I think this is an underrated episode that gets very serious and very deep into the characters. It's one of the reasons why those first thirteen episodes are so iconic.

You haven't heard Shakespeare until you've heard him in the original Klingon.

Barbara Anderson who played Lenore, went on to win a Primetime Emmy Award for her performance as Police Officer Eve Whitfield, in the long running detective tv show Ironside.

This is a fantastic episode. It's a shame it's not brought up more often.

“Oh, this guy! THIS guy!” Yep, the emotion that anyone who heard Riley’s rendition of “I’ll take you home again, Kathleen” was likely to feel… In a way, it was essential that Riley was given this second appearance to round out his character, else “Kathleen” would be all he was remembered for; but this episode made it clear that there was much more depth to him.

Incidentally, Nichelle Nichols was a singer before Star Trek. She sang with Duke Ellington and later with Lionel Hampton.

The intensely dramatic scene with Kirk, Kodos, and Lenore in Kodos' quarters later in the episode features some of Trek's best writing and acting, particularly by the great Arnold Moss. It's one of the absolute finest moments in the series if not all of television itself.

22:15 The characters of Spock and McCoy were better friends than we knew in the Original Series. Despite their philosophical differences and banter, they had a lot of respect for each other. Also they were both always worried about how to best support Kirk in their roles.

This is one of the underrated episodes. Good story, good dialog and good acting. This episode doesn't get the respect it should. She doesn't remember because she had a psychotic break from reality.

The slaughter on the colony happened when Kirk was about 13. Riley was even younger, about 7.

This is one of my fav episodes from the original series. A murder mystery with a twist. and the perfect example of how kirk has a reputation of being a ladies man but every one of his love interests are tragic.

When I was younger I wasn't into this episode as much but being older now, it's a great play in of itself. Lenore's breakdown was spectacular in it's mania. A great little mystery and drama. Above average episode for sure. People shut out trauma in different ways. She's blocked the entire event out. Worth looking into what trauma does to people, to enlighten yourself.

I hope you’re feeling better now! Thanks for these even when you aren’t up for it. I think what they mean in the episode is she totally blocked it out of her mind as a mental defense mechanism from killing her own father. Keeping Spock in the dark is never a good idea…he’s going to get to the bottom of it!

I actually really appreciate this serious episode. One of the more memorable I think. Funny, when the daughter walked into the room the very 1st time, a guys reaction would be "wow, beautiful lady". Your reaction was "that's a beautiful dress"!! 🤣

I love this often forgotten episode. Yes, some suspension of disbelief is required (only eye witnesses can ID Kodos, paper being used for the voice print instead of a computer display), but this is all indicative of the times. bunnytails nailed the "Nazi Parallel" being drawn, although the numbers killed by Kodos would be more along the lines of a concentration camp commandant than say Hitler. Also nailed the character development aspect, when we see another side of the Spock/Bones relationship. I love the acting, and the chips on the table (capturing a mass killer, and saving the witnesses). Such a great TOS episode.

The phaser has the ability to be overloaded. It can be used as a bomb, I don't know if it's an intentional function or just something that you can do. If you remember in the Cage, number one setup her laser pistol to build up an overload, a forced chamber explosion.

William Ware Theiss was the series' costume designer; he did a great job. He also did Janice Rand's "beehive" hairstyle, made up of two (very heavy) wigs. Grace Lee Whitney said the hairpiece was later stolen.

Pro tip: Writers are often inspired by something happening at the time. CO-incidentally, just 4 days after this episode aired, the movie "A Man For All Seasons" was released. Based upon the stage play of the same name, that film was set in Middle Ages England, with the lead character - Sir Thomas More - portrayed as *"the ultimate man of conscience."* Also, the trial of 11 SS men from the Sobibor Extermination Camp, which had begun in Sept '65, concluded on Dec '66, about two weeks after this episode was aired. So these are the things that were in the news. As for why in this episode they need a person to identify Kodos, normally in law you need a witness in order to bring charges (if I have that right). Typically you can't just grab people, unless it's a tyranny. As for the daughter becoming increasingly insane ... this is a play on the MacBeth story, where Lady MacBeth goes insane.

