Star Trek: 10 Episodes That Are UNWATCHABLE Now
9. The Enemy Within
While Richard Matheson’s The Enemy Within is classic Star Trek for many reasons, the events surrounding one its lead performers have left a sad, bitter stain on the episode. Splitting Kirk into his good and evil halves was an excellent idea, exploring how every person is a combination of both, requiring all parts of themselves to truly be the best version of themselves. That, along with the adorable dog in the costume, certainly help to give this story a warmer reception than one might expect, considering its on this list.
‘Evil’ Kirk assaults Janice Rand while aboard the ship. Though the overall attack is stopped, leading to the now infamous scratches on Kirk’s cheek, the episode handles this poorly in almost every respect. Yeoman Rand was originally set to be one of the stars of Star Trek, and Grace Lee Whitney featured heavily in the initial marketing for the series. However, she vanishes after just seven appearances, with the reasons behind the scenes leaving a truly disturbing stain on this episode.
At the story’s close, Spock remarks, to Rand, that the evil Kirk had some interesting qualities, then asking if she agreed. Consider - this person had just assaulted her, so why would Spock say such an insensitive remark? Even for a Vulcan, repressing emotions as he does, that was cold. Then, when this is combined with Grace Lee Whitney’s account of her assault at the hands of an unnamed producer, in their office, shortly before she found herself out of a job - the episode takes on a disturbing new level.
In her autobiography, Lee Whitney was candid about both the assault, and how she felt about Spock’s line in particular. She felt, quite justifiably, that this was an incredibly insensitive, thoughtless inclusion. Knowing what we know now, The Enemy Within becomes something of a dark example of the rampant lack of safety in the 1960s in Hollywood, though that is not to suggest that things are entirely fixed in 2026.