“The Conscience of the King” is an ambitious and entertaining episode. It makes a deliberate effort to merge stage and screen performances, Shakespeare and science fiction, tragedy and comedy, morality and mystery. And, for the most part, the episode succeeds. There’s a palpable sense of danger looming over the episode’s central suspect, an actor named Anton Karidian (Arnold Moss). Along with his daughter Lenore (Barbara Anderson) the episode greatly benefits from its supporting roles. Unfortunately, the whole endeavor is threatened by the episode’s final scenes which are thoroughly implausible, and objectionable.

The episode’s premise centers around Karidian who is suspected of being a man named “Kodos the Executioner” – who was responsible for the deaths of 4,000 citizens on the colony of Tarsus IV, and was presumed to be dead for nearly twenty years. Kirk is alerted to Karidian’s potential alias by his friend Dr. Thomas Leighton (William Sargent). Unfortunately, before Kirk can determine the truth, his friend is found dead. Complicating matters is the clear attraction felt between Kirk and Karidian’s daughter, Lenore. After contriving to have Karidian’s acting troupe become passengers on board the Enterprise, Kirk launches an investigation to determine the truth – and achieve justice.

What makes the episode truly intriguing is in the bookend performances of Shakespeare’s Hamlet. This provides a framework of stagecraft and tragedy, which in turn creates the underlying thematic elements of tragedy and deception. Karidian has been acting for twenty years, ever since the time that Kodos the Executioner was killed. In that time, seven of the 9 remaining eye-witnesses to Kodos’ depravity have been killed – each one with Karidian’s troupe nearby. And, as it turns out, Karidian really is Kodos. This was, perhaps, the worst kept secret of the story, but the episode was not dependent on the mystery of Karidian. More important was the concept of justice and the burden of proof.

Both Kirk and Spock strongly suspect Karidian, but Kirk is unwilling to act without being absolutely sure. Spock’s logic (along with Kirk’s intuition) is more than enough to conclude that Karidian is Kodos. Kirk needs to know from a human standpoint. And one of the subtexts to the episode is the question of what makes us human. Lenore asks this of Kirk when comparing the captain to his ship. And, of course, the idea comes up once again in a discussion between Spock and McCoy over a bottle of liquor (Spock abstains from imbibing). The Spock-McCoy scene is one of the most enjoyable of the episode. And the chemistry between Kirk and Lenore is quite plausible. These sequences help provide a necessary element of humanity to an episode that confronts the inhumanity of mass murder.

Indeed, Kodos’ actions also bear scrutiny. And what helps the episode greatly is the complex way in which the executions are portrayed. Kodos was the governor of Tarsus IV when its food supply was suddenly rendered unusable. Faced with terrible choices, Kodos declared martial law and ordered the executions – based solely on his own criteria. In a confrontation between Kodos and Kirk, the criminal makes a rather poignant observation: Kodos ordered people to their deaths in order to save lives, and Kirk does the same. Of course, the scales are completely different. But as Kodos says, had the supply ships arrived sooner, he would have been a hero. When Kirk retorts that history has made its judgment, a fascinating question about morality is raised: to what extent is morality absolute or relative to society? The episode leaves the question open for exploration.

As the episode approaches its conclusion, and the questions of Karidian’s identity evaporate, the concepts of justice and vengeance gain greater prominence. What kind of justice is appropriate for a man like Kodos? Should he be brought to the authorities? Is Lieutenant Riley wrong to want to kill Kodos himself, in retribution for the murder of his parents at Kodos’ orders? The answer is given through Kirk’s words and actions – he stops Riley from killing Kodos and even when he overhears Lenore confess that she’s the one responsible for killing the other seven witnesses, he insists on bringing the two to the authorities.

But “justice” is served in the most contrived, implausible and hokey way possible: somehow Lenore manages to pull a phaser away from a grossly negligent security guard (no wonder those red shirts always end up dead) and in the process of trying to shoot Kirk, ends up killing her father. Because such a situation is so ludicrous, it really undermines the “tragedy” of Kodos being “executed” by his own daughter – and her own subsequent madness as a result of the act. In fact, it’s enough to diminish the overall impact of the episode.

For forty-plus minutes, “The Conscience of the King” is a compelling, well –crafted, plausible episode. The real tragedy, then, is that it’s ending is so preposterous that it amounts to little more than bad comedy. Had there been some more plausible way for Lenore to obtain a phaser and point it at Kirk, the ending, and therefore the entire episode, could have been much more powerful.

Filed under: Original Series