Great episode. I always liked when they bring back a background character like Riley.

"If you believe that i am, than I am - if it pleases you to do so" -- I used a version of this line on my mom all the time if she asked me if I did something like made a mess or did a chore... Drove her insane lol

The costume designer on Star Trek: TOS was a man named William Ware Theiss, and he was a genius at his job.

Barbara Anderson was only twenty years old at the time she was cast as Lenore, and went on to public and critical acclaim as Officer Eve Whitfield in the police drama Ironside the following year, playing the role for three seasons and winning an Emmy for it. This episode would mark the second and final appearance of Bruce Hyde as Lt. Kevin Riley. Hyde left acting on television to do more stage work and would eventually teach acting up until his death just a few years ago. Sadly, this episode was also the final appearance of Grace Lee Whitney as Yeoman Janice Rand. She was only contracted for seven episodes and she'd already filmed six, but Star Trek was already having money problems and cuts had to be made. Another reason for her character going away is that there was a definite chemistry between her and Kirk, and it was felt that this would get in the way of Kirk being the space player he was. Still a much darker reason for Whitney's axing was that she was sexually assaulted one night after the wrap party for "Miri" by an un-named studio executive, who used his influence to see to it that she was never invited to return to the show, even as a guest player. Sad, but true.

So sorry you have been ill. I hope you are feeling better. Roddenberry was a major fan of Shakespeare. This episode was something of a Shakespearian play inside a Shakespearian play. In TNG, Picard frequently references Shakespeare as well.

60's TV has a quality...... never duplicated, imposible to replace.

Bunny time is my favourite time. Bunny made the video whist sick. "What a trooper!" Star Fleet is impressed. Get well soon Bunny. 😀

The Shakespeare's garb was probably in a closet on the Backlot somewhere. The "futuristic" clothes looked pretty late 60's to me.

William Ware Theiss was the costume designer for TOS (and later early TNG, if your journey should take you there) and loved designing the costumes for the ladies. I always enjoyed this episode. Some of the best Trek is very Shakespearean in nature, and as a kid, I always enjoyed the backstory character building of Kirk feom thia episode, and the Spock McCoy interaction is always a delight.🖖

I really like this one, there's so much nuance to the evil. How Kodos did monstrous things that he regrets but still justifies to himself, how he wants his daughter to be separate from that. How Kirk wants vengeance and justice at once, and the two can't always be separated. And he knows his motives aren't pure but it has to be done.

I loved how the plot paralleled Hamlet, with Kirk torn by indecision on his mission of vengeance.

"Conscience of the King" is not as well known as many others because it is straight up drama, without much action or comedy on board. It is a fantastic episode, but it is serious drama. This makes it pretty well known among Trek fans, but not one of those people who are getting familiar with Trek are familiar with. Nichelle Nichols was a professional singer before joining Star Trek. She only had a few chances to sing during the series, but her voice is beautiful.

William Theiss was the costume designer for Star Trek. He designed a LOT of great dresses and clothes.

Trauma can cause memory loss - the mind can do amazing things to avoid pain. She was driven mad by the combination of her love and respect for her father as a great performer and father, and the knowledge of what he did.

Oh, and "Daily"s" voice was actor John Astin!

