13 Darkest Star Trek: The Original Series Moments

6. Charlie's Takeover Of The Enterprise In Charlie X

Star Trek The Original Series
CBS

Charlie was an orphan who was the only survivor of a shipwreck that happened when he was just three years old. He spent most of his life on the planet Thasus before the crew of the USS Antares discovered him. They arrange to take him to the Enterprise, which will in turn take him to the starbase where his relatives live.

After spending so much time alone, Charlie is eager to make friends with other humans, but he finds human interactions difficult. Like so many other teenagers, he gets easily frustrated... but unlike most teens, he has the ability to wish people away to another dimension and distort reality however he pleases.

It's the nature of those distortions where the episode gets particularly dark. He turns one young crewmember into an old lady, freezes another and then stops a group of crew from laughing by removing their faces. We then see one of the faceless victims groping her way along a corridor, making strange vocal noises. Presumably, she wouldn't have lasted long unable to breathe.

Being subject to the whims of a troubled teenager on a power trip is a nightmare for everyone involved, but as seen later, it's a nightmare for Charlie as well.

Contributor

Paula Luther hails from Pennsylvania and has been an avid Whovian since 2008. She enjoys writing (obviously), reading, dancing, video editing, and building websites. She has also self-published two books on Amazon, "Bart the Bard" and "Android Mae and Other Stories".