Last, and somewhat least, “Turnabout Intruder” is considered to be a shockingly bad conclusion to the Original Series’s dismal third season. Less of a grand finale, and more just the final episode that aired before the show was ended by the network, Captain Kirk’s closing adventure managed to crap upon everything the show symbolized. In possibly a well-meaning attempt to portray the difficulties that women had in obtaining positions of power, the episode fails to consider these issues would have been long resolved in the utopian future envisioned by Star Trek. The result is a backward commentary which was considered sexist even when it first aired in 1969.
Responding to a distress call from Camus II, the Enterprise rescues the survivors of a botched archaeological expedition. Among them, Kirk finds his former lover, Dr. Janice Lester, who has more than a chip on her shoulder concerning how things turned out. Dr. Lester is bitter that she was never given the chance to be a Starfleet captain, and believes that it is because she is a woman that she was denied this opportunity. When she and Kirk are alone, she switches bodies with him using an ancient alien device. She then assumes the role of captain of the Enterprise in her newly acquired male body.
Perhaps the most obvious flaw in the story is its entire premise. Women could become captains in Starfleet, and we see higher ranking female officers throughout the series. Dr. Lester is so fixated on the ‘indignity of being a woman’, but her grievances are completely misguided. On the surface, Lester’s rebellion presents itself as a social commentary of the issues that women face in the workplace at the time the episode aired. However, since the story focused so closely on Lester trying to maintain her control (in the body of Captain Kirk), it never really explores these issues with any depth. Also, the fact that Lester’s biological sex was not an obstacle to her advancement, the issues never existed for her to begin with. Instead, the writing might suggest a more subtle and progressive message, which perhaps saves this from being one of the worst episodes ever made. The underlying commentary could be seen as an exploration of power and authority, regardless of gender roles.
Captain Kirk built his leadership on fostering trust and good relationships with his colleagues. Dr. Lester assumed that all she needed was a man’s body and all power would be transferred to her. She was immediately met with complications, but refused to acknowledge that the issue was herself. Moreover, the crew was at a loss as to what to make of the captain’s strange behavior. In an interesting exploration of power dynamics, the senior officers were the most skeptical of this new ‘Captain Kirk’ while the lower ranking personnel were content to follow orders, even if said orders defied logic. This illustrates Kirk’s superior leadership qualities, where he values the opinions and input of others instead of simply expecting blind obedience. Dr. Lester’s refusal to let others examine the key witness during an inquiry, or hear any opposition to her orders, raised the other officer’s suspicions to her detriment.
The more advanced one becomes in any career, the more he or she will see colleagues as equals, even those in higher positions, as one learns to question authority. Spock, McCoy, and Scotty were not intimidated by rank, and instead saw the unusual behavior of their closest friend. The education, experience, and confidence of the senior officers was a greater impediment to an absolute and unchecked authority than any simple male/female dynamic. They band together more and more throughout the episode, determined to find the truth about their captain.
In addition to its exploration of power and authority, the episode also presents a meta-analysis of how we may interpret such an antagonist as Dr. Lester. When she first declares that Starfleet denied her the captain’s chair because she is a woman, and all she needs is Kirk’s body and she would succeed, our cultural context would interpret this as a story about sexism. However, since we know that women can become starship captains, it is more accurately a story about delusion. The real Kirk emphasizes that Lester did not merit a captain position because of her temperament and lack of training. Dr. Lester is instead simply a deluded villain who is carrying out actions based on mistaken belief. Many such villains exist, and either they have an understandable motivation but direct their revenge on a mistaken target, or they are acting on the conclusions of a warped philosophy. Dr. Lester is more the latter than the former.
In a magical out of body sequence that is explained as well as the alien soul switching machine, Kirk discovers that strong emotions or resistance will return the two back into their original bodies. In the end, Dr. Coleman, a physician serving with Dr. Lester on the archaeological expedition, offers to ