Turnabout Intruder

DVD, Star Trek S3 (Turnabout Intruder)

It's hard to believe it, but we've reached the seventy-ninth and final episode of the original series. And it's nice to see it go out on a relative high. I don't think I'd ever seen this episode before, although I knew the basic premise of two people swapping bodies. The central idea works so well, and the joy of the episode is in becoming mesmerised as you watch Kirk in a female body, and his nemesis Dr. Janice Lester in a male one, and see the subtle nuances that show they are not the same character, even if they look the same. Shatner moves differerently, keeping himself erect, having hissy fits and saying things he never would in a way he never has. And in the opposing corner, the female guest star does such a great job of using the familiar mannerisms of the Captain, so different from the moments she is playing the female character.

As a final episode, though they wouldn't have known for definite, I suppose, when it was written, it has more emphasis on characters, and it's good to see that the the story was by Gene Roddenberry (even if he didn't write it). It mostly takes place on the Enterprise, so we see many of the familiar sets for one last time. Nurse Chapel is there again, with a snazzy new auburn look. The only major disappointment is that Uhura is not, replaced inexplicably by Specialist Angela Martine-Teller who had appeared in a couple of Season One episodes. Why this is the case is not apparent, but at least it wasn't the last time the crew of the good ship Enterprise got together.

Sadly, Mr. Leslie doesn't appear either, although Mr. Hadley does: in a gaff! On the bridge we see the stock shot of Sulu and Hadley looking at the viewscreen, with Kirk's chair in shot. But this can't be the usual stock shot because Kirk gets out of his chair and moves forward. In the previous shot Chekov is sat at his station, then the 'stock' shot replaces him with Hadley, yet Kirk completes his movement from the previous shot. And, yes, Chekov is back again a second later. Must be another case of SJITBS (Starfleet Jack-In-The-Box Syndrome)!

There are scenes with all the main characters, be it Scotty and McCoy, Sulu and Chekov, or Spock, McCoy and 'Kirk', that remind us why we like this family so much. The strength of the episode is the simmering tensions as we wonder if the real Kirk will escape or be able to convince Spock and the others of his identity, and the fake Kirk's worries over whether 'he' will be discovered or will be able to continue to pull the wool over the crew's eyes. As Spock began to believe what 'Lester' told him I was hoping he would do a mindmeld as that was the logical way to ascertain the truth, and I was so pleased it happened, and with the Vulcan theme music too!

At first, in the cavern facility (and a great set that was, with the alien device looking ancient, yet believable), I didn't realise Dr. Coleman was in cahoots with Lester, and thought he might expose her or become suspicious, but by the end, you realise he actually loves this mad woman. I also thought Lester might accidentally be killed by the hypo, when their conciousness swapped back to normal as Coleman was about to kill Kirk in Lester's body, but he realised what had happened. I must say everyone treats him very calmly, for someone who had just been about to murder the Captain!

Did Season Three live up to its bad reputation? I think half and half. The latter episodes were generally poor, but the early half was as good as any before it, even the supposed worst episode ever, 'Spock's Brain' I found to be enjoyable! ("Brain and brain. What is brain?"). Effects were noticeably improving, new set ideas were tried out - maybe there wasn't enough location shooting, but in general, despite the lower budget, some great episodes came out of the season. It's a shame the series didn't continue, but then again, perhaps it would have had its lifespan in the seventies, and exhausted all its potential before the gradual and momentum-gathering success of the later films and TV series' came into being. Perhaps it would be a mere curio, a success story of the sixties and seventies, instead of the huge behemoth of entertainment that was spawned from it. Sometimes cancellation - death - can bring about the status of legend. And a rebirth into new life.

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