Charlie X

"Charlie X" was the 7th episode of Star Trek: The Original Series, in the show's first season, first aired on 15 September 1966. The episode was written by Gene Roddenberry and D.C. Fontana, directed by Lawrence Dobkin^MA and novelized under the title "Charlie's Law" in Star Trek 1 by James Blish.

The cargo ship USS Antares transfers 17-year old Charles ("Charlie") Evans to the USS Enterprise on his way to Colony 5 from the planet Thasus. The Antares is mysteriously destroyed and Enterprise crew members disappear. Captain James T. Kirk realizes that Charlie is responsible but has no control over his deadly god-like powers.

Summary[]

Captain's log, stardate 1533.6: Now maneuvering to come alongside cargo vessel Antares. Its captain and first officer are beaming over to us with an unusual passenger.

The Enterprise is meeting the cargo ship USS Antares so they can transport a young teenage boy, Charles "Charlie" Evans, whom they discovered while surveying the planet Thasus. Charlie beams over to the Enterprise with Captain Ramart of the Antares, and the ship's navigator and first officer, Tom Nellis. Unknown to the Enterprise crew, Charlie has god-like powers. He does not inform Captain Kirk of his powers and is also influencing Ramart and Nellis, preventing them from informing Kirk of this. Charlie is supposed to transfer to the Enterprise, which is on route to Colony 5, where, ultimately, he will stay with relatives.

Captain's log, stardate 1533.7: We have taken aboard an unusual passenger for transport to Colony Alpha V. Charles Evans, the sole survivor of a transport crash fourteen years ago. The child, alone from age 3, has not only survived, but has grown to intelligent, healthy adolescence.

After being away from all Human contact for so many years, Charlie begins to learn and integrate. Being a teenager, Charlie is also struggling with puberty and develops his first crush on the beautiful Yeoman Janice Rand. In one of the ship's recreation rooms, he secretly silences Lieutenant Nyota Uhura, who is singing, so that he can have all of Rand's undivided attention.

Later, when Charlie is on the bridge, Captain Ramart tries to contact the Enterprise to warn them of Charlie's dangerous powers, but the Antares is secretly destroyed by Charlie before they can get a message off.

Captain's log, stardate 1535.8: UESPA headquarters notified of the mysterious loss of science probe vessel Antares.

Yeoman Rand eventually introduces Charlie to a girl his own age—Yeoman Third Class Tina Lawton. Charlie immediately snubs Tina and confides to Rand his feelings for her. Rand realizes Charlie's crush is becoming difficult for her and discusses the issue with Captain Kirk, who takes pity on Charlie and attempts to befriend him. Kirk takes Charlie to the gym for some self-defense exercises. After sparring with Kirk, Charlie falls down, which prompts laughter from Sam, one of Kirk's sparring partners. Feeling hurt and humiliated, Charlie makes Sam "disappear"—finally revealing his god-like powers. Ultimately, Charlie admits to destroying the Antares. Soon, Spock suspects that Charlie might be a Thasian, a race of non-corporeal, psionically-powerful beings, rumored to have lived on the planet ages ago.

Charlie begins to take control of the Enterprise at different levels. Attempts to stop him fail, so he wreaks mayhem on some of the crew. He turns Tina Lawton into an iguana, a young female crewwoman into an old lady, and makes Yeoman Rand "disappear" after Kirk and Spock try to rescue her from Charlie's influences.

Determined to stop Charlie before they reach Colony 5, Kirk tries to overload his powers by activating different systems on the ship all at once. Then, he attempts to physically subdue Charlie. During the midst of this struggle with Charlie, an object suddenly appears alongside the ship. A translucent, floating human-like face appears on the bridge. The voice from the face informs the bridge that it is a Thasian, the powerful psionic beings Spock believed still existed. The Thasian states that it had taken its form from centuries ago so that it might communicate with Humans. The Thasians provided Charlie with psionic powers so he could survive. Thasians have the power to transfer psionic ability to other beings. Once they have done this, they either cannot or will not remove this power. Captain Kirk then suggests that Charlie belongs with humans and recommends that he might be trained not to use his psionic powers. The Thasian replies that "We gave him the power so he could live. He will use it—always". Since it would be impossible for Charlie to live a normal life amongst humans, the Thasians "transport" him to their ship and inform the Enterprise bridge that they will continue to care for him. The Thasians depart peacefully without incident.

