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Star Trek

The Corbomite Maneuver

Season 1, Episode 10, Aired 11/10/66

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Episode Summary

The Enterprise encounters a vast alien ship that sets out to test them.

8.5

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Cast & Crew

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Leonard Nimoy

Mr. Spock
William Shatner

Captain James Tiberius Kirk
Grace Lee Whitney

Yeoman Janice Rand

Fan Episode Reviews (11)

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The Enterprise encounters an alien ship and is tested by Balok of the First Federation.

8.5

"Great"

By Celedorian, Oct 26, 2010 Report Abuse

This is the first bottle show for the Original Series, meaning everything was filmed on the ship. But it's also one of the best bottle shows from any incarnation of Star Trek. This is a "mystery" show, with Kirk, Spock, and company trying to figure out what's going on. Without new sets, the episode relies upon the writing to give it its quality, and the writer Jerry Sohl delivers the goods. The beauty of the story is its simplicity. The crew goes step by step through the mystery until all is revealed. Also, recognition must be given to the special effects and the music. They're both fantastic and enhance the script greatly.

The only down side to the episode is that there are no Star Trek babes that guest star, and no guest stars of any kind other than Anthony Hall as Mr. Bailey and Clint Howard as Balok.moreless

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2 0
The Starship Enterprise encounters a mysterious alien being identified as 'Balok', which blocks their way and refuses to allow them to leave, threatening to destory this ship. A very good episode that leaves you guessing throughout...moreless

9.5

"Superb"

By Jay-Spacedust, Oct 22, 2008 Report Abuse

After 'Where No Man Has Gone Before', this was the first regular episode to be produced, but was held back until a bit later in the season (reportedly because NBC wanted more 'planet' based stories near the start of the run).

Anyway, it is a really good episode. At some points, there really seems no way out for the Enterprise crew and you wonder how they're going to escape.

Anthony Call is fair as Lt. Bailey, the episode's 'featured crew member', the edgy crewman who nearly loses his head when the Enterprise is caught in Balok's grip.
Also keep an eye on Mr. Sulu, who for much of the episode carries out both his own duties and that for the fazed Bailey.

There is the notable goof later in the episode, as Sulu says "One minute ... I knew he would". Balok's dialogue of "One minute" was supposed to be dubbed in between but never was.

On first viewing, you are led to really wonder who or what Balok is. The outcome of the episode, on first viewing, is quite surprising, and a real twist.

Although on repeat viewing you know the truth about Balok, the episode still holds up well thanks to some good writing and performances.

All-in-all, a great episode.moreless

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Kirk tries to bluff an alien bully, and gets told.

9.6

"Superb"

By readysetgo88, Feb 18, 2008 Report Abuse

This episode is absolutely one of my favorites. When I was watching it, I had no idea what was going to happen so it was actually pretty dramatic. I also loved the side story of the tension between Kirk and McCoy over the erratic crewman. But I think what I really appreciated most about the episode was its sense of humor. I was totally cracking up when Balok gave them ten minutes to live, and every time Kirk would start to try and talk to him, all nice and haughty, he'd get shut up by "7 minutes," "3 minutes," etc. Sometimes I think Kirk is a little too cocky and it's nice when he gets taken down a peg, so the whole thing was so funny.moreless

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A little suffering is good for the soul

8.0

"Great"

By amazingwebhead, Nov 05, 2007 Report Abuse

'The Corbomite Manoeuvre' is an unfortunate episode that has its beginning, middle, heart and overall premise in the right place, but unfortunately fails to pay off by the time the credits role. Nevertheless, before I go on about the reason why this episode ended up failing to be what it could have been, let's go over just what makes the majority of it so enticing.

First of all I have to say that even though it looks pretty dated by today's standards, I love the Balok puppet and regard it as one of the best original Trek prop aliens to be used in the series. Every time I see the thing on the Enterprise viewscreen, I get the creeps. There's just something about it that's always been unsettling for me. In fact, the episode's effects in general are pretty decent overall and as I said, even though they are completely rubbish compared to what we can achieve today, they still do their job well without distracting.

Joseph Sargent who directs this episode, does a great job for the first two acts: pacing the action and character development; balancing them well to achieve dramatic and cerebral tension. Particularly effective is the scene involving the threat of Enterprise's destruction in which radiation is rapidly being projected at the ship. Not only does he create an atmosphere with the help of the brilliant performances of cast of course- of immediate panic and fear, but he manages to escalate it to a heart-thumping climax, that pays off excellently. Unfortunately, it's a shame that he couldn't work better with Sohl's script to build this kind of tension throughout the entire episode.

Nonetheless, what 'The Corbomite Manoeuvre' also gives the Star Trek fan (and this is something I could only really appreciate second time round, having watched the entire series) something to enjoy is the very rare circumstance of all the main cast being aboard the bridge for one very prolonged set of time. Now inherently, this isn't really something to write home about, but thankfully Sohl's script uses this opportunity to create many scenes for characters to establish themselves early on in the series, and to develop themselves and the relationships they have with those around them. This is further exemplified through the entire cast's fantastic performances, giving some of the greatest enthusiasm that they give for the show throughout its entire run. Particularly striking was Nimoy's sometimes aggressive take on Spock, although not in an emotional sense, strictly in a logical command-driven sense of course.

