a complete breakdown of discipline if a lowly lieutenant kissed a Starship Captain on the bridge of his ship?
KIRK: Let's try.
To be fair, it's a very sweet and chaste kiss.
Spock and McCoy are stone-faced, pretending to have seen nothing. Wikipedia says, "This is the first episode to refer to the organization the main characters are part of as Starfleet and the top of the hierarchy being Starfleet Command. It is also the first appearance of a starbase in the series."
A good little story, setting the stage for courtroom stories throughout the various series.
Next is The Menagerie, which I may skip right now. Or I may not.
I think it underlines how little understood computers were in the day. Mind you, one can wonder if this was but one way the computer system was trying to alert the crew something was amiss. We can assume Finney knew enough to bypass measures to prevent tampering and prevent alarms sounding that someone was tampering with the system.
I like that! I'm not sure we've seen the Enterprise computer ever do anything similar but it has been shown capable of creative extrapolations so why not?
Kind of like Dobby the House Elf trying to warn Harry Potter through a technicality...
Otherwise, we are left with "computer expert" Finney bulk deleting a bunch of unrelated files before reinserting an adjusted file of security camera footage and ignoring the rest of the deleted files.
I like that! I'm not sure we've seen the Enterprise computer ever do anything similar but it has been shown capable of creative extrapolations so why not?
Kind of like Dobby the House Elf trying to warn Harry Potter through a technicality...
Otherwise, we are left with "computer expert" Finney bulk deleting a bunch of unrelated files before reinserting an adjusted file of security camera footage and ignoring the rest of the deleted files.
Given that the Enterprise computer has extrapolated some complex problems and came up with solutions (like "are we in another universe", etc) then the Enterprise computer AI might have a complex set of weights that got disturbed when Finney altered the video. Similar to how LLMs change over time.
When I watched "Court Martial" decades ago when I was younger I didn't really question anything in it. But decades later, particularly after decades of watching Law & Order as well as decades of watching and reading other science fiction certain questions beg to be asked.
Setting aside legal issues and proceedings which have been discussed extensively over the years there are some technical aspects I find curious. One being the visual flight recorder.
The episode establishes a visual record is being kept of ship's operations--particularly valuable during emergency situations. From this we should be able assume that if a vital area like the bridge is being recorded than other vital areas are also being recorded. Areas like engineering and, of course, the ion pod.
So why shouldn't we be able to see Finney entering the ion pod, the moment it was ejected and, presumably, Finney exiting the pod before it was ejected? That would have been a slam dunk Finney wasn't ejected with the pod and presumably killed.
Of course, if Finney could successfully alter the visual record of the bridge then he should also have been able to alter the visual record showing the ion pod being ejected with him still in it. Consequently that rationalizes why in court we didn't get to see the visual record of the pod being ejected because everyone was assuming it was accurate. The only question remaining was whether the ship was on yellow or red alert when Kirk jettisoned the pod.
But after the bridge recording is proved to have been falsified then it follows they would check the record of the pod wherein they would have discovered it, too, had been altered. It might even have been possible to retrieve the original recording showing Finney exiting the pod (if he even ever entered it) before it was ejected.
Setting aside legal issues and proceedings which have been discussed extensively over the years there are some technical aspects I find curious. One being the visual flight recorder.
The episode establishes a visual record is being kept of ship's operations--particularly valuable during emergency situations. From this we should be able assume that if a vital area like the bridge is being recorded than other vital areas are also being recorded. Areas like engineering and, of course, the ion pod.
So why shouldn't we be able to see Finney entering the ion pod, the moment it was ejected and, presumably, Finney exiting the pod before it was ejected? That would have been a slam dunk Finney wasn't ejected with the pod and presumably killed.
Of course, if Finney could successfully alter the visual record of the bridge then he should also have been able to alter the visual record showing the ion pod being ejected with him still in it. Consequently that rationalizes why in court we didn't get to see the visual record of the pod being ejected because everyone was assuming it was accurate. The only question remaining was whether the ship was on yellow or red alert when Kirk jettisoned the pod.
But after the bridge recording is proved to have been falsified then it follows they would check the record of the pod wherein they would have discovered it, too, had been altered. It might even have been possible to retrieve the original recording showing Finney exiting the pod (if he even ever entered it) before it was ejected.
Back in the 1960s, experts felt that if ever a computer could play chess successfully against a human, it would be achieved by master players teaching it principles and strategies.
However, it turned out that the best computer play was attained by exploiting improved processing speeds. The computer plays out all of the variations (or a promising subset) many moves deep, ultimately selecting the best next move via "brute force."
The chess engines have gotten so good now that a commercially available program can defeat the world champion. It's tough to imagine how they can improve on that in another couple of hundred years!
Still, I suspect that just one missing or altered data file (say some table of the relative value of a piece under certain conditions) could cause the program to miscalculate fatally, and this is what Spock detected.
However, it turned out that the best computer play was attained by exploiting improved processing speeds. The computer plays out all of the variations (or a promising subset) many moves deep, ultimately selecting the best next move via "brute force."
The chess engines have gotten so good now that a commercially available program can defeat the world champion. It's tough to imagine how they can improve on that in another couple of hundred years!
