5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
TOP NOTCH, February 18, 2000
This review is from: Star Trek - The Original Series, Episode 79: Turnabout Intruder [VHS] (VHS Tape)
This is certainly one of the more enjoyable episodes of Star Trek. This premise of a bitter, veangeful female is still with us in society today (30 years later). William Shatner does an excellent acting job in this one. I recommend this episode over many. It is, indeed, in the top twenty episodes. Please use this review in conjunction with others and it will make more sense.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Strong acting by Shatner as a woman in a man's body, July 29, 2004
This review is from: Star Trek - The Original Series, Episode 79: Turnabout Intruder [VHS] (VHS Tape)
Some of the best acting that William Shatner has ever done is in this episode. Many years earlier, Captain Kirk and Dr. Janice Lester had loved and then parted. He went on to captain a star ship and although she went on to a career in archeology, she remained psychotically obsessed with Kirk. In her studies, she finds a machine that is capable of transferring personalities between bodies. By arranging to have nearly all of the members of her team die of radiation poisoning, Janice Lester is able to lure the Enterprise to Camus II. She is able to get Kirk alone with her and she transfers her personality into Kirk's body and Kirk's personality into her body.
They beam back to the Enterprise, where "Kirk" starts behaving irrationally. His facial expressions and mannerisms change, which is immediately recognized by the crew. Eventually, McCoy orders "Kirk" to submit to a complete set of physical and emotional tests, which reveal nothing unusual. While this is happening, Spock meets with "Lester" and after performing a Vulcan mine meld, Spock realizes that the transfer has occurred. "Kirk" is rapidly growing more irrational, "his" movements and speech becoming more psychotic and taking on a more feminine form. Spock is accused of treason and a hearing is convened. During the hearing, Scotty also realizes that "Kirk" is not right and speaks to McCoy during a recess. Their conversation is recorded and played back as "Kirk" accuses them of mutiny. He then sentences them to death, which then forces the remaining officers to make a decision. They refuse to follow orders and eventually the personality transfer is reversed.
What makes this episode work is the acting of Shatner while Kirk is possessed by the personality of Janice. His facial features and gestures become more feminine in subtle but obvious ways and his hysteria is kept well within reasonable bounds. The scene where "Kirk" tries to convince her lover to kill "Janice" was well played, although within the strict limits of the times. Having one male touch another in a loving manner was certainly not possible in the world of network television in 1969.
The weakest part of the episode is the mild way in which everyone reacts to the alleged transfer. It would have been a simple matter for "Kirk" and "Lester" to be asked questions that only James Kirk would know. Those tests would have been sufficient evidence for Dr. McCoy to temporarily relieve "Kirk" of his command. Nevertheless, the strong overcomes the weak and this is one of the better episodes of the final season.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Star Trek finale is a real gender-bender, November 14, 2004
This review is from: Star Trek - The Original Series, Episode 79: Turnabout Intruder [VHS] (VHS Tape)
The Enterprise is on a rescue mission on Camus II to save a handful of scientists that have been exposed to an unknown radiation. By the time they arrive, the only survivors are Dr. Coleman and Dr. Janice Lester. Dr. Lester is quite ill and cannot talk. McCoy, Spock and Coleman leave Kirk with Janice under the guise that Kirk's presence will quiet her - the two were once lovers when they attended Starfleet Academy.
The bitter Dr. Lester has morphed regret into anger and seething hatred for Kirk and even hatred toward her own body as a woman. As Kirk walks across the room to investigate an alien device on the wall of the cave, the once gravely ill Lester hops out of bed and clicks what appears to be a garage door opener. Kirk is frozen against the alien device. Lester stands next to him and engages the device and we see some cheesy SFX that is unsophisticated, but to the point - Lester is transferred into Kirk's body and vice versa.
Lester now feels vital and alive in Kirk's body. She picks up her former coil, now occupied by the consciousness of Kirk and lays the body back into the bed. Shatner does some of the best acting of his career as he speaks with his voice, but with a heart that is clearly not his own. Janice tells Kirk (trapped in Janice's body) that she hates being trapped in the body of a woman. That she hates Kirk and she will finally be captain of a starship thanks to the alien transferrance. The only way to ensure that the transferrance will not be reversed is to kill Kirk in Lester's body. As she attempts to strangle the neck of her former self, the footsteps of the crew are audible and she must stop.
Lester has been bitter for years and the resentment has made her truly mad. As she parades around the Enterprise, more and more people are raising their eyebrows as "Kirk" does not seem to be himself. Emotional tirades and other displays of chaotic behavior force McCoy to perform tests on Kirk to make sure he's "all there."
Coleman is definitely involved, but is he being coerced? What is motivating this man to stand idly by like this - even to the point to participating in Lester's schemes at further deception. When Kirk (as Lester) is finally able to get a visit from Spock in Sickbay, a mind meld proves to Spock that it is Kirk in Lester's body and vice versa. Soon, Spock, McCoy & Scotty are in the brig, preparing for a Court Marshall against them for mutiny.
For some unexplained reason, we never see Uhura in this episode - Barbara Baldavin plays the unnamed Communications Officer in Nichelle Nichol's stead.
When the crazed Janice (in Kirk's body) now calls for an immediate execution of his senior officers, the entire crew is convinced that Kirk must be stopped. This is an odd episode, especially in the context of 1969, when it was filmed, and it will keep you on the edge of your seat.
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