{"id":2739,"date":"2022-01-04T12:00:01","date_gmt":"2022-01-04T12:00:01","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/tomsalinsky.co.uk\/blog\/?p=2739"},"modified":"2023-03-06T11:08:10","modified_gmt":"2023-03-06T11:08:10","slug":"trekaday-001-the-man-trap-charlie-x-where-no-man-has-gone-before-the-naked-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/tomsalinsky.co.uk\/blog\/index.php\/2022\/01\/04\/trekaday-001-the-man-trap-charlie-x-where-no-man-has-gone-before-the-naked-time\/","title":{"rendered":"Trekaday 001: The Man Trap, Charlie X, Where No Man Has Gone Before, The Naked Time"},"content":{"rendered":"

TOS S01E01 The Man Trap<\/strong> (\"4) gives rise to one of my favourite stories about television production. The plot revolves around a creature that craves salt and thus the Enterprise<\/em> crew needed to be seen salting their food. What is easy to overlook watching these early episodes is they had to invent everything<\/em>. Consider the problem of imagining the 23rd century from the vantage point of the mid-1960s. What would doors look like? What would shoes look like? What \u2013 crucially for this episode \u2013 would salt shakers look like?<\/p>\n

A gallant props man scoured local flea markets and exotic boutiques and came back with an assortment of peculiar objects, all of which he was assured could be used to season food. They all looked suitably weird and futuristic but none of them looked like salt shakers. Using them in the scene would thus require some dreadfully clunky dialogue to be written. \u201cCould you pass the salt please?\u201d \u201cWhy, yes, here it is in this salt shaker \u2013 see?\u201d And so eventually they fell back on just using regular 1960s salt shakers. But the bizarre articles rejected for this purpose were immediately put to good use as Dr McCoy\u2019s operating instruments, enhanced with suitable sound effects.<\/p>\n

Watching this episode, of which I have scant memories, what\u2019s amazing is how much they got right first time. All right, not quite first time. This was the first episode transmitted, but the fourth after the two pilots to go before the cameras. (There is an argument to be made for watching these in production order, the better to track the evolution of the series, but, oh well.) The second pilot, Where No Man Has Gone Before<\/em>, transmitted third after a quick re-edit, looks a bit shakier. We\u2019ll have to wait till next week for The Corbomite Maneuver<\/em>, the first regular episode to be shot.<\/p>\n

In any case, here we have the vital Captain\u2019s Log \u2013 missing from The Cage<\/em> \u2013 the familiar triumvirate of Kirk, Spock and McCoy, the notion of \u201cbeaming down\u201d to the planet (which must have a lot of suns judging by all the shadows cast on that very smooth ground), and the uniforms we\u2019re all used to.<\/p>\n

Almost immediately Kirk is teasing McCoy about his old girlfriend. This is the crucial difference between Kirk and Pike, between Shatner and Hunter. Kirk loves being captain of the Enterprise and Shatner loves being Kirk. His joy at being able to play space hero for a living radiates out of him. He\u2019s fantastic. As with Dr No<\/em> (another iconic series which got an awful lot right first time) we\u2019re plunged into the middle of the story. There\u2019s no set-up, no origin story, no first meeting. Here\u2019s the ship, here\u2019s the crew, here\u2019s the mission. We don\u2019t even get the \u201cseries sell\u201d until after the teaser \u2013 which wastes no time in setting up the key mystery for the beginning of the story. It\u2019s amazingly clear, bold, confident stuff. And it\u2019s fun. And clever, building to a really complicated suspenseful situation in which the fate of our antagonist is being unwittingly discussed in front of them.<\/p>\n

We also get our first \u201cred shirt\u201d death, although Crewman Darnell is wearing blue (science\/medicine). And the shock and dismay which Uhura feels on learning this news is effectively used to create a contrast with Spock\u2019s cold, calculating nature \u2013 avoiding the earnest, business-as-usual teamwork of Pike\u2019s dour, characterless crew. Before long, Sturgeon and Green have bitten the dust as well, further thinning out the Enterprise<\/em>\u2019s bustling corridors.<\/p>\n

This episode marks the debut of Yeoman Janice Rand, who gets to use the salt shaker (and who should definitely report some of the men aboard the Enterprise<\/em> to HR) but no sign of Scotty. Sulu gets to say \u201cMay the great bird of the galaxy bless your planet\u201d \u2013 which gave rise to a fond, or sometimes not-so-fond, nickname for Gene Roddenberry. And of course, in the climax, Star Trek<\/strong>\u2019s signature humanity and compassion shines through, although it doesn\u2019t, this time, carry the day.<\/p>\n

TOS S01E02 Charlie X <\/strong>(\"3) gives us our first look at the transporter room and Kirk\u2019s tummy-flattening wraparound green tunic (Shatner also takes his shirt off for the first time). The transporter room is a bit of a funny one. Having invented the transporter as a budget-saving measure, the writers had to struggle not to make it a magical get-out-of-jail-free card. Having a special room which is necessary to effect transportation helps, but the need will get ignored from time-to-time as point-to-point transportation becomes a thing.<\/p>\n

