“The Corbomite Maneuver” is an episode about testing the limits (and strengths) of humanity. In essence, the crew of the Enterprise play the role of a rat in a maze. And the various conflicts they face test the limits of their patience and aggressiveness. And in that sense, it’s an enjoyable episode to watch. But it isn’t a flawless episode. The “test” is presented a bit too obscurely to become a real focus in the episode. And the transition from the opening tension to the later stratagem of bluff and counterbluff is not handled particularly well. In a fifty-minute episode, that can spell disaster. Fortunately, there is enough momentum from the opening sequences to get us through to the final twist which, at the very least, is unexpected and intriguing.

The episode begins with the Enterprise on a routine mission charting stars. Right away we’re introduced to Lt. Dave Bailey, an impatient, unseasoned officer who will have a fairly large bit part to play. No sooner are we introduced to Bailey, we’re also introduced to a multi-colored, glowing cube which has come out of nowhere to block the Enterprise’s path. These scenes, in which Kirk tries various options for getting out of the way of the cube, are interesting enough – to a point. Fortunately, just the sequence began to drag on just a bit too long – with Bailey completely unable to handle his job in a crisis – Kirk is forced to destroy the object out of self-defense (it had been releasing increasingly harmful doses of radiation).

The Bailey character seems intended to symbolize the pressure points of humanity, our failings as it were. He is often distracted, he freezes, he’s too aggressive almost to the point of insubordination. But he’s not insubordinate – he’s just making way too many “rookie” mistakes at a time when the ship is seemingly in mortal peril. After the destruction of the cube, a huge Crystal sphere appears and informs the Enterprise that, as a result of its actions, the ship and crew have been sentenced to death.

It is from here that the episode reaches its full stride. In spite of everything they try, the Enterprise can neither break free from the sphere nor reason with the sphere’s commander, an alien named Balok. How the crew, particularly Kirk, Spock and McCoy, react their impending deaths is part of the whole purpose of the episode. Just when things seem to be hopeless, Spock compares the standoff to a game of chess in which the Enterprise has been checkmated. But Kirk has a revelation: the game isn’t chess … it’s poker. Having recognized the new rules of the game, Kirk decides to try a classic poker strategy: The Bluff.

Kirk informs Balok that should the Enterprise be attacked, a secret doomsday weapon, made of Corbomite, would be unleashed, securing the destruction of the sphere. Balok chooses not to call the Bluff. And so the Corbomite Maneuver is born.

That’s pretty much where the episode should have ended. But in an effort to fill up more time, we get another sequence of bluff and counterbluff whereby the Enterprise is dragged off into space, presumably to Balok’s homeworld, where they will be imprisoned. And so we get a whole sequence where Kirk and his ship struggle to free themselves from a tractor beam. The problem is that, following the doomsday gambit earlier in the episode, these scenes feel exceptionally anti-climactic. Switching them around probably would have been the better way to go.

In any event, with the alien craft seemingly out of energy, Kirk, Bailey and McCoy beam over to the ship to render assistance. What they find is that the alien figure of Balok is, actually, nothing more than a puppet. The real Balok is a childlike creature who used the puppet … as a ruse. His particular interest in the Enterprise amounted to little more than curiosity – much like the Enterprise’s mission to seek out new life. Balok proposes an exchange of information, and Bailey chooses to remain behind to learn from Balok and to teach Balok about humanity. It’s an interesting choice because Bailey is not, as Balok assumed, “humanity’s finest.” But as Kirk says, learning from a human with flaws is the best way to truly learn about humanity as a race.

“The Corbomite Maneuver” is a pretty decent episode, from start to finish. It has flashes of brilliance. But these are tempered by rather poor pacing and plot decisions. The acting, while competent, isn’t particularly noteworthy, either.

Filed under: Original Series