The Enemy Within

[Mendon]

This episode has little right to be nearly as good as it is. For starters, its basic premise is totally preposterous even by the standards of an outer space adventure series. No attempt is even made, really, to justify its screwy scenario; instead, we skip right into the ensuing hijinks. But what hijinks they are! Even if the psychological insight gained isn't particularly revelatory, it is tremendous fun - when it isn't life-threatening, at least - to see this situation play itself out. Shatner, at his hammy best, does a fantastic job elevating this material, but it's the writing for Spock, functioning ironically as our emotional center, that really sells the package. Certainly he recognizes the urgency of solving Kirk's predicament, but he, as we, cannot help but be fascinated by the proceedings along the way. You have to love how this irritates McCoy.

Although this one was never going to win a Hugo, it is a surprisingly solid piece of work. So often we see a good premise go to waste; it's wonderful to see the opposite here: a premise that's probably ill-advised resulting in a thoroughly enjoyable romp.

 

[Orcus]

I recall this one was almost always on telly when the repeats were being run. Whilst it is a bit of fun and contains a few nice shots (copied by others since) it never really resonated with me...

 

[Kirk1980]

Yeah, honestly, it's how those 'evil twin' plots should be played.

More or less a character study...but what IS interesting (and what was fairly new at the time) was presenting the BAD Kirk as the one with the command chops.

Up until then, usually the good twin would be the one trying to stop the evil twin from killing everyone. In this, though, they take a fairly brave stand to say Kirk NEEDS his aggressive, bad side to be able to be the captain.

 

[Brutal Strudel]

This episode has little right to be nearly as good as it is. For starters, its basic premise is totally preposterous even by the standards of an outer space adventure series. No attempt is even made, really, to justify its screwy scenario; instead, we skip right into the ensuing hijinks. But what hijinks they are! Even if the psychological insight gained isn't particularly revelatory, it is tremendous fun - when it isn't life-threatening, at least - to see this situation play itself out. Shatner, at his hammy best, does a fantastic job elevating this material, but it's the writing for Spock, functioning ironically as our emotional center, that really sells the package. Certainly he recognizes the urgency of solving Kirk's predicament, but he, as we, cannot help but be fascinated by the proceedings along the way. You have to love how this irritates McCoy.

Although this one was never going to win a Hugo, it is a surprisingly solid piece of work. So often we see a good premise go to waste; it's wonderful to see the opposite here: a premise that's probably ill-advised resulting in a thoroughly enjoyable romp.

I'd counter that, for part of Trek's target audience, bright children (how many of us became Trekkies before puberty? we may like to think of Trek as adult SF but there was ample room at the grown-up table for children who knew how to comport themselves), the psychological insight was revelatory--subversive even. (Kirk1980 does a great job at explaining why directly above.)

Bad science aside, there's too much darkness in this episode--attempted rape! by the show's unalloyed hero!--for me to call it a "romp." It was rather the kind of psychological fantasy mastered by The Twilight Zone--which is fitting, since Matheson was perhaps that show's best writer. (Charles Beaumont is his main competition there--wonder what kind of Trek he'd have written).

 

[Mendon]

Those are fair points you raise. But moreover, if the core revelation in the episode is somewhat basic, its specific implications offer ample food for thought. As Yeoman Rand will no doubt tell you, there's a very dark underbelly in this romp, and credit should go to the writers for their emotional honesty in finding a home in Kirk's psyche for rapist and simp alike. As Kirk says at the end, no man should have to see their individual elements distilled in this way. The stark juxtaposition of the very dark with the more lighthearted provides us with an emotionally (if not scientifically) very complex adventure.

 

[Brutal Strudel]

Indeed.

 

[Sky]

This episode is a lot darker than I remembered. Especially the attempted rape scene is very disturbing. But gods, they should have cut Spock's line about "interesting qualities". What the hell were they thinking? Spock's character is not fully formed yet, I know.

There's a short story called Ni Var in a fanzine or a collection somewhere with basically the same premise but it's Spock who is split, and of course into wholly human / wholly Vulcan. It's pretty good.

 

[startrekrcks]

I love the episode what did you like about The Enemy Within

 

[Greg Cox]

Bad science aside, there's too much darkness in this episode--attempted rape! by the show's unalloyed hero!--for me to call it a "romp." It was rather the kind of psychological fantasy mastered by The Twilight Zone--which is fitting, since Matheson was perhaps that show's best writer. (Charles Beaumont is his main competition there--wonder what kind of Trek he'd have written).

Thanks for giving Matheson his due. You beat me to the punch!

FYI: I asked Richard once why he only did one TREK episode. He said he just preferred the anthology format, as opposed to writing for someone else's characters.

And, yeah, by the standards of 60's sci-fi tv, the idea that a person needed their "evil" side to be whole was fairly radical. I doubt you would have heard that on LOST IN SPACE or VOYAGE TO THE BOTTOM OF THE SEA.

