DVDs:

	Star Trek - The Original Series, Vol. 6, Episodes 12 & 13: Miri/ The Conscience of the King William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy CBS Paramount International Television, 2000 average customer review:based on 16 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

Also on this disk is "The Conscience of the King," a memorable drama about a traveling Shakespearean troupe led by one Anton Karidian (Arnold Moss), who may or may not be the same man as Kodos the Executioner, former governor of a Federation planet who oversaw the mass murder of thousands of people rather than watch them starve to death during a food shortage. (Shortly after the deaths, Federation supply ships arrived and Kodos disappeared, right around the time that Karidian arrived as a classical actor touring the planets.) A nice twist: among victims of Kodos's wrongheaded mercy killings were relatives of Captain Kirk (William Shatner), adding a personal note to the mystery of Karidian/Kodos. Well-written (by Barry Trivers) and sensitively directed by a not-well-known but very interesting Hollywood filmmaker, Gerd Oswald.--Tom Keogh

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MIRI IS MY GRANDDAUGHTER!

"Miri" has always been one our family's favorite Star Trek episodes. So much so, that my son named his first-born daughter "Miri". Miri is now almost 11-years-old, lives with us, and remains our favorite granddaughter/daughter. MIRI RULES!


Kodos, the archtyrant type, holocaust

Captain Kirk is transporting Shakespearean acting group led by Anton Karidian to Benecia Colony on Planet Q.

Prior to arrival, Dr Thomas Leighton contacts Kirk wishing to inform him of a new synthetic drug he created, but instead tells him that Karidian is really Kodos the Executioner, tyrant of Tarsus IV, responsible for 4,000 deaths, including members of both Kirk's and Leightons family. The execution of 4,000 people by Kodos justified because of a food shortage and Kodos applied his own personal theory of eugenics to decided who lived and died. Dr Leighton is found murder and Kodos is the lead suspect. Riley is found poisoned near engineering, but McCoy is able to reverse out the poison from the blood. Spock uses the computer to determine Karidian and Kodos are the same person using opportunity and proximity of Kodos to the nine eye witnesses as proof. However, voice match fails becauses of Kodos injuries, a close match but not decisive.

Kirk's charater is very undecisive. Spock should have confront Kirk and said, "What is up with your brain? Why so much caution?" Kodos kill members of Kirk family and one would think Kirk would have be in wrath, seeking revenge. Instead Spock, not Kirk, is the outspoken character and is determined to prove that Karidian is Kodos. Strange considering Kirk has never been one for proof, he often acts on intution. Kirk wants proof and answers. Kirk secret plots too get the truth and has another captain fake engine problems, so the enterprise can pick up the acting crew and bring Kodos closer.

Spock must have thought Kirk was out of his Vulcan mind and probably wanted Kirk to have the "whole crew arrested". However, Kirk wants evidence before imprison the criminal and pressing charges. So, Kirk brings the devil into his backyard in an attempt to get his answers.

The daughter Lenore is the one behind the assassinations of the nine witnesses. Lenore accidentally shoots Karidian in a confrontation with Kirk and she goes mad. Lenore acts innocent, seduces Kirk, but all this is a facade for murder. Lenore has an obsession with her fathers tutelage.

Kodos is an archtyrant type. As a tyrant, Kodos is Hilter ruthless, following a demented logic, and involves himself in mass executions of 4,000 people. While in power, Kodos was cruel and feared; once out of power, he faded into civilization undetected, living a double life. Kodos seems to live a blameless life: no suffering for his crimes, and no pentitence for his evils. Everyone thinks Kodos is dead, burnt beyond recognition. This Archtyrant masterful planned his exit and mysterously survived.

Hyper-paronia forces his Lenore to lauch an assassination attempt removing an possiblity of detection by nine eye witnesses, included in the nine is Kirk; and despite the fact the murders too place 20 years ago without undetection, all this time. Kirk escapes a phaser set on overload in his quarters.

If Hitler were alive today, would he be so easily undetected. Probably not, super ego would push Hilter back out into the lime-light. Kodos was different, he secret plotted to destroy people, Leighton privately discloses to Kirk, the terrible secret.

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Miri

Miri
The Enterprise receives an Earth style distress signal from a planet that is an exact duplicate of the Earth in every detail. Beaming down to the planet surface while tracking the signals exact location Kirk, Spock, McCoy, Yeoman Rand and a security detail find a city that is not only apparently devoid of life but in total disrepair as well. They soon learn that all isn't as it seems as McCoy is attacked by one of the city's inhabitants, a mutant life form with the body of an adult but the mind of a child. After being knocked out by Kirk, the man/creature goes into convulsions and then dies. Hearing noises in the distance the landing party fans out converging on the source of the disturbance in an old house. They discover a frightened teenage girl who tells Kirk and the landing party about an adult population or "Grups" going mad, and how the children or "Onlies" managed to survive. Spock and the security detail scout around the city and learn that there are children still alive and well. Spock attempts to get close but can't because they know the city so well and scurry around like mice.

