CHARLIE X
A different pace of episode this week; the angst of what is means to be a teenager, amplified with super powers.
The crew of the cargo vessel Antares are using the old uniforms from The Cage and WNMHGB. Their equivalent of army surplus, perhaps?
The cargo service also wear a different insignia on their uniforms, further differentiating them from our intrepid explorer heroes.
We learn that there are 428 people on the Enterprise – and unlike previous episodes, we see a great many of them! Perhaps a greater contingent of scientists than Pike had, in line with exploring deeper into the galaxy?
Again...I don't see how you can have an illogical approach to chess. I mean it's chess. All the pieces are there on the board. If Spock looks at the pieces correctly, he can see what Kirk is doing. Makes no sense to me how Kirk can surprise Spock at chess. Unless Kirk is just that smart.
They try to pull the same nonsense in an episode of TNG when Troi beats Data in 3D chess through "intuition". At least in Spock's case I suppose you could say he was distracted by Kirk's banter and simply missed the checkmate attack; blaming "illogic" is just his excuse.
BTW, the idea of keeping an ongoing list is a great one
@Poltargyst, as this is looking like it's going to be a rather heavily alien-populated universe, despite my somewhat careless earlier comment!
Lots of future talk: The Thasians are another “space legend”. Also, the captain of the Antares declining supplies from a starship is a “space first”. First mention of UESPA headquarters (which sounds better than just “Earth” I suppose)
New sets: the ship’s gymnasium (a heavy redress of the Engine Room) and a different type of crew quarters.
Spock’s lyre makes its debut appearance and has a song from Uhura to go with it! Speaking which, Spock really lets his hair down when off duty; smiling and frowning and playing along with Uhura’s teasing. The interaction between Uhura and Rand is subtle and great. In fact, the whole scene of them and the crew hanging out in Rec Room 3 is a fantastic glimpse into how these people live their lives when not on duty.
The Enterprise really isn’t set up for transporting guests. Charlie is apparently free to roam where he wants, even around the engineering sections! Speaking of which…
Charlie’s pole. What is this green rod that the technician is oh so carefully lowering into a glowing hole in the floor. Is the tube being consumed by some reactor under the floor? What is a tube so long (at least 4 metres) that they have to remove deck plates to move it through the ship even doing on board?
One of Kirk’s best speeches to date, applicable to so many situations in real life:
“Charlie, there are a million things in this universe you can have and there are a million things you can't have. It's no fun facing that, but that's the way things are.”
In addition, Shatner imbues the lines and following scene with Charlie with a wistfulness for what Kirk also cannot have – specifically, Yeoman Rand.
Speaking of which, is Rand ever going to NOT get pursued, attacked or put in dire peril? Grace Lee Whitney puts a lot of subtle character pieces into her performance, but her main story role seems to be the one who gets into trouble in order to prove that the situation is serious.
