Series: Star Trek: The Original Series
Season 1, Episode 13
Original Air Date: December 8, 1966
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"The Conscience of the King" is part of a long-standing relationship between Star Trek and the legacy of William Shakespeare. William Shatner, Patrick Stewart, Deep Space Nine's Avery Brooks and Voyager's Kate Mulgrew all have Shakespearean stage credentials on their resumes. Interestingly, both Stewart and Brooks have played the part of Othello, while Mulgrew has played Desdemona. The Memory Alpha entry on the Bard provides a list of references over the years.
The episode title itself comes from Hamlet and the story revolves around a traveling theater company. Captain Kirk is invited to a performance of Macbeth by an old friend, Dr. Thomas Leighton. Dr. Leighton suspects that the lead actor is actually Kodos "The Executioner," a ruthless dictator long-believed dead. Soon, Leighton's lifeless form is discovered and a good, old-fashioned murder mystery ensues. The end of the story revolves around a performance of Hamlet by the company aboard the Enterprise.
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A quick word of reflection on my Star Trek posts thus far: a few of you have asked over the course of my explorations whether or not I like or dislike particular episodes. I find it a difficult question to answer for most of them, though I certainly enjoy them all enough to keep watching. I love Trek for its world-building and for the affection one develops for the characters over time. The original series, in particular, is really more kitschy and charming than slick and sophisticated. The special effects are primitive, of course, but that's to be expected. The writing doesn't measure up to the television standards established in later decades by Aaron Sorkin, Joss Whedon, Steven Moffat and others. For me, the magic of Trek runs deeper than the appeal of individual episodes. And to be honest, while some ("The Menagerie") are definitely better than others ("Mudd's Women"), I have yet to find a goose bump worthy episode to claim as my own. Meanwhile, I am thoroughly enjoying the stroll.
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| via Wikipedia |
Arnold Moss (Anton Karidian/Kodos) was an abundantly qualified casting choice for a Shakespearean episode, having played Prospero, the lead in The Tempest, for 124 performances on Broadway. He was born January 28, 1910 in Brooklyn. Apart from Shakespeare and Star Trek, Moss's highest profile roles were in two Bob Hope films: My Favorite Spy and Casanova's Big Night. Moss died of lung cancer in 1989.
For some reason I don't remember the details of this episode at all...maybe it's time for me to rewatch all of these myself!
ReplyDeleteWhen I'm given the option, I'll always pick Star Trek over regular TV, but I do have my favorites. I would rather see TNG over TOS, Voyager over Enterprise, then DS9.
What I love about TOS is the character development,especially between Kirk, Bones and Spock.
TNG is my favorite, too. Of the 5 live-action series, DS9 is the one I know the least.
DeleteI like how you explained the writing of the different eras of the show.
ReplyDeleteWe attach ourselves to the characters even if it is poorly written by the standards of that time. Captain Kirk is still Kirk and Spock is Spock, and we enjoy the dynamic of their relationship.
In terms of writing, it's probably more meaningful to compare Trek with the shows of its era. Television writing, in general, has come quite a long way since the 1960s. Trek is hokey but no more so than Bonanza, Batman, the Addams Family or others of the time period.
DeleteYou're up for a wicked good one next, buddy, if it's "Balance of Terror." And if you haven't hit "City on the Edge of Forever," that should goose you, too.
ReplyDeleteI'm with Tony. Thanks to Cygnus, we skipped to 'City' while we were still watching TOS. (My husband and I are currently both steeped in Downton!) But that Trek episode is a cut above, written by Harlan Ellison and possessed of a peculiar enchantment. Imperfect, to be sure, but I will be curious to know what you think. Shawn and I have a variation on the title as a password for something! And I want (very much) a t-shirt that reads 'Long Live Edith Keeler.' :)
DeleteAnd a second on the nomination of "Balance of Terror." That one episode spawned an entire gaming community!
DeleteI've been looking forward to "Balance of Terror" simply for the introduction of the Romulans. "City" is Trek's second Hugo winner so it's been on my radar since I watched "Menagerie" (the first winner).
DeleteSome Star Trek episodes seem to exist in a bubble all to themselves -- like plays are limited to sets on a stage, these little tele-plays often take on self-imposed limits on their other aspects, too (plot, mood, character interactions). Constraints like in poetry. Bad writers can make a mess of that, but good ones use those constraints to soar.
