"The Corbomite Manuever" - Season 1, Episode 10

Star Trek arrives at its thesis statement.

BOO.

When fans describe Star Trek, they often talk about its vision. The innovative, inspiring future it portrays, the post-scarcity space communism, the peaceful exploration of the universe in a spirit of curiosity and collaboration. As I talked about in the first post, I am not a fan. I have no dog in this. I’m here in that spirit, curious but open to whatever I find. And frankly, the first nine episodes did nothing to get that vision across. We’ve had discussions of Spinozian ethics, lots of gender politics, and the inherent push and pull of human impulse versus thought, but none of this utopian spirit that supposedly contrasts Trek with other science fiction of the 20th Century, like Star Wars or Alien.

Here in episode 10, Trek’s vision is on full display. The show should have started with “The Corbomite Manuever.”

What’s most frustrating is that this was possible. “The Corbomite Manuever” was the first episode shot and completed after the original pilots.¹ However, as I’ve discussed previously, NBC did not consider this as the potential lead-off episode for the simple fact that it did not feature an alien planet, which they considered to be the main draw of the show. They did not consider that people love weirdo puppets just as much as they love pastel planets.

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McCoy puts Kirk through the paces. As an alarm goes off near the end of the physical, McCoy finally gives us one of the stylings he is famous for: “What am I, a doctor or a moon shuttle conductor? If I jumped every time a light came on around here, I’d end up talking to myself.” Nine previous episodes of the ship breaking down when you breathe wrong bear him out.

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“The Corbomite Manuever” opens with the Enterprise on its mission: mapping new star systems. Unlike the very first episode, the entire crew is immediately present on deck, doing their jobs. The opening here does a fantastic job of establishing the character dynamics and what each character does on board. Sulu is at the helm doing course corrections, Spock is providing data on what they encounter, and Uhura is picking up incoming signals. We quickly transition to the medical bay, where McCoy is giving Kirk his regular physical. In terms of scripting, it’s an economical masterwork. Even unaware that this was the first episode shot, it feels different than prior episodes. Production needed to see the proof of concept just for themselves.

Things go awry when the ship runs into a bit of “fly paper”: a strange, rotating cube that approaches and blocks their path. Kirk immediately gathers all department heads for an ensemble scene. Again, you get the sense the writers needed to figure out how the whole cast would play together.

The cube presents no danger and refuses to communicate. Sulu’s jumpy helmmate Lieutenant Bailey advocates for blowing it up, but Kirk quips back that he’ll keep that in mind “when this becomes a democracy.” The rest of the crew is baffled. Scotty cannot figure out how it moves, Spock cannot figure out what it’s made of, and McCoy cannot tell if it’s artificial or alive. Kirk decides to wait, which they do for eighteen hours.

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The Cube, helpfully described as “flypaper" by Spock.

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That’s the Captain’s limit, as he then orders the crew to pull them away from the cube, leading to a tense chase scene that ends with the Enterprise destroying it at point blank range. Apparently at some point, it became a democracy.

As the crew debates whether to go on ahead or turn back, Spock and Kirk provide the best exchange of the episode:

KIRK: Care to speculate on what we’ll find if we go on ahead?

SPOCK: Speculate? No. Logically, we’ll discover the intelligence which sent out the cube.

KIRK: Intelligence different from ours or superior?

SPOCK: Probably both, and if you’re asking the logical decision to make -

KIRK: No, I’m not. The mission of the Enterprise is to seek out and contact alien life.

SPOCK: Has it occurred to you that there’s a certain inefficiency in constantly questioning me on things you’ve already made up your mind about?

KIRK: It gives me emotional security.

Bailey, having panicked slightly during the chase with the cube, is ordered by Kirk to practice simulated attacks. McCoy privately needles the captain about this over lunch, ever the compassionate doctor, when suddenly a much larger, pulsating sphere appears before the ship. “Balok, Commander of the flagship Fesarius of the First Federation” beams a video message to the Enterprise, angry about his cube and declaring that the ship will be destroyed in ten minutes as punishment.

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The Enterprise confronts Balok’s sphere. The decision to abandon traditional ship design here was brilliant. The threat feels truly alien and difficult to comprehend and it helps sell that whatever is onboard may have no interest in communicating with people at all.

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BALOK: We make assumption that you have a deity or deities or some such beleifs which comfort you. We therefore grant you ten Earth time period known as minutes to make preparations.

The crew tries to communicate, but Balok is uncompromising. Bailey loses it again, being ordered off the bridge as the debate goes in circles. After McCoy threatens, “no bluff”, to report that Kirk overworked Bailey, the captain has an idea. He asks Spock if he’s ever heard of poker.

