Star Trek: Charlie X (Or Why Am I Such a Misfit?)

Ethan: 0:18

Hello, everybody. Welcome back to another episode of Father and Son's Guide to the Galaxy. I'm your host,

Anthony: 0:24

Ethan, and I'm your co host,

Ethan: 0:26

Anthony. And today we are covering season one, episode two of Star Trek, the original series. The episode is titled Charlie X.

Anthony: 0:37

Yeah, Charlie X. The first thing I thought of when. I saw the title for this episode was X Men and Professor Charles Xavier. Apparently there is no correlation between the title of this episode and X Men, although I looked it up and the first comic came out in like 1963, so that would have been before this episode of Star Trek was shot. But apparently there's no connection at least nothing that I could find on the internets to document a connection. So, in any event, we'll be talking about Star Trek, not X Men

Ethan: 1:11

today. But who knows, if you want to hear about some X Men content, let us know! Yeah,

Anthony: 1:17

we can always incorporate that. Ethan and I are X Men fans, for sure.

Ethan: 1:22

Yep. Maybe we'll cover the new X Men show that will come out soon. That's

Anthony: 1:27

right, X Men 97, which is a sequel to the original X Men cartoon that came out in the 90s, is supposed to be coming out, I think, sometime in 2024. Hopefully. Who

Ethan: 1:39

knows, might be good. Yeah. Alright, so, today's episode, Charlie X, started off with the Enterprise meeting a cargo vessel known as the Antares. Am I pronouncing that right? I think so,

Anthony: 1:52

yeah, the Antares. Yep,

Ethan: 1:54

and they kind of described it as they were transporting like a victim from a crash who had apparently been stuck on a planet since he was 3 years old and is now 17. And it was kind of just a miracle he survived.

Anthony: 2:07

Yeah, and his name is Charlie Evans, hence the title of the episode, Charlie X. And he's a human, but the ship that he was on crashed on this planet called Thasis, and he was the sole survivor of the crash. And I guess he learned how to talk and communicate and You know, do human stuff through the ship's computer, which was apparently still intact even after the crash. So he's 17 when he comes aboard the Enterprise. And the Enterprise is supposed to take him to his closest living relatives on an Earth colony called Alpha 5. And what were your initial impressions of Charlie when he comes on the ship?

Ethan: 2:54

He just kind of seemed like he was in a daze the whole time. Like he was just kind of, he was interrupting the conversations Between Kirk and the captain of the other ship, and he was just wandering around the room. It was kind

Anthony: 3:06

of weird. Yeah, he definitely gave off a weird vibe from the very beginning. What I thought of is that he was like a, a misfit toy. Like he belonged on the island of misfit toys. So, he's a strange guy. His eyes are, like, often times, like, wide open. And he gives this kind of creepy vibe and, he keeps interrupting, right, when Kirk is talking to the, captain and the other officer from the Antares who beamed over with Charlie and Kirk, chastises him. He says Charlie, that's not polite, that's rude. You shouldn't interrupt. I mean,

Ethan: 3:45

he was stuck on a planet by himself for all those years, so I guess the computer didn't teach him social

Anthony: 3:50

cues. Right. And that becomes a big problem for Charlie as we get into the episode, is his lack of understanding of social norms. So, Kirk tells Yeoman Janice Rand who, who comes to the transporter room to take Charlie to his quarters. And Charlie is immediately struck by Yeoman Rand and asks her, Are you a girl? So he evidently had heard of girls before, but this is like his first encounter with a girl. Keep in mind he's 17 years old, not too much older than you, right Ethan? So he's right in the middle of this time where girls are becoming very important and attractive, and so he asks Rand if she's a girl which is kind of awkward, and then he goes for a physical with Dr. McCoy.

