"Star Trek" Turnabout Intruder (1969)

Director:

Herb Wallerstein

Writers:

Arthur H. Singer (teleplay)
Gene Roddenberry (story)

TV Series:

"Star Trek" (1966)

Original Air Date:

3 June 1969 (Season 3, Episode 24)

Genre:

Adventure | Sci-Fi

Plot:

The Enterprise is answering a medical emergency of an archaeological expedition. Kirk is confronted with the deep hatred of an old love...

Plot Keywords:

Body Switching | Female Stereotype | Switching Bodies | Spurned Woman | Gender Bender

Cast

William Shatner	...	Captain James T. Kirk / Janice Lester
Leonard Nimoy	...	Mr. Spock
DeForest Kelley	...	Dr. McCoy
Sandra Smith	...	Janice Lester / Captain James T. Kirk
Harry Landers	...	Dr. Coleman
James Doohan	...	Scott
George Takei	...	Sulu
Walter Koenig	...	Chekov
Majel Barrett	...	Nurse Chapel
Barbara Baldavin	...	Communications Officer
David L. Ross	...	Lt. Galloway
John Boyer	...	Guard

Runtime:

60 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.33 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Argentina:Atp

Filming Locations:

Paramount Studios - 5555 Melrose Avenue, Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Paramount Television

Trivia:

Though her voice is muffled, Dr. Lester protests to the sympathetic Dr. Coleman, "Go to Hell!"

Goofs:

Continuity: When Spock and McCoy are conversing in sickbay, McCoy is wearing his medical garb. However, in the first couple of close-ups, his shirt changes to his regular uniform.

Quotes:

Dr. Janice Lester: It is mutiny! Deliberate, vindictive, insane at its base! But mutiny is charged... and encouragement to mutiny. Dr. McCoy, Mr. Scott, you heard it! On the basis of these statements, I call for an immediate vote... by the authority granted to me as captain of the Enterprise. A recess... is declared... to be followed by a vote!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in "Star Trek: The Next Generation: Legacy (#4.6)" (1990)

The end of the beginning

Airing in June of 1969, "Turnabout Intruder" was aired as an afterthought (as TV shows typically bowed out during March and April back then), and in some ways was produced as an afterthought: the climax of this episode seems excessively rushed, robbing an interesting premise of the time and care it deserved.

Instead, the series' only episode focused primarily on gender issues comes across as an impediment to the wrap party. Add this to the fact that Dr. Lester, disturbed as she might be, might actually be *right* about the Starfleet of the Original Series, and you have a less-than- fitting end to a landmark television program.

This isn't to say that the entire episode is bad: Sandra Smith turns in an excellent performance as Dr. Lester, and more importantly, Kirk-in-Lester's body, better than Shatner's rushed take as Lester-in-Kirk's body. Also, there are numerous references (primarily by Smith as Kirk) to previous episodes, a nice touch in this, the final episode of the series.

What probably disturbs me the most about this episode is how poorly it has aged since I first saw it in the mid '80s. While Janice Lester is clearly off her rocker, the direction seems uncharacteristically harsh towards her. After all, we've seen a number of captains (and a few commodores, as well as a collection of admirals and high-ranking civilians) on Star Trek, and other than Chris Pike, Matt Decker, Garth, and Bob Wesley, they're generally a fairly pathetic bunch (and even Decker and Garth were all too human), validating Lester's claim that she could also do the job just as well, if not better. It's almost like the rare episodes of The Twilight Zone where the good characters are punished-while there might be a "good" ending, the viewer is ultimately cheated, as justice has clearly not been served.

But, then again, maybe that's the point-viewers in 1969 were clearly not content with the end of Trek, and they turned a failed TV show into a cultural icon.