This is a FANTASTIC episode filled with outstanding moments and that's due to the regular cast and guest players all bringing their A game and great TV direction puts it over the top. My guess is it misses a lot of fan lists because it's not flashy as a sci fi story. No alien worlds being explored, no scientific conundrum to solve. It's a revenge mystery that happens to take place in the 23rd Century aboard a Federation Starship. Shatner has a lot on his plate but handles it with both ease and intensity, and in many ways this is the first real look into Kirk's past remember. He also has to play a Kirk who is himself playing a role while trying to keep Corridian's daughter distracted and pump her for information without her knowing. Shout out to Riley, a truly missed opportunity to add to the cast, someone who as a character seemed to have some connection to Kirk as having experienced the same deprivations at that colony. He also always had a good everyman quality, more so than say Sulu or Chekov. Chekov is supposed to be a wunderkind given his posting and age and who decides who gets to what position onboard. He's young and eager, but he must have past the test with McCoy, Spock and Kirk to be posted on the bridge, be navigator and back up at the science station when Spock has other duties. Sulu, well... He's a funky cool dude with all these various hobbies, he fences, he's interested in botany (His first appearance in production order is actually as a member of the science division.) he collects antique fire arms, and he's THE MAN at the helm of the pride of the fleet. He's... Kinda awesome and he wears it with this ease and humor. I could see Riley if they had done more with him as a more down to Earth guy, pun intended, serving aboard ship, but unlike a lot of the other guest Junior officers Riley seemed way more unflappable and easy to get along with. We damn sure know he's probably a fun guy at the bar. I also want to point out that this episode is one of the few where we get some sense of what life is like in the Federation away from just the actions of Starfleet and its officer corps. Even a little history with what what happened on that colony. It's not a lot but it stands out to me since we got so little of it in TOS's run.

This was inspired by Hamlet; “the plays the thing; whereas we’ll catch the conscience of the king,” the end of act 2. This is in my top ten bc I truly appreciate Shakespeare l

This episode will always be a favorite of mine because it was the last episode of TOS I needed to see to complete the series back when it used to run in syndication on WPIX channel 11 in New York. I stayed up past midnight on a school night to make sure I caught it, having missed previous chances. My father watched it with me even though he wasn't a Star Trek fan. The Conscience of the King has one of the best scores of any Trek episode, composed by Joseph Mullendore. Regarding your question about why they need an eyewitness to Kodos' actions, well if someone is going to be accused of crimes against humanity you better be able to back it up with firsthand accounts. Love the fact Bunny compared Kodos to Thanos. Never would have thought of that.

This is a fantastic episode that is rarely discussed. It's more than fair to see it as a precursor to Thanos, where their logic has validity yet it;s clear they found some level of satisfaction in their cruelty.

This is the last we see of Riley. It's interesting that he had only two appearances and they differ so widely in tone.

John Astin ("The Addams Family") does the voice of the Astral Queen's captain. He is uncredited.

Kodos is a little like Thanos of the Avengers movies. Thanos had a plan to eliminate half of life to allow sufficient resources for the rest. Kodos made a similar decision to execute enough people to allow the remaining resources to sustain the rest of the colony.

It was Agatha all along!

Has anyone mentioned the Starship Captain, that Captain Kirk is taking over the transporting of the troupe from, is voiced by John Astin who played Gomez from the TV Adams Family? He was a Huge Star Trek Fan and was trying to find a way onto the show.

8:20 -- That's a damn good catch about the silliness of needing living eyewitnesses to identify Kodos when there are known photographs of him! Well spotted!

I would've liked to see the looks on their faces down in the laundry room when the phaser flew out of the chute.

The clothing by the women in this episode (and in many other episodes) were always an attempt to look "futuristic" but they are all unmistakeable as products of the 60's with the wild assortment of colors and elaborate decorations on the fabrics.

What some don't think about, is the idea that Kirk is talking to a computer and it talks back to him and gives him information. This was 1966 when nothing like this even remotely existed, and Siri didn't come out until much much later!! Way ahead of it's time, just like the communicator was the inspiration for the flip-phone! And now we have cell phones that have replaced so many different things!

Nice who done it episode. I love it when we invite the alleged perpetrators in. Lenore became best known as a TV cop. Kirk will continue with his inevitable side quests. Spock will continue to try not to smile and have the rare side quests of his own. Riley, according to the books, progresses well in the trek universe. Get better, Bun.

Hi Bunnytails, sorry you have been sick. Feel better soon!

