ST:TOS: The Enemy Within

It's been quite a long time since I posted a review here, but I think it's about time that I get back on track (feel free to keep track of how many times I say that). A few months ago after I made my last entry I decided to begin a full-fledged rewatch of all of star trek. Yes, that's around 700 episodes and 11 movies. At a reasonable rate (about one per day), I worked out that it would take at least until the next star trek movie comes out to finish everything, except for The Animated Series, whose existence I try not to acknowledge. As a result, I'll have to put all the other shows here on hold at least until I get caught up with the star trek reviews.

But enough babbling; let's get on with the review. Although Kirk pretty much demands full attention towards him in every scene that he appears, partly due to how he is written and mostly due to Shatner's peculiar acting, but this episode really takes the time to flesh out his character. The Enemy Within does this in a rather straightforward manner: by splitting Kirk into two people. One Kirk embodies all of his negative, primal, and aggressive tendencies, and the other contains all of his positive qualities.

Not even Spock could resist the attraction of Unicorn Dog

The trouble all begins on a geological survey when ensign blue shirt slips on some rock and injures himself. He is beamed aboard and carries a plot device with him, some strange type of magnetic ore, that does something to the transporter. However, he and Kirk beam back fine, so Scotty doesn't recognize anything out of the ordinary. To close off the teaser, we are introduced to evil Kirk, not to be confused with Mirror Universe Kirk, who conveniently materializes after everyone leaves the transporter room.

This is yet another prime example of how TOS pushes the envelope when it comes to its sci-fi story elements. Ultimately I'm willing to suspend my criticisms when it comes to the imaginary physics that star trek presents, because the genre is science fiction. I have no problem with transporter technology, regardless of whether or not it would work in real life, because TOS has established it as a critical part of the series, and there is a reasonable explanation of how it's supposed to work. However, I do have a problem with the transporter suddenly being able to split a person into two different beings that are polar opposites in terms of personality, which as far as we know isn't explicitly determined by some structure in the brain, or something simple like that. The only reasonable explanation that I can come up with is that the ore is magical, and if I'm willing to admit that, then I might as well be watching Harry Potter (yeah, I went there).

If there's one thing I have to say about evil Kirk, it's that Shatner sure enjoyed playing the role. The many moments that displayed evil Kirk lurking around the ship with a menacing look on his face merited more than a good laugh from me. However, most of his outbursts are so over-the-top that he doesn't bring very many serious feelings to the table, except for maybe when he tries to assault Janice Rand. He doesn't have too many lines of dialogue, so he acts as more of a foil for the good Kirk to realize the flaws he has as a captain.

"I can't believe I let Scotty install Windows Vista on this thing!"

And that's where the real story of the episode lies. Janice swears she saw the good Kirk, who was actually the evil Kirk, trying to assault her, which has most of the crew believing that the good Kirk really did do that. To make matters worse, evil Kirk has covered up the scratches on his face that Janice gave him using makeup, which only has me wondering why Kirk stores makeup in his quarters. On top of that, the transporter is now officially broken, so the landing party must be rescued before they freeze to death. Even Sulu can't cuddle up with somebody for too long.

As the episode nears its conclusion, good Kirk realizes that without his evil, aggressive side, he is incapable of commanding the Enterprise. As he loses his ability to make decisions, a situation that would have had Freud jumping up and down with excitement, his confidence weakens. Just as his evil side lacks intelligence and skill, his good side lacks the authority to make command decisions. Neither can live without the other. Eventually, Kirk is re-integrated and the landing party is rescued.

On the surface, this episode is littered with campy acting, mostly on Shatner's part, but it works brilliantly on a deeper level. Although there are quite a few plot contrivances, especially for TOS, The Enemy Within shows significant character growth for Kirk as well as offers an interesting look into the human psyche. These two points come together in the quote near the end, "I've seen a part of myself no man should ever see." The question is, was he referring to the good Kirk, or the evil Kirk?

Score: 8

Best Quote: "I've seen a part of myself no man should ever see."

Best Moment: Evil Kirk yells "I'MMMM Captain KIIIIIIRK!"

Red Shirt: 2 (+1)