The main star of this episode however is Kirk. Indeed watching him keeping his cool and dealing with the situation at hand is rather interesting to watch and Shatner does a great job portraying the captain. He nails his personality, even for so very early on in the series. However, aside from all the command and dealing with alien bullies, my favourite scene of the entire episode occurs when Kirk and McCoy take a trip to Kirk's quarters and engage in a conversational scene that really could have been left out for plot purposes, but would have surely damaged the show's sentimental warmth. Both Shatner and Kelley do a brilliant job here, and having just seen Star Trek II, really wish that they could have pulled off something just a little closer to what we have here in 'The Corbomite Manoeuvre'. For an episode so early on, it really feels like these guys have known each other for years upon years, it's amazing and amusing to watch at the same time. Although not fully developed enough for my liking and in the end seeming like such a waste of development, the character of Bailey is an interesting one, often creating some dramatic scenes that show the pressure involved when working aboard a starship; something we rarely see. Indeed, it's not only Bailey who seems to crack under the stress, many of the ships crew begin to act irrationally at times, creating rather striking scenes with conflict between crew members that is so rarely seen in the Enterprise's sterile crew. In the end however, everyone eventually comes together and works to 'defeat' Balok. Unfortunately this is done through a series of rather repetitive and unimaginative scenes that really hinder the preceding acts. Then comes the twist ending that I'm still not so sure about. In one sense it seems like a cop-out, seems like the writer couldn't be bothered with it anymore, and decided to throw in a cheap wrap-up. On the other hand however, it is naturally a fitting ending for a Star Trek episode and suits the show's overall arching message well. Plus, I can't deny that I didn't see it coming; I was genuinely surprised on my first watch, even if I was genuinely aghast at the same time. Overall, a great episode, but it's a shame about the lackluster ending.moreless

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Thats why I love this show because of the Action & Drama.

10

"Perfect"

By matrix103, Aug 21, 2007 Report Abuse

I love the music selections that that they picked for this episode. So I like all of the characters and the storyline was superb. Every thing about this episode is superb. I loved all of the script's in this episode. Now "Balok" I wounder what species he is?. So I give this episode and this show 5 Stars. Okay I watch episodes of this show all the time and sometimes a ship explodes and the graphics are not very realistic but hey it was the 60's anyway. So this has to be one of my favorite episodes in this series. Good Day.moreless

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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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Trivia
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- In one shot on the bridge, McCoy's uniform changes from the standard black collar version (as he entered the bridge) to the shiny short sleeved version (while watching the Blalok puppet) and back (when leaving with Bailey). Edit
- In the very first shot in this episode of the Enterprise and the quick zoom in towards the bridge the front of the warp nacelles had short gold spikes on them and the bridge dome was slightly different. This was due to the staff reusing footage from the beginning of the "The Cage." Edit
- Although the ship is on red alert there are still plenty of people roaming the corridors to get tossed around. During red alert all crewmembers should be at their stations. Edit
Notes
ADD NOTES
- In September 2006, just under 40 years after this episode aired, Clint Howard appeared in character as Balok in the special Comedy Central Presents : The Roast of William Shatner. Edit
- On the weekend of November 18-19th, 2006 TVLand showed mini-marathons of Star Trek TOS episodes and Star Trek-related shows to note the aquisition of the series for their regular line-up. Showing the episodes out of original broadcast order, they followed up this episode with the second season episode "The Deadly Years" presumably because both episodes mention the fictional explosive compound corbomite. Edit
- The late Ted Cassidy (Balok puppet) was Lurch on The Addams Family (ABC, 1964-66). He also made a previous appearance as Ruk in the episode "What Are Little Girls Made Of?" Edit
Quotes
ADD QUOTES
- Spock: I regret not having learned more about this Balok. He was reminiscent of my father. Scotty: May Heaven have helped your mother. Spock: Quite the contrary. She considered herself a very fortunate Earth woman. Edit
- Balok: You and I are much alike, Captain. Both proud of our vessels. Edit
- Kirk: I'll take two men with me. Dr. McCoy, to examine and treat the alien if necessary, and you, Mr. Bailey. Bailey: Sir? Kirk: The face of the unknown. I believe I owe you a look at it. Edit
Allusions
ADD ALLUSIONS
- Balok: In your culture, he would be Mr. Hyde, to my Jekyll. The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde was a story by Robert Louis Stevenson, originally published in the late 19th century. In the tale, Dr. Jekyll, a peaceful man, created a potion that unleashed his "evil side", the murderous Mr. Hyde. Since its publication, the term "Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde" has come into colloquial use, to refer to the good and evil parts of a person. Edit

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