The Corbomite Maneuver

DVD, Star Trek S1 (The Corbomite Maneuver)

This was the true inauguration of the series. Forget 'The Man Trap,' that only got its place through being selected as the first to be broadcast, in a ridiculous schedule that had the pilot, 'Where No Man Has Gone Before,' not shown until around the third week of the series' run. If you look at the 'Star Trek Chronology,' the great work of the Okudas that gives us what I consider a definitive timeline for Trek's future, it puts 'The Corbomite Maneuver' in the premier slot as it should be, since it was the first of the series proper to be produced, and as such represents the development from the completely different cast of original pilot 'The Cage,' and the waypoint between pilots and series that the second pilot, 'Where No Man…' gave us. Good, now that we've got that cleared up, let me say that it's also worthwhile watching earlier than 'The Man Trap' because it's a better episode, as I recall, and an archetypal example of the series pretty much at its best. There remain the last vestiges of the pilots' alternate style (more on which later), but for the most part this was true, familiar 'Star Trek.' And it must have been quite a sight for those who'd bought a colour TV for the first time, with its brimming, roiling displays of colour in stark contrast to the blandness of 'Where No Man…' and even turning it up compared to 'The Cage' - for the first time we have redshirts (Mr. Leslie, or one of him, sits unobtrusively on the bridge, while we also see another shot of him in the corridors wearing blue, the beginning of speculation about Leslie brothers, and how many there are! Lt. Hadley also appears on Bridge and in corridor), most gratifyingly represented by Scotty; there're coloured lights all over the place, the ship a vibrant place to visit.

Other major pieces of the lore fall into place, with Uhura (wearing gold, which makes more sense when you think about it, though she doesn't stand out quite so much), making her debut at Communications, earpiece in place; Spock's blue-lit viewer; Sulu at his helm; Scott referred to as Scotty; and best of all, Dr. McCoy, with a full examination of the main part of Sickbay, thanks to Kirk's fitness exam. We get evidence of the kind of character this third doctor of the Enterprise holds, more interested in his Captain's health than in strict adherence to regulation, deliberately ignoring the red light of alert which is visible to him, but which Jim is oblivious to, and like previous doctors, isn't afraid to do what he thinks best. We even get a return to the bartender role of Dr. Boyce when McCoy pours Jim a drink in the Captain's quarters. And 'Jim' it is, denoting a casualness in friendship towards the Captain, something Spock displays in equal measure, although at this stage it's still Kirk and Spock, or Kirk and McCoy, they're not a triumvirate yet (DeForest Kelley even relegated to the stands of the end credits along with the rest of the 'guest' cast).

Interestingly, rather than explore the main characters, we get a more contemporary angle as we see an arc for one-shot guest character Navigator Bailey, a young, fresh addition to the crew whom McCoy feels Kirk pushes too hard, but which the Captain believes can take it. He goes from nervous rookie to losing his cool in the face of impending death, to facing up to his fears before they come to pass, rewarded by an order to accompany the Doctor and Kirk over to the alien ship. Even more interestingly, this arc is what gives the episode its heart - we can understand how he feels as we're not heroes like these other space-going people, and how would we react in such a situation? Bailey's wild inability to accept the end causes much embarrassment, but it only serves to impress when, during the countdown by Balok, in the last few seconds he returns to the Bridge to resume his station having been ordered to leave during his meltdown. It's a simple device, but it makes the crew a warm, living and breathing entity and, if it weren't for the fact that Bailey's arc had a satisfyingly final conclusion, it would have been a shame he wasn't a recurring figure on the series.

