Star Trek Retrospective: Episode 13 the Conscience of the King

Another one of my personal favorites.  This story had some serious gravitas, as well as a cool twist and amazing acting.  The scene where Kirk has Karidian read the Kodos proclamation is incredibly powerful.

However one thing I love about this show is it is a nice glimpse into Kirk’s past (oh wait!  At age 13 Kirk spent part of his childhood on Tarsus IV, not stealing cars in Iowa?  Gosh how did JJ Abrams miss that with all the extensive research he did prior to writing his first Trek-ish film?) as well as a look at the social dynamic of the TOS era Federation.  Star Wars t-shirtsLooks like there was a “good ole’ boy” network that experienced officers such as Kirk could tap into to get things done like when he called his friend Captain Daily and asked him to not pick up the Karidian troupe.  In this the show was a little more like the frontier of the Empire from Star Wars (I see the similarity.  Image courtesy of my own collection of Star Wars t-shirts.  I swing both ways).

I also really enjoyed Lenore, who managed the difficult task of appearing a naive innocent while at the same time being totally evil and bat guano nuts.  Not an easy thing to pull off and but she did it.  Kudos to Barbara Anderson.  She later won four Emmys for work on Ironside and was in the pilot film for the Six Million Dollar Man.  As a nerd and fan of retro tv shows I have to applaud her.

the Infamous Dave Inman


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