Court Martial is really an odd episode
- Thread starter Gotham Central
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Or just different. Definitions are always fleeting, and those in an English dictionary are almost by default incorrect in the greater scheme of things.
Speaking of greater schemes, anybody who tries to claim that his statement is not a falsehood is, of course, lying. Or then just stupid, not to realize that all statements must be incorrect for their incompleteness and immense margin for error. That's the basis of science - admitting that truth is always but a useful approximation, most probably unrelated to how things really are.
Which makes it fundamentally practical to define lie specifically as a malicious deliberate untruth. Of course, malice is another thing found in the eye of the beholder: every statement hurts somebody somewhere, regardless of its truth value, and every noble goal can be considered a vile one from a different point of view.
It probably wouldn't take Spock two seconds to put together an argument of the above sort if he ever were caught lying; two seconds for his Vulcan opponent to figure out the weaknesses of the argument; and less than a second for both to decide that having the argument in the first place is stupid and everybody benefits from just plain insisting that Vulcans Don't Lie.
Timo Saloniemi
That doesn't make any sense at all. You're assuming that this heartbeat detector is independent of the ship's sensors. But Kirk's dialog contradicts this:
KIRK: "Gentlemen, this computer has an auditory sensor. It can, in effect, hear sounds. By installing a booster, we can increase that capability on the order of one to the fourth power. The computer should bring us every sound occurring on the ship."
[...]
KIRK: "Turn it down a little. Gentlemen, that sound is caused by the heartbeats of all the people on board the ship. Doctor McCoy will use this white sound device to mask out each person's heartbeat so that it will be eliminated from the sounds we are hearing."
So, the ship's computer has an auditory sensor that can be filtered down using the hand held white sound device. Also, Mr. Spock uses the computer to cancel out the transporter room crewman's heartbeat. So, they definitely trusted the ship's sensors.
Finney was adept at keeping an eye on things. Certainly he would have seen this mass exodus of people off the ship and knew something was up. But apparently Finney did not anticipate that Cogley would have everyone from the court brought to the Enterprise and that there'd be any checking of active heartbeats on the ship. I think they anticipated this, so there wasn't concern with Finney having messed with the ship's sensors.
Finney couldn't think of everything. He probably hacked the ship's sensors so they couldn't see him on visual sensors, or detect his body heat on thermal sensors, or hear his breathing or his footsteps, but he missed something. Spock found what he missed and revealed it to the court in dramatic fashion as befit the genre.
Threads about specific episodes often encourage me to rewatch the episode, and that's what I did w/ Court Martial over the weekend. I've seen this episode many, many times over the decades, but I had a new thought during this viewing.
When it first aired in 1967, it must have been very unusual to show a black commanding officer, whom the other officers always address as "Sir" and don't question his orders or authority. Actually, this episode is very diverse, even by ST standards. In addition to Commodore Stone, we have: Uhura with a prominent role in piloting the ship near the end, the unnamed Chinese-American yeoman (with a charming Southern American accent), and Captain Chandra in the jury.
Doug
When it first aired in 1967, it must have been very unusual to show a black commanding officer, whom the other officers always address as "Sir" and don't question his orders or authority. Actually, this episode is very diverse, even by ST standards. In addition to Commodore Stone, we have: Uhura with a prominent role in piloting the ship near the end, the unnamed Chinese-American yeoman (with a charming Southern American accent), and Captain Chandra in the jury.
Doug
Very poignant remarks, Doug. When criticizing an episode, people often fail to consider it within the context of when it was created and/or first aired. Those who embrace TNG and can't stand TOS usually do this. Their loss. The more you can open yourself up to what was created in the Star Trek franchise, the wider your range of entertainment.
...Which reminds me: who is who in the jury?
We have "Space Command representative Lindström" plus "starship captains Krasnovsky and Chandra". OTOH, we have two guys in gold (green) and one in blue. Connecting Chandra with the dark-skinned goldshirt probably won't bring down charges of racism - but what do you think, can we take the blueshirt for the representative and the other goldshirt for Krasnovsky?