His story gets the ultimate happy ending, however, when Balok, this fearsome entity intent on destroying them for no other reason than the offence they've caused, is revealed, rather like the Wizard of Oz, to be, not a charlatan without any power, but something quite different to what he seemed, and a detente is immediate, resulting in Bailey's posting to the little alien's scout ship for a cultural exchange programme. Balok was a continuation of the first pilot's intent in creating weird and wonderful alien creatures, something avoided in the second pilot. The puppet Balok uses to unnerve the crew via viewscreen (the vastly improved rectangular variety, with those lights pinging horizontally along below which would be a staple of every Bridge viewscreen from then on), was an excellent design and like the 'green girl,' would also be seen in the end credits to become one of the most iconic images of the series, an image I can remember fascinating me as a child. In the actual episode the puppet can't be disguised as anything more than it was, in spite of Balok's rippling visual effect on the screen - the stiff, wooden movement of the head and eyes gave the game away, but it doesn't matter in this case because it really was a puppet, not a badly designed creature that failed to work. You can excuse the Enterprise crew for not seeing through the ruse due to the threat of death they were under, and the amazing things they'd already seen.

Even to my eyes today, the Fesarius, Balok's ship, is an incredible effect, a pulsing sphere made up of those models you get in school science lessons which represent neutrons and electrons circling atoms, except these expand to enormous proportions to fill the screen and dwarf the starship confronting it. Much more imaginative and alien than producing another model and putting the Enterprise up against that, and you believe in its power by comparison. The First Federation must truly be a gigantic body of great influence and magnitude. Except, like the later concept of Section 31, it could just as well be a figment of this little alien's imagination, all we have are the tricks and deceptions of one man, and though it's likely both Section 31 and this Federation are genuine organisations (in Section 31's case some of the mystery was lost for me when we saw evidence of it in both 'Enterprise' and 'Star Trek Into Darkness' as it was open to interpretation during Sloan's episodes, as a one-man band, something that was awe-inspiring and fascinating), we never heard of The First Federation again, and if Balok could deceive so easily, then who's to say the rest of what he said was truthful?

Clint Howard as the actual alien was a return to an idea from 'The Cage' - instead of doing the obvious, and having a man in a suit to create alienness, you have a human, then present them in a way that isn't normal: before, it was women with men's voices, now it's a child with a man's voice, and not only that, but a bald head as round as Charlie Brown's. Howard, brother of the more famous Director, Ron Howard, would go on to be in two more Trek series ('DS9' and 'Enterprise'), which gives his role here another slice of interest, and makes me want to open a business under the name of his characters: Balok, Grady & Muk. The child actor carries the role off very well, not just by use of the dubbing to give him a deep, echoey voice, but in his body language, the way he portrays confidence among established adult actors, yet also has a childlike joy when he guffaws. It's only a short (excuse the pun), performance at the end of the episode, but it certainly is memorable, and although the inside of his scout shows the production couldn't afford anything, reduced to hanging drapes as a solution, it also shows the creative use of budget and imagination they were able to call upon. The low ceiling and door are immediately alien, and while it might have been better to have the Landing Party go through one curtain when Balok invites them to a tour, and leave it at that, instead of wandering around behind the set to use up running time, it's a nice, positive way to end the episode, ironic that in the first to feature all three main characters, it bucks the trend for a jovial tag scene on the Bridge.

For the first time we hear the bing-bongs of the opening credits, and the bold mission statement spoken by Captain Kirk. That mission is reinforced during the episode when Kirk reminds his crew that they're out there to seek out and contact alien life, and that this incident is a chance to put their high-sounding words into practice, something very much like Picard would have said, so perhaps the historical view of the series as being gung-ho and full of cowboy diplomacy wasn't entirely accurate, and there was a level of enlightenment in that era akin to that of the 24th Century, after all. It's not like we see Kirk getting into a fistfight with Balok - for one thing it would have been over pretty quick, unless the little guy had more tricks up his sleeve, perhaps like the opening to 'Star Trek Beyond' a herd of his miniature people would appear out of the shadows and hurl themselves on the unsuspecting Captain, overwhelming him by sheer numbers (seen on this series in 'Miri' when he gets attacked by children!). Kirk is shown at his best in this episode, a respected leader, carrying authority, but not shoving it down people's throats. He's strong (Bailey's all for blowing the probe out of their path, but Kirk doesn't indulge him and shows who's boss), and not just physically, as he demonstrates in the tests McCoy makes him go through. He's hard on Bailey, who doesn't react as a trained officer should, but gives him another chance and rewards him. He listens to his crew, reassures them in a ship-wide address on the comm after Balok's threat has rung through the entire ship, and he bravely faces destruction without losing cool.

