Charlie X is a standout episode not only for its story and writing, but for the fact that it's one of the scant few episodes where we see how some of the crew spends its leisure time. Later series, i.e. TNG, show the crew in Ten Forward, or in the Holodeck, etc., but in TOS, we rarely got a glimpse of the crews' lives outside of their work routine.
So, in Charlie X, we got to see some of the crew hanging out in the rec room, which I've always thought was kind of cool. We also saw Kirk and Spock play chess, which IIRC, happened only a few times in the series.
in Charlie X, we see an interesting insight to Spock's character: he plays a Vulcan lyre instrument in his leisure time. (And, IIRC, this happens only one other time in the series, doesn't it? Didn't he also do this in The Way to Eden?)
Spock chose to be in the rec room and mingle with the other crew rather than in the isolation of his quarters. He is the First Officer of the Enterprise, yet there he is, acting just like one of the guys, hangin' with the crew. And playing his lyre brings him obvious contentment.
What I'm wondering about is others' reactions to this scene. Is it normal for Spock to mingle with the crew in the rec room? And was he insulated when Uhura started singing, or did he not mind it at all? I watched CX last night and could not tell from his reactions. As she continued to sing, he accompanied her--whether he was playing backup to her, or if she was singing to his melody, I couldn't tell--and he was smiling to himself. Was his emotional side reacting to this? Or was it simply so early in the series that the producers hadn't nailed down Spock's character just yet?
Secondly, would you have wanted to see more rec room scenes, provided they contributed to the story? I believe it made the environment of the Enterprise more human-like, rather than so static.
Thirdly, when Kirk was at the gym, he interacted with "Sam." Do the crewmembers lose the formality of rank titles when the uniforms come off? Kirk seemed to know Sam very well, and never referred to him as Lieutenant Smith, just "Sam." I almost expected Sam to call Kirk "Jim."
So, in Charlie X, we got to see some of the crew hanging out in the rec room, which I've always thought was kind of cool. We also saw Kirk and Spock play chess, which IIRC, happened only a few times in the series.
in Charlie X, we see an interesting insight to Spock's character: he plays a Vulcan lyre instrument in his leisure time. (And, IIRC, this happens only one other time in the series, doesn't it? Didn't he also do this in The Way to Eden?)
Spock chose to be in the rec room and mingle with the other crew rather than in the isolation of his quarters. He is the First Officer of the Enterprise, yet there he is, acting just like one of the guys, hangin' with the crew. And playing his lyre brings him obvious contentment.
What I'm wondering about is others' reactions to this scene. Is it normal for Spock to mingle with the crew in the rec room? And was he insulated when Uhura started singing, or did he not mind it at all? I watched CX last night and could not tell from his reactions. As she continued to sing, he accompanied her--whether he was playing backup to her, or if she was singing to his melody, I couldn't tell--and he was smiling to himself. Was his emotional side reacting to this? Or was it simply so early in the series that the producers hadn't nailed down Spock's character just yet?
Secondly, would you have wanted to see more rec room scenes, provided they contributed to the story? I believe it made the environment of the Enterprise more human-like, rather than so static.
Thirdly, when Kirk was at the gym, he interacted with "Sam." Do the crewmembers lose the formality of rank titles when the uniforms come off? Kirk seemed to know Sam very well, and never referred to him as Lieutenant Smith, just "Sam." I almost expected Sam to call Kirk "Jim."
Great ep, thanks for putting it in the spotlight.
