"Star Trek" The Conscience of the King (1966)

Director:

Gerd Oswald

Writers:

Barry Trivers (written by)
Gene Roddenberry (creator)

TV Series:

"Star Trek" (1966)

Original Air Date:

8 December 1966 (Season 1, Episode 13)

Genre:

Adventure | Sci-Fi

Plot:

While Captain Kirk investigates whether an actor is actually a presumed dead mass murderer, a mysterious assailant is killing the people who could identify the fugitive.

Plot Keywords:

Presumed Dead | Mass Murderer | Beautiful Daughter | Fugitive | Faked Death

Cast

  (Episode Complete credited cast)

William Shatner	...	Captain James T. Kirk
Leonard Nimoy	...	Mr. Spock
Arnold Moss	...	Karidian
Barbara Anderson	...	Lenore
DeForest Kelley	...	Dr. McCoy
Grace Lee Whitney	...	Yeoman Janice Rand
Nichelle Nichols	...	Uhura
William Sargent	...	Dr. Leighton
Natalie Norwick	...	Martha Leighton
David Troy	...	Larry Matson (as David-Troy)
Karl Bruck	...	King Duncan
Marc Grady Adams	...	Hamlet (as Marc Adams)
Bruce Hyde	...	Kevin Riley

Runtime:

50 min | Argentina:60 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Argentina:Atp | Canada:PG (video rating)

Filming Locations:

Desilu Studios - 9336 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA

Company:

Desilu Productions

Trivia:

The title refers to Shakespeare's Hamlet Act II, Scene II; "The play's the thing wherein I'll catch the conscience of the king".

Goofs:

Continuity: In the penultimate scene, Lenore's eyes change from blue to green, without having the opportunity to insert contact lenses.

Quotes:

Larry Matson: [replying through intercom] Larry Matson here. Is that you, Riley? What's up?
Kevin Riley: Not me. I am down... In the engineering room.
Larry Matson: Maybe you've been a bad boy.
Kevin Riley: Maybe so. Whatever I've done, they're sure keeping it a secret from me.

Movie Connections:

Featured in Bring Back... Star Trek (2009) (TV)

Kodos or Karidian?

While not one of the strongest episodes (the plot's developments are fairly obvious from the start), The Conscience of the King is an intriguing little mystery tale, with good work from William Shatner and guest star Arnold Moss.

The episode begins with Kirk and his crew being summoned by the captain's old friend, Dr. Charles Leighton (William Sargent), who is, along with Kirk, the last survivor of a massacre perpetrated years ago by Kodos the Executioner. The reason he has requested Kirk's presence is that he believes Kodos has returned, posing as a Shakespearean actor named Anton Karidian (Moss). While Karidian's company performs in front of the Enterprise crew, someone sets out to kill Leighton and Kirk, leading the latter to grow suspicions of his own and discovering there is no record of Karidian's existence prior to Kodos' alleged death. The question is: will he do the right thing and, most important, will he be able to do so before it's too late?

The story is a pretty straightforward one, with no genuine surprises, but it allows the writers to show us one of Kirk's primary characteristics, namely his great sense of duty and everlasting determination to do the right thing. Despite the lack of subtlety in how the mystery plays out, Moss is also an interesting presence as Karidian, particularly since his role and the numerous references to Shakespeare (including the show's title) allow for a quite witty and postmodern examination of what it means to be an actor, a term which has a sinister double meaning this time around.

Oh, and last but not least, this episode is another sign of how Star Trek has influenced American popular culture: the green, slimy alien Kodos, well known to fans of The Simpsons, was named after Kodos the Executioner. What's not to love?