For the first time we see another of his abilities: that of standing up to bullies. In his first appearance, 'Where No Man…,' he showed his persuasive tongue to urge Dehner to go against Mitchell, and in this, after going through all the channels of diplomacy, offering apologies, requesting friendly relations, and ultimately respecting Balok's wishes and choosing to leave rather than antagonise him further, only when he's pushed into a corner with no other alternative than to attack, does he do so. And when that proves ineffective he pulls one last reserve tactic, a brilliant poker analogy when all else is lost, tempers are frayed keeping stern control when anarchy, at least from Bailey's corner, might be forthcoming, and inventing a new substance within his ship, the Corbomite of the title, to threaten the alien with destruction if the Enterprise is attacked. It's a brilliant, spur of the moment intuition, and it works, Balok backs down. He says it was a test when they meet him, but I'm not sure what threatening a race with their death would prove. That they can die with dignity? That they won't use force unless it's a last resort? Or was it Kirk's grasp of the poker play that impressed Balok? Come to think of it, I don't remember him ever being told that Corbomite was an imaginary substance, so maybe it was the invention of such a weapon that made him so conciliatory? Or simply that Kirk came to rescue him, despite his actions against them?

If Spock had been Captain, who knows what the result would have been, because, like Tuvok in 'Twisted,' he basically advises inaction because there's nothing left to do: when a game of chess reaches checkmate, the game is over, he says. It shows how blind one-track, logic-fuelled mentality can be, because Kirk doesn't see it as chess, he changes the game to poker - it's a Kobayashi Maru test that has no apparent solution, so his choice is to change the entire setup, and it's this thinking outside the box which sets Kirk up as such a great Captain, quite apart from his charisma and charm. That's what makes the episode work, it's not about some of the other archetypal Trek elements such as romantic interludes, punch-ups or comedy, it's in the 'Balance of Terror' category: a submarine episode, with all the scenes happening on vessels in space, no beaming down to studio-set planets or the great outdoors, it's a mental battle. It's intelligent, scientific in the way they talk about things (such as discussing the oxygen content in the air on the smaller ship, before they beam over), there are adult conversations such as the one between Kirk and McCoy in the Turbolift about Bailey being promoted too fast. Even the Yeoman is confident and far from cowed by her Captain, in this one.

Yeoman Rand pops up only occasionally to bring the Captain his dinner (a healthy salad, as instructed by McCoy who feels Kirk needs to improve in that area - that shows how much equals they are that the doc is quite happy to meddle with the man's meals), or, in a more important scene on the Bridge, brings coffee. This might seem demeaning to modern eyes, but the fact that Rand has the ingenuity to use a phaser to heat the coffee when power to the galley (yes, they definitely mentioned galley, in a rare reference in Trek, pre-'Enterprise'), is down, and that she has the presence of mind to do that when the whole ship is threatened with destruction and everyone knows it, systems taken down throughout, shows both bravery and practicality in her character, an ideal combination for someone who serves the Captain. If it's her role to keep the Captain running, then she's doing an excellent job. The blonde beehive is another visual stamp of 'TOS,' so it's nice to see her appear so early, and means (aside from the Season 2 character, Chekov), all the main cast appear, except for Nurse Chapel.

In terms of the other parts of Trek that we expect to see, there are a lot of those, but not everything is yet firmly tied down. The biggest must be Spock's characterisation: he continues the shouting of orders from the pilots, and even smirks at the Captain, but we're also seeing him become tied to his heritage - he mentions logic, and what it does for him; his quality of calmness and being completely unperturbed at Balok's imminent threat, more interested in sating his scientific curiosity about what their enemy looks like. And his reaction to the humans around him, such as hypocritically telling Bailey it's unnecessary of him to raise his voice, and hinting that humanity is a part of him, too, when he says Balok reminds him of his Father, then qualifies this statement by saying that his Mother felt she was a fortunate Earth woman. It's a big thing to drop in the middle of an episode, and it also ties into the scarring between he and his Father which would play into later episodes and films, so it's surprising that this early in the development it was touched on. It's a good job he does admit to a human heritage because from Kirk's talk it sounds like Earth is the centre of their world - when talking with Balok he talks of Earth people, rather than the Federation of Planets, or Starfleet. These terms hadn't yet been nailed down in production, but neither are they directly contradicted as Kirk could have been simplifying matters, especially as his ship appears to be made up purely of humans (and we'd hear in later episodes of ships crewed entirely by Vulcans, so it had to be a standard practice).