One of the more underrated episodes but it's still good

One of the slobbering aliens from the Simpsons Halloween episodes was named after Kodos, and now that's the association most people have with the name. One thing to remember about this episode is that it was only 20 years or so after the end of World War 2. All the actors and writers, as well as most of the audience, were alive when the Holocaust happened. It had an immediacy for them that doesn't exist for most people today.

the late Matt Jeffries, was the designer for the original series the look of the Enterprise, the Romulan ships the Klingon ships. The access tubes on the ships referred to as the Jeffries tubes are named after him. These is a brilliant episode

I agree. The worst thing with Lenore is the hypocrisy. Second would be the murder. Distant second.

WW2 had been over for only 21 years when this episode was made; there were many survivors of the Holocaust who were young adults. There were also people who literally devoted their lives to hunting down missing perpetrators, and there were persistent rumors that Hitler himself might have escaped. Popular culture at that time was full of literary speculation about remorse by the perpetrators and what, if anything, it might mean. It appears in novels, films, other TV shows…

Bunny, I hope you're feeling much better soon! Cheers!

Shatner was actually a trained Shakespearean actor and was an understudy of legendary actor Christopher Plummer who later plays General Chang in Star Trek VI. Anyways I always enjoyed this episode....not in my top ten but a good one.

"The Conscience of the King" is a line from Hamlet, JFYI.

Growing up watching the original series in the late 60s and early 70s, this wasn't a big favorite of mine. But it definitely grew on me, I like the Shakespearean theme, and the tragic aspects. It's also interesting to get back story on the main characters and the experiences that formed them.

Great reaction video, this episode was pretty sad...Kirk's response at the end was him doing his job as captain and retaining composure and just moving on..."ahead warp factor 1". They've brain/memory wiped crazy people a few times in Star Trek... it's the futuristic "humane" way of mental illness treatment. The look in Lenore's eyes at the end of the play (wow, the spectators really got a good show!) Was absolutely insane...the sparkle, the staring into space. Whatever happened to Riley after this? I'm not sure, he played bit roles early in the series, and kind of disappeared... I'm surprised they even let him back in engineering after what he did in The Naked Time, LoL! But that wasn't his fault, but you gotta wonder why they don't have security cameras on a 23rd century starship, yet the computer can detect the heartbeats and location of everyone on board? As for fashionable dresses, it was the 1960s, and the futuristic look was HOT back then...the space age began then, and fashion designers imaginations went wild...also, nearly everyone was on illicit drugs. 🤣

I think her forgetting her father's death is pure trauma! She spent her entire young life hiding him, and protecting him, in every way possible, including murder, and then she SHOT HIM to death on the kind of stage he sought to escape to! It was too much; and her brain broke in that moment! I'm sure others have mentioned below but, William Ware Theiss was the incredibly talented costume designer who created all the uniforms, villain's wardrobe, and civilian clothes for the original series and (I think...come at me, internet!) The Next Generation as well?! Just before counter-culture hippie style, the mid-'60's was "mod" cocktail culture, and he definitely adapted that chic style beautifully into science fiction costumes, including the lady guests on the show. Pure class! It all still holds up. Finally, I had never noticed this beautifully subtle scene between Kirk and McCoy before, until you naturally reacted to it! Kirk has been SO secretive for the entire episode. He's sitting on this massive bombshell that could easily slip away. He's actively shutting down communication, and "feeling his way" through this mass-murder mystery; solo. So, at the very end, when Bones asks him (in a very personal, and totally unprofessional way, for the Bridge crew), at 18:37, "you really cared about her, didn't you?", he seems to ignore the question outright, and so McCoy playfully says, "you're not going to answer my question, are you?", and Kirk STILL ignores him, and issues an order, staring blankly ahead, until he finally shoots McCoy a single glance of acknowledgement, who knowingly says, "That's an answer." It's not super-well edited, the timing of the exchange could be better, but it was so unexpectedly moving, to me! It's not a line of dialogue, it's an understanding of grief and trust with a single meeting of their eyes, one billion years ago, on NBC!

I'm sorry to hear you were sick! As the series goes on, you'll come to realize Bones and Spock are much closer than you first realize. Though they bicker almost incessantly, they value each other's expertise and opinions.

11:25 - Riley is alone probably because he's on the graveyard shift in Engineering, Bunny. 🐇 I remember Kirk telling someone that the ship's lights are dimmed at night.

