‘Court Martial’ is the title of episode number twenty (of season number one) of the science fiction television series Star Trek: The Original Series. It was first aired on the second of February in 1967.
The United Federation of Planets’ starship, a Constitution type class, named the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) has passed through a severe ion storm. It resulted in the fatality of a crewman named Lieutenant Commander Ben Finney – as narrated by the commanding officer, Captain James Tiberius Kirk on stardate 2948.9. Finney was tasked to carry out scientific readings in an externally mounted ion pod before Kirk forcibly jettisoned the compromised pod for the culpable danger it posed to the Enterprise.
The ship is damaged and, as a result, is in layover at Starbase Eleven for repair. As federation regulations require, a damage report is prepared for the commanding officer of Starbase Eleven, the aptly named Commodore Stone. Kirk and Stone convene in Stone’s office. For reasons presently unspecified, Stone orders the base’s maintenance crew to reschedule service and prioritise the repair of the Enterprise. This forceful decision probably confirms that the Enterprise is some sort of flagship, if not presently time-bound on any specific mission.
Stone watches Kirk review his previously submitted report multiple times. It is apparent that the captain absorbs the responsibility emotionally, if not experiencing a measure of guilt towards the crewman’s demise. Another important document binding Kirk’s report and sworn deposition is the ship’s computer log. When it is learned that the flagship vessel’s most senior executive and science officer, the intriguing half-human, half-Vulcan Commander Spock, whose episodic character development has been established as a stickler for efficiency, is tardy on his teleported arrival with the log, the audience immediately senses that all is not well. Before Spock’s arrival, Stone voices his concerns to Kirk that the service cannot afford to lose high-ranking, experienced men like Finney. Kirk explains the ship-threatening conditions of the dreadful event that forced him to jettison the pod containing Finney.
Before Spock can explain his tardiness to Kirk on arrival, the observant starbase commander keenly takes the data card containing the requested log from Spock’s unsuspecting fingers. A moment later, Jamie Finney, the bereaved teenage daughter of the late Ben Finney, enters the office and releases a grief-stricken emotional tirade of anger and murder accusations on Kirk, holding him solely responsible for the death of her father. The still observant Stone scopes the uneasy, unfolding scene while Spock is reduced to a powerless spectator, another reminder of his uneasiness when it comes to outbursts of emotion.
Stone benignly requests Spock to remove the sobbing Jamie away from their presence while an ambivalent Kirk turns his attention to the Commodore. What happens next is a quick glimpse into the future pervading trial of Kirk; Stone quickly grills Kirk, who reaffirms that he jettisoned the pod after the red alert, as per his sworn deposition. Stone is then quick to reprimand Kirk for committing wilful perjury, as the extract from the Enterprise’s computer log states that the pod was jettisoned before going to the ominous red alert. Stone orders Kirk to remain confined on the base until an official inquiry determines whether a general court-martial is in order.
On his visit to a club bar located on the base, Kirk is accompanied by Doctor Leonard “Bones” McCoy, the Enterprise’s chief medical officer and possibly his closest friend and confidant aboard the starship. Kirk meets up with some of his former associates and graduating classmates from his Starfleet Academy days, who all plainly admit that they are less than pleased and far from enthusiastic about meeting him. Ben’s death is solemnly reviled among the base inhabitants, particularly to those who knew him, so Kirk is greeted with contempt.
Just as Kirk exits the unwelcoming atmosphere of the bar, a pleasantly-attired lady appears, who promptly establishes rapport with the amiable Bones and introducesherself as Areel Shaw, an old friend of Kirk.
Later, Captain Kirk and Commodore Stone convene once more in Stone’s office. As previously mandated by Stone, the official inquiry to determine if a general court-martial is in order for Kirk commences. The synthesised unemotional voice of a lone computer states the nature of the inquiry with brevity. Following the computer statement, in an almost identical tone, is the introduction of the official inquiry made by Stone.
