An underrated episode of Star Trek: The Original Series featured one of Captain James T. Kirk's (William Shatner) most questionable romances. The TOS version of Kirk was very much a product of 1960s TV storytelling conventions; he was the Captain and thus, the hero of the TV series, which means Kirk gets to punch out the bad guy, and he always gets the girl (until the next week's episode). But the introduction of Lenore Karidian (Barbara Anderson), Kirk's love interest in "The Conscience of the King," was problematic in several ways.
"The Conscience of the King" established a tragic aspect of Captain Kirk's Star Trek backstory. As a teenager, Kirk lived on Tarsus IV, where he was one of the survivors of a mass murder by the planet's governor, Kodos the Executioner. Kodos killed one-half of Tarsus IV's 8,000 residents to preserve dwindling food supplies before supposedly dying in a fire. 20 years later, the few Tarsus IV survivors who saw Kodos have been systematically murdered, conveniently when an acting company led by famed thespian Anton Karidian (Arnold Moss) was nearby. Kirk becomes obsessed with determining whether Anton is really Kodos, but he also aims his considerable charms at Karidian's daughter, Lenore.
Kirk's Problematic Romance In "The Conscience Of The King" Explained
Captain Kirk's scheme to uncover the truth about Kodos/Anton Karidian results in him targeting Lenore, and the biggest red flag is the age difference between them. Kirk is in his mid-30s during Star Trek: TOS, but Lenore is established to be a teenager, no more than 18 or 19. Yet Kirk does not hesitate to capitalize on his status as Captain of the Enterprise to seduce Lenore, and he's more than receptive when the girl uses her own beauty to entice him right back. Kirk actually abuses his authority as Captain and cancels the Karidian company's starship transport in order to bring Lenore and her father aboard the Enterprise.
Kirk acts questionably throughout "The Conscience of the King," which draws the concerns and intervention of Spock (Leonard Nimoy), his First Officer. In Kirk's defense, he does question his own motives and behavior, yet he goes through with stringing Lenore along to get to his father. However, Lenore, who is the one murdering the witnesses to Kodos, is criminally insane, and she does try to kill Kirk, so she was playing him as much as he was using her to uncover Karidian's true identity. But it's hard to defend Kirk's plan to manipulate and possibly bed a teenager (they do share a ionate kiss) as he tries to determine if her father is the mass murderer from his past.
Is Kirk's Romance Why "The Conscience Of The King" Isn't A Top Star Trek: TOS Episode?
"The Conscience of the King" is a particularly powerful early episode of Star Trek, with an impressively complex performance by William Shatner at its center. Barbara Anderson is also riveting as Lenore, who descends into madness by the end of the episode, while the haunted Arnold Moss conveys the depths of his regret for his unforgivable crimes as Kodos. Leonard Nimoy's Spock and DeForrest Kelley's Dr. Leonard McCoy share excellent banter, as always, as both try to reason with Kirk before he goes too far with Anton and Lenore Karidian.
Yet "The Conscience of the King" isn't held in the same high regard as the best Star Trek: TOS episodes like "The City on the Edge of Forever," "Space Seed," or "Amok Time." Dramatically, the episode is solid, with a compelling storyline filled with moral and ethical dilemmas. But perhaps the sordid nature of Kirk's romance with Lenore keeps "The Conscience of the King" as a guilty pleasure that hardcore TOS fans appreciate but isn't considered among the best of 1960s Star Trek. Captain Kirk romances many more women throughout Star Trek: The Original Series, but his behavior in "The Conscience of the King" would easily get Kirk canceled today.