The Enemy Within
Airdate: 10/6/1966
Plot Summary
Kirk is on the surface of a planet with a landing party when a crewman has a minor mishap and gets covered with ore. He beams up causing the transporter to go binky bonkers though it’s not apparent to Scotty. He beams up Kirk who is a bit wobbly afterwards. Scott takes him to sickbay when another Kirk appears on the transporter pad.
Soon it becomes clear that the two Kirks are different sides of the same man, one aggressive, lustful, and afraid. The other is calm, gentle, and indecisive. There’s a race against time to merge the two Kirks back together while the rest of the landing party is stranded on the surface of a planet with ever-dropping temperatures.
There was a space dog that had the same thing happen, but when they fixed the transporter and merged it, it died. Will the same thing happen to Kirk? Seriously, you’re asking that question?
Risk Is Our Business
Kirk is both a gentle brave man and a drunk rapist. This is probably the start of the “Shatner is an over-actor” trope as he plays the evil Kirk with exaggerated insanity. It doesn’t help that apparently the evil side comes with a healthy dose of flop sweat. But much ought to be made of how he played the good side, very subdued and understated. His worry for his crewman on the surface really comes through. There’s no doubt there’s a big difference between the two halves and Shatner deserves some credit for that.
Logical
Spock really identifies with Kirk being half-human. He correctly points out that Kirk will survive the reintegration when the dog cannot.
He’s Dead Jim
McCoy gets a good and proper “He’s dead, Jim.” For a space dog. McCoy also pinpoints where courage comes from. He and Spock get into a lot of good arguments, especially with Kirk not really with it to reign them in.
Canon Maker
The saurian brandy bottle makes its first appearance. We find out a lot about the transporter and how it works.
Canon Breaker
In The Enemy Within we find out some things that never come up about the transporter again, like the ionizer and the “velocity balance.” Terms clearly pulled out of Roddenberry’s ass.
For some reason, Kirk is missing the Enterprise insignia on his chest. His evil half also is missing it. Apparently, sickbay also has a tailor as it reappears again in the next scenes on both Kirks.
Man It Feels Bad To Be a Red Shirt
Only a dog and he doesn’t wear a shirt. Or was it two dogs?
Technobabble
The transporter can split a person and double the mass but somehow only keep parts of a person’s psyche in just one copy. This trope would be revisited, most notably with Riker in The Next Generation, but thankfully further transporter mayhem wouldn’t be this unbelievable.
I Know That Guy:
William Shatner doubles as EVIIIL KIRK!
What It Means To Be Human – Review
The Enemy Within is probably the first truly good and memorable episode of the original and I really love it. However, you have to REALLY look past some major flaws.
For one, the idea of the transport splitting and duplicating or creating general mayhem is a trope Trek would lean into time and time again. The idea of duplication is not the worst one if you overlook the conservation of mass. But even then, the idea that it duplicates a human right down to his eyelashes but somehow picks and chooses personality traits strains credulity.
On top of that, we have a ticking clock in the form of Sulu and the other crewman stranded on a planet that is rapidly getting colder. Again, not a bad idea if you overlook the fact the Enterprise HAS SHUTTLE CRAFT!
Finally, the attempted rape of Janice Rand was fine as a story point. But Spock at the end wondering if Janice thought the imposter had some interesting qualities was a bit on the ick side. And when I say “a bit” I mean truckloads of ick.
But again, this was 1966 and only the 5th episode aired. It doesn’t age well after 7543 more episodes of Star Trek in various series over the next 50 years flesh out the lore, not to mention a culture that moves on.
All that being said, if you can put all that aside, the execution of The Enemy Within is pretty damn spectacular. Spock and McCoy diving into what it means to be human, and all the things, positive and negative, that are necessary in our being. Spock identifying so well with Kirk as he is half human and half Vulcan is also a nice touch into his character building.
Nimoy also play Spock brilliantly here, not really showing emotion but clearly worried about his friend.
I love Sulu’s brave face and quips in the face of ever impending doom. I think in terms of pure Trek, it’s weird Sulu’s comm signal went straight to the conference room instead of through Uhura, but from an emotional storytelling level, it’s perfect.
The Enemy Within has got to be the most ridiculous episode yet it is played so damn well, it seems like a much better episode than it probably is. I can’t help but enjoy it every time I see it, flaws and all.
