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"Charlie X" is the second episode of the first season of the American science fiction television series Star Trek. Written by Dorothy C. Fontana from a story by Gene Roddenberry, and directed by Lawrence Dobkin, it first aired on September 15, 1966.
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Charlie X: Directed by Lawrence Dobkin. With William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, Robert Walker Jr., DeForest Kelley. Captain Kirk must learn the limits to the power of a 17-year-old boy with the psionic ability to create anything and destroy anyone.
- (5.6K)
- Action, Adventure, Sci-Fi
- Lawrence Dobkin
- 1966-09-15
- Overview
- Summary
- Log entries
- Memorable quotes
- Background information
- Links and references
- External links
A powerful teenage boy wreaks havoc aboard the Enterprise.
Teaser
The USS Enterprise makes a rendezvous with the Antares, a small cargo ship. While investigating the planet Thasus, the Antares discovered an adolescent boy named Charles Evans, the sole survivor of a ship crash who has lived on his own since age three. Evans transfers to the Enterprise, which is on its way to Colony Alpha 5, where Evans' only relatives live. Captain Ramart and his navigator and first officer, Tom Nellis, are eager to be on their way after beaming aboard the Enterprise, even refusing Captain Kirk's offer of Saurian brandy, as well as entertainment tapes. But they are also effusive in their praise of Charlie. Charlie interrupts Ramart and Nellis a couple of times, which prompts Kirk to say to him, "You keep interrupting, Mr. Evans. That's considered wrong." Yeoman Janice Rand enters the transporter room and Kirk asks her to show Charlie to his quarters and to drop off his medical records at sickbay. Innocently, Charlie asks Captain Kirk if Yeoman Rand is a girl. "That's a girl," the captain replies. Rand escorts Charlie out, much to Kirk's amusement.
Act One
After a routine check-up by Dr. McCoy, Charlie attempts to learn and integrate, demonstrating the effect of his years away from all Human contact. At the same time, strange incidents occur in his vicinity. Charlie is also struggling mightily with adolescence and with his first crush – the Captain's beautiful yeoman – Janice Rand. After observing Crewman Wilson and a sciences division crewman slapping each other casually, Charlie does the same to Yeoman Rand's behind in a corridor, shocking her. Afterward, Rand advises Charlie to tell Captain Kirk or Dr. McCoy what he had just done and ask them for advice. Afterwards, in the Enterprise's recreation room on deck three, Uhura is singing "Oh, On the Starship Enterprise" to a rapt Rand and other crew members. When Rand ignores Charlie's card tricks; he secretly uses his power to silence Uhura's voice, as well as the sounds coming from Spock's Vulcan lute, so that he can have Rand's undivided attention. Charlie then proceeds with a few card tricks – such as turning cards face down, and then turning them over again to reveal color photographs of Rand on the playing side. This amuses Rand and others in the crew lounge, who applaud Charlie appreciatively. Later, in a corridor, Kirk is advising a galley chef that on Earth today it is Thanksgiving, and if the crew of the Enterprise has to eat synthetic meat loaf, he wants it to look like turkey. Just then, Charlie arrives and tells Kirk of the trouble he had interacting with Rand earlier. Kirk awkwardly attempts to explain that men and women do things differently, but before he can elaborate further to Charlie, Kirk is asked to come up to the bridge by Uhura. At extreme range, Captain Ramart attempts to contact the Enterprise and speak to Captain Kirk, but before he can say more than "I've got to warn…", his ship is destroyed. Charlie advises Kirk that "It wasn't very well constructed," a strange comment, since it comes before Spock actually confirms the Antares's destruction. Kirk is then hailed by the Enterprise's chef, who tells the captain that he had put meatloaf in the ovens, but there are turkeys in them now – real turkeys. Charlie laughs at hearing this, then leaves the bridge abruptly, leaving Kirk feeling that Charlie is hiding something.