I am sorry you're feeling ill. I hope you get better soon.

Yes, costumes were designed specifically for the show. William Theiss, in my opinion, was a creative genius for creating these clothes on a shoestring budget.

Star Trek taught me much more of an appreciation for Shakespeare than the force feeding I got in school.

Regarding the spilled-milk poisoning scene, there is a Saturday Night Live parody of the series where a major crisis is caused by something being spilled into a control panel or something. The whole ship goes out of control. I think it was SNL.

This applies to nearly every episode.

One of the things I think is useful (and I have done this before in discussing previous episodes) is to talk a bit about the actors and actresses who guest started in the episode for historical context. Barbara Anderson, who played Lenore (a nice literary name - from Poe, dark and disturbing, like the Lady Macbeth character she was playing at the beginning - a bit of foreshadowing) was a very well known actress of that period. Others have mentioned her most famous role - Eve Whitfield on "Ironside" (with Raymond Burr). But I also remember her as agent Mimi Davis in seven episodes of the final season of the original Mission: Impossible (1972-1973). The actress who played the female IMF agent on M:I during the last two seasons, Lynda Day George, who played Agent Lisa Casey, was pregnant in the final season and had to miss several episodes, so Barbara Anderson was brought in to play another female agent during her maternity leave, and it is important to know that both Star Trek and Mission: Impossible were Desilu Studios productions and filmed right next to each other, so there are many interesting connections between them, not the least of which was Leonard Nimoy himself. Both franchises are Paramount properties today. Star Trek loved Shakespeare, and more references to it appear in future episodes and movies, especially Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country.

OK, so, if you're a Simpsons aware person, and that's near certain, this is where Kodos and Kang get the Kodos bit. The Kang part comes from a later episode with a New Jersey gorilla in it. Aside from the premise being deeply stupid, they have to identify him personally? They have no photo? Nothing? Huh? This is the hands down best TOS episode they ever did, at least in regards character. Kirk musing and fretting and not knowing what to do is so real, and yet so outside the cliche version of Kirk, that it's just bliss to watch. Kodos's agony is truly Shakespearean, as it should be, but it's very tough to get a Shakespeare whilst showing your hand - and there's no more hand showing that performing Macbeth on stage. I also cannot for the life of me work out the actual dilemma originally faced, there's no model you can make where killing half the people saves the other half, because even if you say they each have to take exactly one pill one day or instantly die (which is kinda silly) they still do not know when the rescue is coming, so there'd be no way to know how many people you'd need to whack. And they do specific he has them whacked, he didn't just let them die. There were many different ways you could do it and have that dilemma, but there's no way it works with what we're shown. But, but, you know, I only complain because the reasoning is the let down - otherwise it's seriously groovy. Unknown crew function of the week.... I'm going to go with Mister D. Bowyer, the ship's cook (TMU). Or rather, what they actually eat on the Enterprise. Later they basically beam food into existing, but here it seems that they have two options - there is a galley on board which crew members can access, as Nurse Chapel does explicitly in [SPOILER SPOILER] and we've seen crew members eat perfectly normal food, so they also have stores, but most often we see them eating blocks of marzipan and enjoying that, so, there's some kind of food paste machine somewhere, which distributes lumps of protein laced wax to the mess. "Damnit, Bones, I just don't know, do I have the right to execute the man?" "Yeah." "Without a trial?" "Oh sure." "There was no malice, one slip and it would have been the moral choice..." "Nah, he's a monster, Jim, just throw him out an airlock." "Could I have saved those people?" "No one will say a damn thing, Jim." "Would I have made the same choice?" "No one's going to say anything even if he isn't Kodos the Executioner, Jim, just do it already." "I stand here as a survivor, a flip of the coin between me and oblivion..." "Accidents happen all the time, beam him into the warp core, then delete the log." "Kill him, and am I not taking away the only family that girl has?" "I'm sure you can get her a new daddy, and if you can't, send her down to sickbay and I'll take care of that..." "No trial, not for Kodos, not for me..." "I mean you can hold a court martial if you really want to." "How do we determine right from wrong out here in the wild?" "We have regulations, Jim, but we're also transporting a bunch of actors on a Shakespear tour, it's not like we're far from civilisation." "If I let him go, surely the Creator will judge him..." "There's no God." "The memory of doing that haunts the man, you can see it, can I bare such a burden?" "You kill people every other week, Jim, usually followed by humping their girlfriends and stealing their beer." "I'm torn asunder by doubt..." "That's indigestion. Whack the nasty P.O.S. and let's find a bar." "To be, or not to be?" "Maybe three bees. There's lots of bees. Shall I go kill him?" "Who gave me this right?" "Admiral Cornell. I was at the commissioning ceremony." "There's no answer, I'm damned either way..." "No, just kill him and we'll be fine." "Kill him?" "Yeah." "I see. Well, you've convinced me." "I did not." "First, a Martini..."

