‘TURNABOUT INTRUDER’ (TOS)
Please feel free to comment on my review.
Season 3 of the original ‘Star Trek’, for its ups and downs, comes to a close in the final episode of the series – ‘Turnabout Intruder’. It’s not the spectacular season finale, but it’s decent to end the series.
The episode has the Enterprise visit Camus II in response to a distress call. It’s there where Kirk reunites with an old flame of his named Dr. Janice Lester. Janice seems to be on the verge of death.
But it’s all a trap, as Janice stuns Kirk in an alien machine that can swap personalities. Soon, Kirk is inside Janice’s body whilst Janice is inside Kirk’s, as Janice wants to be the captain of the Enterprise.
I found this a really gripping ‘Star Trek’ episode to watch from the series. It was tense when Kirk was trapped inside Janice’s body and Janice was using Kirk’s body to be captain, which is what she wants.
The reason why Janice couldn’t be a captain of a starship was apparently due to her gender. I don’t really see how that could be a problem, as surely they would have lady captains by the 23rd century.
But then again, Janice is insane and she could’ve made this all up in her head. And of course, since Kirk and Janice had this romantic involvement, it would be a factor for personal revenge on her part.
The episode gives William Shatner a chance to play a villain for a change in ‘Star Trek’ and also give a ‘hammy’ performance. 😀 I enjoyed seeing Shatner perform as Janice-in-Kirk in this episode. 🙂
Sometimes, it was a challenge to get around the fact that it was a woman inside Kirk’s body. But I found it interesting and entertaining, especially when Janice-in-Kirk begins to lose it and goes insane.
Sandra Smith guest stars as Dr. Janice Lester, though mostly, she plays Kirk-in-Janice for the episode. I’m impressed by how Sandra gets to play Captain Kirk inside a woman’s body, which was entertaining.
Kirk-in-Janice tries to convince Spock and Bones that he’s trapped inside a woman’s body, before Janice-in-Kirk knocks him out. Fortunately, Spock and Bones have doubts about their captain’s sanity.
I liked that scene where Spock visits Kirk-in-Janice, and Kirk is trying to convince Spock on what happened and who he is. Soon, Spock mind-melds with Kirk-in-Janice and he believes what he says.
But Janice-in-Kirk is onto them and soon has Spock under arrest on the charge of mutiny. There’s then a court hearing and thus, Spock gives his evidence as well as Kirk-in-Janice against Janice-in-Kirk.
I enjoyed it when Kirk-in-Janice is giving his evidence to Janice-in-Kirk and he’s calm throughout. Spock then openly defies against Janice-in-Kirk, saying that he will do anything his power against her.
This sets Janice-in-Kirk off in a tantrum and she starts smashing Kirk’s fist onto the table. Very soon, Scotty and Bones are having doubts about their captain’s sanity and they agree to vote against him.
But Janice-in-Kirk has already heard their conversation out in the corridor and she accuses them on a charge of mutiny too. Janice-in-Kirk has Spock, Kirk-in-Janice, Bones and Scotty sent to be executed.
I liked it when Sulu and Chekov are horrified by the captain’s behaviour and they refuse to obey his orders whilst he’s on the bridge. Janice-in-Kirk becomes livid and she soon loses control of Kirk’s body.
The episode also guest stars Harry Landers as Dr. Arthur Coleman and Barbara Baldavin as the Enterprise’s communications officer. I assume Uhura is away on holiday at the time of this episode.
‘Turnabout Intruder’ is a decent episode to end the original ‘Star Trek’ TV series. It’s clear it wasn’t meant to be the last episode of the series, but sadly, the TV show was cancelled and it’s a shame.
The DVD special features for this episode are as follows. On Disc 6 of both the original and re-mastered DVDs of ‘Star Trek: The Original Series – Season 3’, there’s a preview trailer for this episode. On Disc 6 of the original DVD of ‘Star Trek: The Original Series – Season 3’, there’s a text commentary on this episode by Michael and Denise Okuda. On Disc 7 of both the original and re-mastered DVDs of ‘Star Trek: The Original Series – Season 3’, there are two versions of ‘The Cage’ pilot episode of ‘Star Trek’ to enjoy. There are also the documentaries ‘To Boldly Go…Season Three’, ‘Life Beyond Trek: Walter Koenig’, ‘Chief Engineer’s Log’, ‘Memoir From Mr. Sulu’, ‘Star Trek’s Impact’, ‘Collectible Trek’ and ‘A Star Trek Collector’s Dream Come True’. There are also some Easter Eggs called ‘Red Shirt Logs’ and trailers for the DVDs of ‘Star Trek: The Next Generation’; ‘Star Trek: Deep Space Nine’ and ‘Star Trek: Voyager’. On Disc 7 of the original DVD of ‘Star Trek: The Original Series – Season 3’, there’s some production art. On Disc 7 of the re-mastered DVD of ‘Star Trek: The Original Series – Season 3’, there’s the documentaries ‘Billy Blackburn’s Treasure Chest: Rare Home Movies and Special Memories Part 3’ and ‘Captain’s Log: Bob Justman’.
‘Turnabout Intruder’ (TOS) rating – 8/10
‘Star Trek: The Original Series – Season 3’ DVD rating – 8/10
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Good review Tim, not a bad episode by any means but boy does Shatner ham up his part as Janice, the scene were Kirks filling his nails…ugggghhhh cringeworthy.
A great set of reviews Tim, while i find this season to be the weakest it still has a few classic gems to recommend & overall isn’t as bad as many claim, i just think the network didn’t get behind the series & like Doctor Who in the mid-80’s they just wanted it gone.