Act Two
Kirk and Spock are pondering the destruction of the Antares during a game of three-dimensional chess when Charlie walks in and asks to play. After defeating Spock in an "illogical approach" to the game, Kirk turns it over to Charlie, during which Spock easily beats him in two moves. When Charlie gets angry, Spock leaves and then Charlie uses his powers to melt the white chess pieces. Afterwards, Rand introduces Charlie to Yeoman Tina Lawton, who is near Charlie's age. Charlie ignores Lawton, hurting her feelings, after which Rand tells Charlie that he was rude to her. Charlie then makes his feelings known to Rand that he wants her and only her, which makes the yeoman feel very uneasy. Rand goes to the bridge and wants Kirk to have a talk with Charlie before she asks the young man to leave her alone, which will hurt his feelings. Calling Charlie to his quarters, Kirk takes pity on the young man and attempts to befriend him, taking him to the physical training room for some light sparring. Initially refusing to participate, Charlie falls awkwardly and prompts laughter from Sam, Kirk's sparring partner. Humiliated and angry, Charlie makes Sam disappear, revealing his powers.
•Captain's log, USS Enterprise (NCC-1701), 2266
"You keep interrupting, Mr. Evans. That's considered wrong."
- Kirk, to Charlie upon his arrival on the
"Is that a girl?"
"That's a girl."
- Charlie and Kirk, on Rand
"There's no right way to hit a woman."
Production timeline
•Original story premise in Star Trek is...: 11 March 1964 •Story outline "Charlie Is God" by Gene Roddenberry: 23 April 1964 •Revised story outline: 28 August 1964 •Story outline "Charlie X" by Gene Roddenberry: 14 April 1966 •Story outline by Gene Roddenberry: 23 April 1966 •Story outline by D.C. Fontana: 27 April 1966 •Revised outline: 9 May 1966 •First draft teleplay by Fontana: 6 June 1966 •Second draft teleplay: 27 June 1966 •Staff rewrite: 30 June 1966 •Final draft teleplay by Gene Roddenberry: 5 July 1966 •Additional revisions: 11 July 1966, 13 July 1966 •Filmed: 11 July 1966 – 19 July 1966 •Day 1 – 11 July 1966, Monday (Half Day) – Desilu Stage 9: Int. Sickbay, Kirk's quarters •Day 2 – 12 July 1966, Tuesday – Desilu Stage 9: Int. Corridors, Bridge •Day 3 – 13 July 1966, Wednesday – Desilu Stage 9: Int. Bridge •Day 4 – 14 July 1966, Thursday – Desilu Stage 9: Int. Recreation room (redress of Briefing room) •Day 5 – 15 July 1966, Friday – Desilu Stage 9: Int. Transporter room, Janice Rand's quarters •Day 6 – 18 July 1966, Monday – Desilu Stage 9: Int. Briefing room, Gymnasium (redress of Engineering) •Day 7 – 19 July 1966, Tuesday – Desilu Stage 9: Int. Corridors (including Brig), Tie-down vfx shot of Abraham Sofaer •Score recording: 29 August 1966 •Original airdate: 15 September 1966 •Repeated: 1 June 1967 •First UK airdate (on BBC1): 13 September 1969 •First UK airdate (on ITV): 13 September 1981
Story and production
•Gene Roddenberry had written a one-sentence synopsis of this episode on the first page of his original series outline for Star Trek under the title "The Day Charlie Became God." The page is reproduced in the Herbert F. Solow/Robert H. Justman volume Inside Star Trek: The Real Story, p. 125. Writer Dorothy Fontana also confirmed that the episode was based on that story idea. Fontana developed the story and wrote the teleplay, but Roddenberry received story credit. •This episode was originally scheduled to air further into the season, as all action took place aboard the Enterprise, and it was basically a teenage melodrama set in the space age, both of which elements NBC disliked. However, as it required no new outer space visual effects shots (actually all Enterprise shots are recycled from the two pilots), its post-production took less time than other episodes. It was chosen to be the second episode to air, out of necessity, as no other episodes were ready for the deadline. The Antares was originally to be shown on screen, but when the early airdate was commissioned, this was eliminated. (These Are the Voyages: TOS Season One, p. 201) •"Charlie X" was adapted for a novelization by James Blish. It was published in the first Bantam Books Star Trek novelization collection in 1967 under the name "Charlie's Law". (This name is a pun on Charles' Law, a law of physics dealing with how changes in temperature affect the volume of a gas. (citation needed • edit)) •The opening credits of this episode are the same as those used in "The Man Trap", which included a "Created by Gene Roddenberry" credit. The credits at the close of the episode only list Roddenberry as Producer. Also, the credits for William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy are missing the "starring" and "also