1x02 Charlie X

6.0/10/ The idea of exploring the way that adolescent young men act out at a time when they have new feelings they don’t understand, and are adult enough to cause trouble but not mature enough to control themselves is an interesting one. And doing it in a science fiction-y way with a character, the titular Charlie-X, with god-like powers creates intrigue and story potential (even if it reminds me a little too much of “It’s a Good Life” from The Twilight Zone, or rather, the Simpsons episode parodying it).

But man, that sixties pacing and acting is tough for me, I have to admit. Robert Walker does a good job at straddling the line between Charlie Evans’s naiveté, his teenage bravado, and his complete and utter creepiness, but there are so many long pauses, so many drawn out bits that just drag and drag and drag, that’s it’s hard to stay engaged. The most compelling parts of the episode are Charlie very convincingly imposing himself on Janice. Those scenes are chilling, and they’re the part of the episode that, rather than the goofy special effects, convince you of Charlie’s menace.

But the bits with Kirk trying to control him, in the guise of a surrogate dad, don’t really land. And on top of that, the whole “his powers are stretched too thin” bit is pretty convenient, coupled with a nigh-literal deus ex machina ending. There’s pathos in the finish, with Charlie having been raised by a species he can’t relate to, which helps explain his inability to act in a non-dangerous fashion with human beings, but for the most part, this is episode is kind of a slog, with a few bits of scary excitement here and there.

So, they did the close-ups quite a lot. They use it very often I must say. Was probably a thing then.

The early episode could be quite odd at times. We get Uhura singing in the mess hall. And I notice that Spock is a bit too emotional, he even smiles (a little).

Charlie is basically a teenager in puberty who tries to make sense of things he doesn't understand. And he wants everyone to like him and be at the center. That is something very relatable and I wonder how much of Roddenberry, who wrote the story, is in Charles Evans. But he is an adolecent with a dangerous talent. He has the power to make people and things dissapear, hurt them and even change them. This is where the relatable meets SciFi.

At the end we learn there's another reason to Charlie's behavior and it becomes very dramatic with him pleading for help from people he just recently threatened and tormented. But one can almost understand his behavior, he's afraid. Again we're shown that you shouldn't judge before you know the whole picture.

The quote that "he will use his power no matter what" and that it will ultimately lead to him destroying them (the crew or all mankind ?) or be destroyed himself, for me, reads that no one person should have the power to force his will upon others.

And on a completely unrelated subject: no matter how often I watch the show - I always go crazy about Rand's hairdo. There, I said it.