#75 (3-20): The Way to Eden

Captain Kirk versus the Space Hippies!


THE PLOT

The Enterprise encounters the Aurora, a stolen Federation ship. They pursue the smaller ship and quickly catch it in their tractor beam.  But when the thieves refuse to cut power to their engines, the ship is destroyed, with Scotty just barely able to beam them aboard before the explosion.

The Enterprise's new visitors are no ordinary thieves, but rather a collection of dropouts from several planets. All of them have advanced scientific and technical knowledge, but have turned their backs on technology in pursuit of the mythical world of Eden, where they believe they will be able to live in harmony with nature. One member of the group is the son of an ambassador, which prevents Kirk from simply throwing the lot of them in the brig. But when Dr. McCoy discovers that their leader, Dr. Sevrin (Skip Homeier), is a carrier for a rare and virulent disease, Kirk orders him into isolation... leading the rest of the group to attempt to seize control of Enterprise!


CHARACTERS

Capt. Kirk: Though he has little patience for the space hippies, he does listen to Spock when he expresses sympathy for them. In probably the only good exchange of the episode, Scotty rails against the youths, wondering why a young mind has to be an undisciplined one.  Kirk replies reflectively, musing that he "got into some trouble when (he) was their age - didn't you?"

Spock: Has some sympathy with the space hippies, and a surprising familiarity with their internal culture - enough to be able to gain a modicum of cooperation from Dr. Sevrin. He observes to Kirk that the members of this group feel "like aliens on their own worlds," and that this is a feeling with which he is all too familiar. He forms a genuine bond with Adam (a very young Charles Napier), the hippie musician, which allows Nimoy to give a pleasantly relaxed performance.

Chekov: Though the episode takes care to give him a direct link with the main plot, thus giving him more screen time than most recent episodes, he still doesn't get much to do. It is refreshing to see his scientific skills being called upon by Spock again. That recalls early Season Two, before Chekov's scientific skills were forgotten in favor of endless Russian jokes. It seems odd, though, that hot-headed Mr. Chekov is presented as the face of conservative conformity.

Hot Space Babes of the Week: Mary-Linda Rapelye is Irina, Chekov's old flame from Starfleet Academy, who dropped out and joined the space hippies. There's not much to her character beyond that. She's there in order to give Chekov a bit more to do, rather than being a character in her own right. Still, she does manage to be appealing despite the horrible flowered belly-dancer dress she's decked out in.

Villain of the Week: Skip Homeier is Dr. Sevrin, leader of the Eden movement. As Spock is the first to observe, he is insane. Not only is he a carrier for a deadly disease that would wipe out whomever he finds on Eden - he doesn't care. All he cares about is finding this planet and becoming "one" with its people. Overall, Sevrin is one of the series' weaker villains, and it seems ridiculous that he would have gotten anywhere near taking over the ship. The fake ears were a mistake, as he comes across looking like the result of cross-breeding experiments involving Yul Brynner and Dumbo.


THOUGHTS

The Way to Eden is an easy episode to mock. Offstage, the changes made to her original proposal led Trek veteran D. C. Fontana to leave the series. Onstage, we are provided with bizarrely costumed and made-up space hippies; endless chants of "Herbert! Herbert! Herbert!" every time they are on-screen with Kirk; Adam's unconvincing lip synching to seemingly endless bland would-be "hippie songs"; and the exaggerated slang ("That is now! That is so now, man!").

I think this last is the most annoying. The writers' need to have virtually every one of Adam's lines involve some exaggerated slang ranges from irritating to comical. My personal favorite is when his way of calling Kirk scared is to say the captain has "jelly in the belly." That sounds less like an accusation of fear than like a commentary on Shatner's third season weight gain.

I don't actually hate The Way to Eden. It's poor, but it's also essentially Cheese Fest '69, so downright stupid that bits of it become entertaining in their own right. On the other hand, the third season already has Spock's Brain. And Spock's Brain at least was well-paced and, within the confines of an idiotic concept, was nevertheless well-structured. The Way to Eden shares neither of these virtues.

The takeover of the ship - the main external conflict - doesn't occur until past the halfway mark. It's also only possible because Chekov happily identifies auxiliary control for Irina, throwing in (unsolicited) the information of how to use the controls in the room to navigate even if you don't know anything about navigation. "Let me tell you how to take over the ship, I'm sure you won't use this information later." There are apparently no safeguards in place to prevent anyone from wandering in there and doing what Sevrin does, nor does even a single redshirt bother to guard such a sensitive area.

If you're looking for quality Star Trek, you won't find it here. If you're looking to just float along with some cheese and dairy products, then this has its enjoyable moments... but really, if you want a "fun bad" Star Trek episode, Spock's Brain is much more enjoyable than this one.

