"In the hands of an adolescent.."
The survey ship Antaris brings aboard a rather weird 17 year old who somehow survived on the planet Thesis for several years, even though food supplies had exhausted. This teenager, Charlie, is anti-social and more than a bit strange (he just has this air of awkwardness about him), but it doesn't stop there: he has powers that are dangerous, particularly considering he's an immature, easily tempered, quick to punish kid, seemingly unable to control his anger when someone pushes his buttons (notice what he does to Uhura who sings a ditty about him in the recreation room or the Antaris ship when the captain tries to send a warning to Kirk and the Enterprise about their unusual passenger). Spock calls Charlie's ability transmutation, a power to render objects (or humans) invisible, or to destroy if he feels threatened or angered.
What a great plot! I think this is a fine of example of great storytelling. Imagine the weapon to destroy anyone or thing that aggravates, annoys, or bothers you—now, imagine a boy inside a man's body equipped with such a dangerous weapon (uh oh, is right). You have to wonder how in the dickens Kirk will get out of this difficult situation. Yep, Kirk finally figures it out, but not before Charlie runs rampant, using his powers to short circuit Uhura's console (causing a nice shock which send her reeling), force Spock against his will to quote nursery rhymes and poetry (not to mention, break his legs at one point!), cause crew members to "go away", turn a cute teenage girl into an iguana, age an adult female into an elderly woman, and remove a laughing officer's face(!)—Kirk has his hands full with this kid! Kirk thinks Charlie has a *limit*, that he can actually tax himself if there is an overuse of his powers. I definitely think this episode cleverly comments on the difficulty of puberty, especially if a teenager has grown up in an environment absent the human experience, his dysfunction deriving from the lack of social interaction over an extended period of time. Without the Thesian power Charlie would not have survived, but how can such a "human anomaly" function among others when even the least little incident causes him to kill or harm? Solid script by the always reliable DC Fontana, Robert Walker perfect as the titular character (something about him just gives you the creeps) who doesn't handle conflict or embarrassment very well. I would hate not to mention Grace Lee Whitney as Yeoman Janice Rand, a stunning woman Walker's Charlie is enamored with. Janice tries various methods to convince him she isn't the girl for him, to no avail. This plot thread is important as it pertains to Charlie's stunted emotional handling of rejection, how he hasn't the capability to process this in a mature way, his power not helping matters.
It just occurred to me: some may see parallels between "Charlie X" and the iconic Billy Mumy Twilight Zone tale "It's a Good Life."
The survey ship Antaris brings aboard a rather weird 17 year old who somehow survived on the planet Thesis for several years, even though food supplies had exhausted. This teenager, Charlie, is anti-social and more than a bit strange (he just has this air of awkwardness about him), but it doesn't stop there: he has powers that are dangerous, particularly considering he's an immature, easily tempered, quick to punish kid, seemingly unable to control his anger when someone pushes his buttons (notice what he does to Uhura who sings a ditty about him in the recreation room or the Antaris ship when the captain tries to send a warning to Kirk and the Enterprise about their unusual passenger). Spock calls Charlie's ability transmutation, a power to render objects (or humans) invisible, or to destroy if he feels threatened or angered.
What a great plot! I think this is a fine of example of great storytelling. Imagine the weapon to destroy anyone or thing that aggravates, annoys, or bothers you—now, imagine a boy inside a man's body equipped with such a dangerous weapon (uh oh, is right). You have to wonder how in the dickens Kirk will get out of this difficult situation. Yep, Kirk finally figures it out, but not before Charlie runs rampant, using his powers to short circuit Uhura's console (causing a nice shock which send her reeling), force Spock against his will to quote nursery rhymes and poetry (not to mention, break his legs at one point!), cause crew members to "go away", turn a cute teenage girl into an iguana, age an adult female into an elderly woman, and remove a laughing officer's face(!)—Kirk has his hands full with this kid! Kirk thinks Charlie has a *limit*, that he can actually tax himself if there is an overuse of his powers. I definitely think this episode cleverly comments on the difficulty of puberty, especially if a teenager has grown up in an environment absent the human experience, his dysfunction deriving from the lack of social interaction over an extended period of time. Without the Thesian power Charlie would not have survived, but how can such a "human anomaly" function among others when even the least little incident causes him to kill or harm? Solid script by the always reliable DC Fontana, Robert Walker perfect as the titular character (something about him just gives you the creeps) who doesn't handle conflict or embarrassment very well. I would hate not to mention Grace Lee Whitney as Yeoman Janice Rand, a stunning woman Walker's Charlie is enamored with. Janice tries various methods to convince him she isn't the girl for him, to no avail. This plot thread is important as it pertains to Charlie's stunted emotional handling of rejection, how he hasn't the capability to process this in a mature way, his power not helping matters.
It just occurred to me: some may see parallels between "Charlie X" and the iconic Billy Mumy Twilight Zone tale "It's a Good Life."