r/tos

The gold rows are all over the place.

Continuing the Broadcast Order rewatch, in an effort to capture the ‘original’ Star Trek viewing experience. What a TREAT this must have been for those tuning in on week 4!

Highlights:

· Ensemble Cast Performance

· The peril/humor/character development mix is outstanding

· Fantastic pace and energy (kudos to Director Marc Daniels)

· The very, very entertaining Riley. His departure from the bridge and trip to sickbay is a little play unto itself. His plans, thoughts and reprimands, a riot.

New:

· The beginning of the McCoy/Spock light hearted repartee

MCCOY: You're fine, Joe. Up and out of there. Mister Spock? Your pulse is two hundred and forty two, your blood pressure is practically nonexistent, assuming you call that green stuff in your veins blood.
SPOCK: The readings are perfectly normal for me, Doctor, thank you, and as for my anatomy being different from yours, I am delighted.

· The Vulcan Neck Pinch

· There’s a Bowling Alley and Ice Cream

· Nurse Chapel and her doomed, unrequited love

· Rand’s training includes the skills needed for ‘manning’ the helm

RAND: I would have gotten here sooner, sir but Crewman Moody stopped me in the hallway.
KIRK: Take the helm.
RAND: Sir?
KIRK: Take the helm!
RAND: Yes, sir.

· Time Travel

The use of an intoxicant to fast forward character development and create chaos was brilliant. The dangerous, dying planet, hijacked engine room, out of control spread of (I’ll use Riley’s word) mayhem….there is so much here, carefully packed to fit the 50 minute window, into the life of the Enterprise and her crew, that we get each week. It is a bit like a tiny circus clown car…just when you think there can’t be more, another clown climbs out…and they just keep coming. The real beauty Is…all of it unfolds seamlessly in a perfectly told story…

…with one, tiny, imperfection.

NITPICK…Tormolen’s lapse in judgement, so very necessary to the tale, could have been more realistically handled. Removing the glove to scratch his nose, fine. Leaving that glove off and touching a frozen surface, in a deadly, unknown (dare I say FROZEN, again) situation, strains the suspension of disbelief. Though, truth is stranger than fiction, people do behave bizarrely, all the time.

FIX: Rather than place the instrument he’s holding on the desk, he transfers it to his gloved, non-dominant hand, scratches his nose, drops the instrument and quickly reacts, picking it up off the blood stained floor with his bare hand…and finishes as he did, warming his hand inside his mask.

It is a small nitpick, as this is a great episode, that gave Star Trek a jolt of depth and texture.

Stewart Moss as Tormolen

Bruce Hyde as Riley

Episode 4

September 29, 1966

Writer: John DF Black

Director: Marc Daniels

Original Post

Sixth in production order (not counting the pilots), but the second episode broadcast. I tried to watch, this time, as those who first viewed it watched it, as though I had only ever seen “The Man Trap’, as if this was only my second invitation to board the Enterprise.

While many fans find the character of Charlie completely objectionable (and perhaps this is why this episode does not rank highly, for many) this episode is excellent Trek.

The story, by Gene Roddenberry, was masterfully transformed into the teleplay by D.C. Fontana. It is compelling, suspenseful, science based, speckled with humor, rich with details about life aboard a Starship, thought provoking and tragic. From accurately portraying the plight of Charlie, to the discomfort of both Kirk and McCoy at the thought of mentoring a teenager, Rec Room antics, meatloaf turkeys, other ships, daily routines and crew interactions, a ship’s store, and a gym, Fontana paints a picture that has depth and a sense of reality that pulls us in and rings true.

Director Lawrence Dobkin does an excellent job transforming the written word into the experience that is ‘Charlie X’. There is a tension and relentlessly forward moving energy that permeates the entire episode. His use of multiple camera angles, natural, but strategic staging, and close ups, draw the viewer into this unfolding, somewhat terrifying, drama, making it easy to forget you are watching a constructed play. I wish he had directed more Trek.

Robert Walker Jr. is nothing short of brilliant in his portrayal of this incredibly well-written, multi-dimensional antagonist. Orphaned at the age of 3, Charlie lacks the social skills (empathy, self-control) essential for a successful life among his own kind. Layer on top of this, entering society for the first time, uncertain how to behave, craving acceptance, trying to learn the rules everyone else knows…the angst of young adulthood…surging hormones, the powerful yearnings and confusion of newly found attractions, first love, the need and want for continued support and guidance running up against the desire to be a free and independent ‘adult’…and the cherry on top…dreadful powers that are, at times, a reaction, and others times, an empathy-free intent.

