Star Trek (TOS): Episode By Episode Thread

Getting back to The Man Trap-good episode, and I like Shatner's line:

"Stop thinking with your glands, doctor!"

A bit risque for that time?

Charlie X-Great episode, like Shatner's interaction with the title character when Kirk attempts a fatherly approach.

 

I noted this in the other thread too, but it bears emphasizing. The use of color, particularly with gels in the lighting, is really noteworthy. The sets are often minimal but the lighting elevates the look of the show into something unusual and interesting to look at.

Regarding Charlie X, I agree that Robert Walker Jr makes the episode, and Shatner is very good as a bemused father-figure. The tone is still a bit shaky but things improve as the season progresses.

 

As episodes like this go, I've always preferred The Squire Of Gothos...

 

I always loved the beams of colored light shining on walls, ceilings, etc., on the Enterprise, and it's only gotten better over time. Back in the network days, the colored lights were yet another selling point for color TVs, and pretty to look at for those of us with color sets. In the syndicated days, the prints were so faded that these colored beams of light didn't look like much at all, but it's been getting better and better with each generation of technology.

Looking at these on restored images in blu-ray is a sight to behold. It's just gorgeous and I very much appreciate the work of the lighting and film crew to create and capture that for us.

Harry

 

I seem to recall some subtle acting by Shatner in this ep.

 

Watching this episode on Blu-ray reveals some things about colors that weren't quite so obvious before. Back in the day, I thought Charlie's yellow tunic was the same color as Kirk's command shirt. Not only are they not the same shade of yellow, but it's now clear that they're not even made of the same material.

It's also very noticeable that Dr. McCoy's medical tunic is a slightly different shade of blue from Spock's standard velour shirt.

Harry

 

The Thasian(played by Abraham Sofaer) also played 'The Swami' in The Monkees movie 'Head.

Darryl

 

Nice idea for a thread, The Oak. Take our time though, if you will. Probably the slower the better for me.

The Man Trap and Charlie X have some elements in common. In both cases the viewer has a unique alien person as a central guest character who is not only what they appear to be and whose nature poses a profound threat which places the regulars in internal dilemmas and ultimately in an untenable position. In both cases the guest character is conveyed very acutely despite the scripting being blunt and arch at times. With the salt craving creature, you can sense both the victim who the creature now impersonates and the predator within. Charlie X is vividly absent a self centering and self controlling handle on being a human among others. In both cases the regulars completely and definitively fail to deal with the entity on all levels. They are both potent examples, I feel, of stories about encountering "new life" and in both cases, proving unable to live with it.

The Man Trap was an evocative early experience of Trek that "clicked" well for me while a tendency to push dramatic intents too bluntly makes Charlie X a bit too clumsy for me. Both are definitely above average for both TOS and the whole genre, in my humble.

Of a 5 Tribble rating:
The Man Trap - 4 Tribbles
Charlie X - 3 1/2 Tribbles

 

A few further thoughts. Both are really rather brave for the time. The implications of Charlie X with Rand etc were not the most comfortable things to be dealing with on TV at the time. The Man Trap even implies the husband of the salt craving creature's victim continues to live with the creature in its form of impersonating his murdered wife, certainly in some kind of company, the details of which it leaves deliberately ambiguous. Disturbing, but challenges our understanding.

While in the current TV climate they may be seen as crude and/or coy in how they handle aspects which might have been seen as boldly handled at the time, there is a piquancy in its striving to appeal to empathy while having a strong moral position, things one isn't too likely to find in today's TV. If that makes any sense...

 

Charlie X is not one of my favorite episodes, and it does seem "clunkier" than The Man Trap, perhaps because it was filmed earlier (?), but I think it is still "middle tier" at least for me. I suppose there was a bit of May-December awkwardness implied in Charlie X's crush on Yeoman Rand, though I'd hardly call her a "December" and this was not the only episode where she was an object of lust.

Still, I agree with apileocole that both this and The Man Trap are interesting examples of how the Star Trek principals, for the most part, are not all that effective in dealing with alien entities; heck, maybe the failure in The Man Trap was due to its being Bones rather than the Captain who got romantically inclined.

Never noticed the texture or color differences in uniforms before, but then I don't have the blu-ray, just a bunch of old VHS from the '90s when Star Trek was re-run on the Sci-Fi channel (those tapes have got some cool interviews though).

 

Oxymoron alert!

 

The notion of the captain having a "fatherly" influence over a dangerous threat was used again in the episode "The Changeling". Just replace Charlie with a deadly modified space probe. In both, they worry about how long the respect for Kirk will last.

 

And in both cases, rather than get his "son" a lawnmower, a ten cents a month allowance, a mother to give them a common feeling of being henpecked, some records or maybe a playboy and do some things together to have some bonding moments, like bungle some car repairs and go camping and "fishing", he keeps on ordering them around. A doomed relationship...