Abother great video Bunny, hope you feel better soon. I agree, i think her mind just snapped, being the one who killed her dad.

The look on Kirk's face at the end reminds me of another episode you haven't gotten to yet... I won't spoil it with the name of the episode, but he says... "Never a beach to walk with a hand to hold..." that might not be verbatim, but it's close and you'll know when you hear and see it.

I like "Lost in Space" too but when you compare the gritty high quality drama episodes like this one and the actors performance, you see how ST OS is so good right from the first pilot and stories broadcasted. ST isnt all about ray guns and space ships, but day to day life and problems and dramas that occur in the future just as it does today. Even with limited budgets of a struggling studio, they made 79 stores and almost all are great and forever will live on to watch and enjoy.

I remember Barbara Anderson mostly as Officer Eve Whitfield in the series Ironside.

One reason why Kirk would keep secrets from McCoy and Spock was that he wasn't certain what he would do with Kodos himself if Carridian turned out to be him. If he chose revenge, his friends either might try to stop him or get into deep trouble themselves even if they did not actively help him. Kirk wouldn't have wanted that, so that would be motivation enough to keep Kodos a secret. Of course *we* know that kirk would never do anything wrong, but it makes him seem more human if the possibility is nevertheless seen to exist in-universe.

I have few things to point out. 1) She had to start killing the witnesses because they were starting to recognize her father. We see it at the beginning of the episode. 2) A phaser can be set to overload and blow up. We have seen it hinted before in the Pike episode where he threatened doing the same thing. 3) Thanos is straight up stolen from Kodos's story. 4) It is very realistic depiction of what war criminal do to cope or hide în real life. They compartmentalized their grotesque deeds in the past as orders or situation or the times to try to live on as a life for their families. 5) I also like that a dictator/tyrant became an actor, someone who can play a good character of strength through acting. We have had actors as politicians, and they play a good role. 6) She obviously had a mental breakdown. Her fragile mind couldn't take her having killed her father. It was a trope in the day. But it can still happen. 7) Kodos showed remorse for his actions, but he still tried to avoid responsibility for it. During desperate times, if you are to die, you are still expected to die with dignity. For example 3 people stranded in the middle of the ocean with a dead body, someone would say they should eat the body to survive. But if you did that, you would still get judged for desecration a body. Same thing for evading justice/judgement. So Kodos would have been punished harshly for his crimes anyway.

There are a LOT of episodes and movies of Star Trek that have Shakespearean themes.

Note that Kirk doesn't need to be "absolutely sure" that Karidian is Kodos in order to act, which, properly, would be to turn the matter over to Starfleet, or whatever it was at this point in the series, for further investigation. He merely needs probable cause, or even less, in order to report his suspicions. Instead, he acts on his own, and more lives are endangered. Another Kirk blunder. But Then There Wouldn't Be An Episode At All.

I hope you are feeling better. If not - then get well soon. This episode is a solid one that doesn't really get talked about.

Really cool reaction Oh Great Bunnytails. I especially liked your post episode analysis. Thank you for the good time.

