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Star Trek

Turnabout Intruder

Season 3, Episode 24, Aired 6/3/69

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Episode Summary

The Enterprise is in danger when Janice Lester, one of Kirk's former lovers, steals his body.

7.3

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Cast & Crew

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William Shatner

Captain James Tiberius Kirk
Leonard Nimoy

Mr. Spock
DeForest Kelley

Dr. Leonard Horatio "Bones" McCoy

Fan Episode Reviews (4)

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Kirk explores his feminine side by filing his nails on the bridge

5.8

"Mediocre"

By hrtonslv, Oct 04, 2011 Report Abuse

I was reading in the trivia section that Shatner was ill during the shooting of this and had to have a cot on the set. Man, he was a trooper. And it being the last one must have meant a lot to him. Although the plot line was pretty interesting, I couldn't stand the hearing. There is just no way in heck Sulu, Chekov, Scotty and McCoy let that thing happen. Poor writing in my eyes. I was able to appreciate Sandra Smith, the woman who played Janice Lester. She didn't do a bad job mimicking Shatner / Kirk.moreless

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2 0
Dr. Janice Lester lures Captain Kirk to a planet where she has invented a device capable of transferring herself into his body.

7.0

"Good"

By Celedorian, Jan 13, 2011 Report Abuse

This episode is so famous for being the last episode of the original incarnation of Star Trek, its quality is often overlooked. Because of the episode's premise, where Dr. Janice Lester switches bodies with Kirk, someone other than William Shatner actually gets to play the captain for much of the episode (Sandra Smith) while Shatner gets to play the woman. Smith and Shatner (the latter of whom had the flu during this shoot) are so magnificent and convincing, the viewer never doubts who's really Captain Kirk and who's really Dr. Lester. (And the real praise goes to Smith, because whereas Shatner is playing a new, guest character, she has to convince us she's the same Captain James T. Kirk we've seen in seventy eight prior episodes.) Sadly, the show is a bit sexist, and its main message seems to be that females are irrational, and it's dangerous for a woman to command a starship. For most television shows of the 60s, this wouldn't be a surprising attitude, but Star Trek is a show that should know and in the future would know better. It's also sad that the original series now a classic television show - didn't know its final episode would be its finale episode, so no "finale" script was written, and no "finale" touches were put on "Turnabout Intruder" when it was chosen to end the third season. Thankfully there would be future chapters in the story of Star Trek, and this episode would prove not to be the end, but just the end of the beginning.moreless

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An embittered and now insane old flame of Captain Kirk's forcefully takes over his body to gain control of the Enterprise, while Kirk is trapped in her body and no-one will believe him. A fair episode on its own, but disappointing as a finale...moreless

8.0

"Great"

By Jay-Spacedust, Jan 03, 2011 Report Abuse

So, here we are, 79 episodes later (80 if you count "The Cage"), the final episode of the legendary Original Series.
As a 'stand alone' episode it is perfectly watchable, but in terms of rounding off the series, it is, rather disappointingly, just a standard episode, which could have just as easily have aired at any point during the show's run.
They knew that it was the end of the series, so it's a shame they didn't come up with a story to round things off more. Sadly, such 'finales' would not generally become commonplace in television until some years later.

Anyway, the episode itself is a fair one. I found the device that Janice Lester used to swap bodies with Captain Kirk to be questionable and not overly convincing, but it is one of those plot devices that I suppose you just have to accept for sake of the story.

Kirk being trapped inside the insane Lester's body, with no-one believing him of what happened, is rather nightmarish. William Shatner gives a reasonable performance of Lester inhabiting Kirk's body and becoming more manic as things go on; as does Sandra Smith, playing Kirk-in-Lester's body (all keeping up here?). The pair capture much of each others character, and as a result pull it off much better than it may have been.

I did find it slightly awkward that Kirk couldn't come up with something that only the close crew would know sooner to prove who he was, but it's all part of the nightmarish scenario. In the end, it is Lester's own insanity that very much ruins her plot.

Incidentally, this is one of the few episodes that doesn't feature Nichelle Nichols as Uhura (the second in a row, as the previous episode, "All Our Yesterdays", didn't have any scenes onboard the Enterprise), with a different communications officer in her place. It's a minor thing, but it's a shame all the main crew weren't here for the final episode.
(Also of note is the late Majel Barrett as the semi-regular Nurse Chapel, who here makes the character's only brunette appearance of the series).

The story moves along well, but I did find the final stages of swapping Lester and Kirk back into their own bodies to be over-simplified and over-rushed, and not as satisfying as it might have been.

