Charlie X (TOS)

It occurs to me that at least 3 of the 5 Star Trek series have a "teenager gets Godlike powers" story. Next Generations "True Q" sees a teenage girl with the powers of the Q Continuum, while Voyager's "Q2" gives us Q himself's son (played not too shabbily by John DeLancie's son). And, of course, the omnipotent teenager episode that started it all, "Charlie X."

Stories about a teenager with Godlike powers are different than stories about grownups getting them ("Where No Man Has Gone Before," "Hide and Q," "The Nth Degree") because they're so scary. Most of us remember being teenagers, or know a teenager. How much power would you be willing to put in their hands? What would they do with it if they had it?

Well, for starters, they'd probably do something to do with sex, as every one of the teenagers in these stories does -- Amanda Rogers tries to use her powers to seduce Riker, Q2 Q-flashes Seven's clothes away, and young Charlie Evans, well, he really has a thing for poor Yeoman Rand, whose main purpose on the show seems to be being a damsel in distress, despite constantly trying to just do her duty and maintain professionalism.

It's a lot to swallow that this kid survived all on his own and, although the kid is a good actor, he's not particularly believable as someone who should essentially be a feral child (think Molly in "Time's Orphan"). This isn't really split hole given the ending, but it's a little odd that the Enterprise crew so readily buys it.

Captain Kirk up against a force that is his physical superior but mental inferior is already a tired theme only 10ish episodes into the show. We've seen Kirk face off with Gary Mitchell, his drunk Lieutenant in "The Naked Time," and his animalistic doppleganger. I think it's safe to say we get it: Kirk always wins. If he can't beat something up, he will outsmart it. And the weakness Kirk exploits here -- that Charlie can only influence a certain number of things at a time with his power -- feels like a very weak twist, a contrived achilles heal. As cliched as it would have been, I'd much rather have seen Kirk talk down the boy.

And then the ending is pretty disturbing. After all, Charlie is not an evil villain, he's a mixed up kid. And though going back to the people that raised him isn't a fate worse than death, he certainly doesn't make it look like very much fun. I think the moral is that if you mess around with dark powers, you might face dark consequences, but it doesn't quite land.

But the part of this episode that sticks out in memory and covers for any multitude of sins is the rec room. Nichelle Nichols gets to show off her jazz training and flirt with Spock, showing off an impishness that I very much hope Zoe Saldana will fold into her portrayal if the character. And the song, well, the song is something else. If you tuned in for the 60s camp this week, Charlie X did not disappoint!

Random Observations:

- I'm tired of bottle shows! Some of my fondest TOS memories involve facing off with Klingons and Romulans and exploring alien civilizations. So far we've seen a lot of amazingly ship-based adventures.

- Robert Walker Jr.'s portrayal of Charlie really is solid, mixing creepy and innocent in an off-kilter way that really keeps you guessing.

- Charlie's habit of disappearing people, and then not knowing exactly where they went, combined with him being a human raised by superpowered aliens, really does evoke a certain 1961 superhit novel. Stranger in a Strange Land, any one?

- Kirk as reluctant father figure is an idea with unrealized potential in this script. But, great territory for the movies to tread later, I suppose.