10 Changes Star Trek Hoped You Wouldn't Notice
9. Women Can't Be Captains
There is plenty to hopefully forget about Turnabout Intruder, the final episode of the Original Series. Having said that, it's not an awful episode by any account. Rather, it suffers most from becoming, accidentally, the final episode of the show, due to the series' cancellation. The final words of the episode suggest that Kirk and Spock feel sympathy for Janice Lester on account of her gender - as women can't be starship captains.
In the sixties, the series had already made great strides in terms of equality and inclusiveness. While the network had pushed back on having a female first officer in the original pilot, The Cage, there was no issue with having Lt. Uhura on the bridge in every subsequent episode, marking a strong role model for both women and black people as well. To suggest then that Lester is driven mad by the limitations that Starfleet of the 23rd century places on gender is ludicrous.
Thankfully, this was washed quietly away by the time that Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home hit theatres in 1986. The film more or less opens with the USS Saratoga encountering the Whale Probe. The captain of this vessel is played by the great Madge Sinclaire, who would return to Star Trek as Sylvia LaForge in The Next Generation. There is never again any mention of a rank limit for women in the franchise, which indirectly led to the audience getting Captain Janeway down the line.