Star Trek TOS Rewatch: "Charlie X"
Apr. 2nd, 2020 05:32 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
neuralcloneIn which we meet the first of a long line of Star Trek aliens with godlike powers--the Thasians. Unfortunately for the Enterprise, they've gifted some of their powers to an adolescent boy with a short temper, no social skills and a crush on Janice Rand. (Incidentally, Kirk's advice to Charlie on that subject shows that our womanising captain is on board with the idea of consent.)
"Charlie X" clearly owes a lot to the Twilight Zone episode "It's a Good Life".
(Since The Orville draws so strongly on Star Trek, I wonder when they're going to do an episode involving godlike aliens?)
There's a cute and rather unusual scene where Uhura sings a flirtatious song while Spock accompanies her on his Vulcan lyre. Apparently it was originally intended to make Spock and Uhura a couple--but the idea was scotched because TPTB wouldn't consider an interracial relationship. I'm not sure how true this is, but if it is, it means that the Spock/Uhura relationship in J.J. Abrams Trek isn't as far from canon as it first appears!
... I've also been rewatching the first season of The Orville--very slowly, starting with "Old Wounds". I noticed that at the climax, Isaac looked as amazed as the rest of the crew as Ed and Kelly destroyed a Krill ship with a fast-growing redwood. I wonder if the thing that made the Kaylons decide to go on a rampage against organic life wasn't Isaac's reports on our dodgy history, but him singing our praises as an ingenious and flexible species?
"Charlie X" clearly owes a lot to the Twilight Zone episode "It's a Good Life".
(Since The Orville draws so strongly on Star Trek, I wonder when they're going to do an episode involving godlike aliens?)
There's a cute and rather unusual scene where Uhura sings a flirtatious song while Spock accompanies her on his Vulcan lyre. Apparently it was originally intended to make Spock and Uhura a couple--but the idea was scotched because TPTB wouldn't consider an interracial relationship. I'm not sure how true this is, but if it is, it means that the Spock/Uhura relationship in J.J. Abrams Trek isn't as far from canon as it first appears!
... I've also been rewatching the first season of The Orville--very slowly, starting with "Old Wounds". I noticed that at the climax, Isaac looked as amazed as the rest of the crew as Ed and Kelly destroyed a Krill ship with a fast-growing redwood. I wonder if the thing that made the Kaylons decide to go on a rampage against organic life wasn't Isaac's reports on our dodgy history, but him singing our praises as an ingenious and flexible species?