Miri leads the landing party to a laboratory where they learn about what had happened. The planet's scientists attempted a life prolongation project which had gone horribly wrong; the project had killed off the adult population by causing an infected person to develop painful sores all over the body and die. This condition allowed the children to live extremely long lives before entering puberty; but once they entered puberty and became an adult the disease took its full affect. The disease strands the landing party on the planet in which the only hope of survival is to discover an antidote. The Enterprise, McCoy and the rest of the landing party work furiously to find a cure to the disease that has already started to affect them. The security guards continue to look for the other children, while the rest of the landing party discovers that they only have very little time left. Miri starts to show feelings for "Jim" Kirk, using that Kirk has Miri lead him to where the other children are. Miri leads him to a school house where the children, led by a teenage boy named Jahn are hiding. Kirk is attacked by another of the planets inhabitants, a teenage girl named Louise, who already afflicted by the disease was stunned by Kirk's phaser. The shot killed the already doomed girl and emphasized the urgency of their situation.

Mr. Spock calculates that they have one week left to discover an antidote, the disease wasn't affecting Spock as quickly but he is a carrier of it. The Onlies set up a diversion drawing the landing party out of the lab and allowing Jahn and some of the other children to sneak into the lab and steal the communicators. Without them the landing party would be cutoff from the Enterprise and the ship's vast resources. As the disease further develops in the members of the landing party the stress level rises and tempers flare. McCoy stumbles upon the disease that the planets scientists had accidentaly created giving the landing party a chance to cure the affliction.

Miri with the aid of Jahn and some of the other children hatch the ultimate "foolie", a ruse to lure Yeoman Rand into a trap. McCoy finds what he thinks is a cure to the disease but must have contact with the ship in order to test it. Kirk convinces Miri to help him find Rand and the communicators, as the disease had already started to affect her. She takes Kirk to where Rand was being held; convincing the Onlies was a whole other matter. Kirk teaches the kids a harsh lesson about a disturbing reality they will all soon face if they fail to listen. Desperate, McCoy administers the antidote to himself; it causes him to yell out and then renders him temporarily unconscious. Returning back to the lab all the adults and children witness the antidotes affect as it makes the blemishes on McCoy's skin fade away, with the disease eradicated, the planet can be saved and the civilization rebuilt.

A good story based upon what can happen with science if it goes unchecked.

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Above average couple of eps, "Miri" the stronger one!

These are not two of the stronger eps from the first season but they are still worth viewing. The first ep, "Miri" is the stronger one with a very strong "Lord of the Flies" theme running through it addressing the premise: how would a bunch of kids react in a situation without adult supervision for a long period of time? A mysterious virus infects all adults with a dreaded terminal illness but Bones comes to the rescue with a vaccine. Very competent performances especially by the guest actors in what is overall a good episode.

In the second ep., we address the premise: which is more important; justice or mercy and forgiveness? Reminiscent of the Nazi War Crimes Tribunals of Nurenburg after WWII, a fugitive mass murderer is tracked down as a lead actor in a travelling acting troupe whose daughter becomes Kirk's love interest. Kirk and crewman O'Reily actually have lost family members due to the deeds of this man and now have to struggle with feelings of revenge and justice versus mercy and forgiveness. Overall an average ep with passable acting but mostly forgettable.

Verdict: Save your money for some other volume as this is not really a keeper.

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Some good points in otherwise weak episodes

These two episodes have their good points but suffer from poor execution.

In "Miri," Kirk (William Shatner), Spock (Leonard Nimoy), McCoy (DeForest Kelley), and their landing party must cure a disease that prolongs the life of children but kills them when they reach puberty. There is some good atmosphere and early performances from Kim Darby and Michael J. Pollard, but disease-of-the-week episodes are always problematic. Every SF show seems to be compelled to do them ("Star Trek" did several), but they are never believeable. When was any disease ever discovered and then cured within the time span encompassed by an hour-long TV drama?

"The Conscience of the King" introduces an important piece of Kirk's backstory: he was present when thousands of inhabitants of a Federation planet were executed by the governor (Robert Moss) so that thousands of others could survive a planet-wide famine. Now, he suspects that a Shakesperean actor touring the galaxy may be Kodos in disguise, particularly since the acting troupe's movements coincide with the mysterious deaths of the last surviving witnesses. Scenes in which Kirk, Spock, and McCoy debate the true identity of Kodos and Kirk's true motives show how well the character dynamics among these three have developed. The rest is pretty bad. Apparently, fine acting in the 23rd Century equates with bombastic emoting (perhaps the legacy of the great 20th Century thespian, William Shatner.)

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4

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