Still, I suspect that just one missing or altered data file (say some table of the relative value of a piece under certain conditions) could cause the program to miscalculate fatally, and this is what Spock detected.
Exactly the instance I was thinking of!
I agree it would make sense - but then it would make short work of other episodes such as Enemy Within or Conscience Of The King when the crew could just check the logs to see where EvilKirk is, or who poisoned O'Reilly.
What stands out to me is just how unearned Cogley's reputation is - he tries a few basic manoeuvres and then is all for giving up the case until Spock & McCoy race in.
Which is similar to my "clumsy Finney" theory but given his state of mind perhaps that's not so hard to believe.
The thing with bothers me about this episode is why did the ion pod need to be manned?
With the TOS level of technology, any readouts and controls inside the pod could elsewhere on the ship, even if it is just an ajoining room. There is simply no reason to have a person to be in the ejectable pod.
With the TOS level of technology, any readouts and controls inside the pod could elsewhere on the ship, even if it is just an ajoining room. There is simply no reason to have a person to be in the ejectable pod.
It may have been that long!
Watching this week's SNW it crossed my mind that we can hardly go shopping without encountering security cameras. So many businesses and private homes have security cameras now, I'm surprised that there aren't cameras in literally every hallway and room of the ship with the possible exception of crew quarters and rest rooms, though I realize that would be a real plot wrecker.
I'm a little puzzled by the order of proceedings in the trial. Usually the prosecution goes first and lays out its case. The defense cross examines witnesses but doesn't present its own case until the prosecution rests. The trial starts with the prosecution's case as Shaw questions Spock and McCoy and Cogley declines to cross examine either.
Then we get Cogley calling Kirk to the stand. Huh??? Has the prosecution rested? Nope. After that, Shaw is still presenting her case by showing the video of Kirk pressing the eject button. After that, the prosecution rests. How was Cogley questioning Kirk in the middle of the prosecution's case?
I'm a little puzzled by the order of proceedings in the trial. Usually the prosecution goes first and lays out its case. The defense cross examines witnesses but doesn't present its own case until the prosecution rests. The trial starts with the prosecution's case as Shaw questions Spock and McCoy and Cogley declines to cross examine either.
Then we get Cogley calling Kirk to the stand. Huh??? Has the prosecution rested? Nope. After that, Shaw is still presenting her case by showing the video of Kirk pressing the eject button. After that, the prosecution rests. How was Cogley questioning Kirk in the middle of the prosecution's case?
We know from "The Galileo Seven" that a strong ion storm can make instruments not work properly. That might require hardened and sealed sensors that could not have wiring running out of it to an adjacent room and necessitate someone next to it to take the readings or dismantle and pull a recording module off of it.
Last edited:
I've rewatched this one many times. It's one of my favorites.
Aspiring lawyers should take Court Martial with a metric ton of salt.
Real trials don't use a prosecutor who was an old flame of the defendant's either.
There have been many discussions on this very subject over the years on this board! Here's a bit of info of what the "ion pod" have have been envisioned as:
https://www.trekbbs.com/threads/what-is-an-ion-pod.114036/page-2
So perhaps a plastic bubble, accessed by a plastic tunnel from the main part of the ship.
Presumably the sensors in this all-plastic protrusion would have to be read manually as the environmental conditions of the ion storm would make electrical relays unreliable. Although communications still work fine - maybe there's a giant speaker on the ship-end of the plastic tunnel so Kirk can boom orders out to Finney, who would also have to be able to hear the Red Alert noise and know it's time to exit.
All this talk of computers and chess has me reminiscing about a chess program I had for my Amiga 2000 in the 90s, called "Battle Chess." All the pieces were animated (8 bit) characters. When you made a move, your piece marched to the position. When you took the opponent's piece, the characters had a short, bloody fight with their medieval weapons. I got so I didn't even care if I played well, I just played for maximum carnage.
It's them taking the 'electronic brain' idea to the extreme in that the logic here is that if you mess with one part of the brain, it has unintended effects on other parts of the brain. And yes it was obvious that while they knew that humans programmed computers, no the writers didn't really know the way modern computers worked; but also to be fair this was a computer 300 years in the future, so who knows what they had to do to get the artificial intelligence to the point that they did in the 23rd century.
Wouldn't error messages or regular automatic security sweeps pop up, or would they be manually suspended pending investigation?
Or is Finney that good, albeit single-mindedly devoted to his plan, that he eliminates programming not likely to be scrutinized (except if you're outside-the-box-thinking-Spock) for a long time, to make his alterations for the frame up plot?
Or is Finney that good, albeit single-mindedly devoted to his plan, that he eliminates programming not likely to be scrutinized (except if you're outside-the-box-thinking-Spock) for a long time, to make his alterations for the frame up plot?
Like Star Wars!All this talk of computers and chess has me reminiscing about a chess program I had for my Amiga 2000 in the 90s, called "Battle Chess." All the pieces were animated (8 bit) characters. When you made a move, your piece marched to the position. When you took the opponent's piece, the characters had a short, bloody fight with their medieval weapons. I got so I didn't even care if I played well, I just played for maximum carnage.
Similar threads
