THE GALILEO SEVEN© PRELIMINARY BRIEFS:

Basic Moral, Ethical, and/or Philosophical Subject Driven Into The Ground: Logic versus Emotions

Expendable Enterprise Crewmember (`Red Shirt’) Confirmed Casualty List: 3 Dead (One off-screen), 2 Wounded (both off-screen)

REVIEW/COMMENTARY: I consider this to be the best showcase of the logic-versus-emotions battle between Spock and Dr. McCoy. After an emergency crash-landing of their shuttlecraft on a planet of hostile primitive giants, Spock attempts to get himself and his crew (which includes Scotty, the doctor, and four expendables) out of their predicament by taking the most logical steps towards a resolution. Unfortunately, the results of his calculations rarely achieve logical conclusions, and the rest of his shuttle crew eventually resent his cold methods and bluntness. Unfortunately, Kirk isn’t around to help keep things from gettin’ too heated, since he’s on the Enterprise bridge mounting a search for his lost shuttle crew whilst trying to fend off an overbearing bureaucrat who’s breathing down his neck. Yep, it’s your basic `Save-The-Day-At -The-Last-Possible-Moment’ kinda eppie.

One of my fave `special defects’ moments in the entire series happened at the beginning of this episode. One shot shows the shuttlecraft `riding the wave’ of the turbulence that eventually forces the whole emergency-landing thing I mentioned in the previous paragraph. This effect looked fairly silly, but what really surprised me was how it was almost perfectly imitated two decades later in a SNL sketch featuring William Shatner! You know, that one where Shatner told the audience at the Star Trek convention to “Get a life!”? Which is very good advice, by the way…

COURT-MARTIAL© PRELIMINARY BRIEFS:

Basic Moral, Ethical, and/or Philosophical Subject Driven Into The Ground: The Basic Rights of The Accused / Retaining One’s Humanity In A World Of Ever-Increasing Automation/ The Pitfalls of Professional Jealousy

Expendable Enterprise Crewmember (`Red Shirt’) Confirmed Casualty List: 1 dead… or is he?

REVIEW/COMMENTARY: From Star Trek VI’s Klingon Court scene to NextGen’s `The Drumhead’ to DS9’s `Rules Of Engagement’, I’ve always had a certain fondness for Star Trek’s `Courtroom Drama’- Style episodes. And even though `The Menagerie’ had quite a bit of legal wrangling regarding Spock’s fate, I’d have to say `Court-Martial’ was the first pure legal drama eppie in the history of the franchise. Ol’ Jimmers is in hot water over the death of a crew member whose demise may’ve resulted from his negligence, and he has to stand trial to keep his commission.

The prosecutor’s (one of Kirk’s old flames) case looks to be a slam-dunk, except for one little Perry Mason-esque twist: the person Kirk had supposedly `killed’ may still be alive! Will Jimbo keep his command and clear his name? Well, he must have. I mean, this was an eppie from Star Trek’s first season, and the show went on for two more years with Kirk in the command chair for the rest of the run, so he must’ve beaten the rap, right? Yeah. Uh-oh, did I just spoil the ending? Sorry `bout that. But aside from so-called `spoilers’, expect to see Kirk gettin’ his uniform top rended during Court-Martial’s climactic hand-to-hand duel scene as he attempts to save the Enterprise from certain doom! Jimmers sure does have an affinity for flesh exposure on this show, hmmm?

`Late
Rating: 4 / 5

“Court Martial” Kirk is put on trial for entering a false log entry involving a crewman’s death. Riveting!
Rating: 5 / 5