10 – The Corbomite Maneuver

Grade: B-

Summary

While mapping an uncharted region of the galaxy, the Enterprise faces a cubicle-shaped object that blocks their way in front of the ship. After several unsuccessful attempts to break away from the probe, Captain Kirk decides to destroy it. This of course, angers the aliens who created the probe in the first place, and it puts the Enterprise at great risk.

Commentary

After a very promising start, this turns out to be a fairly average effort. The payoff was especially dull, though the rest of the episode wasn’t too bad.

If there’s one thing I really like about this episode, it’s Spock’s question to Kirk about the inefficiency of asking for his opinion on matters when he (Kirk) has already made up his mind. I’m sure we’ve all worked for managers who have already made up their minds before they ask for opinions. Maybe someday I’ll ask Spock’s same question and see if I get the same answer.

One lesson this episode teaches is that things aren’t always the way they seem.

Of Note

This is one of the few episodes in which Uhura wears a gold-colored uniform instead of her red one. Also this episode starts out slightly differently from most, in that Spock is actually in command on the bridge at first. In this episode, the phasers are slightly different than what we’ll see later from this series.

Clint Howard (Ron’s brother) appeared in this episode when he was about 6 years old. But what’s even more amazing is the fact that he had already appeared in well over 40 other roles before this.