Star Trek: 0005: "The Enemy Within"

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0005

The Original Series (1966)
Season 1: Episode 5: “The Enemy Within"

Stardate: 1672.1 (2264/09/01 - 23:43:33)

Written by: Richard Matheson
Directed by: Leo Penn

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PLOT INTRODUCTION

Split by a transporter malfunction into two beings with very different personalities, the resulting twin Captain Kirk proves that neither a purely evil nor a sweetly good Captain can survive without the missing half.

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REVIEW

“I’M CAPTAIN KIRK!”

Throughout the opening scenes of Enemy Within, we are treated to a whole host of amusing scenes involving both sides of Kirk roaming the Enterprise and interacting with the crew he has known for so long in such different manners. There is a definite sense of Kirk in both, probably more so in ‘good Kirk’ but Shatner provides us with an excellent performance, depicting both sides entertainingly and realistically. What I found most effective was his portrayal of good Kirk’s slow but gradual weakened mind due to the ‘tough’ side of him being missing. The progress is never rushed from one extreme to the other and develops perfectly throughout the course of the plot. Sure he chews scenery now and then but I didn’t mind it, in fact the episode probably wouldn’t be as good as it is without it. In the end both versions come off as intriguing yet familiar, and that’s what makes the threat of such a duplication even more engaging and less of a generic threat that has no real ties to the crew themselves.

The whole episode actually plays out like a literal battle of two sides that takes place inside our own heads each and every day that we live as conscious beings. Most particularly potent is the scene which depicts one of the darkest acts seen in Trek history when evil Kirk attempts to presumably rape Yeoman Rand. Not only do both actors play it fantastically with a high level of tension and brutal ugliness but the message it gets across is one of the strong points of the episode.

During the earlier half of the episode Spock made a rather interesting speech to Kirk on the matter of a captain’s duty to keep his vulnerabilities to himself in order to keep order stored within the crew. It’s a topic that I near touched on in my review of ‘Where No Man Has Gone Before’. It seemed Kirk did exactly that when personal issues with his best friend arose. I didn’t find it particularly insightful this time around but simply saw it as a good way to confirm how the future form of ‘military’ power works, which is often very similar to our present days attitudes, and seems the case here.

The episode then begins to shift focus, showing more of the good and bad sides of each character rather than just representing one as good and the other as evil. At first it isn’t directly stated but we begin to see that both sides of Kirk need each other just as much as each other not just to function properly and morally but to function as a ship’s captain. Without Kirk’s rough side it seems, Kirk lacks any real sense of command and ability to keep order. However as McCoy states to Kirk later on, without the good side of Kirk, he wouldn’t have his intelligence and moral judgement to rely on in difficult situations. Furthermore McCoy makes an interesting move in claiming that human courage may just come from when those things collide. It’s this sort of discussion between characters that I love about Star Trek, not only does it offer entertaining and intelligent dialogue to take place within the hour but it offers an endless amount of discussion to take place afterwards, even 40 years later.

Somewhere during the middle section of Enemy Within we get one of our first classic Kirk/Spock/McCoy moments. It all just works fantastically and the chemistry the three have from only knowing each other for so long is almost a prediction of how far these guys will come with each other and the developments that will take place between them. During the rather short debate, Spock makes a comparison of their situation to that of his battle taking place between the Human and Vulcan side of himself everyday. This works as an excellent analogy because just a week earlier we had seen him eventually completely break down as a result of the personal conflict created within: Spock claims that his intelligence eventually overcomes all conflict and unites both sides peacefully, which in turn shows Kirk what he -as the intelligence- must do.

The battle eventually comes to a conclusion on board the bridge where both Kirks meet and evil Kirk begins to hope that the other crew members will be uncertain of who is good Kirk but of course, it fails miserably. This is another nice touch that reaffirms how well the crew know their captain and vice versa. In the final sequences, we are treated to some brilliant acting by Shatner and direction by Penn which depicts both sides of Kirk in their most extremes before they finally surrender to each other in recognition of their weaknesses. I liked this move also: more often than not we would have a battle ensue with the good Kirk coming out on top, usually with his shirt torn as a result. Thankfully, this battle is won through mutual understanding which stands as a far more effective ending to a compelling and interesting look at both extremes of human nature.

“I’ve seen a part of myself that no man should ever see” Kirk informs Spock back on the bridge, and he couldn’t be more precise. Nobody ever likes acknowledging the darker parts of themselves, nevertheless we have to deal with them everyday, never mind having to look them in eye and realising we need them.

For me, ‘The Enemy Within’ is a classic episode on all parts. In no way is it flawless, in fact I had a hard time trying to buy the freezing away-team subplot but whatever reasons I have for not liking the episode are overshadowed by the reasons I have for loving it; Two highly interesting versions of captain Kirk, an excellent performance by Shatner and the rest of the cast, effective direction and character analysis, top-quality dialogue and a captivating science fiction plot that keeps you interested throughout: Brilliant stuff.



Written by Jamie Robert Ward, 02/02/2007.