Why is everyone so negative about "Charlie X" ?

[CorporalCaptain]

There's nothing deus ex machina about the ending to Charlie X. Thasians were discussed in two different scenes before the climax, in conjunction with Charlie's existence and with his powers. The very first mention of Thasians, near the beginning of the episode, is with a suggestion that Charlie may have lied about them. The arrival of the Thasians is both logical and inevitable, by the story's on terms.

 

[sonak]

There's nothing deus ex machina about the ending to Charlie X. Thasians were discussed in two different scenes before the climax, in conjunction with Charlie's existence and with his powers. The very first mention of Thasians, near the beginning of the episode, is with a suggestion that Charlie may have lied about them. The arrival of the Thasians is both logical and inevitable, by the story's on terms.

I may be using the term wrong, but I don't think the defining line of a deus ex machina ending is whether or not the "god-being" is a previously involved character in the fictional story.

sacrifice of angels" is a deus ex machina ending and the "Prophets" were definitely previously established characters.

 

[The Castellan]

It was an alright episode. If I were on board when Charlie got taken away, I would not have been sad, I'd have been breathing a sigh of relief, especially considering he could kill a person at 10 paces, and not even twich.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

According to http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/DeusExMachina:

It has since come to be used as a general term for any event in which a seemingly fatal plot twist is resolved by an event never foreshadowed or set up.

There are four primary forms a Deus ex Machina can take:

1. Total Deus Ex Machina — A plot element that didn't previously exist and has no logical explanation behind it. Let's say the hero has been pummeled to an inch of his life and the villain has regained control of his gun. The hero then finds a magical remote control under a nearby couch that allows him to pause the scene, take the gun away, and shoot the villain.
2. Illogical placement and timing Deus Ex Machina — When something is established and explained in the work, but its use in that situation is jarring and impossible to believe. Building from the example above, let's say that instead of a magical remote, the local militia bursts in and shoots the villain. Maybe it was established earlier that the militia protects the countryside, but for them to somehow divinely know that there is a fight going on at this isolated farm and to burst in just in time to save the day is a Deus ex Machina.
3. Cut and paste Deus Ex Machina — When Chekhov's Gun is quick-drawn, but it's done in a clumsy way that makes one realize that the author obviously just couldn't write them out of the situation with what they have, so they went back to some earlier point and put in one or two throwaway lines to set up a victory down the road. From the example above, perhaps the hero randomly decided to put a tiny pistol in one of his pockets and just happened to forget that he had it until now.
4. Fridge Brilliance — When something seems to be a Deus ex Machina, but really isn't. The writers were just a bit too clever for their own good. To build from the above, let's say that in some early scene the hero intentionally rigged his gun to blow up should it ever be fired and it both fits with his personality and seems like a logical thing he would do. It might seem like a cop-out at first, but one then remembers he's a Technical Pacifist who Doesn't Like Guns and never wants to fire one in his life in spite of his job. See also Chekhov's Gun.

Charlie X doesn't fit any of these descriptions. In my opinion, the arrival of Thasians was foreshadowed from Charlie's evasiveness about how he survived to be rescued, and Spock's reasoning that Thasians must have been involved. As I said, Thasians were brought up not once but twice before they finally arrived. The idea that Charlie is a runaway is much less of a surprise twist than the idea that Trelane is a child; The Squire of Gothos is much more arguably deus ex machina, although I don't believe it is either. In both Charlie X and The Squire of Gothos, questions are answered by their respective resolutions, rather than it being just that more questions are raised.

 

[sonak]

well according to the wikipedia defnition, it's a plot device where a seemingly inextricable problem is suddenly and abruptly resolved with the contrived and unexpected intervention of some new character, object, etc.

I think it can fit in under that.

So obviously you're taking the position that it's neither contrived nor unexpected, as it flows from the plot. However, I'm not convinced that the foreshadowing is enough to make it not a deus ex machina. However, I'll just say it's a poor ending instead and leave the argument aside.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

So obviously you're taking the position that it's neither contrived nor unexpected

Exactly. And we can agree to disagree.

 

[Kelthaz]

There's nothing deus ex machina about the ending to Charlie X. Thasians were discussed in two different scenes before the climax, in conjunction with Charlie's existence and with his powers. The very first mention of Thasians, near the beginning of the episode, is with a suggestion that Charlie may have lied about them. The arrival of the Thasians is both logical and inevitable, by the story's on terms.

If Q had shown up at the end of Best of Both Worlds, right when Riker was prepared to ram the Enterprise into the Cube, and "snapped his fingers" the Borg away that would have been a deus ex machina (and shitty) ending too. Q was previous established and was involved in the previous Borg episode, but that doesn't make it okay. We want to see our heroes defeat the enemy or save the day, not some random godlike alien.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

Make that the godlike aliens responsible for Charlie's random godlike powers in the first place, and from whom he ran away. There's nothing random about them at all.

 

[Gojira]

Charlie's an annoying little brat and the ending's a deus ex machina. I wouldn't put it among the worst of TOS though.(isn't this the wrong forum?)

That is my feeling. He is a brat and he doesn't come across as a likeable character. If they had made him more likeable then I could see having more empathy toward him.

He acts more like a spoiled 8 year old than a teen. Sure his development may really be lagging but he doesn't come across with many redeeming qualities.

 

[Kelthaz]

Make that the godlike aliens responsible for Charlie's random godlike powers in the first place, and from whom he ran away. There's nothing random about them at all.

I admit it makes sense, but is it satisfying? It's a little sad to think that our intrepid crew of the Enterprise would have lost to a teenager throwing a temper tantrum without the help of some NPCs. They could have had Charlie defeated by Kirk's plan to overload him and then have the aliens show up.

 

[FalTorPan]

"Charlie X" is a great episode from the "raw" and less formulaic period of TOS.

I suspect some people dislike the episode out of jealousy over Charlie getting to swat Janice Rand's bum.

 

[The Castellan]

Charlie's an annoying little brat and the ending's a deus ex machina. I wouldn't put it among the worst of TOS though.(isn't this the wrong forum?)

That is my feeling. He is a brat and he doesn't come across as a likeable character. If they had made him more likeable then I could see having more empathy toward him.

He acts more like a spoiled 8 year old than a teen. Sure his development may really be lagging but he doesn't come across with many redeeming qualities.

Yea, I always felt that Chucky would be more likable if it were where he could not control his powers, akin to young mutants in the x-men comics, and needed to have to learn to control them. If Chucky would have been more of, a really nice fellow, but dangerous, not because he was just some jerk who'd either blast you into oblivion or turn you into a toad for just looking at him in a wrong way, but someone who needs help and wants to learn how to control his abilities. Like if he was able to learn how to, and even used his powers in a way that saved the ship, or an entire world, his departure would have been much more believable, and he'd be a more likeable character as well.

 

[Delta Vega]

I think its fair to say that, going by the direction this thread has taken, there is indeed a lot of negativity re "Charlie X".
Most of it unfair.

 

[TigerOfDarkness]

There is also a lot of praise for it.

 

[Maurice]

It's Deus Ex Machina in the dramatic sense that the protagonists have nothing to do with resolving the problem. An outside force comes in and fixes the mess. Even D.C. Fontana admits it, and says she tried to mitigate it by having Kirk plead Charlie's case.