Again, the teaser is super-punchy and effective, setting up the key mystery of the episode. And this is our first look at that most indefatigable of Star Trek<\/strong> clich\u00e9s \u2013 the child-like alien with godlike powers. This was hardly new to TV \u2013 science-fiction fans would remember it from The Twilight Zone<\/em> if nothing else \u2013 but it becomes a Trek<\/strong> staple, probably because it feels huge and yet is cheap to film \u2013 the destruction of the Antares <\/em>happens off-screen and most of Charlie\u2019s special abilities are achieved with simple editing.<\/p>\n

This kind of story also plays into the philosophical aspects of the show as well as the jeopardy. Robert Walker does everything the script requires of him and Charlie Evans is a fine enough example of the type, but the device will get old fast, and the first incarnation isn\u2019t necessarily the best. It also feels needlessly repetitive to have the first two stories both revolve around a human-looking intruder on the ship who has terrifying powers that the crew don\u2019t even suspect are there. Surely it won\u2019t be this same story every week? It\u2019s also an entirely ship-bound episode which feels like a lack of ambition this early on, although some strikingly non-naturalistic lighting partly makes up for it.<\/p>\n

Charlie\u2019s minders have uniforms from the second pilot, but with different insignias. The familiar Star Trek<\/strong> \u201cdelta\u201d insignia was thought of as the symbol of the Enterprise <\/em>at this stage. Yeoman Rand exists only to be lusted after again. White Charlie can\u2019t be seen to be lusting over Uhura \u2013 that would be offensive. Likewise, a playful slap on the rear is fine between two men, but inappropriate when Charlie does it to Rand. Poor old sixties Trek<\/strong> struggles nobly for progression but falters as often as it succeeds.<\/p>\n

Off-duty officers strum alien harps, play with familiar-looking decks of cards and improvise torch songs, sometimes all at the same time. Kirk beats Spock at chess, even though his mind isn\u2019t on the game. Spock is a lousy chess teacher, taking 30 seconds to beat Charlie and then ending the lesson. Kirk if anything is even worse, but at least his judo lesson reveals Charlie\u2019s true nature.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s fascinating (Captain) is that, even discounting the repetition of format from last week, this feels less engaging than the excellent The Man Trap<\/em> even though the threat is far greater. The salt creature slowly picked the crew off one at a time, whereas Charlie could melt everyone on board with a single glance. But The Man Trap<\/em> was about McCoy\u2019s emotional crisis and Charlie X<\/em> is about Kirk solving a problem, which feels less engaging \u2013 although we do connect more with Charlie than we did with Salty McSuckface.<\/p>\n

No Sulu and still no Scotty. The regular cast of this show is Kirk, Spock, Bones, Uhura and Rand \u2013 which makes her apparent death at Charlie\u2019s hands (eyes?) the most shocking part of the episode. The final act feels apocalyptic \u2013 Charlie makes force fields vanish, ages up young girls who reject his advances, magics away people\u2019s faces to stop them from laughing. It\u2019s a nightmare for the Enterprise<\/em>, except that those bustling corridors make it feel like business as usual. In a rather drab ending, Charlie\u2019s powers are overcome not by Kirk\u2019s ingenuity but by his parents coming to take him away. The use of this reset switch also means that technically the ship suffered no personnel losses this episode. Interesting to recall that this is DC Fontana\u2019s first episode for the show \u2013 is Charlie her attack on the adolescent man-babies whose advances she had to fend off even into adulthood?<\/p>\n

TOS S01E03 Where No Man Has Gone Before <\/strong>(\"3.5) as noted, is the re-edited second pilot. This is the footage which convinced NBC to commission a series. The early, oft-excerpted dialogue between Kirk and Spock is a primer for those unfamiliar with the show and as such is somewhat over-written \u2013 Spock would never say \u201cone of your Earth emotions\u201d. As S01E01 showed us, we don\u2019t actually need anything like this to understand how the show works. But maybe NBC in 1966 needed reassurance in the opening minutes that this wouldn\u2019t be The Cage Redux<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Spock\u2019s silly haircut, fluffy eyebrows and sallow makeup from The Cage<\/em> are all back, as are the costumes with ribbed collars (which oddly echo the Wrath of Khan<\/em> costumes which will debut 16 years later). James Doohan finally appears, in a strange oatmeal jersey, operating the transporter. That same colour is worn by other crewmembers including \u2013 hey it\u2019s Gary Lockwood from 2001<\/em>. And in blue (with trousers) it\u2019s Hotlips from MASH<\/em>. They\u2019re kind of the Decker and Ilia of this episode \u2013 two senior officers we\u2019ve never met before who have their own relationship arc and are then written-out.<\/p>\n