It seems to me that all three wear the same dress uniform type, with braid in sleeve/body seams but not along the sleeves and sides; thus, fitting for Captain as seen on Kirk. The blueshirt appears to wear the most impressive medals after Stone, but not by a great margin vs. his two comrades. Kirk beats him by the thickness of the strap on his medal.
Mendez' gesturing when introducing the jury is vague at best...
Timo Saloniemi
We have "Space Command representative Lindström" plus "starship captains Krasnovsky and Chandra". OTOH, we have two guys in gold (green) and one in blue. Connecting Chandra with the dark-skinned goldshirt probably won't bring down charges of racism - but what do you think, can we take the blueshirt for the representative and the other goldshirt for Krasnovsky?
It seems to me that all three wear the same dress uniform type, with braid in sleeve/body seams but not along the sleeves and sides; thus, fitting for Captain as seen on Kirk. The blueshirt appears to wear the most impressive medals after Stone, but not by a great margin vs. his two comrades. Kirk beats him by the thickness of the strap on his medal.
Mendez' gesturing when introducing the jury is vague at best...
Timo Saloniemi
I've seen this episode so many times, the things that stick out for me while watching this episode are mostly technical. None of these need answers, I just noted them for my own amusement. But feel free anyway.
Kirk goes from his green wrap-around uniform, to his regular duty shirt and back again in a very short period of time. I would imagine the scene where Kirk meets Areel was supposed to be after his confrontation with Stone. That would have made Act 1 a lot shorter than it already is….
Jamie Finney's outfit is awful. She also seems to be one of the few female characters to wear a standard 20th century bra. Not Bill Theiss' best work.
Why are so many of Kirk's graduating classmates on this starbase? Wouldn't they be scattered all over the place? Was there a reunion they didn't invite him to?
It's obvious that Elisha Cook's big speech needed to be pasted together in the editing room. His facial expressions change every few lines and there's some pretty apparent ADR. To be honest, he seems pretty lost at sea in a few scenes. He admitted that sci-fi was not his thing and I can imagine he felt badly out of his element. A shame, because even with some of the wonky bits, he created a very memorable character.
Stone argues to stay on the ship as the orbit decays because "this court has not reached a verdict." The charge was murder (or unlawfully causing the death of the file room guy). Finney was known to be alive, so the death in question never occurred. At this point, there is no verdict to reach, just "case dismissed, charges dropped." In other words, get off the f**king ship, Stone!
Did Cogley ever get Jamie up to the ship? This point is awkwardly covered in the narration that doesn't seem to be a log entry. If he did, that puts Jamie in harms way by beaming her up to a ship about to plummet into the atmosphere. I'll go with "no, he didn't."
Was I the only one who thought that after Cogley declared "Commander Ben Finney is not dead!" that a rotating Batman transition, complete with music, would be really amusing here?
Uhura at Navigation = all sorts of awesome. Is it me, or is she sexier taking that station? Loved it every time she was allowed to do that.
Feedback from my wife:
"All my friends look like doctors. All of his look like you."
Jodi: Hahahahahaha! I love Bones! (His sad face is hysterical.)
Jamie Finney enters Stone's office:
Jodi: Um, ew. She looks like a waitress at Sonic."
"Would it cause a breakdown in discipline of a lowly lieutenant kissed a starship captain…?"
Jodi: "Oh. My. God."
Kirk goes from his green wrap-around uniform, to his regular duty shirt and back again in a very short period of time. I would imagine the scene where Kirk meets Areel was supposed to be after his confrontation with Stone. That would have made Act 1 a lot shorter than it already is….
Jamie Finney's outfit is awful. She also seems to be one of the few female characters to wear a standard 20th century bra. Not Bill Theiss' best work.
Why are so many of Kirk's graduating classmates on this starbase? Wouldn't they be scattered all over the place? Was there a reunion they didn't invite him to?
It's obvious that Elisha Cook's big speech needed to be pasted together in the editing room. His facial expressions change every few lines and there's some pretty apparent ADR. To be honest, he seems pretty lost at sea in a few scenes. He admitted that sci-fi was not his thing and I can imagine he felt badly out of his element. A shame, because even with some of the wonky bits, he created a very memorable character.