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Glad you enjoyed my review on ‘Turnabout Intruder’.
It’s not a bad episode, no. It’s just not the spectacular finale it could have been. Had the original ‘Star Trek’ continued beyond its three seasons like ‘TNG’, ‘DS9’ and ‘Voyager’, it could have had that spectacular finale.
Yes Shatner does ham it up as Janice-in-Kirk. Yes, I spotted that. Kirk filling his nails. And Bones was in the room with him/her. Wouldn’t that have given the game away, Janice?! 😀
Very pleased you enjoyed my latest ‘Star Trek’ reviews, Simon. I’ve also reviewed Season 1 of the original ‘Star Trek’, if you want to check those reviews out.
Yes, Season 3 of ‘Star Trek’ wasn’t the best admittedly. But I enjoyed revisiting that season and there were some favourites like ‘Spock’s Brain’ and ‘The Cloud Minders’.
It was a shame the network in the US didn’t want to have ‘Star Trek’ by the time the show ended. Thankfully ‘Star Trek’ came back in the movies and its spin-offs, which I’ve also enjoyed, much like with new series ‘Doctor Who’.
Thanks again for your comments, Simon.
Tim. 🙂
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Although quite undeniably not a good episode to end the classic Trek on, it might in all fairness raise some obvious issues that would influence some of the better Treks to come. Because from Dr. Beverly Crusher to Capt. Kathryn Janeway, it was clear that many faults of the classic series could be rectified in the new shows per Roddenberry’s intentions. As for gender-swapping issues, as easier as it might be take in today, thanks to what Jodie Whittaker did for the Doctor and what Michelle Gomez did for the Master, perhaps we might look back on Turnabout Intruder somewhat more appreciably for opening a specific door. As well as some of Shatner’s best acting. Thanks, Tim, for your review.
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Hi scifimike,
Thanks for sharing your thoughts on ‘Turnabout Intruder’. I still have a fondness for this ‘Star Trek’ episode. It arguably might not be the best episode for the original TV series to go out on, but it’s a decent one. And despite hiccups regarding how female starship captains, at least it’s followed up in a ‘Star Trek Continues’ episode like ‘Embracing the Winds’ for people to enjoy, check out and by challenged by.
Speaking of ‘Star Trek Continues’, here’s a vignette depicting an extra ending for ‘Turnabout Intruder’. One I think works very well to perhaps showcase a better ending for the episode compared to how it originally ended.
Enjoy!
Star Trek Continues V01 “Turnabout Intruder” Vignette
Many thanks for your comments.
Best wishes,
Tim 🙂
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I saw this on YouTube. Very impressive. Thanks, Tim.
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No worries, scifimike,
Hopefully when I get to revisit ‘Turnabout Intruder’, I’ll include a review on the ‘Star Trek Continues’ vignette someday.
Best wishes,
Tim 🙂
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Not… one of the series’s finest moments. There’s an implication in the novelisation by James Blish that Dr Janice Lester’s behaviour is linked to a sense of internalised misogyny. Spock’s lament after Kirk’s: “If only…” speaks unexpected volumes:
“If only she could have taken pride in being a woman.”
Unfortunately, we’re in the era of producer Fred Freiberger and that kind of character study just isn’t there. I do wonder if the story would’ve been as controversial in retrospect if it had been a Dr John Lester who’d swapped bodies with Kirk.
The episode might be notable for Shatner’s answer to the question: “What would’ve happened if the body swap between Kirk and Lester had been permanent? What would’ve changed?”
Shatner’s response, in so many words, was: “Nothing would’ve changed. Man or woman, Kirk would still have captained the Enterprise.”
If there were a spiritual finale to the original Star Trek… I know ‘All Our Yesterdays’ is a favourite of many, but I actually prefer ‘Day of the Dove’. It lays the groundwork for some of the themes explored in the later TOS films in the ’80s. Especially when we get to Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country.
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A female version of Captain Kirk is plausible. I remember Olivia Wilde saying that she’d have been up for playing a female Kirk.
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I think that does happen in one of the comics, from memory? A Jamie Kirk brought across from another Universe or something similar?
Arguably, we do have a femme Kirk — it’s Captain Kathryn Janeway. She’s much more Kirkish than her Picardian first impressions.
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True. But I didn’t like the directions that Voyager as a show were going. I found that Janeway had a much better chance to shine in Prodigy.
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Voyager was always hampered by having two wolves inside of it. One wanting to go in one direction, one in another. Both ending up going nowhere.
The Kazon, for instance, were never quite as interesting as the Vidiians consistently were. Once Seven of Nine came on the programme, it became much less about the captain and a lot more about the ex-Borg.
Prodigy did the wonderful thing of showing the character arc that Janeway went through. From holographic early eagerness to the weariness of the admiralty. They took what could have been inconsistencies and contradictions, and made them all ring true.
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Hi Wolfie, Hi scifimike,
Many thanks for sharing your thoughts about ‘Turnabout Intruder’. I had no idea that there was a novelization for the episode. Thanks for sharing, Wolfie. I need to get back to checking out and reveiwing more episodes of ‘Star Trek: Voyager’, as I stopped due to other projects getting in the way in 2022. I’ll need to rewatch the ‘Voyager’ episodes from scratch, as the last one I saw was ‘Threshold’, but I didn’t get a chance to review that episode at the time. Hopefully, I will someday. Overall, ‘Voyager’ is an enjoyable series for me, but it’s not without its flaws, which I’ve grown to appreciate over the years. At least it’s an interesting series that depicts a female captain in Kathryn Janeway. Something that ‘Turnabout Intruder’ probably wouldn’t have anticipated back in 1969.
Best wishes,
Tim 🙂
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