Customer Reviews

Star Trek - The Original Series, Episode 79: Turnabout Intruder [VHS]

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.

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.

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.

Without a doubt, William Shatner does one of his best acting jobs in "Turnabout Intruder." It's about a woman who is jealous of all the power that Captain Kirk has over the ship because she has always wanted that kind of power. She wants to be able to give people a command and for them to do it. She forces Kirk into a machine that doesn't exchange their personal appearance, but that changes their minds. So, the woman is herself in Kirk's body, and Kirk is himself in her body. Of course, she gains control of the ship and tells the rest of the crew what to do. The first thing she does is to get her doctor to replace Dr. McCoy so Captain Kirk won't be able to talk to Dr. McCoy about it. Eventually, Spock and the others notice that Captain Kirk might not be Captain Kirk when he starts giving strange orders and starts being real arrogant.

"Turnabout Intruder" is definitely one of the top 10 episodes of the orginal and best Star Trek. William Shatner gives an unforgettable performance acting like he's the woman, and so does the woman while she pretends to be the real captain. Star Trek's last episode couldn't have been much better. If you like Star Trek, this is one episode you can't miss.

Dr. Janice Lester, who was once involved with Captain Kirk, harbors a deep hatred of the captain, because she, herself, has never been able to captain a starship. On their way to Beta Aurigae, the U.S.S. Enterprise receives a call for help from Camus II. The landing party finds only Janice Lester and Dr. Coleman, who claim that the everyone else was killed by celebium radiation. In fact, Janice is quite ill from it. Unaware of Lester's feelings of hatred toward him, Kirk sits with her, recalling their days together. Kirk is suddenly trapped into a life-entity transfer with Janice. His personality is in her body, while she takes over his, finally becoming captain of a starship. Kirk, with Janice's essence, tries to kill her victim, but fails. McCoy transports Janice, with Kirk's essence, to sickbay to try and treat her illness. While Kirk, trapped in Janice's body, tries to convince everyone that he's really the captain, Janice takes control of the ship and diverts it to the Benecia Colony. There she plans to leave her body, that houses Kirk's essence, thereby eliminating all her problems. The crew becomes suspicious of her actions and, when Spock tries to question her, she charges him with mutiny. They realize something is wrong and Janice/Kirk is relieved of duty. When the transfer weakens and finally breaks, Kirk returns to his body, as Janice's essence returns to hers. Janice makes a last attempt to hurt Kirk, then collapses. Dr. Coleman, in love with Janice, requests that he be allowed to care for her. The U.S.S. Enterprise and her crew return to their mission, with their rightful captain at the helm.

He has been accused of being a notorious "overactor"(Shatner), but I can't think of many actors who could pull off the demands of a role like this. The series "final show", it was pre-empted and did not air until three months after the airdate of the previous episode. Good drama. Just one of the many fine performances of the cast, and Sandra Smith.

The last episode of Star Trek. And what a sour note to go out on. It does not portray the ambitions of Janice Lester in a positive light. We know she doesn't have the temperament to be a captain. The writers seem to think a woman commander is out of the question. You might notice that there were no women Captains in the original series.

Well, in this one a jealous Lester switches bodies with Captain Kirk. When the crew notice he's acting strangely they attempt to remove him from command. While it was implausible at best; it was fun to see the revolt against Kirk. Something the actors might have wanted to do in real life. Because Shatner did not treat his fellow cast members well if they were not part of the Kirk, Spock, McCoy team.

It's weird how the Third Season went through a little bumpy section and then near the end came out with some pretty good episodes. This final episode is no exception. I think it would have been hard to have ended this great series on a better finale.

Many people believe this episode is sexist. On the contrary, I think it shows the harmful effects of sexism. This episode is easily in the Top 25.

A somewhat interesting premise which does not really work. Shatner actually comes as off silly trying to play a woman inhabiting a man's body. Other characters act out-of-character as well.

In this, the 79th, and concluding, episode of the Classic Star Trek series, Kirk is forced into transferring personalities with Janice Lester, a woman who has always dreamed of being a Starship Captain, but could not make the grade.

And it's easy to see why the grade was never made. Lester is very petty and cruel, and cannot handle the reins of power at all. It doesn't take long for the crew to realize that something is very wrong with their Captain and fight to take the ship back.

But the most awful part of this episode is the acting. Shatner is at his absolute "best" at over emoting in this one, even taking the time to adopt a foppish girlish walk and filing his nails. It's a miracle the almost erotic scenes of Kirk (while having Janice's personality) and Lester's boyfriend got by the NBC censors in 1968. The scene where Kirk is forced into the personality transfer machine is almost laughable, because Kirk should have been able to overpower Lester without any trouble. He's fought with Klingons hand-to-hand - and this woman succeeds where many far more powerful opponents fail? Hah!

A really good story of transferral of personality was almost totally ruined by the acting.

My score - 5 out of a possible 10 (the slightly higher grade due to the fact that it's still "Classic" trek).