Let There Be Lux

It was with great aplomb that my friends and I turned on Pluto’s Star Trek channel some months ago. Our out-of-town friend Jacob hadn’t seen most of the original series, and so, fuelled by the joy of recreating the mystery of syndication, we waited on tenterhooks to find out what we’d be watching.

Alas, it was Charlie X.

Upon seeing poor Robert Walker’s visage, Jacob — who had heard us complain about this episode all weekend —  cried out, “Wait! I’ve seen this episode!”

We laughed. We cried. We turned Charlie X off.

(Actually, I was in the bathroom during this. But I certainly heard the roar of laughter at Jacob’s response, and my friends were still reeling on my return.)

But why such vitriol for Charlie X?

Even then, I felt some uncomfortable itch reminding me that there’s more to Charlie X than the bug-eyed boy it’s named after.

Supposedly raised on his own after crash landing on an alien planet, the teenage Charlie joins the Enterprise as a passenger on his way back to a human colony. When it turns out that Charlie has telepathic powers, his adolescent urges prove far more damaging than your average 17-year-old.

When I asked myself what I don’t like about Charlie X, my first thought was that is that it has pacing issues with that glacial opening, but actually, I don’t think that’s even true. The first half of the episode introduces so many great concepts: Spocks’ lyre, Kirk’s red leggings, the return of the chess set, Kirk’s red leggings, Janice Rand’s all-pink quarters, Kirk’s red leggings—

Truthfully: I think there’s just too much Charlie.

I just don’t want the central cast taking a backseat to Charlie’s point of view, of all people. As the episode goes out of its way to make clear, he’s just not that pleasant to be around.

I mean, I also don’t like Uhura’s singing — even when it’s not a strangely xenophobic tune about what aliens might do to female astronauts. I do wish we got to see more of the crew hanging out (without bullying Spock), though. (And also….shirtless Kirk in those red leggings.)

From Bones’ too-large scrubs and too-short hair to Spock’s characterization (methinks he doth protest too little to getting his legs broken!) to plot elements that don’t quite gel (unlike Kirk’s hair, which can’t stop), there’s a not-quite-settled feeling pervading the episode. It’s clear that Spock and Bones haven’t been conceived as rivals yet; they move almost in unison throughout the episode. They turn to Kirk at the same time; they stand parallel to each other, heads lining perfectly.

But while I never quite feel at home watching it, Charlie X has some of the best visual moments of the series.

You can tell that the production team went all out on this one; after all, this episode was used to sell the series to all those Nielson-approved viewers. The moment where Charlie silences crew members laughing by erasing their faces is genuinely chilling. The blocking is painstakingly intentional; the lighting is shamelessly dramatic. Perhaps my reticence towards it comes in part from an eager over-intentionality; while life on the Enterprise may always seem hyperreal, there’s an element of Charlie X that feels even more staged than usual.

But that ending! The tragedy of this boy’s terrible, ostensibly unavoidable suffering comes through so strongly even after all the suffering he’s inflicted on others. Much has rightfully been made  of Kirk’s humanistic approach to wooing women in this episode, but for me, it’s Kirk’s decision to defend Charlie one last time — even as he struggles to believe his own words on defence and rehabilitation — where we first get the mettle of this Captain Kirk of the Starship Enterprise.

So, all in all — it’s a damn fine episode of Star Trek.

Doctor Rating:

Sadly, Bones doesn’t do enough doctoring in this episode to rank in either direction. Sure, he says some jargon, but he could have done more. Thankfully, he could also have done less, so N/D for this one.

Good Doctor:
Bad Doctor: I
No Doctor: I

P.S. You know that shot when Kirk is standing on the Enterprise, and Bones just sidles in out of nowhere, with Spock close behind?

It’s just right.

Filk Recommendation: Charlie by Kathy Mar (lyrics) and Brenda Sinclair Sutton. Performed by Tera Mitchel, Mary Creasey, and Sandra Kleinschmidt