The episode gives us the impression that the rough corners have been smoothed off, and while the shape is still blocky, it's the recognisable one that we know so well. Saying that, there are still remnants of its unfinished natural development: the uniforms are almost the ones we know, three department colours, black collars, but zips can still be seen where shoulders meet neck, and there are no more trousers for the female characters. Kirk requesting department heads to the Bridge is just like in 'Where No Man…' except it's not so obvious who is and who isn't: McCoy is said to be Life Sciences head of department, Scotty is clearly the Engineering head (which still incorporates Transporter systems, along with an asian Transporter assistant, though a different one to the pilots), but is Uhura a head? Is anyone else? The sets get a good outing, with the Bridge as we know it, all sign of the 'desk lamps' gone, nor do they reappear in the Captain's quarters - instead, Kirk has a computer monitor that wouldn't have looked out of place in a 1990s house, impressive given the size and look of computers in the 1960s. There's a lot more texture, to both characters and the ship they inhabit. The corridors continue to feature hordes of people, they're wide and long, and colourful too. The Turbolift has handles at last, there's a new Briefing Room complete with Tri-screen display, and even a 'condition alert' is sounded, though not specified at Red or Yellow (the lights blink red). Kirk uses the wall comms in the Turbolift, and his chair to make announcements, the monitor in his quarters for visual communication.

They pack it all in so quick you have to pay attention if you're looking out for all the stuff that makes up this world. We see evidence of then-futuristic technology, again like the 1990s, where everyone carries little plastic floppy disks to the briefing. And we get stock shots (Sulu turning round to look at the Captain with the viewscreen in shot, would be used many times on the series), or the patented Trek roll when the ship's attack. It's not extreme yet, and actually, there's more of the subtle juddering the cast carry off excellently, than full-bodied acrobatics, but we certainly see the results of less than perfect gravity nets in these old ships (not that it was any better in the later ones), especially in the corridors where a bunch of crew, some in odd off-duty clothing, which made me wonder if they were travelling merchants along for the ride, flying from one side to the other! There's even a variation on the McCoy favourite "I'm a Doctor, not a…", though it's not quite there yet as he asks if he's a Doctor or a moon shuttle conductor. And there are the references to literary fiction which elevate the series a little, showing its intelligence, and in this case, recognising its science fiction forebears when Balok talks of his puppet as being the Hyde to his Jekyll.

The cheesiness of the effects rears its head just a little, not so much in the actual image of the spinning cube probe which confronts the Enterprise, which looked fantastic and alien all at once, but in the way the drama is delivered through the ship turning to avoid it, then the same shape coming back into the centre of the viewscreen. This makes it a bit simplistic and there's no sense of scale or place, but on the other hand there are some pretty closeups of the Enterprise, and as I said before, the Fesarius and its scout ship look as good as ever, probably better than many a design on the series. What comes through more than anything else is that this isn't schlocky sci-fi, monster-of-the-week stuff (like 'The Man Trap'?), but dedicated, world building, reality based drama between people. The crew are like a family, there's less of a barrier between them and the Captain than there was with Pike, yet Kirk retains his leadership, and when he shows confidence in Bailey it's inspirational and encouraging. In all, a typical Trek episode about trying to overcome the natural impulses of fear and revulsion, a professional ship of adventurers journeying into the unknown. It doesn't stop being tense because the drama slows, a bit like 'The Motion Picture,' to gaze at the viewscreen, and it gives us strong character creations right away, or it would have been right away if they hadn't had two attempts to iron out the concept. Third time was the charm, setting the series on the course it would take into the future for far, far longer than it could ever have imagined.

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