LogFAQs > #967300956

Episode 13: The Conscience of the King

It you're gonna magpie Shakespeare, might as well go the whole hog.

It's nice getting a bit of backstory to this world. Kirk being a survivor of Kodos the Executioner is a rare look into a main character's past. I like how subtle and clearly troubled by everything he is. There's a lot of moral ambiguity in this one. Kirk Ruthlessly charming Lenore to get to Karidian, asking a captain to abandon them ect. He goes to a dark place and McCoy's questioning of whether he's going to parade his head down the corridors is heavy stuff. Spock noticing early on that there's something up and researching it himself is a nice moment.

Kudos himself is fascinating. I got the impression that a combination of old age, constant acting, guilt and wishful thinking left him genuinely unable to reconcile his past with who he is know. Considering that a lot of Shakespeare's work deals with questions of identity and guilt (Hamlet is the most obvious), using the Bard as a theme for this sort of story makes sense. Reading his old speech and gradually lifting his head up and getting more rehearsed until he's reciting from memory is a highlight. I'm not convinced by his argument about possibly being a hero. Even if the ships didn't arrive, he'd still be selecting victims based on a philosophy that was outdated when it was new.

Figuring out that Lenore was the killer wasn't too difficult. I'd question the logic of her plan (if Kirk didn't get her aboard the Enterprise, how did she Intend to kill him and Riley?), but it's clear she's not particularly lucid. Her actress plays madness really well. Nice that someone broke Kirk's heart for once.

It was nice seeing Riley again. Apparently, this was a happy quirk of casting. I'll take whatever continuity I can get.

The acting could occasionally get a bit hammy for its own good. And lenore's recitation of Shakespeare went on for a bit, but otherwise this was a damn fine episode.