Rating: 3/10.

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#8 (1-2): Charlie X

Charlie Evans (Robert Walker, Jr.) has an unrequited crush
on Janice Rand - and the power to make that dangerous!

Original Air Date: Sept. 15, 1966. Teleplay by: D. C. Fontana. Story by: Gene Roddenberry. Directed by: Lawrence Dobkin.


THE PLOT

The Enterprise completes a rendezvous with the Antares, a survey ship that found a single survivor of a starship crash on an otherwise uninhabited planet. Prior to being found by the Antares, Charlie Evans (Robert Walker, Jr.) never even saw another human being. Kirk develops a fast liking for the boy, and he decides to take him under his wing to provide a sort of "father figure" for young Charlie.

The adolescent Charlie develops a hopeless crush on the first woman he has ever seen: Yeoman Janice Rand. Normally, this is the sort of thing that could be solved by introducing him to a girl his own age, as Janice tries to do - or when that fails, by Kirk having a simple talk with the boy. But as gradually becomes clear, Charlie is anything but normal...

Charlie has powers that allow him to lash out in a way that would be horrifying in any adolescent. When Spock defeats him at chess while teaching him the game, Charlie melts the chess set with his mind. When a crewman laughs at him, Charlie makes him disappear. And when the survey ship attempts to warn the Enterprise about Charlie, he makes them disappear as well... permanently!


CHARACTERS

Capt. Beefcake: Apparently, sweat suits do not exist in the future, as Kirk goes shirtless in the gym while teaching Charlie a few basic throws. Some of the crew in the gym wear red robes, but that would never do for Kirk. "Kirk the Gambler" also makes an appearance during the climax when he tests - and finds - the limits of Charlie's abilities. This leads to an effective confrontation between an omnipotent teen who nevertheless has a teen's lack of wisdom and experience, and a comparatively powerless adult who nevertheless retains a sharp mind and a strong will.

Shatner continues to mostly impress in an episode that showcases Kirk's compassionate side. He takes it on himself to act as father figure to Charlie, explaining the blunt reality that there are many things in life that he can have and some things he can't, and that Janice is one of the things he can't have. He follows up that bluntness with kindness, and he builds a reasonable friendship with Charlie - which comes in useful when Charlie's powers begin to manifest. 

Janice Rand: At this point in the series, Janice is more of a core member of the cast than many of the characters who would become regulars. Janice is initially compassionate to Charlie. After recognizing his crush, she tries to deflect his attentions onto an attractive girl closer to his own age. When that fails, she goes to Kirk to get his help. She notes that she's seen "that look" before, and that she doesn't want to "hurt" Charlie, but she will hurt him if she has to. 

Villain of the Week: Charlie. Like the short story and Twilight Zone episode, It's a Good Life, this episode recognizes that children and teens are not inherently good, and that there's little more horrifying than a child/teen with godlike powers. Charlie has a strong desire to be liked, and he wants to do well in things he attempts - like almost any teen boy. Also like almost any teen, he is easily frustrated when he senses he isn't liked or when he does poorly at something. Think back on when you were a teenager. If you had the power, would you make someone "go away" if they laughed at you or were (by your perception) mean to you? Though obviously older than the character he's playing, Robert Walker Jr. does a good job of conveying Charlie's adolescent eagerness, confusion, and frustration. Even when he becomes a clear villain, Walker still doesn't play him as "evil," and he's all the more effective for that.


THOUGHTS

While not a favorite episode of mine, Charlie X is another intelligently scripted and well-acted early episode. The performances range from good to excellent. The story is also well structured. This was the first of several scripts by writer D. C. Fontana, and her strengths are already apparent. She finds moments for several members of the ensemble, with good scenes not only for Kirk and Janice, but also for Spock, McCoy, and Uhura. She also builds the situation effectively. The first Act, which could easily have been just a collection of incidents, works because Fontana maintains focus on Charlie's reactions, which are initially relatable... until the things he does grow more serious, in direct proportion with his frustrations.

Attempts to deal with Charlie are complicated not only by his powers, but also by the fact that he really has never interacted with other humans before. Janice's attempt to deflect Charlie's affections onto another girl might have worked - except that she isn't just a crush; she's the first woman Charlie has ever seen! In a very real sense, he's imprinted himself on her. What he does to that girl later in the episode is a bit horrific, even if it (and everything else he's done aboard the Enterprise) gets conveniently undone at the episode's finish.

This isn't an episode I'd tend to reach for if I were just in the mood to watch a TOS episode. That said, it is a good episode. It will never be a favorite of mine, but it holds up better than I had recalled, and it's easy to see why D. C. Fontana became one of the series' go-to writers.


Rating: 7/10

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