Original air date: September 15, 1966 | Run time: 50 min
Captain’s Log stardate 1533.6
SYNOPSIS
Captain Kirk must learn the limits to the power of a 17-year-old boy with the psionic ability to create anything and destroy anyone.
HISTORICAL CONTEXT
Gene Roddenberry made an uncredited audio cameo as the cook (or mess officer) who exclaims that the turkey-shaped meatloaf in the galley ovens has turned into real turkeys. This was his only appearance in The Original Series.
A RECAP
One thing I can’t help but notice is they say “begin materialization” when someone is transported onto the ship. I wonder if they say that throughout the series?
Something else is the strange relationship between Spock and Uhura? What is the point of it, I wonder? Or is that just par for the course that anywhere Spock is, because of his lack of emotions, the writers feel it necessary to show his internal battle with his human half by putting a woman in his sights who is attracted to him in some way (or at least is pretending to be). Whatever the reason, I’m not finding it genuine or well placed within the episodes. Almost like filler or an afterthought.
Moving on to the actual episode, it’s got this teenager, Charlie Evans, who was found by a small freighter ship and is being transferred to the Enterprise to take him to a planet with other humans. It was revealed that he basically survived on his own for over a decade to explain why his manners aren’t exactly up to Captain Kirk’s standards. The crew who drop him off are visibly glad to have Charlie Evans gone, though no one on the Enterprise seems to question why they are in such a hurry to leave. Little good it does them as the Antares crew grows a conscience and tries to warn Enterprise of the cargo they just accepted but far too late. Before they can transmit they are basically blown to smithereens.
Then there’s the very awkward encounters, again of a sexual nature, but this time between Charlie and yeoman (which I discovered is a naval/military term that on Star Trek basically means assistant) Janice Rand, the captain’s personal assistant. Clearly, Charlie is infatuated with her but Janice doesn’t reciprocate. The captain tries to explain to him the differences between a man and a woman through…fighting? This backfires when Charlie makes the first (of many) crew members disappear.
Pretty quickly, Captain Kirk, Spock, and Bones (the doctor) are trying to figure out a way to stop this adolescent boy from destroying them with his powers.
Definitely, a better story as it pertains to plotting and pacing, notwithstanding the moments between Spock and Uhura.
I’ve gotta mention the episode that instantly came to mind as I was watching this one, and if you’re a Twilight Zone fan, as I am, then I’m sure you know which I’m talking about. The one with the boy who can do whatever he wants with his mind to his family so they fear him. Here’s the “very bad man” scene from that episode:
The end is probably the most dramatic, if a bit “undersold” by Charlie Evans himself. He is believed to be Thasian, a species that don’t actually have a form but are so intelligent they can move stuff, etc. Charlie would be the first human of its kind. And in an almost deus ex machina moment, the Thasians show up, restore all that Charlie has done to the Enterprise and its crew, and then take him back. He begs to stay with the Enterprise, with his own kind who love and that he can touch, and for what it’s worth, Captain Kirk does try to argue on Charlie’s behalf. I’d argue it wasn’t all that much arguing.
DID THEY REALLY SAY THAT?
Charlie Evans: If I had the whole universe, I'd give it to you. When I see you, I... feel like I'm hungry. All over. Hungry. Do you know how that feels?