Stone begins to question Kirk, who states that Finney was an instructor at the Academy when he was a midshipman, but that it did not impede the beginning of their close friendship. Kirk admits that Finney’s daughter Jamie was indeed named after him. Kirk then reveals the incident which permanently soured his friendship with Finney. Kirk had relieved Finney on watch once and found an open circuit which would have placed his former ship in great danger if it was not attended to promptly.
The recording computer interrupts the proceedings to question Kirk about the former ship. Kirk briefly responds, “United Starship Republic, number 1371.” On Stone’s orders, Kirk resumes his description of the episode when he closed the circuit and logged the incident – which reprimanded Finney ultimately to the lowest rung of his career aspirations in Starfleet. Finney was relegated to the Academy for an unusually long time as an instructor and, as a result, was late in being assigned to a starship. Finney felt that the prolonged delay reflected negatively on his record, further supplemented by Kirk’s logging of the open circuit incident. .
Stone directs the proceedings to the specifics of the ion storm. To investigate the ion storm, Kirk had ordered Finney into the ion pod based on the duty roster. Stone insinuates that Finney’s accusations might have driven Kirk to place him in harm’s way. A controlled Kirk reiterates that his history with Finney was not a factor in assigning Finney to the perilous task. Kirk further describes the technical pressurising conditions of the enveloping storm while placing the Enterprise on the warning ‘yellow alert’ status. Kirk responds to the enormous stress placed by the ion storm by elevating to the critical ‘red alert’ status, which meant that Finney had only seconds before escaping from the ejected pod alive.
Sparing us from the grim scene, Stone inquires as to why the ship’s computer log plainly indicates that the ship was placed on yellow alert when he decided to eject the pod containing Finney. Kirk has no answer. He attributes the disparity to an unspecified error. To verify if the ship’s computer has committed an error, Kirk has tasked his senior science officer to look into the computer’s infallibility. Stone halts the computer recording.
Stone attempts to empathize with Kirk’s predicament but, instead, ends up patronising Kirk. He concludes that the strenuous job of commanding a starship has finally taken its toll on Kirk, resulting in a case of negligence that could have saved a man’s life. Kirk does not react.
Encouraged by Stone, Kirk is advised to accept a ruling of physical or mental breakdown on his command, which will play out in Stone’s official report of this court-martial inquiry.
Kirk is not ready to accept that a man needlessly died as a result of his carelessness, but Stone is adamantly clear that he does not want the image of Starfleet tarnished by a spectacular trial of a decorated captain. Stone reiterates that a trial exposing a Starfleet officer as an evident perjurer covering up for his bad judgement, or a coward unable to accept responsibility, would establish a permanent smear on the record of Starfleet
Kirk is angered by Stone’s words and is adamant that his judgement on the ship’s bridge is as impeccable as he has ever known it to be. Stone reminds Kirk that the transcript of the ship’s computer is sufficient proof and that computers do not intentionally falsify information.
Stone offers Kirk two damnable choices: either to accept a permanent ground assignment or face the whole disciplinary weight of Starfleet Command. Kirk is disgusted with Stone’s choice, which is akin to sweeping the incident under the rug, and demands a general court-martial, though he has little chance of proving his innocence.
Afterward, Kirk is quite pleased to meet Areel Shaw against the subdued atmosphere of the bar and the impending doom of his court-martial. He spontaneously releases his flattery-laden charms on her by comparing her presence to static electricity in the air. Ironic or comically appropriate, given that the previously-faced ion storm, which led to the death of the crewman, was a deluge of static electricity. Even though Shaw describes herself as a lawyer in the judge advocates office, with the possible intent to turn the conversation towards the impending court-martial, Kirk sidelines the thought as he locks his gaze on her pretty face – hinting at a likely former romantic attachment. Even though warned by Shaw that he is taking it very lightly, Kirk seems unfazed by the gloomy reality of the trial as he shifts his attention to the beautiful Shaw. Kirk attributes his brave outward appearance to the confidence of an innocent man, which Shaw counteracts with the presence of rumours surrounding Kirk and the death of Finney.