Stone argues to stay on the ship as the orbit decays because "this court has not reached a verdict." The charge was murder (or unlawfully causing the death of the file room guy). Finney was known to be alive, so the death in question never occurred. At this point, there is no verdict to reach, just "case dismissed, charges dropped." In other words, get off the f**king ship, Stone!
Did Cogley ever get Jamie up to the ship? This point is awkwardly covered in the narration that doesn't seem to be a log entry. If he did, that puts Jamie in harms way by beaming her up to a ship about to plummet into the atmosphere. I'll go with "no, he didn't."
Was I the only one who thought that after Cogley declared "Commander Ben Finney is not dead!" that a rotating Batman transition, complete with music, would be really amusing here?
Uhura at Navigation = all sorts of awesome. Is it me, or is she sexier taking that station? Loved it every time she was allowed to do that.
Feedback from my wife:
"All my friends look like doctors. All of his look like you."
Jodi: Hahahahahaha! I love Bones! (His sad face is hysterical.)
Jamie Finney enters Stone's office:
Jodi: Um, ew. She looks like a waitress at Sonic."
"Would it cause a breakdown in discipline of a lowly lieutenant kissed a starship captain…?"
Jodi: "Oh. My. God."
...Which reminds me: who is who in the jury?
We have "Space Command representative Lindström" plus "starship captains Krasnovsky and Chandra". OTOH, we have two guys in gold (green) and one in blue. Connecting Chandra with the dark-skinned goldshirt probably won't bring down charges of racism - but what do you think, can we take the blueshirt for the representative and the other goldshirt for Krasnovsky?
It seems to me that all three wear the same dress uniform type, with braid in sleeve/body seams but not along the sleeves and sides; thus, fitting for Captain as seen on Kirk. The blueshirt appears to wear the most impressive medals after Stone, but not by a great margin vs. his two comrades. Kirk beats him by the thickness of the strap on his medal.
Mendez' gesturing when introducing the jury is vague at best...
Timo Saloniemi
"Mendez"? You've mixed up The Menagerie w/ this episode, Timo, and it's funny because I've done the same thing before.
I think Stone mentioned the jurors in the order they lined up to his right (from near to far), but you're right that the camera didn't focus on them to make it clear. I assumed who is who based upon appearances, but it's entirely possible that we're wrong.
Edit: Actually, the first person is to Stone's left, and the other two are to his right. But, I think he's naming them from right to left (camera viewpoint).
Doug
I always get a little pumped up when the computer reads off Kirk's record. He IS the man. There is no better captain.
For me, this episode has one of the funniest moments in all TOS - A large non-ajustable wrench on the engineering deck of the most advanced ship of the Federation. Brilliant!
For me, this episode has one of the funniest moments in all TOS - A large non-ajustable wrench on the engineering deck of the most advanced ship of the Federation. Brilliant!
That must be one powerful computer if it can amplify sounds... er, not at all. Given that one to the fourth power is, well, one.
Or then it's a valid way of saying that it can provide amplification in desired amounts, from one (that is, none) to the fourth power (that is, ten-thousand-fold). 
...Until one takes a look at the jury, where everybody wears just about the same number of medals and "ribbon triangles"!
Timo Saloniemi
...Until one takes a look at the jury, where everybody wears just about the same number of medals and "ribbon triangles"!
Timo Saloniemi
Yea, that's true. It gives a history to the Federation that I want to know more about. I want to know what all those great deeds were and the stories behind them. A very small moment that gives the Trek universe depth.
Still, I know Kirk, it means much more when the computer reads the list for him. I get almost a sense of pride for him.
"...on the order of one to the fourth power." Yeah, that's a bit of a blunder in wording there. I wonder if it was scripted exactly that way, or if Shatner "reworded it" and the director didn't catch it. I'd expect something simpler like "amplification of 100 times actual decibel level".
It was indeed scripted as "one to the fourth power." So it wasn't a mis-delivery of the line as happens from time to time. The fault rests with the writer and the script's technical reviewers.
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