Charlie’s journey aboard the Enterprise from awkward but eager kid to dangerous, omnipotent tyrant is perfectly paced. Step by step, we see his initial vulnerability transform into confusion, frustration, anger, then outright rebellion and almost uncontrolled rage. But, in the midst of this whirlwind of turmoil, we still get a glimpse of who Charlie really is…fully in control now, of ship and crew….

CHARLIE: He had a mean look. I had to freeze him. I like happy looks.

…a little boy. This seemingly minor line is just one of the many gems that make this episode one of my favorites.

Charlie’s final moments among his own kind….

CHARLIE: I can make you all go away anytime I want to.
KIRK: Get out of my chair, Charlie, and get out of it now.
CHARLIE: I've got your ship, Captain.
KIRK: Maybe, Charlie, but I don't think you can handle any more. I think you've reached your limit and can't take on one more thing, but you're going to have to.
CHARLIE: I could've sent you away before, but I didn't.
KIRK: You're going to have to take me on.
CHARLIE: Don't make me do it now.
KIRK: You've got my ship, and I want it back. I want my crew back, whole, if I have to break your neck to do it! (throws him out of command chair)
CHARLIE: Don't push me. (gives Kirk pain) Sorry. I'm sorry but. Stop it. I said stop it!
SPOCK: Captain, the navigation console is clear now. The ship is answering the helm.
UHURA: Sir, something off our starboard bow. The message says they're from Thasus.
(Rand reappears)
CHARLIE: Oh.
RAND: Captain, how did I?
KIRK: It's all right, Yeoman.
SPOCK: Sensors show there something's there, Captain. Deflectors indicate no solid substance.
CHARLIE: No! Oh, no, please, don't let them take me. I can't live with them anymore. You're my friends. You said you were my friends, remember? When I came aboard! Please, I want to go home. Take me home.
THASIAN: I have taken my form from centuries ago, so that I may communicate with you. We did not realise until too late that the boy had gone, and we are saddened that his escape cost the lives of the first ship. We could not help them, but we have returned your people and your ship to you. Everything is as it was.
CHARLIE: I won't do it again. Please, I'll be good. I won't ever do it again. I'm sorry about the Antares. I'm sorry! When I came aboard! Please, I want to go with you. Help me!
KIRK: The boy belongs with his own kind.
THASIAN: That would be impossible.
KIRK: With training, we can teach him to live in our society. If he can be taught not to use his power
THASIAN: We gave him the power so he could live. He will use it, always, and he would destroy you and your kind, or you would be forced to destroy him to save yourselves.
KIRK: Is there nothing you can do?
THASIAN: We offer him life, and we will take care of him. Come, Charles.
CHARLIE: Oh, please, don't let them take me. I can't even touch them! Janice, they can't feel. Not like you! They don't love! Please, I want to stay. (fades away)
UHURA: Charlie's back on board the Thasian ship, sir. They signal they're leaving.
KIRK: It's all right, Yeoman. It's all over now.

…are telling and tragic. He didn’t make everyone ‘go away’, he doesn’t really want that, he wants what he first craved when he came aboard. He doesn’t want to hurt his new found father figure, but he also wants what he wants and knows he has the power to try to get it (and who can blame him for wanting to escape isolation and be with other humans). Finally faced with a power superior to his own, he reverts back to the little boy who just wants to go home.

This is one of a handful of episode that ends on a truly somber note.

I would be remiss if I left out the fantastic score by Alexander Courage and the spot on (no pun intended) lighting, both of which set the perfect mood.

Charlie X and its 50 minute glimpse into life aboard the Enterprise is one of the most complete and satisfying stories told. As ‘Episode 2’ it did a great job of bringing to life the crew of, and the Starship, Enterprise.

Original Post

Spock, enjoying the local ‘cue, with Zarabeth. The side of veggies is planned for much, much later...

ZARABETH: I cannot pretend to be sorry that you are here, though I realise it is a misfortune for you. I'm here against my will too, just as you are.
SPOCK: I'm sorry. I know of no way to return you to your own time.
ZARABETH: It's not that I wish to return. This is my time now. I've had to face that. But it has been lonely here. Do you know what it's like to be alone? Really alone?
SPOCK: Yes. I know what it is like.
ZARABETH: I believe you do. Have something to eat, please.
SPOCK: If it pleases you. This is animal flesh?
ZARABETH: There's not much else to eat around here, I'm afraid.
SPOCK: Naturally, because of the climate. What is the source of heat in the shelter?
ZARABETH: There's an underground hot spring.
SPOCK: Excellent. Then it will be possible to build a greenhouse of sorts. Meanwhile, this will have to do as the only source of nourishment.

All Our Yesterdays

S3 E 23

Air Date: March 14, 1969

Mariette Hartley as Zarabeth

Original Post