Ethan: 4:44

Yeah, when he goes in with the exam with Dr. McCoy, McCoy's very surprised to find out he's totally physically intact. Like, there was nothing, wrong with him, he just managed to survive from the age of 3 to 17 on a planet by himself. Cause, he even asked him like the ship's rations probably depleted, what did you do? And he just simply answered, I found other things

5:04

to

Anthony: 5:05

eat. Yeah. Apparently eating plant life on thesis or whatever. Yeah, so he's healthy physically. Mentally, not so much as, as we'll come to see. So one of the things that I thought was interesting when Charlie is done with his exam with Dr. McCoy is he asked McCoy about Kirk and Charlie says that Kirk isn't like the other captain on the Antares. Doesn't really say what he means by that, but he points out that Kirk is different. And McCoy just says, yeah, Captain Kirk is one of a kind, right? Which is true, but McCoy's not really understanding what Charlie means I don't think. And then Charlie asks McCoy if he likes him. Which is, you know, an awkward question, and then he proceeds to tell Dr. McCoy that he wants to be liked by everybody on the ship. Yeah,

Ethan: 6:02

pretty reasonable thing for somebody to want. He probably with his lack of social skills on his, on the other ship, probably was doing the same thing he was doing here, asking awkward questions, or not reading the room correctly, and so he probably perceived it as people not liking him, when, if they tried to correct him, or something along those

Anthony: 6:22

lines. Right. And I can kind of Sympathize with how he might have felt. I mean, it's been a while since I was a teenager, but I do remember, when you're going through those years, there's a strong desire to be liked by your peers. You want people to like you. And so that can make for some sometimes awkward interactions with people. When you're maybe trying too hard or whatever to be light. So I could sympathize a little bit with where Charlie was coming from. You're closer. Well, you're right in the midst of your teenage years. Any thoughts on, your experience as a teenager as compared to Charlie's?

Ethan: 7:00

I can definitely see the mindset to be liked. I'm surprised you remember that mindset from the dinosaur period, Dad.

Anthony: 7:07

Yeah, it was a long time ago. A galaxy far, far away. Right. So Charlie's social skills, or lack of social skills, we should say becomes a big problem for him because he just has no sense of social norms, and it's also gonna turn out in the episode that he has these amazing powers that he uses, like, telepathy and the ability to, like, change the shape of objects transmutation, that kind of stuff And so one of the first indications that there's going to be issues with Charlie's social skills is his immediate infatuation with Yeoman Rand, right? And he gives her a gift at some point early in the episode. And it must have been something that he created with his mind. I think it was like perfume

Ethan: 8:01

or something. Yeah, it looked like a perfume and Yuminran was like, They don't carry this flavor in the ship store. I actually found that line very funny because in, like, the Navy, in real life, they do have a ship store. On the ships. And so I was like, oh, they're kind of just bringing elements from The Navy and putting it into Star Trek.

Anthony: 8:19

Yeah, so he gives her this gift, and like you said, she points out that it's not in the store. So that's kind of our first clue that, Charlie might have some kind of special power or something. And then After he gives her the gift, And talks to her for a minute, He slaps her on the butt. Right? What did you think when that scene happened? I was like,

Ethan: 8:41

ooh, he made a mistake right there. Yeah. His lack of social norms, but I was also surprised he knew that that was a thing, too.

Anthony: 8:50

Right. So was that instinct on his part just being attracted to the opposite sex and thinking that, you know, this would be okay behavior instinctually? I don't know. Maybe, maybe not. But it was an awkward moment. And Rand, of course, is taken aback. And she chastises him, rightfully so. For being inappropriate. And I think she also realizes that he Doesn't understand these social norms. And so she tells him to ask Kirk or McCoy, why what he did was wrong. And so he'll do that later in the episode, but she does invite him to meet up with her at the end of her shift in the rec room. And so he agrees to that.

Ethan: 9:35

Yeah, so, the scene where he does go meet in the rec room, I found really weird. Cause then, Spock was like, playing on one of his Vulcan instruments, things, I don't even remember what they're named. But then, Uhura starts singing along, and it was just this really awkward scene in the episode. And it, yeah, it was just like, It's really weird. What were your thoughts on that?