ReplyDeleteYour mention of Prospero made me chuckle, since I recently found out that my grad student named several subroutines in her new computer code after characters from the Tempest.
'Bad writers can make a mess of that, but good ones use those constraints to soar.'
DeleteSo I am finally beginning to learn, good Cyg.
Well put, Cyg. The best artists in any medium make good use of the limits.
DeleteThe high school in the town where I work did The Tempest last year - really fun to watch teenagers dig into it!
The names of nearly all of the pets in a novel I wrote were borrowed from the Tempest with the exception of one--Cobweb. Name the play! :)
DeleteMidsummer Night's Dream. I cheated. Google.
DeleteWell, don't cheat on this one. Say I had named a fish in a novel Benvolio. What play, then?
DeleteRomeo & Juliet. I know that one far more intimately.
DeleteI figured ...
DeleteI have very little say on the naming of pets at our house. If I did, I think I'd go with hockey players. I'm not even that much of a hockey fan. I just think they tend to have awesome names. Gretzky would be a great name for a yellow lab.
DeleteI'd'a got Cobweb, but not Benvolio.
DeleteI think I'd also be quite distrustful of a cat named Yzerman...
Haha! Yzerman's not bad but the real fun with hockey names is when you get into the Czechs, Russians and Finns. A turtle named Pivonka, for instance. But if one is going to start in on the hockey players, one has to begin with Gretzky. That's just the way it is.
DeleteFinnish ski jumpers have great names, too. Really, the names are half the fun for me during the Winter Olympics!
Hmm... Now I'm wanting to compare the writing in TOS to old Dr Who, which was so much better as that went.
ReplyDeleteBut I won't do that. :P
Why not? I think it's a fair comparison. BBC shows of any era frequently hold up better than their American contemporaries. They had to - for a good long time, there was only one channel in Britain. They could afford higher standards.
DeleteWell okay, by then they had two...
DeleteMostly because it's been too long since I've watched any TOS and not really all that long since I watched old Dr Who episodes. Also, I'm biased toward Who, although I do think the writing was much better in those old Who episodes. That would, after all, explain my preference for Who.
ReplyDeleteI don't know Who pre-Eccleston but we're big fans of the series at our house. The newer Who series have certainly been a lot better than Enterprise. Over the whole franchise, I don't yet feel qualified to judge.
DeleteI started with Who back around 1980 and watched all of the Baker (THE Doctor) episodes over and over again. I also saw a lot of the Pertwee episodes around that time (maybe all?). As an adult, I've gone back and watched all of the early episodes that still exist. Even with the rickety sets and cheap effects, it's fascinating.
DeleteMore and more of them are available through streaming these days. My wife isn't particularly interested in going back - surprising since, if anything, she's the bigger fan than I.
DeleteI think every Who fan should watch the Baker episodes. Or, at least, try them. He is the Doctorest Doctor of all.
ReplyDelete"Gummy baby?"
I have watched his first story: "Robot." It was fun - and every bit as hokey as old Trek!
DeleteThat one was kind of hokey, like the one where Kirk fought the lizard.
DeleteI would very much like to watch Douglas Adams's Who episodes. Those are all Baker stories, I believe.
DeleteI'm pretty sure they are, although some of those stories ended up in Hitchhikers' rather than getting made.
DeleteLife, the Universe and Everything was originally supposed to be a Who episode.
DeleteThere's a lot of Shakespeare in Star Trek. This sounds like one of the most Shakespearean.
ReplyDeleteCertainly the most Shakespearean of TOS. A few TNG episodes delve pretty deeply, too.
DeleteWhen we did a quick sally-forth into TNG-land, this was one of our family's favorite episodes.
ReplyDeleteThere's a lot to like - Kirk's first real romance, even though it doesn't turn out so well.
DeleteI've still not managed to "get into" Star Trek, but maybe one of these days I'll actually sit down & start a marathon :)
ReplyDeleteIf you do, I recommend starting with The Next Generation - a bit more accessible for today's audience.
DeleteIts a job for the three investigators.
ReplyDeleteHa! I'm so glad other people remember the Three Investigators!
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