Compared to episodes one and two, the teaser is a bit feeble \u2013 the old box transmitting data isn\u2019t anything like as interesting as freaky Charlie or three-faced Nancy. We\u2019re initially ship-bound again, but the sparking consoles, shaking camera and general sense of Das Boot<\/em> claustrophobia (even Spock is barking orders) does much to mitigate this. Sadly, this is the third episode in a row in which the corridors of the Enterprise<\/em> are stalked by one or more seeming humans with deadly powers \u2013 in this case \u201cEspers\u201d who sound like they are going to be a big feature of the Star Trek<\/strong> universe, but which I don\u2019t believe are ever mentioned again. In fact, Mitchell has exactly the same patter as Charlie \u2013 insisting that people be friendly to him and threatening dire consequences if they aren\u2019t. It does seem at this stage as if this most imaginative of series can only tell a single story.<\/p>\n

Lockwood and Kellerman\u2019s silver contact lenses are very effective, far more so than Robert Walker rolling his eyes back in his head. Mitchell\u2019s tales of their time together at the \u201cAcademy\u201d does much to build this world and these characters in a few lines. Note that neither Star Fleet nor the Federation have been mentioned so far, only \u201cEarth bases\u201d. Kirk\u2019s \u201cgravestone\u201d gives him the middle initial \u201cR\u201d instead of \u201cT\u201d.<\/p>\n

Instead of McCoy we have an older and crustier Dr Piper who doesn\u2019t make much of an impression and nor does Sulu who pretty much just stands mute in the background. Shatner is the one holding the whole thing together. His narration about the crippled ship strikes the perfect balance of crisis and competence. We want him to succeed and that\u2019s what makes the episode work as well as it does. It would work even better for a room full of network suits who hadn\u2019t just watched The Man Trap<\/em> and Charlie X<\/em>.<\/p>\n

But when Spock suggests murdering Mitchell while they still can, it not only jars, it cries out for McCoy to put the other side of the debate. Mitchell\u2019s personal relationship with Kirk adds what The Man Trap<\/em> had and Charlie X <\/em>lacked, and this has a better ending than last week, but this still isn\u2019t quite as good as that fantastic first episode with its perfect blend of heartbreak, high concept and jeopardy.<\/p>\n

TOS S01E04 The Naked Time <\/strong>(\"4.5) presents an odd approach to character development for a brand new show: let\u2019s really get to know our regular cast by having them act totally out of character. It shouldn\u2019t work, and yet it does, because the crew are in the position of having to be professional (and shh, don\u2019t let Gene hear you) military, which means when they do show some personality (such as when Uhura baits Spock on the bridge) it can seem rather unbelievable. By stripping off some of that professional fa\u00e7ade we can see a bit more of who these people really are. It worked so well here, it was repurposed as an early episode of TNG<\/strong> too. And yes, this is another uh-oh, something snuck on board the ship when we weren\u2019t looking<\/em> story but it plays very differently than the first three.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s distressing in these times of COVID to see that the Enterprise<\/em> is in danger because a redshirt didn\u2019t keep his mask on properly, but the crew have to be numbskulls from time to time or there would never be any good stories.<\/p>\n

McCoy is back so we have our core trio in full effect, although the good doctor fails to take any of notice Crewman COVID\u2019s distress even when he\u2019s pawing anxiously at his own flesh (to be fair, neither does Kirk, but there\u2019s clearly something medically wrong with the crewman, which really should have shown up on McCoy\u2019s examination). When he stabs himself, he seems to bleed purple blood. We\u2019re also still reporting back to \u201cEarth Science\u201d not the Federation. And \u2013 gloriously \u2013 here\u2019s Scotty proudly talking up \u201chis\u201d engines, and complaining that he can\u2019t change the laws of physics, not to mention it\u2019s the first appearance of Nurse Chapel (in a weird silver wig).<\/p>\n

George Takei was pitched this episode and told he would be wielding a samurai sword. \u201cI see what you\u2019re getting at,\u201d he responded, \u201cBut I\u2019m a Japanese American. I grew up watching Errol Flynn as Robin Hood. Why can\u2019t I have a fencing foil?\u201d The writing team agreed and Takei immediately booked himself some fencing lessons in preparation for his shirtless cavorting. Then in quick succession we get our first Vulcan Nerve Pinch followed by an early appearance of Sarcastic Spock \u2013 \u201cTake D\u2019Artagnan here to sickbay,\u201d he quips over the body of the fallen Sulu.<\/p>\n

1960s sexism alert: \u201cThat\u2019s what I like! Let the women work! Universal suffrage!\u201d chortles Crewman MacIrish as Uhura takes over his station, before later dictating female crewmembers\u2019 hair and make-up choices as the infection further addles his brain.<\/p>\n

This is fantastic stuff \u2013 the ship in deadly danger, the antics of O\u2019Reilly and the others is blackly comic, Shatner and Nimoy are on top form (Spock\u2019s breakdown in his quarters is exceptional, as is Kirk trying to snap him out of it) and it\u2019s a good vehicle for Scotty, Uhura and of course Sulu. And absolutely no-one fucks an android. I\u2019d like the ship to feel more imperilled as the countdown continues, and I desperately wanted Uhura and Scotty to go nuts as well so we\u2019d have the full set, but these are minor quibbles. This is the show firing on all cylinders. And then they discover time travel. Wow.<\/p>\n

Key takeaways from these first four episodes<\/strong><\/p>\n