Anthony: 9:58

Yeah, it was kind of weird, but I, I kind of liked it. I, I thought it was quirky and fun and you kind of get to see another side of Uhura you know, she's got some musical talent, apparently, and she can come up with lyrics on the fly. The other part that stuck out to me about that was, Uhura clearly has the hots for Spock, right? And they showed that, we didn't talk about this in the last episode, but in, in the The last episode there was a scene where, you know, she clearly has some physical attraction to Spock. I don't remember if they ever developed that or not. I don't think they do in the original series, but it may be that that was inspiration for the Spock Uhura Relationship in the J. J. Abrams reboot movies I, I don't know, but it seems like the writers were maybe trying early on to establish some kind of romantic connection between Ohura and Spock, and we'll have to see if it develops, but I don't think it actually does during the series, I'm not, I'm not

Ethan: 11:03

sure. I wouldn't think it would develop either because it's kind of hard to develop a relationship with a man who Denies the feeling of emotions.

Anthony: 11:14

That's true, but think about, like, Strange New Worlds, right, where Spock and Nurse Chapel have a blossoming romance and I think there is, later on in the original series, One or two episodes where Nurse Chapel and Spock have some romantic interactions of one sort or another. I'm not sure about that, but I believe that may be the case. We'll have to wait and see once we get to those

Ethan: 11:41

episodes. Yeah, I think that incident in Strange New Worlds it was If I'm remembering correctly, it was the time where Spock was trying to explore his human side a bit more, since, you know, obviously he's half human, but this Spock in the original series seems like he's just almost completely Vulcan. But like in Strange New Worlds, you could see Spock with emotional faults, which was a really interesting take on his character.

Anthony: 12:08

Yeah, yeah, for sure. There, there was one scene before the rec room that I wanted to mention. So, this is on the bridge, and Bones is there, and Kirk gives Bones the assignment to teach Charlie about adolescence. And McCoy suggests that that should be Kirk's job, but Kirk is having none of it. He clearly is not comfortable jumping into the role of a father figure. And so McCoy is given this assignment, but It later becomes Kirk, who is the one who tries to teach Charlie a little bit about adolescence, and the first conversation that they have doesn't really go well, and this is when Charlie asks Kirk why Rand got upset when he hit her on the butt. I thought Kirk did a terrible job of explaining why that was inappropriate. What were your thoughts on that? Yeah,

Ethan: 13:00

I was even confused what he was trying to say, but like if I'm remembering correctly, wasn't there like, this might be just from the J. J. Abrams Star Trek, didn't he have like issues with his father or something? Or is that in this one too?

Anthony: 13:15

Well, in the J. J. Abrams movies, his father died right after he was born. Oh,

Ethan: 13:23

right. That, that's what made the Kelvin timeline. Right. The

Anthony: 13:25

whole thing. Right. But I don't know if there's any backstory on Kirk's father. I'm not sure. That's a good question. So maybe he had some father issues or something. And so he's just You know, not comfortable jumping into that role, but he does do it and to his credit and he gets better at it, right? He seems to get better at talking to Charlie and explaining kind of why things are the way they are. Now Charlie doesn't necessarily receive his counsel and wisdom very well, but Kirk at least does kind of get the hang of it.

Ethan: 13:58

Yeah, you could see some significant growth in his character throughout the episode as he kind of Learns to deal with Charlie and his just misunderstanding of, like, just the normal things that happen in a social environment in a struggle. For

Anthony: 14:17

sure. And so, in the meantime, while all this is happening, the Antares has transmitted a message to the Enterprise, but the message doesn't get through, right? And so the Enterprise scans for the Antares and finds that it's been destroyed. All they are finding is debris from the ship.

Ethan: 14:37

Yeah, and then the most interesting part of the scene was When Charlie talks about, like, he says this thing beforehand, like, the ship was poorly made or something to that extent, and then they find the debris of the ship. So then there's just evidence that Charlie knew before they knew that the ship was destroyed, and everyone was kind of questioning him about that.