 

One last thought on Charlie X. The first two broadcast episodes of Star Trek hint at chemistry between Uhura and Spock. Their discussion on the bridge in Man Trap and Uhura's song in Charlie X. The reboot ran with the idea, but I can not recall another reference to it in TOS. Most hints are between Spock and nurse Chapel.

 

In CHARLIE X, on the remaster, I like how we now get a glimpse of the Antares ship. Back in Roddenberry's day, I'm sure the budget restrictions forced them into not showing ANY other ship at all.

Harry

 

I like "The Man Trap". I enjoy the ridiculous spectacle Spock hitting an impervious "woman" in the face repeatedly with a double ax-handle. Ultimately a sad story. I feel bad at the end.

Charlie X - not a favorite. Not sure why....been awhile, I should watch it again.

 

Where No Man Has Gone Before

Original Air Date: 9/22/66
Stardate: 1312.4

When the Enterprise attempts to penetrate a space barrier, it is damaged and creates a potentially worse problem. Two crew members, including Kirk's best friend, gain psionic powers that are growing at a geometric rate. That leaves Captain Kirk with the difficult choice of either marooning them or killing before they get so powerful that they lose their humanity and become truly dangerous.

This was the second pilot, as the network found "The Cage" too cerebral and too expensive. Roddenberry proved he could make it cheap with this one, and make it more accessible. This had to be a shock if viewers had seen the first two weeks of the show, as the uniforms are different and Spock smiles. This is the 2nd episode in a row with a foe with seemingly unlimited power. For a pilot episode it is really good. Amazingly, Shatner has Kirk's character established from the very start.

Personal Rating: 3 stars

 

Trivia:

Gary Mitchell conjures a grave with headstone where he intends to entomb Kirk. The headstone reads "James R. Kirk." Kirk's middle initial was changed to T (for Tiberius) later in the series.

This is the only episode in which Captain Kirk does not have the pointed sideburns that he sports throughout the series and films. In this episode, his sideburns are cut normally.

While the bridge of the Enterprise appears similar, the main viewing screen is very different having a larger border, rounded corners and a narrower aspect ratio more like television at the time of shooting.

The change in Gary and Elizabeth's eyes was accomplished by Gary Lockwood and Sally Kellerman wearing sparkly contact lenses. They consisted of tinfoil sandwiched between two lenses which covered the entire eye. Wearing the lenses was difficult for Lockwood. He could only see through the lenses by looking down while pointing his head up. Lockwood was able to use this look to convey Mitchell's arrogant attitude.

At the very end of the episode, Scotty is in the helmsman's position for the only time in the series.

Three scripts were submitted to be made as the second pilot episode, this one, Star Trek: Mudd's Women and Star Trek: The Omega Glory. NBC chose this one as they felt it to be the least challenging to viewers.

Sulu is introduced as a physicist in this episode. But in all other episodes, he is a helmsman.

 

I am going to post a new episode every Monday if that works for everybody.

 

I like this one. Seem to recall being a little uneasy about them creepy silver eyes on my initial viewings as a youth. Dude was creepy.

 

"Where No Man Has Gone Before" has an early version that was seen by the NBC brass and later altered to fit the new format of the show. It had a different opening, a different theme, and QM-style "Act" designations. This version was finally released to fans in the Blu-Ray sets, but here's a well-copied sample on YouTube, if you've never seen it:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=f5YmGG3VB_Q

Harry

 

Back in 1966, as I wasn't paying that much close attention to details, since I had to switch to BEWITCHED halfway through, I didn't notice the differences in this pilot episode at all. After I finally saw the whole thing, I was amazed at how many things were different from the rest of the series. Airing it early was the right choice.

Harry

 

"Where No Man Has Gone Before" is indeed a good one, and I too was creeped out by those glowing eyes. Easily an "upper tier" episode for me, what fascinates (as Spock might say) in addition to the thought-provoking plot, is the glimpse at how the Enterprise (and some of the cast) may have looked had no further tweaks been made.

Here, you see an extended microphone at the captain's seat on the bridge, a bizarre TV looking display screen as The Oak noted, and Spock with exaggerated eyebrows (not to mention a somewhat crankier demeanor than his future calmer logical persona). IIRC, Scotty is wearing a yellow uniform rather than a red one (these all look like turtle-necks), and the character of Dr. McCoy has not yet made an appearance. Also, the theme song at the beginning is slightly different, and eerier.

Still, it is the strength of the performances (particularly Gary Lockwood and Sally Kellerman) coupled with the tense atmosphere, courtesy of the writing and editing mainly, that propels this second pilot episode to a level apparently considered good enough for the series to really kick off. For the most part, the first season lived up this episode's potential, as well as most of the second, but there were certainly a few clunkers along the way.

 

No Uhura.

Darryl

 

Strong performances all around in this episode.