I think you sound fine, Bunny!!! Glad you're feeling better!!! 🥰🥰🥰🥰🌹

This is a good episode, very well acted. Basically, in Shakespearean English, "A cautionary tale for men to avoid the babes with the crazy eyes."

The only episode where Kirk declares "Double Red Alert!"

Why do the need a live witness to ID the perp? We do this today with the "Lineup." Picking out a photo from a mug book is a start and gives police a possible suspect, but a witness who can testify that they can positively ID the suspect in a court of law goes a long way towards conviction at trial. We also require positive ID of cadavers in morgues.

Great reaction! "They probably would have been fine if she didn't start killing people off." That's the Shakespearian tragedy of the episode--Lenore's attempt to protect her father led to his discovery, and eventual death at her hand. Apparently the trauma of killing her father led to her memory loss. Of course, the discovery that her father was a mass murderer affected her mind years before, leading to her killing spree. So her mental state was unbalanced for a long time, and killing her father led to a complete break from reality.

Your reaction to the twist reveal was priceless! I very clearly remember having a similar reaction the first time I saw this episode (1974, I was six.) Thank you for sharing your thoughts and feelings about one of the most important things in my life. It was from THIS episode, that I first heard the name Macbeth and learned who Shakespeare was. After watching it, I ran to the encyclopedia and read all I could about Shakespeare and his plays. Later episodes, also had me looking up everything they talked about, to see if it was part of real history or something they made up for the fictional future in the show. "Requiem for Methuselah" has many of those, so look forward to that episode!

Hi bunnytails. You are one of my favorite reaction reviewers. Unfortunately, I am an old man suffering from low-tech syndrome and unable to figure out really how to watch live reactions because I don't really keep up with KZfaq notifications or even know what they work. I can say I have watch the original Star Trek episodes several times when they came out as well as The Next Generation so I have the first time viewing in real time experience. Thank you for your personal response, I am honored. I am also not on Patreon.

Shakespeare is throughout Star Trek. The captain in the next series, Next Generation is very Shakespearian. And there is even some in the dialogue. Patrick Stewart joined the RSC (Royal Shakespeare Company) in 1966. His Shakespeare roles include King John (1970), Oberon (A Midsummer Night's Dream, 1977), Shylock (The Merchant of Venice, 1978 and 2011), Titus Andronicus (1981), Henry IV (1982), Antony (Antony and Cleopatra, 2006), Prospero (The Tempest 2006) and Claudius (Hamlet, 2008).

Kodos! Yeah, Star Trek is where the aliens on the Simpsons get their names. 😅

Episodes like this one is why I like the first season.

When I was a kid, I thought the person squirting the poison into Riley's milk was wearing a clown suit.

You ever talkk to a crazy person? It is quite chilling and you are simply thrilled to leave the room.

"Is Kirk off shagging that chick?" Bunnytails gets it. I'd kind of forgotten about this one but that was actually a clever little Shakespearian tragedy, with Spock and Bones as a sceptical chorus, discussing the events happening for the hard of understanding. Good stuff.

16;40 I didn't see that coming when I first saw this! Makes it a Shakespearean Tragedy.

Nichelle Nichols was a professional jazz singer at age 16.

People say the Kodos incident was where Kirk got his "I Don't Believe in the No Win Scenario" Philosophy.

One thing most people forget about this episode is that Lenore, and the company had absolutely no plans to go on the Enterprise at first at all!!! Without Kirk rigging it so the company was forced to look for alternate transport aboard the Enterprise, Lenore would have never been able to try to finish her job!

@7:53 "He's going to Bones about this" the more you watch the show the more you'll see that they are close friends, the three of them are all tight with each of each other.

Thank you again for doing this, especially while sick. It's such a relief to get to experience these through a fresh set of eyes. It's one of the best parts of my week.

Another great episode and commentary. Hope you feel better soon.

Lenore and Khan actually share the record for the most costumes worn by a guest star (six) in a single episode. Also, unfortunately, the final episode with Yeoman Rand.

Star Trek has always been about Shakespearean themes, even The Undiscovered Country, which is the most epic of TOS movies, fighting The Wrath of Khan.