TOS - 1.02 - The Corbomite Maneuver

“The Corbomite Maneuver” was the first regular episode of Star Trek to go into production, although this ended up being almost 12 months after “Where No Man Had Gone Before” had been completed. It clearly marks the next stage in the development of the show, principally with the introduction of DeForest Kelley as Dr McCoy. The benefits of having a younger doctor than the previous episodes are already clear and we see McCoy as one character who is able to challenge Kirk, although I find it surprising to see this escalate into a full scale argument which was unexpected given the more chummy relationship that I had been expecting based on the characters as I remembered them from the movies. McCoy’s faith in people rather than technology and machines is established here - this clearly sets him up for conflict with Spock, although the two characters don’t actually share any scenes together here.

This episode also introduces Nichelle Nichols as Uhura plus Grace Lee Whitney as Yeoman Janice Rand (although this character isn’t named on screen here). There are shades of Captain Pike when Kirk expresses displeasure at being assigned a female yeoman.. Aside from this attitude not exactly being progressive, it is surprising since every yeoman we have seen has been female, including Yeoman Smith who served under Kirk in “Where No Man Has Gone Before”. Rand's duties here actually make her  like the captain's steward bringing him food and refreshments (and a deleted scene apparently showed her sorting out Kirk's uniform for him!). This contrasts with the US Navy (which was Gene Roddenberry's model for Starfleet), where a yeoman is actually an enlisted service member who performs administrative or clerical work.

Other changes for the episode include Mr Sulu now taking up his familiar role as helmsman (apparently in order to make the racial diversity of the crew more visible given that he would only have appeared sporadically as the head of astroscience as he was in "Where No Man Has Gone Before") and the introduction of the classic uniforms with black collars, red tunics replacing tan for the operations division (making the show more colourful for those with new colour televisions) and mini-dresses for the women. Interestingly, Uuara is in gold here rather than the red uniform that would become standard for her.

For most of its duration, “The Corbomite Maneuver” is highly effective. We truly get the sense that the Enterprise is operating in the unknown when it comes up against a technologically superior foe who claims that the ship is trespassing in its space. As the first bottle episode, set almost entirely on board the Enterprise, it works well in introducing the full crew and their relationships, especially as tension rises as we count down towards the Enterprise’s destruction. The sense of unease is amplified when Spock is able to show us the apparent form of Balok, the opposing ship captain, and the view screen reveals a very disturbing figure who would go on to be immortalised within the end credits and no doubt act as a continued source of nightmares for small children (especially since it is much clearer there since there is no distortion as in the episode proper). Credit for much of the episode’s success must therefore go to director Joseph Sargent (who would go on to direct movies including “The Taking of Pelham One Two Three” and…erm…”Jaws: The Revenge”), who is still able to make it look interesting despite the fact that almost everything takes place solely on the Enterprise. There is one shot in particular that works really well as we follow Kirk from the lift on to the bridge and we see that set from a very different angle.

The episode is another good showcase for Kirk who must use unconventional means to defeat Balok with his bluff that the Enterprise contains “corbomite”, a material that would lead to mutual destruction if Balok were to attempt to attack (this means that, amusingly, the episode is named after something that doesn’t even exist within the fictional Star Trek universe). We also see that Kirk is fallible with the subplot involving Lt Bailey, the navigator of the Enterprise, who Kirk seems to have promoted too quickly. Bailey’s behaviour provides an effective contrast to the professionalism of the rest of the crew as we follow his descent from questioning orders to subordination and ultimately a full breakdown (which unfortunately isn’t that convincingly portrayed by Anthony Call). Bailey is only referred to by his surname on screen, but I note that the end credits give him the wonderfully incongruous first name of Dave.

Unfortunately, the least successful part of the episode is its climax when Kirk, McCoy and Bailey transport over to the enemy ship in a display of compassion in response to a distress signal and it is revealed that the disturbing Balok alien is merely a puppet. This type of “Wizard of Oz” reveal is by itself quite clever (and did fool me over 50 years later), as well as having the additional benefit of providing an in-built response to anyone claiming that the alien doesn’t look real. Unfortunately, the real Balok is revealed to be seven year old Clint Howard with a bald cap and false eyebrows, dubbed by a much older actor. Balok’s motivations aren’t also that clear – it appears that everything is a trick to see if the Enterprise crew are worthy of first contact, but it does seem to be a somewhat convoluted and sadistic way of operating especially since, as Kirk points out, Balok has already conducted a thorough scan of the starship. However, I can kind of see what the episode is trying to get at; we are already seeing the ideals of Star Trek on display as it takes an episode that could, in lesser hands, just be about two ships shooting at each other and turns this into a display of the benefits of humanity. It also cleverly combines this resolution of the Bailey subplot as the humbled navigator volunteers to spend some time with Balok in order to show him the reality of our species, not just the best of it.

Planetary Gazetteer

No planets are visited or even mentioned – we learn nothing about Balok’s origin than the fact that he is part of something called the “First Federation”. The planet on which the Enterprise crew was apparently to be interred was named as Carpi in early versions of the script, but this never made it to the screen.

Starship Spotting

The Enterprise’s phasers are used to free it from Balok’s warning buoy. These are operated here by phaser crews rather than directly from the bridge. Kirk refers to the Enterprise is said to be a “United Earth Ship”, making it clear that the United Federation of Planets has not yet been invented by the programme makers. 

Balok’s ship is called the Fesarius. It is a vast sphere that is approximately one mile in diameter, but its crew consists only of its commander. The geometrical nature of the Fesarius and Balok’s warning buoy are very reminiscent of the design choices used much later by the Borg.

General Observations

• The episode starts on Stardate 1512.2, with further log entries on 1513.8 (said to be 18 hours later), 1514.0 and 1514.1.
• Spock being half-human is introduced in this episode when it is made explicit that his mother is from Earth. This follows the vague reference in “Where No Man Has Gone Before” to him having an ancestor who is an Earth woman.
• McCoy uses an embryonic version of his famous catchphrase (“I’m a doctor not a INSERT RANDOM PROFESSION HERE”) early in his first episode when he says “What am I, a doctor or a moon shuttle conductor?”
• After Shatner’s ripped shirt in “Where No Man Has Gone Before”, we get him fully stripped to the waist here while undertaking McCoy’s physical tests so there is at least some equal opportunity exploitation to balance against the very short mini-dresses worn by the female crew members.
• Given that this is supposed to Balok’s first contact with humanity, it is somewhat odd that he is familiar with “The Strange Case of Jekyl and Hyde” when he uses this as a basis for comparing his relationship with his puppet form.
• When the Enterprise is facing apparent destruction at the hands of Balok, Kirk gives a lovely speech to the crew that further highlights the themes of the episode and of Star Trek as a series: “Those of you who have served for long on this vessel have encountered alien lifeforms. You know the greatest danger facing us is ourselves, an irrational fear of the unknown. But there's no such thing as the unknown, only things temporarily hidden, temporarily not understood.”
• Although the first regular episode to be filmed, “The Corbomite Maneuver” would be transmitted as the tenth episode. This was later than originally intended due to the time taken to complete the extensive optical effects. This is certainly an example of where the production order it not ideal in terms of variety of episodes, given that “The Corbomite Maneuver” and “Where No Man Have Gone Before” are both set predominately on board the Enterprise.