starring" designations. This episode followed "The Man Trap" in airdate order. The main titles were standardized for syndication, however the DVD prints restore the titles to their original configuration. •During the first-season episodes, cinematographer Jerry Finnerman was encouraged to maximize placement of colored background lighting to add exotic warmth to the gray walls of the Enterprise set. This was a major promotional point for NBC, as Star Trek was a selling point for color televisions. But as pressure to complete episodes grew, this touch gradually faded from the series. NBC was owned at the time by RCA, a major manufacturer of color television sets. (Inside Star Trek, p. 113) •This episode was directed by Lawrence Dobkin, who later guest-starred as Ambassador Kell in TNG: "The Mind's Eye". •DS9 writer/producer Ira Steven Behr says that this is the episode that "won him over." (AOL chat, 1997)
Performers
•James Doohan (Scott) and George Takei (Sulu) do not appear in this episode, although two words of Takei's dialogue from "The Man Trap" are dubbed in when Kirk calls the bridge from the gymnasium. •The galley chef was voiced by Gene Roddenberry, in his first and only acting role in Star Trek. Despite having dialogue, Roddenberry remained uncredited on-screen. •In her autobiography, Grace Lee Whitney mentions that Robert Walker, (a method actor), completely avoided the cast on the set, trying to stay alone and "in character". "He explained to us when he arrived to the set that he wanted to remain alien and apart from us – and it worked. You can see it in his performance, a subtle yet persistent air of estrangement from the Enterprise crew, and indeed from the rest of humanity. His careful effort to stay in character added a convincing dimension to his performance." Furthermore, she added, "It's impossible to imagine anyone else in the role – he captured the perfect balance, projecting vulnerability, innocence and horrifying menace all the same time. A lesser actor could not have handled the range and depth of the character." (The Longest Trek: My Tour of the Galaxy, pp. 98-99) •Fontana also praised Walker's performance, "[He] was excellent as Charlie. And he was quite a young man, he was in his twenties, but playing a teenager, he looked young enough to pull it off." •Allan Asherman, in The Star Trek Compendium, also mentions that Walker "turns in a powerful and fascinating performance". (p. 39) •The role of Sam was to be initially played by Beau Vandenecker, but it was eventually recast to Robert Herron. (Per casting sheet) Herron was a stuntman, so it was cheaper to hire him as an actor/stuntman. •Although it may not canonically represent the creative staff's intentions, the novelization by James Blish in Star Trek 1 identifies the unnamed crewman named Sam (whom Charlie "disposes" of) as Sam Ellis, an officer on McCoy's medical staff. The episode novelization made it clear that he, along with all of the officers who were disfigured of by Charlie, were "restored" along with Rand when the Thasians intervened. However, the USS Antares could not be saved because, as the Thasian explained, it was destroyed "in this frame" whereas the zapped Enterprise personnel were "kept intact in the next frame." •This was one of only three episodes of the first season that didn't show Vina in the last closing still. The other two episodes were "What Are Little Girls Made Of?" and "Dagger of the Mind".
Starring
•William Shatner as Capt. Kirk
Also starring
•Leonard Nimoy as Mr. Spock
Guest star
•Robert Walker as Charles Evans
•"Charlie X" at Memory Beta, the wiki for licensed Star Trek works
•"Charlie X" at Wikipedia
•"Charlie X" at the Internet Movie Database
•"Charlie X" at MissionLogPodcast.com, a Roddenberry Star Trek podcast
The USS Enterprise meets the Antares to take charge of Charlie Evans sole survivor of a transport ship that crashed on the planet Thasus. For 14 years, Charlie grew up there alone, stranded in the wreckage, learning how to talk from the ship's computer systems which remained intact.
"Star Trek" Charlie X (TV Episode 1966) cast and crew credits, including actors, actresses, directors, writers and more.
Apr 9, 2009 · Season 1, Episode 2. Production Episode: 1×07. Original air date: September 15, 1966. Star date: 1533.6. Mission summary. The Enterprise rendezvouses with the Antares, a trade (later, survey) ship that has picked up an unusual passenger: Charles Evans.
Prime Timeline. (The root of all realities) Stardate 1533.6: A powerful teenage boy wreaks havoc aboard the Enterprise. The cargo ship Antares docks with the Enterprise to deliver young Charlie Evans, the lone survivor of a crash on the planet Thasus 14 years earlier.