Though Kirk is adamant about not discussing the matter, Areel shows genuine concern that the trial could ruin Kirk and proposes to offer free advice to Kirk who openly admits defeat by allowing her to discuss the grim subject. Shaw proposes that the prosecution will build its case based on Kirk versus Computer, and that if his attorney tries to defend him on that basis, he will not have a chance. She further states that his attorney must be worth his salt for him to stand a chance.
Kirk requests that Shaw be the competent attorney to defend his case. She refuses, citing being busy as her excuse. Kirk tries to flatter Shaw once again by claiming to perceive her ability to handle his case along with the others she handles. The flattery rubs off as Shaw sternly exclaims to Jim to be more serious and again reminds him of the powers weighed down upon him if found guilty by a court, for the good of the service.
Shaw recommends the lawyer named Samuel T. Cogley as Kirk’s best hope. She has already arranged for the lawyer to meet him and attempts to leave the scene. Slightly perplexed by Shaw’s behaviour, Kirk is interested to know how Shaw is so informed about the prosecution’s strategy. Shaw then professes that she is the prosecution who will do her best to slap him down and ensure he is broken out of the service in disgrace. Kirk is now clearly perplexed, maybe even caught with egg on his face. It is possible to deduce Kirk’s preoccupation with Shaw’s beauty and presence even while facing the likelihood of losing command of the Enterprise; it could avail him the flexibility and time to pursue a more domesticated life with Shaw, unlike the rigorous duty and sacrifice aboard a premier space exploration vessel. It could also be said that Kirk is genuinely upset over Shaw’s predicament of prosecuting an old friend.
An abashed Kirk returns to his base quarters to find it crowded with piles of books. Alone, middle-aged man is seated amidst them, at a lounge table covered with more books.
The eccentric figure professes to Kirk that they will be spending some time together, so he decided to move in. The unexpected visitor – who resembles an old-fashioned concept of a druid in a library of scrolls of spells – does not alarm Kirk, but possibly amuses him. While examining the stacks of books (some open-faced) surrounding the two men in the room, Kirk politely and sardonically inquires of the unintroduced gentleman whether he is crowding him.
The stranger tilts back in his chair and deflects Kirk’s question by asking him if he does not like books. Kirk admits he does like books but states that he appreciates the practical benefits of a computer, space-saving being the absurdly obvious one.
The geriatric rises from his chair to confront the politely-silent but disruptive innovative computer device perched on a nearby desk. He admits to the presence of a twin device in his own office and recognises its modus operandi, a storage device containing precedents, and even describes it (in his own words) as the synthesis of all the significant legal decisions written throughout time. He undermines the utility of the device by merely stating that he does not use it. A grinning Kirk asks, “Why not?”
The old-fashioned man answers that he employs his own system called ‘books.’ He stresses to Kirk that he is a fancier of thousands of books but concedes the impediment of time to fully utilize his bibliophilia. Kirk asks the computer sceptic the point of promoting his book library as an exhibit to a progressive, reliant on computers. The outdated individual distances himself from the computer and briskly walks towards a rampart stack of books while Kirk joins him behind the defensive wall, perfectly symbolic as the defence to Kirk’s innocence.
Lifting and patting a book, which has been epitomised as a brick, the bibliophilic preaches to Kirk that the law is present in his books and not in what he describes as a homogenised, pasteurised synthesiser. He explains to Kirk that to know the law and its ancient concepts, he must first understand the intent of the men who wrote the law, citing the ancient biblical figure of Moses in comparison to a present-day futuristic tribunal. A smirking Kirk narrows the possible identity of his eccentric visitor to two entities: an obsessive eccentric who has escaped the reins of his guardian or Samuel T. Cogley, an attorney at law. The resolute Cogley extends his hand of friendship to Kirk, comically admitting that he is both. He asks Kirk if he needs a lawyer. “I’m afraid so…” says a cheerful, hopeful, but unaccustomed Kirk – who is now experiencing the godsend of a veteran legal professional.