Anthony: 15:00

Right. Yeah, another clue that Charlie maybe up to no good. So Rand then tries to introduce Charlie to another girl who's closer in age but Charlie isn't having it, and he's quite rude to the girl, and she storms off. And Rand kind of gets onto him for it, and calls him out for being rude, and He says to her, to Rand, that the other girl isn't like her, and that Rand smells like a girl, and he also says, when I see you, I feel like I'm hungry all over. Which is, you know, again, kind of, kind of creepy. So, that, that's another odd interaction with Rand, and she's disturbed by it, right?

Ethan: 15:48

Mm hmm. Yeah, her character expressed it as uncomfortable, and Aisha was uncomfortable watching it. I was like, man, this dude is a creep. He doesn't know when to stop.

Anthony: 15:57

Yeah, and so Rand is so disturbed by it that she goes to talk to Kirk about it. And Kirk, you know, at first he's like, Oh, I already talked to him about slapping you on the butt, and explain that. Again, he didn't do a very good job of that, but, but he did talk to him, but eventually Kirk agrees to talk to Charlie again, and so Kirk sits down with them, and, and Charlie, is kind of defensive, and he says everything I do is wrong. And Kirk makes an effort to try to reassure him, like, hey, you know, this is an awkward time. You know, every guy, you know, since the, the beginning has made these kinds of mistakes, you know. I think he

Ethan: 16:36

said the line, since the model came out.

Anthony: 16:38

Yes, since, since the model came out, the first, the first male model. Mo Ha ha. Since that time, men have been making mistakes with with women. And so he tries to reassure them but he also makes it clear that Charlie can't have Rand. She's not interested, and that love or, or like is a two way street. It requires, you know, both parties to be attracted to one another and want to You know, take the relationship to a another level. So, Charlie doesn't like that and then there's another scene after that where Kirk is trying to teach Charlie some martial arts.

Ethan: 17:19

Yeah, that, their gym looks so weird and the uniforms they were wearing were, like, it was just so weird because Kirk was wearing tights and then just nothing for a shirt. And they had like, and if they were wearing something over them, like, Charlie had like, a bathrobe on, and it

Anthony: 17:37

was Yeah, the, the costuming in the, the gym or wherever they were on the ship was, was quite something to behold. So anyway, so so Kirk's trying to teach Charlie some martial arts, and then at one point, Kirk knocks Charlie down, and one of the other crewmen there starts laughing. Because it was funny, but Charlie doesn't think it's funny. Right? And he says, don't laugh at me. And he gets so mad that all of a sudden he makes the guy who was laughing at him disappear. Well, I can say

Ethan: 18:14

Charlie has a fine career if he wants to be a magician after seeing this scene.

Anthony: 18:18

Right. So, it's not clear when he makes the guy disappear whether the guy is dead or not. Or if he just, you know, ceased to exist and he can be brought back. It's not clear. So Kirk calls security. Security shows up and Charlie is resistant, of course. And he makes all of the phasers on the ship disappear, including the phaser in the security guard's hand. anD it's clear that Charlie's going to be a problem. However he does comply with Kirk's order for him to go to his quarters. Which, you know, which is maybe a good sign.

Ethan: 19:00

Yeah, it was like, the only one he would listen to was Kirk, but he listened to Kirk with a lot of resistance, too. Because Kirk was like, if you're not going to your quarters, I will carry you there. Right. So I guess he decided to walk out with a little bit of dignity.

Anthony: 19:15

Not to get too personal here, but maybe you and I can relate to this a little bit, right? A father wanting his son to do something, and the son not really wanting to do it. And it creates some tension from time to time. So that's, you know, just human nature, right? It happens. But Charlie does go to his quarters. And then later Kirk and Spock and McCoy are discussing the situation and they realize that these powers that he seems to have are the same powers that the Thasians have, but McCoy is certain that Charlie is human based on his physical exam and testing. And. Spock observes that even though he's human, he seems to have a total disregard for human life. And then Kirk kind of goes to bat for him a little bit. He says, you know, he's a boy in a man's body trying to be an adult with the adolescence in him getting in the way. And so Kirk is a little more empathetic to what Charlie's going through but Spock clearly recognizes the, the danger of the situation. And so they end up confronting Charlie about the Antares and he admits that he used his powers to destroy the Antares. And then at that point, that's where things get kind of crazy. Right.