 

[Captain Robert April]

Well, maybe Voyage. Probably not as well, but it wouldn't be out of bounds for them to take a whack at it.

 

[Greg Cox]

Well, maybe Voyage. Probably not as well, but it wouldn't be out of bounds for them to take a whack at it.

You could be right. I admit my memories of VOYAGE are pretty fuzzy.

 

[KeepOnTrekking]

I always liked this one because of all the little insights we get into Spock and Kirk. How Spock uses his intellect to make his alien and human sides cooperate. I believe Kirk was able to gain a better insight and empathy for Spock's inner battles after being "split" in this one. The science in this one about the transporter accident may a lot to be desired but it provided a nice visual opportunity to examine these characters yet again without having it all be in a counsellor's office. Wasn't Richard Matheson's wife a psychiatrist? I seem to remember reading something about that once.

 

[T'Girl]

The problem of Sulu and party freezing on the planet's surface always seems to me to have a obvious solution. The hand phaser, besides the kill and stun setting, has a heat setting, this is what Sulu uses to heat the rocks. In the episode "A Piece of the Action" one of the Enterprise's phaser banks is set to stun, why not reset one of the main phasers to a heat setting, fire it down on Sulu's position? Not to cook him of course, heat a area a few hundred metres across, up to about fifty or sixty degrees (fahrenheit). Considering the power use of the warp drive or the power the main phasers uses to destroy a ship, the Enterprise should have been able to fire all night long at low power.

 

[Pauln6]

There were lots of more imaginative ways that they could have helped Sulu's team. We have to assume that there was an atmospheric problem that would have hindered the shuttle but what about escape pods - they're designed for a soft crash landing and would have given them warmth and shelter. If electric heaters were a no go, how about manual gas heaters? Or the components to make gas heaters? Or some nice hot plomek soup?

Rand got off easy. Watch Twin Peaks for one of the creepiest, most terrifying attacks on a woman I've ever seen on screen. Hopefully NuRand will be trained enough to wipe the floor with a drunk.

 

[Maurice]

Escape pods weren't on TOS...ever.

Before the transporter got damaged by the phaser hot they could have tried to beam down other stuff the landing party could have used to build shelter that would have better insulated them.

 

[Captain Robert April]

I doubt the ship's phasers could've been set for a low enough heat setting that wouldn't have reduced Sulu and the rest of the landing party into buffalo wings. And the hurricane force winds and lack of sufficient clear ground is probably what nixed the shuttlecraft.

 

[MikeS]

I remembered this episode quite fondly. I just watched it again for the first time in 20 years and can only assume that being a kid at last viewing, I missed many of the complexities, and I've totally changed my opinion.

I thought the plot was full of holes. There are numerous ways I can think of saving Sulu or at least helping him out. This could be partly explained by Kirks inability to make command descisions, but why don't his subordinates take control the way a Riker or Chakotay would when the Captain is incapacitated? I also didn't like the way the dialogue seems to suggest that nice Kirk is the real Captain, when in fact "animal Kirk" is just as valid a Kirk.

The treatment of Rand sexist at best. She is interrogated by the very man she accusses of rape, and is still not believed when a lowly crewman defends her story.

Horrible, horrible episode.

 

[JoeD80]

I also didn't like the way the dialogue seems to suggest that nice Kirk is the real Captain, when in fact "animal Kirk" is just as valid a Kirk.

IIRC the dialogue at the end of the episode implied that both Kirks had to exist to form the whole; it's just that the crew assumed the animal Kirk was just some random impostor early on.

 

[Greylock Crescent]

I really like the character exploration at work here. It isn't a perfect episode, but the notion that we *need* our dark side is especially profound -- especially in the Disney-fied entertainment landscape around us. Yeah, the dark side is "dark" for obvious reasons, but it's not, somehow, separate from who we are. In that sense, perhaps only the title is misleading. There isn't actually an "Enemy Within" but, rather, a side of ourselves we'd rather not confront, let alone accept.

 

[MikeS]

I think it was the treatment of Rand that really riled me.

I'd never noticed some of the outright sexism and racism in TOS when I was a kid. I always thought Star Trek was about equality. I understand that it is over 40 years old and was ahead of its time, but some of the dialogue is pretty shocking.

Just watching the Man Trap and I can't believe some of the racism in that! Uhura tells Kirk that a Space Commander Dominguez has requested they hurry with urgent supplies. Kirks response?

"Tell Jose he'll get his chili peppers when we get there. Tell him they're "prime Mexican reds," I hand-picked them myself, but he won't die if he goes a few more days without them."!

Sorry if I've gone off thread a bit. I've just started a rewatch. I'll have to look more carefully through this board for relevant topics to bring up some of my points.