References[]

Characters[]

Episode characters[]

Robert Abrams • Clifford Brent^[1] • Charles Evans • Sam Fuller • Bill Hadley • Harrison (Lieutenant) • James T. Kirk • Tina Lawton • Ryan Leslie • Leonard McCoy • Tom Nellis • Ramart • Janice Rand • Montgomery Scott • Spock • Hikaru Sulu • Nyota Uhura • Vinci^[2] • Wilson (USS Enterprise) • unnamed Thasian • unnamed 2260s USS Enterprise personnel (USS Enterprise NCC-1701 personnel)

Referenced only: the Evans family

Novelization characters[]

Sam Ellis • Charles Evans • James T. Kirk • Ramart • Janice Rand • Spock • Nyota Uhura • unnamed Thasian

Referenced only: Tina Lawton • the Evans family

Starships and vehicles[]

Antares (Antares-class transport) • USS Enterprise (Constitution-class heavy cruiser) • Thasian ship

Referenced only: unnamed Federation civilian starships (The Evans' Federation research vessel)

Locations[]

the galaxy's Alpha or Beta Quadrant

Referenced only: Alpha V colony/Colony Five • Earth (England) • Vulcan • Thasus

Shipboard locales[]

USS Enterprise: bridge • quarters (Rand's) • transporter room • gymnasium • detention cell • rec room

Races and cultures[]

Human (Bantu) • Thasian • Vulcan

States and organizations[]

United Earth Space Probe Agency/Starfleet • United Federation of Planets • security division

Science and classification[]

Chronology[]

years prior to 2266: The Evans' ship crashes on Thasus. (prior to episode/novelization)
stardate 1533.6, 2266 (2260s chronology, 2264–2270 Enterprise voyages): Enterprise and Antares rendezvous.

Appendices[]

Related media[]

The scenes where Nyota Uhura sings in the recreation room and where James T. Kirk disputes with Charlie Evans on the bridge are replayed, as dreamlike scenery from Janice Rand's memory, in the TOS comic: "The Dream Walkers".
A flashback adapting scenes from this episode was included in SA comic: "X2", the continuation of Charlie's story.

Adaptations[]

Video releases[]

Background[]

Antares remastered — The Antares as depicted in the remastered edition of this episode

In James Blish's novelization this episode was titled Charlie's Law.
The Antares was not seen in the original version of this episode; however, it is pictured in the 2007 remastered edition, the design strongly resembling that of the Federation drone ships of the TAS episode "More Tribbles, More Troubles".

Images[]

Episode images[]

Adaptation images[]

Connections[]

Timeline[]

published order
Previous episode: The Naked Time	TOS episode produced	Next episode: Balance of Terror
Previous episode: The Man Trap	TOS episode aired	Next episode: Where No Man Has Gone Before
Previous story: first story in book	Star Trek 1	Next story: Dagger of the Mind
chronological order
Previous Adventure: Where Sea Meets Sky Chapters 1 & 31 The Captain's Table	Pocket	Next Adventure: Elegy for Charlie Star Trek: The New Voyages 2
Previous Adventure: Past Prologue The Janus Gate	Voyages of the USS Enterprise (NCC-1701) (2264 to 2270)	Next Adventure: Elegy for Charlie Star Trek: The New Voyages 2

Production timeline[]

Translations[]

1969: Japanese language: チャーリイの法則, translated by Mamoru Nakagami. (Hayakawa)
1972: German language: Charlie, translated by Janis Kambulis. (Williams)
1973: Turkish: Çarli'nin Kanunu, translated by Reha Pinar. (Altın Kitaplar)
1975: Dutch: De wet van Charlie, translated by Jan Koesen. (Luitingh)
1978: Italian language: La legge di Charlie, translated by Rosella Sanità. (Arnoldo Mondadori Editore)
1991: French language: La Loi de Charlie, translated by Paul Couturiau. (Lefrancq)

External link[]

"Charlie X" article at Memory Alpha, the wiki for canon Star Trek.
Charlie X article at Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

↑ The character of Clifford Brent was not named in the episode but the same actor, wearing an officer's Starfleet uniform, was addressed as Brent in TOS episode: "The Naked Time". The same actor also played the character of Vinci.
↑ The character Vinci was not named in the episode but the same actor, wearing the same operations division Starfleet uniform, was addressed as Vinci in TOS episode: "The Devil in the Dark". The same actor also played the character of Clifford Brent.

[ref-brent-1] The character of Clifford Brent was not named in the episode but the same actor, wearing an officer's Starfleet uniform, was addressed as Brent in TOS episode: "The Naked Time". The same actor also played the character of Vinci.

[ref-vinci-2] The character Vinci was not named in the episode but the same actor, wearing the same operations division Starfleet uniform, was addressed as Vinci in TOS episode: "The Devil in the Dark". The same actor also played the character of Clifford Brent.

[1]

[2]

Memory Beta, non-canon Star Trek Wiki