Ethan: 20:41

He, he kind of just He like, if I remember correctly, he sort of like, ran out of the room in a storm of anger, if I remember correctly, right? And that, that girl that he was introduced to earlier that he kind of just like, told off or was being very rude to, he turned her into an iguana.

Anthony: 21:03

Right.

Ethan: 21:04

Yeah, that was, that was Like, not vanished into thin air, an iguana.

Anthony: 21:09

Right, so his powers are quite broad, I guess he can make people vanish, he can make them turn into animals, he can also freeze people, and so he, he, some of the people that he passes in the ship as Kinda going on this crazy tirade he, he causes them to, like, freeze in place, other people he makes vanish he's just out of control,

Ethan: 21:31

right? And then, like, the one girl he, like, aged to be an old woman, and then the most disturbing of them was when people were laughing in the hallway at something and he removed their faces. Right.

Anthony: 21:46

Yeah, so this kid's just, out of control. And so Spock and Kirk try to trap him in a force field, and that goes terribly wrong. He's too powerful to be held back by.

Ethan: 21:57

Gotta just remove the room from existence.

Anthony: 21:59

Right, right. And so, he He meets up again with Rand, and again tries to express his love. She's obviously extremely uncomfortable as he's approaching her, and then she ends up slapping him and so that makes him angry, and so he makes Rand disappear now, the one that he, he supposedly has all these feelings for. And so his rage is just taking over, and he's not in control Of his emotions. And so, Kirk, of course, recognizing the The danger of the situation tries to change course so that the enterprise doesn't go to Alpha 5 because if Charlie gets there he could use his powers and harm all the people on Alpha 5 which they obviously want to try to avoid. And so Kirk makes this effort to change course but Charlie figures it out. Right? And then he takes control, Charlie takes control of the Enterprise with his mental powers that he has.

Ethan: 23:08

Yeah, and then, here's what I thought was interesting. Kurt came up with the idea that his powers were, like, to almost their full extent because he noticed nobody else since he'd taken over and disappeared. So he tried to, like, challenge Charlie. While also turning on everything in the ship to kind of like Overload what he couldn't control and have some method to take control back from him so it was it was kind of it was an interesting scene because Charlie was threatening like I could make you disappear at any moment Kirk and Kirk was kind of like I'm not so sure about that and kind of just signaled Spock and McCoy to start turning on everything in the

Anthony: 23:50

bridge. Right, but it doesn't actually work, right? He tries to take down Charlie after that and isn't successful, but In the meantime, we learned that it turns out that the Thasians have a ship and they've been trying to intercept the Enterprise because they realized that Charlie has Left their planet and is likely out doing bad things with his

Ethan: 24:16

powers. Well, I thought their plan kind of did work because Charlie like blocked all subspace communication. But then when they overloaded everything subspace communication came back online, and that's when they received the the signal from the Thasians.

Anthony: 24:31

Yeah, yeah, I guess you're right. I guess it was successful to a certain degree. I guess I was just meaning that Kirk wasn't able to completely stop him at that point, but they, yeah, you're right. And so the Thasians show up and a Thasian Dude, his face, a holographic face appears on the bridge of the Enterprise and he restores the ship's power back to Kirk and he brings back all the people that had vanished and makes everything right again on the Enterprise. And so it turns out that the Thasians had given Charlie his powers. So that he could survive on their world but they now realize that he's, he's too powerful to actually live among humans, among his own kind. I

