Star Trek: 10 Terrible Scenes That Ruined Episodes
8. Her Life Could Have Been As Rich As Any Woman's - Turnabout Intruder
Turnabout Intruder has a fairly low rating in Star Trek history, although, there's a solid argument for a re-evaluation. 'Well Seán, what's it doing on this list then?' I hear you ask - and yes, ok, fair.
The episode is sometimes decried as a silly, over-the-top, Shatner outing - whereas that's not entirely fair. He plays the role of Janice Lester as Kirk for the back seats but is surprisingly restrained at the same time. So, the episode as a whole isn't quite as bad as its reputation suggests.
That last line though. That last bloody line...
Her life could have been as rich as any woman's. If only...
Though the rule about women becoming Starfleet captains has been thoroughly repealed in the years since, this episode suggests that, in 2269, none could hope to achieve that lofty goal. This, combined with Kirk's incredibly patronizing sign-off, ensuring that the final episode of The Original Series ended on a strangely misogynistic note, one it hasn't managed to lift in more than fifty years.