Charlie X
S1E02
Written by: Story-Gene Roddenberry, Teleplay-D.C. Fontana (Renowned TV writer, Star Trek TOS work:, wrote ten episodes Story editor for season 1 and 2).
Bottom Line Up Front (BLUF) - The Writing credits tell the whole tale here, thematically, about why I thought this was a much weaker episode than The Man Trap. Namely that things don’t work as well when Gene “writes” the Story (has an idea) and then delegates the work of actually writing a script.
Once again I’ll run with the note-riffing method.
Robert Walker is a Fantastic Actor
Forget the adolescence angle alone, Walker played a alien in a Human’s body. Someone who didn’t even know when it was appropriate to smile. See how many times he is almost practicing how to smile. Like he never even had to until a week ago. Amazing performance. He also seems perpetually stuck at 3 years old in emotional development . Right before this shot, he reaches for Kirk’s wrist, like a scared child, in the heart-wrenching end scene.
Acting kudos as well to Shatner, Nichols and Grace Lee Whitney (Rand) in that scene. Note how, even after the death of the crewman, and the loss of the Antares, Kirk still fights to keep Charlie.
I can’t even touch them!
I want to stay!
Other than that, it was…OK.
Big Ship again
@Gordon_Cameron cited the “Charlie’s Our New Darling” scene as an example of this. As was the crewman working on maintenance and discussions of Turkey for Thanksgiving (Roddenberry played the voice of the chef). Lots of speaking parts, incidentally by crewmen. We wander the ship with Charlie.
Future Diversity in 1966 and Rand gets harassed again
Future Humankind has embraced diversity (of humans, anyhow) as of 1966. But Rand, as Dive cubed and others have noticed, is 2 for 2 in the #MeToo department (as was Whitney with Gene).
Trek Geek stuff: 428, Unis and Insignias.
Old Cage/No Man unis on the Antares crew, as well as a specific Kirk reference to 428 Crew on the Enterprise. Leotard/Workout Unis! Only time we see them! Also, TOS is superior to all other Trek in realistically portraying that each Ship or Installation or Command would have its own insignia…until Gene poked his head into some TNG writer huddle in 1987 and spouted off “dogma” just to prove he was the boss.
OK, except for the end-scene. I found the episode workman-like. And inferior to The Man Trap.
Workmanlike: so Gene’s penchant for there being minimal conflict and omniscient, omnipotent aliens leads to predictable plots: in the perfect, no-conflict future we bumble around until wise aliens show us the way. Ruminate on that. How many times have you seen that in all of Trekdom? The thing that keeps this episode with a “child god” theme seen endlessly on TV in that era (example 1001 -Billy Mumy in The Twilight Zone: It’s a Good Life) is DC Fontana saving Gene’s pedestrian story with fantastic dialogue and that stunner of an ending. This will be her job with Gene for the next…22 years.
Inferior to the Man Trap: The tone, mood, atmosphere and mystery of The Man Trap tower over Charlie X. The cinematography, lighting, art direction and music was superior. Even my two choices of “Great Acting scenes” from each don’t match up. You have an O. Henry twist at the end of Charlie, really well done, with great characterization. But Man Trap has Kelley playing the creature playing McCoy debating “the last of its kind” with a Crater who knows that its the creature playing McCoy. THAT is a sophisticated scene.
Ok, Charile X is down. My organic rankings are:
1.) The Man Trap (Top 25)
2.) Charlie X (Inoffensive)
I’ll revisit these from time to time.
Next Up: Where No Man Has Gone Before.