Ethan: 25:26

thought this scene was interesting because the holographic head that was speaking said like, I had made this form to look after Charlie or something. So I think the Thasians are sort of like, Is non corporeal the right word for it? Like, they don't have physical form, but that's kind of like the way they communicated with Charlie. And so, after they come and like, fix everything, they try to like, take Charlie back. Kirk kind of tries to fight for Charlie. It's like, is there any way, like, he can not use his power so he can be with his own people? And Thazians were kind of just like, we can't do anything about it, so we have to put him in our custody. And then Charlie is trying to fight the whole thing, he's like, No, don't let them take me, cause they can't feel, they can't love, you can't touch them. So, it was a sad scene when they took him away, But, I mean, it was for the safety of the place, of like the colony and everyone on the Enterprise,

Anthony: 26:25

so. Yeah, yeah, you can't help but feel sorry for him, even though he's, you know, he died. Blew up the Antares and killed those people on the ship and, you know, he's done these awful things but you can't help but feel sorry for him because, I mean, he's been on his own essentially since he was three, right? And, had no upbringing, you know, no, no, it didn't, didn't have a normal human upbringing and doesn't know how to interact socially, doesn't know how to have friends, maintain relationships and now, you know, he's been out and, and has had interactions with humans and they haven't gone well, and now he's got to go back to Thesis where he's essentially going to be by himself again. And so you do kind of feel sorry for him, but like you said, and Kurt clearly feels sorry for him too, and, suggests that, maybe he can learn not to use his powers and live among the humans, but the Thasian guy is like, no, you know, he's eventually going to use those powers and they could either destroy you or you could end up destroying him. And so he says that we offer him life, and we will take care of him. So it's not the best situation in Charlie's mind, but it is the best situation, the best outcome for him, that he's gonna go back with the Thasians, and he'll be, at least, if nothing else, he'll be able to live life and be taken care of by the Thasians.

Ethan: 27:56

Yeah, I can agree with you, it was probably the best choice they could have made. Because if you had him go to that colony, the whole colony would have been destroyed, or they would have executed him for like, everyone's safety, so. It's the best way for him to live a life, even if it is a life without human interaction.

Anthony: 28:15

Right. You mentioned Charlie's line about how they don't have bodies and they can't love. And that line kind of got me thinking, like, what does our physical nature have to do with our ability to to show and receive love? Is it essential? That our, bodies are an essential part of our ability to show and receive love with others. What are your thoughts on

Ethan: 28:43

that? I mean, it definitely is a big factor to showing, like, affection towards people, but it's not impossible to be without it. Like, I mean, with me and my friends. A lot of the times I play video games with my friends, we're not there with a physical connection, but we're there, you know, mentally, together, but, I mean, we still do have times where we are together in person, so it's kind of just like, you know, it's, physical connection is nice, but it's possible to be without it.

Anthony: 29:20

Yeah. Yeah. It's a lot more difficult. Yeah. To develop a close relationship and to, and to love. When you're not physically with the person, or, or people, for sure. So I thought this overall was a pretty good episode. I think I liked it a little better than the last one. I gave it an A and you know, thought overall it was, it was decent. What, what about you?

Ethan: 29:47

I'd probably give it about the same. It was a very interesting episode concept, and yeah, I'd probably give it an A too. It was a very interesting episode, the concept was cool, but like, there was just some parts I found a little weird in my opinion, like the scene in the rec room I thought was a little odd, and And there was times, like, where, intentionally, though, Charlie made you uncomfortable as you were watching. So, yeah, A ranking is what

