For this particular action orientated youngster this story wasn’t well received, as it’s effectively a Perry Mason style courtroom drama set in space. But watching it afresh, it’s not at all bad, and has some neat twists that elevate it above my original expectations. Adding extra spice to the case is prosecuting attorney Lt. Areel Shaw, who is not only an effective legal brief but also a previous girlfriend of Kirk’s. Soon regular crewmen and old friends are being wheeled to the stand to give testimony more damning than the last. It all looks pretty bleak for Kirk, who is confused by how the flight recordings from the bridge contradict his own recollections. To prove this, the court assembles on the Enterprise, and all crew members are beamed off to the Starbase below. They then selectively remove the sounds of each person’s heartbeat, until only one remains, revealing Finney’s presence on the ship. There then follows a slightly nonsensical sequence where Kirk goes alone to stop Finney, while the Enterprise starts to fall out of orbit due to some special modifications he made to get ultimate revenge on Kirk. Except nobody can brawl and get his flimsy Starfleet uniform ripped like Kirk and Finney breaks down when he realises his own daughter is onboard. There are also some less than stellar performances, and Alice Rawlings is especially awful as Jamie Finney. It didn’t surprise me to discover that she only made one further TV appearance after this one. At the other end of the spectrum is the diminutive but memorable character actor Elisha Cook Jr., who is wonderful as the legal book fanatic Samuel T. Cogley. For Trek aficionados this is the first story where the term ‘Starfleet’ and ‘Starfleet Command’ are used to describe the organisation that the Enterprise belongs to, and the remastering shows where on the Enterprise the pod was jettisoned. Tomorrow I’ll be right back with prime directive shenanigans, and The Return Of The Archons.
title: “Star Trek The Original Series Episode 20 Review” ShowToc: true date: “2025-07-16” author: “Russell Davis”
For this particular action orientated youngster this story wasn’t well received, as it’s effectively a Perry Mason style courtroom drama set in space. But watching it afresh, it’s not at all bad, and has some neat twists that elevate it above my original expectations. Adding extra spice to the case is prosecuting attorney Lt. Areel Shaw, who is not only an effective legal brief but also a previous girlfriend of Kirk’s. Soon regular crewmen and old friends are being wheeled to the stand to give testimony more damning than the last. It all looks pretty bleak for Kirk, who is confused by how the flight recordings from the bridge contradict his own recollections. To prove this, the court assembles on the Enterprise, and all crew members are beamed off to the Starbase below. They then selectively remove the sounds of each person’s heartbeat, until only one remains, revealing Finney’s presence on the ship. There then follows a slightly nonsensical sequence where Kirk goes alone to stop Finney, while the Enterprise starts to fall out of orbit due to some special modifications he made to get ultimate revenge on Kirk. Except nobody can brawl and get his flimsy Starfleet uniform ripped like Kirk and Finney breaks down when he realises his own daughter is onboard. There are also some less than stellar performances, and Alice Rawlings is especially awful as Jamie Finney. It didn’t surprise me to discover that she only made one further TV appearance after this one. At the other end of the spectrum is the diminutive but memorable character actor Elisha Cook Jr., who is wonderful as the legal book fanatic Samuel T. Cogley. For Trek aficionados this is the first story where the term ‘Starfleet’ and ‘Starfleet Command’ are used to describe the organisation that the Enterprise belongs to, and the remastering shows where on the Enterprise the pod was jettisoned. Tomorrow I’ll be right back with prime directive shenanigans, and The Return Of The Archons.
