Stirring speech about the rights of the accused and man's fate as a Starfleet officer against a machine by a damn well cast Elisha Cook, Jr. in regards to Jim Kirk's innocence highlights this "Kirk on trial" court room episode of Star Trek. Scotty was also in a similar boat in Wolf in the Fold. Kirk is sure he ejected an officer he knew and respected from a pod when the Enterprise faced danger in an ion storm during a red alert. The computer on board the Enterprise says different, it seems. Recorded evidence says Kirk ejected the pod during yellow alert, with the trial looking grave for him. Percy Rodrigues is Commodore Stone, the authority at the starbase where the Enterprise is located during repairs. His willingness to not prosecute Kirk if he'll just accept exhaustion and panic as reasoning for the mistake produces a heated exchange indeed. Joan Marshall (Castle's Homicidal) is Kirk's former love and assigned to prosecute him! Why wouldn't she recuse herself? For dramatic purposes it serves its place in the plot. Spock and the computer's game of chess, the supposedly dead lieutenant's heartbeat, and Jame's change of heart when she reads from her father's journal could indicate Kirk has been the victim of revenge and machine tinkering. While there is no doubt Kirk will find his way out of yet another predicament, the pitiable Richard Webb totally gonzo, having rigged circuits so that the Enterprise would enter decaying orbit, leaves some excitement in the end, although it is clear there was post production snipping. Fun to see Cook as Kirk's defender, all books and more than a bit anti- computer. Spock and Bones are Kirk's tokens of defense while the computer, proved to be fallible and prone to mishandling by someone with the ability to speak guilt when there was none, are components of the trial.
Review of Court Martial