Anthony: 30:19

I'd give it. Yeah, yeah, I think for a lot of the episode, you were supposed to feel uncomfortable with, at least in the scenes with Charlie. For sure. I thought there were some interesting themes in this episode. So adolescence growing up, you know, that's obviously a big theme. What happens when irresponsible people gain power, right? And how that can be catastrophic if the wrong people have too much power in society. And then also what What society does with those who are dangerous. Right? That, that was kind of a theme that's touched on at the end of the episode. You know, Charlie You know, deep inside, he probably wasn't a bad person, right? But he, and he grew up in this unfortunate circumstance, and so he has no sense of social norms, and in a way, doesn't have a strong sense of right and wrong. He's, he's learning morals as he's interacting with these humans for the first time. But he's dangerous, right? And so what do you do with people like that? pEople with mental health issues, people who are violent offenders in society, you know, it's a good question. And that's one of the things I love about science fiction is that it raises interesting questions about what it means to be human and what it means to live in a civilized society. That you, you know, we could, we could talk about forever. And then the last theme that I noticed was kind of touched on, I wouldn't say it was a strong theme, but it was somewhat prevalent, was sexual harassment. Right? And keep in mind, this is. Shot in the 1960s, you and I are living in a post MeToo era. era, right, where there's a lot more awareness and women are a lot more comfortable speaking out about some of the horrible things that they've had to deal with in the workplace, disgusting guys, bosses, and so forth. In the 1960s, things were, were worse for women in the workplace, right? And so this was a very relevant theme. For when the episode was aired. And it's still relevant today. It's not like sexual harassment has gone away. There's clearly plenty of it still. But there is a lot more awareness of it and we can talk about it more openly. Especially women can talk about it more openly. So I thought that was another interesting aspect of the show.

Ethan: 33:08

Yeah. I definitely noticed all those themes. There, I think you pretty much said it

Anthony: 33:14

all. Yeah, well, a couple of other things I wanted to point out. So, we get our first glance at Star Trek Chess in the episode. Which is, I don't know if there, I don't think there's actual rules for Star Trek Chess. They call it three dimensional chess, right, in Star Trek. But it's got the three different levels. But you and I both enjoy playing chess. And so that was kind of fun to see that for the first time in. A Star Trek episode, and I love how there's a scene where Spock and Kirk are playing each other, and Kirk ends up beating him and Spock makes a comment about his illogical approach to chess. And then Gene Roddenberry's voice was actually in the episode. He was uncredited but there was a scene where Kirk had told the people in the kitchen to, they were, they were making a, Meatloaf, but he said make it look like turkey because it was, Thanksgiving was coming up and he wanted the crew to be able to, if they couldn't actually eat turkey, at least Feel like they were eating turkey or something like that. You remember that and so later in the episode There's a voice From the cook that comes over the the intercom on the bridge That says something about the the turkey being ready or something like

Ethan: 34:31

that Well, I think the line was the meatloaf turned into actual turkeys.

Anthony: 34:35

Oh, that's right. That's right the meat You're glad you mentioned. Yeah, so that was Charlie exercising his powers again. So yeah, so the the meatloaf He made Turn Into Actual Turkeys and so that voice was Gene Roddenberry, who is of course the creator of Star Trek and the genius behind much of it. And then, one other thing I noticed that you wouldn't have noticed, but there's a lot of parallels between This episode and a book called Stranger in a Strange Land, which is written by Robert Heinlein, who's one of the great science fiction writers of all time. And that book's about a human who goes on an expedition. He's a, he's a kid, but he goes on a space expedition to Mars and everybody in the crew ends up dying and he's left alone on Mars, but the Martians care for him and raise him and they give him, you know, powers or he learns how to have access to these powers and then he eventually comes back to Earth. It's a, it's a really quirky, odd book. And I love Robert Heinlein's writings. This, I didn't necessarily love this book, but if you're a fan of reading science fiction, it's one of those books that you should probably read at some point just because it's good to have in your repertoire of science fiction writing, but anyway, there were definitely some parallels between Stranger in a Strange Land and this episode, and, and the book was published in 1963, I believe, so a few years before the Star Trek episode aired, so it would have been probably something that the writers had read and talked about.

Ethan: 36:14

Well I don't have anything else to say about this episode,

Anthony: 36:17

do you? No, I think we've covered it. It's been a good discussion. So, next time we will talk about episode three, which I believe is called Where no man has gone before and This will be interesting because this was actually the second pilot the first pilot was the one with Captain Pike that never aired This was the second pilot, but they didn't air it first. They ended up airing it third We talked about that last week about why the they chose to go with the man trap as the first episode But that'll be interesting to talk about next time Yeah,

Ethan: 36:54

so everyone who listened in today and we hope to see you all in the next episode. Leave a comment if there's anything specific you'd like to see us do, but for now, see you next time. All right, take care.