Although the broadcast order often different quite a lot from the production order, this was the last episode to be both filmed and broadcast.

"Turnabout Intruder" is, as I say, a perfectly reasonable episode on its own, but it's such a shame that they didn't round the series off more satisfyingly. At least we had the Animated Series, and, ten years later, the beginning of the movies.

-Third season overview-
As I have touched upon on many of my reviews, the third season is widely regarded amongst fans as being by far the weakest of the Original Series. Indeed, it did see a drop in a number of areas, most notably the many intelligent stories that we were treated to over the first and second season. In fairness, not all of the episodes are truly terrible, but I find most of them would have made average 'filler' stories, and the season suffers without having more episodes of real quality to bolster them up more.
And then, there are indeed some truly hideous episodes, such as the infamous "Spock's Brain", and the terrible 'space hippies' episode "The Way to Eden".moreless

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The end of the beginning

7.8

"Good"

By M00N-CAT, Jan 03, 2011 Report Abuse

Airing in June of 1969, "Turnabout Intruder" was aired as an afterthought (as TV shows typically bowed out during March and April back then), and in some ways was produced as an afterthought: the climax of this episode seems excessively rushed, robbing an interesting premise of the time and care it deserved.

Instead, the series' only episode focused primarily on gender issues comes across as an impediment to the wrap party. Add this to the fact that Dr. Lester, disturbed as she might be, might actually be *right* about the Starfleet of the Original Series, and you have a less-than- fitting end to a landmark television program.

This isn't to say that the entire episode is bad: Sandra Smith turns in an excellent performance as Dr. Lester, and more importantly, Kirk-in-Lester's body, better than Shatner's rushed take as Lester-in-Kirk's body. Also, there are numerous references (primarily by Smith as Kirk) to previous episodes, a nice touch in this, the final episode of the series.

What probably disturbs me the most about this episode is how poorly it has aged since I first saw it in the mid '80s. While Janice Lester is clearly off her rocker, the direction seems uncharacteristically harsh towards her. After all, we've seen a number of captains (and a few commodores, as well as a collection of admirals and high-ranking civilians) on Star Trek, and other than Chris Pike, Matt Decker, Garth, and Bob Wesley, they're generally a fairly pathetic bunch (and even Decker and Garth were all too human), validating Lester's claim that she could also do the job just as well, if not better. It's almost like the rare episodes of The Twilight Zone where the good characters are punished-while there might be a "good" ending, the viewer is ultimately cheated, as justice has clearly not been served.

But, then again, maybe that's the point-viewers in 1969 were clearly not content with the end of Trek, and they turned a failed TV show into a cultural icon.moreless

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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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Trivia
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- While in Kirk's body, Lester makes a Captain's Log explaining her plan. Edit
- This is one of the few episodes of the series where Nichelle Nichols (Lt. Uhura) does not appear at all. Barbara Baldavin, listed as a guest star, appears as the ship's Communications Officer. Edit
- At the climax of the episode, when Kirk-as-Lester is fighting with the Doctor and Lester-as-Kirk is screaming, "Kill him! Kill him!", Scotty, Bones and Spock just casually stroll out of the cell to watch the action, instead of rushing into the struggle. Note also the lack of any security guards on the cell of mutineers. Edit
Notes
ADD NOTES
- Just prior to the shooting of this final episode, William Shatner had contracted the flu. Since the production had to continue as scheduled, a cot was brought onto the set for Shatner to lie on in between his scenes. Edit
- With the obvious exception of William Shatner, Sandra Smith (Dr. Janice Lester) was the only other actor to play Captain James T. Kirk on any Star Trek series or movie until the 2009 movie where he was played by Chris Pine. Edit
- DeForest Kelley (Dr. McCoy) died exactly thirty years and eight days after this episode first aired. Edit
Quotes
ADD QUOTES
- Scotty: Suppose you voted with me in favor of Spock. That's two to one and Spock is free. What do you think the Captain will do? McCoy: I don't know. Scotty: You know, all right. The vote will stick in his craw. He'll never accept it. McCoy: We don't know that. Scotty: I tell you, he won't. Then, Doctor, that's the time we move against him. We'll have to take over the ship. McCoy: We're talking about a mutiny, Scotty. Scotty: Aye. Are you ready for the vote? McCoy: I'm ready for the vote. Edit
- Scotty: It may not be scientific, but if Mr. Spock thinks it happens, then it must be logical. Edit
- Lester: (as Kirk) It is mutiny! Deliberate, vindictive, insane at its base! Edit
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Aired 6/3/69
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