In fact, there’s a fair bit to like. Like most body swap episodes, it’s a showcase for the actors. The fact that we’ve never seen Sandra Smith on the show before means that most of that fun comes in a Shatner-shaped package (though it must be said she does a nice, subtle job of mimicking Shatner’s mannerisms and turns on a dime between Kirk’s cool and Lester’s hysterics). And as for Shatner, you could be forgiven for assuming that the episode is fifty minutes of him just hamming it up. And there certainly is some of that, particularly as Lester starts to lose her cool later in the episode. But there are also a number of moments, particularly earlier in the episode, that are quite well played. Among them are Shatner’s first scene as Lester and his brief conversation with Scotty upon returning to the Enterprise. There’s a stiffness there, betraying Lester’s lack of familiarity with Kirk’s officers and friends. Similarly, though this is likely attributable to the writers rather than Shatner, there are a number of subtle changes in “Kirk’s” behavior that suggest that something isn’t right here. For example, when activating a communicator, Lester says “Captain Kirk to the Enterprise,” instead of the more familiar “Kirk to Enterprise.” Likewise, she never once calls McCoy “Bones.”
The episode is also littered with lovely character moments, with Scotty and McCoy’s corridor conversation during the trial being a particular standout. And then, of course, there’s pretty much anything to do with Spock. For me, the highlights were Kirk convincing Spock of the body swap and the way Spock needles Lester throughout the trial, culminating in the near hysterical blowup that turns the tide against her.
But this is still ‘Turnabout Intruder’ and we’ve got to talk about sexism. The whole thing is built on the trope of the hysterical woman, which would be bad enough if not for the fact that Janice Lester was apparently driven off the deep end because of a deep-seated hatred of her own femininity. And then there’s the elephant in the room. ‘Turnabout Intruder’ is remembered, even outside of ‘Trek’ fandom, for establishing that women couldn’t be starship captains. Did it, though? Don’t get me wrong, as progressive as the original series was for its time, it was nonetheless a product of its time, and ‘Turnabout Intruder’ is hardly the only episode where that shows (‘Mudd’s Women’, anybody?). But the “women can’t be starship captains” thing is something that I’ve heard repeated as gospel for nearly as long as I’ve been a ‘Star Trek’ fan, and I’ve never been entirely convinced that it holds water.
It all comes from something Lester says to Kirk in the episode’s teaser: “Your world of starship captains doesn’t admit women.” On the surface, that might seem pretty cut and dry, but consider the source. Janice Lester is not a well woman. If that wasn’t the case, we wouldn’t have an episode. And her specific issues are rooted in a profound resentment of her own womanhood (which, based on what she says to Kirk both before and immediately after the body swap is not a recent development). Granted, Kirk doesn’t exactly argue the point, but as far as he knows, she’s dying and one suspects its an argument they’ve had before. Probably more than once.
But all that being said, the fact that I’m sitting here saying that the most (in)famous bit of sixties sexism that ‘Turnabout Intruder’ serves up isn’t really a problem when taken in the context of the age-old sexist cliche on which the entire plot is built doesn’t exactly make that much better, does it?
When all is said and done, though, the remarkable thing about ‘Turnabout Intruder’ is not how good of an ending (or episode, for that matter) it was, but rather that it ended up not being an ending at all. ‘Star Trek’ was cancelled in 1969. By 1979, it was back as a major motion picture. By 1989, ‘The Next Generation’ was kicking off its landmark third season and a fifth movie was on its way. 1999 brought with it the twin heights of the latter day ‘Deep Space Nine’ and mid-period ‘Voyager’. In 2009, of course, came the Bad Robot reboot, which brought with it a whole new generation of fans. And now, ten years on from that, ‘Discovery’ is gearing up for its third season, Patrick Stewart is preparing for his triumphant return in ‘Picard’, and there are who even knows how many more ‘Trek’ in one stage of development or another. Fifty years after what by all rights should have been the end, it’s a good time to be a ‘Star Trek’ fan.
What do you think of ‘Turnabout Intruder’? Let me know in the comments, and as always, be sure to check back in two weeks for the next ‘Final Frontier Friday’!
