This episode had a clever premise that I still think stands up fairly well, on re-watch: Kirk gets out of a seemingly impossible situation by the simple tactic of bluffing. I love the 'chess' and 'poker' analogies and use them all the time in my own life. In general, I think situations in life are much more often like poker than chess; there is little or no certainty, and quite a bit of luck, chance, and blustering, which sometimes work (and sometimes don't). One sees the same sort of thing all the time in such matters as legal proceedings, interactions between sovereign nations, and business transactions, for example. Are these things like chess? No, not really, or seldom so; generally not precisely calculable, at all, and with much room for trickery and the taking of gambles.
My only complaint about the episode is that it drags on for too long. Ideally, this could have been tightly done in maybe 30 minutes, but they had to fill a 50 minute time slot, so the episode definitely feels 'padded'.
The minor subplot with Bailey did end up paying off nicely in the end, as Kirk deals with a potential problem (getting rid of an inexperienced officer that he promoted too quickly) while also gaining valuable information about a new alien species.
My only complaint about the episode is that it drags on for too long. Ideally, this could have been tightly done in maybe 30 minutes, but they had to fill a 50 minute time slot, so the episode definitely feels 'padded'.
The minor subplot with Bailey did end up paying off nicely in the end, as Kirk deals with a potential problem (getting rid of an inexperienced officer that he promoted too quickly) while also gaining valuable information about a new alien species.