Charlie X (15 Sep. 1966)

Captain Kirk must learn the limits to the power of a 17-year-old boy with the psychic ability to create anything and destroy anyone.

Director:

Lawrence Dobkin

Writers:

D.C. Fontana (teleplay), Gene Roddenberry (story),

Stars:

William Shatner, Leonard Nimoy, Robert Walker Jr.

Cast

Episode complete credited cast:
William Shatner	...	Captain James T. Kirk
Leonard Nimoy	...	Mr. Spock
Robert Walker Jr.	...	Charlie Evans (as Robert Walker)
DeForest Kelley	...	Dr. McCoy
Grace Lee Whitney	...	Yeoman Janice Rand
Nichelle Nichols	...	Uhura
Charles Stewart	...	Captain Ramart (as Charles J. Stewart)
Dallas Mitchell	...	Tom Nellis
Don Eitner	...	Navigator
Patricia McNulty	...	Tina Lawton
John Bellah	...	Crewman I
Garland Thompson	...	Crewman II
Abraham Sofaer	...	The Thasian

Storyline

The space vessel Antares rescues Charles Evans from the forbidding surface of the planet Thasus, and then hurriedly hands him off to the Enterprise. Soon, mysterious happenings dog the boy, who cannot seem to learn certain vital lessons of adulthood. Finally the humiliated teen reveals prodigious psionic powers that could even threaten the survival of the Federation. Who is Charlie, really, and where did he get these abilities?

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Plot Keywords:

boy | alien | 17 year old | raised by aliens | teen | 

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Genres:

Action | Adventure | Sci-Fi

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Details

Official Sites:

Official site

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

15 September 1966 (USA)

Filming Locations:

Desilu Studios - 9336 W. Washington Blvd., Culver City, California, USA

Company Credits

Production Co:

Desilu Productions, Norway Corporation

Technical Specs

Runtime:

50 min

Sound Mix:

Mono

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

A portion of this episode takes place on a date which is revealed to be the Earth date of Thanksgiving.

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Goofs

Throughout this episode, Captain Kirk wears a green uniform shirt. However, in the shot of Kirk with Charlie in the elevator going to the bridge, he is shown wearing his more familiar gold shirt. Before and after riding the elevator, his shirt is green.

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Quotes

[gradually fading]
Charlie Evans: I wanna stay... stay... stay... stay... sta...

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Connections

Referenced in Futurama: Where No Fan Has Gone Before (2002)

User Reviews

Why this is a great episode

Pacing. Yes Pacing. That is what makes this and other first year Trex episodes seem real. Yeah! Real! Like you are really there. Like, You are a person in our time privileged to see into the future. It may seem trivial, but that is what so many of the modern Treks lack. They don't give you the feeling you are in the future or in space or anything. Just a PC college campus at Halloween. The right pacing makes the people come alive as real - like me and you. Makes Charlie seem like any other teenager until his -well- quirks show up. And it makes it a real tragedy when they have to get rid of him. A real boy, one of me and you, has to get sent to hell. And we really don't want to do it. And it makes us ask were we like Charlie when we were teenagers? This is a great episode and it is why Star Trek lives forty years later.