Kirk hails Balok again, telling him that all Earth vessels are partially made of “corbomite,” a material that creates a reverse energy reaction whenever attacked that inevitably destroys the attacker. Balok demands proof of the corbomite but Kirk refuses to respond. Bailey proudly retakes his post with Kirk’s permission as the crew stares down death. But Balok relents and says he will tow the ship to be detained. The Enterprise challenges the tractor beam with its engines and wins, crippling Balok’s ship. Naturally, they move into rescue.

Kirk, McCoy, and Bailey beam aboard and find their alien tormentor:

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Balok’s real form, portrayed by Clint Howard. Clint Howard is the brother of famous actor/director Ron Howard, who was also on TV at the time as Opie on The Andy Griffith Show. Howard’s performance here was dubbed over by Walker Edmiston, who did a lot of voice acting and puppetry at the time.

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Balok, it turns out, was merely testing them to see their true intentions. The scary visage was a disguise. He is generous and welcoming, offering them a meal and suggesting that they allow a crewman to remain on the ship for cultural exchange. Bailey volunteers as the Balok shows them around the ship.

“We’re very much alike, Captain. Both proud of our ships.”

In this lovely ending, Star Trek’s optimism shines. Almost every episode up to this point has featured some sort of violent resolution, even if accidental. Out of nine episodes it feels like we have had at least eight cautionary tales about some aspect of human nature. But “The Corbomite Manuever” is not cautionary, it’s celebratory.

Every aspect of the plot is in service this endorsement. The Enterprise encounters an object it cannot understand. All of its instruments fail to analyze it; there’s no communication it will return. It is fully alien. Out of necessity due to the radiation it gives off, they are forced to destroy it as a last resort. Fundamentally, the conflict with Balok arises from misunderstanding, from the lack of knowledge, from the inability to satisfy curiosity.

As Kirk states to the crew:

Those of you who have served for long on this vessel have encountered alien lifeforms. You know the greatest danger facing us is ourselves, an irrational fear of the unknown. But there's no such thing as the unknown, only things temporarily hidden, temporarily not understood. In most cases we have found that intelligence capable of a civilization is capable of understanding peaceful gestures. Surely a lifeform advanced enough for space travel is advanced enough to eventually understand our motives. All decks stand by. Captain out.

Thus, the resolution must be a bluff. Poker is about a lot of things (math especially) but sometimes a hand comes down to luck. You know something, they know something, and it’s time for you both to find out. Winning involves trying to make the opponent “know” what you want them too before everything goes on the table. While Kirk thinks he’s won, when they board Balok says that he “found [his] distress signal quite clever. It was a pleasure testing you.” He was playing a different game.

The Enterprise only wins because of its better nature. Rather than fire blind or fight with everything they have, they bluff on a peaceful solution, on the only option they have to put their cards on the table under the circumstances. When faced with overwhelming violence they still choose peace. Because of that, curiosity continues. Balok welcomes the crew onboard for a tour. The Enterprise has found new lives and new civilizations. Choosing peace is bold.

“The Corbomite Manuever” was the first episode of Star Trek ever shot. As production has said in the past, they “just wanted a hit show.” The mission, the vision, and the import viewers took away surprised and humbled them. When I first read and wrote about that, it struck me as revealing. It set me up to view the show perhaps a bit more cynically, to see the optimism as the result of decades of cultural baggage and interpretation placed on top of a 50 minute monster-of-the-week show airing on Thursday nights. But from “episode one",” there really is something there. Perhaps production itself was being a bit harsh.

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Stray Thoughts

• At one point while under the guillotine, searching for solutions, Spock moves to say “I’m sorry,” but cuts himself off and says: “I regret that I can find no other logical alternative.” They had him down from day one of shooting.

  • Spock also notes that Balok reminds him of his father. “Then may heaven have helped your mother,” says Scotty.

  • Joseph Sargent deviated from the script when the crew were confronted with Balok’s sphere. The script called for everyone, including Spock, to act afraid, but Sargent recommended Nimoy retain his cool demeanor and simply say “Fascinating.” Production credits this decision with defining the character’s attitude.²

• Kirk states that he is annoyed that he has a female Yeoman in this episode, as he’s “already got a female to worry about. Her name’s the Enterprise.” It’s starting to feel contractual to have Kirk mention that he’s in love with the ship at least once per episode.

• The Balok puppet was designed by Wah Chang, who worked on many of the most famous props throughout the series, including the communicator, which influenced the design of modern cell phones. In terms of what we have seen already, Chang also built the “salt vampire” costume in “The Man Trap”.

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Photo Credits

Balok puppet: https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/The_Corbomite_Maneuver_(episode)

Kirk Physical: https://www.cygnus-x1.net/links/lcars/epsd-TOS1-10.php

The Cube: https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/The_Corbomite_Maneuver_(episode)

Balok’s sphere: https://galacticjourney.org/november-14-1966-star-trek-the-corbomite-maneuver/

Balok real: https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0708458/

1. Herbert Solow and Robert Justman, “Inside Star Trek: The Real Story”, p. 161.

2. Id. at 162.