The Enemy Within by: Richard Matheson and directed by: Leo Penn

 

“The Enemy Within” is written by Richard Matheson and directed by Leo Penn.  It was filmed under production code 5, was the 5^th episode of Star Trek Season 1, and was broadcast on October 6, 1966.

 

Okay, let’s try this again.  Yes I tried to watch Star Trek five years ago and got in four episodes before I kind of stopped, though not for any particular reason for said stopping.  I think it might have just been getting into college and not knowing what I could dedicate to writing on a television series.  It wasn’t from not enjoying the four episodes I ended up watching, though I have rewatched them in preparation for reviving these reviews and still enjoyed them all to various degrees.  My good friend Joey Morgan is doing a series of video reactions to Star Trek with his brother so I thought maybe now would be a good time to rip him off and write actual reviews, picking up where I left off all those years ago.

 

Initially I was a little surprised to see the name Richard Matheson as a writer for Star Trek, though I honestly shouldn’t have been.  While my familiarity with Matheson is the novel I Am Legend, he was a prolific science fiction writer of novels and short stories, many of which he would adapt himself to film and television.  He also is famous for writing another television appearance of William Shatner, “Nightmare at 20,000 Feet” for The Twilight Zone in 1961, which is fitting as “The Enemy Within” is the best, at least of the first five episodes, at featuring the acting abilities of Shatner.  Yes, Shatner as an actor has a tendency to go over the top in his performances and as a person he’s not great, but here there are moments that Shatner sells by understating the emotions.  The premise of the episode is a classic science fiction yarn of technology splitting someone into two halves, Captain Kirk being transported to the Enterprise and splitting his good and bad qualities into separate entities.  Now this premise does lead to the inclusion of the assault of one of the female crewmembers which is sadly not handled well by really any standard.  The best thing I can say about that plot point is that it is at least outright condemned, but it’s quickly brushed under the rug and not necessarily explored that the character of Kirk could be driven to assault and using his power as Captain over others.  The exploration and conclusion that people need both good and evil inside them is perhaps an astute one, it’s what makes them human and very much seems in line with the philosophy Gene Roddenberry has set out for Star Trek.

 

The directing of the episode honestly is great with Leo Penn’s camera work knowing just when to cut to keep the confrontations between the good and evil Kirk together, as well as attempts to make the tension in the close-up shots wonderful.  It adds a sense of desperation to two of the aspects of the episode.  First, there is a group of crewman stuck on the planet the Enterprise is orbiting and the temperature is continually dropping where George Takei’s Sulu gives a stirring performance despite his appearance just being a status report.  Second, there is this desperation that both Kirk’s may die if they do not recombine, with the good Kirk at points genuinely crying out to his double, pleading to let them both live.  Leonard Nimoy and DeForrest Kelley assist in this essentially acting as devil and angel as Spock and McCoy in this episode as this is the first time Star Trek is really establishing these three characters as the lead trio with the rest of the cast being supporting.

 

Overall, “The Enemy Within” has some very nice musings on human nature and the necessity for the potential of darkness, something that overcomes some very dodgy set pieces and dated plot points.  It continues a thread of speculative fiction tropes that do an excellent job of understanding what this show wants and needs to be in order to succeed.  While some of it drags, the performances are brilliant and it’s show defining.  8/10.