3.24 — “Turnabout Intruder”
Plot: An old girlfriend of Kirk from his Academy days, Janice Lester, uses a distress call to trick Kirk into coming to the ruins of a dead civilization on Camus Two. There, Janice uses a strange device to exchange consciousnesses with him, first taking over Kirk’s body, and then command of the Enterprise. She plans to use the ship to avenge all the injustices heaped upon her for being a woman.
Thoughts: My feelings about watching TOS’ series finale, the last new episode of TOS I will ever see, overwhelm my specific reaction to this episode. As with earlier episodes, like 3.20, “The Way to Eden,” I can report that knowing in advance that the episode is considered to be a notorious bomb makes for a better viewing experience. I can see why people say this, but all the things that are good about the episode come as a surprise, and an unexpected delight.
Why do people dislike this episode? Wikipedia quotes Brenton Malin as saying that it presents “a caricature and condemnation of the feminism of the late ’60s, evoking a fear of powerful, power-hungry women…. The message seems clear: women want to kill men and take their jobs, but ultimately they can’t handle them.” True enough: Dr. Lester is presented as a full-on, mustache-twirling, hysterical, unstable villain. It’s fair to call this depiction both volatile and sexist.
Another possible interpretation of Dr. Lester is she’s just very, very insane. Homicidal insanity must still be more prevalent in the galaxy than we were led to believe in “Whom Gods Destroy.” Here’s another patient, along with Lenore Karidian, ready to join Dr. Adams’ sanitarium from “Dagger of the Mind!” Perhaps Lester can be cured, like Garth from “Whom Gods Destroy,” by the newly developed mind serum revealed in that episode.
There are some aspects of this episode, however, that are quite good. It’s the last-produced episode of Star Trek, but the actors are not phoning it in. Shatner is brilliant as Lester; it’s a tour de force performance. Also, if the most important part of storytelling is conflict, the conflict in this episode is razor sharp. Sulu gets his best scene all season discussing mutiny with Chekov on the bridge. Spock, McCoy, and Scott each get a chance to shine. The homoerotic subtext when Janice, in Kirk’s body, manipulates Dr. Coleman’s sexual feelings for her, is certainly interesting and memorable.
Some details of the court martial scene are implausible; surely even in Lester’s body Kirk could have convinced the crew of the truth of his story in seconds based on everything they’ve been through together. But fitness for command, and the decision when to mutiny, are important themes for Star Trek, going all the way back to “The Corbomite Maneuver,” the first Trek episode ever produced after the two pilots. The pacing is quite good. I also like the editing, especially the way the editors cut together Kirk’s flashbacks relating to the transference scene.
It’s odd that Spock says he’s never heard of full consciousness transference before–I guess he forgot about when this happened to him in 2.20, “Return to Tomorrow.”
All in all, this is at least 3.5 out of 5 for me–and thanks, Star Trek, for all the memories.
Note: Torie and Eugene are, in my view, too hard on this episode, but their analysis at www.TheViewscreen.com is nonetheless brilliant, and well worth a read: http://www.theviewscreen.com/turnabout-intruder/
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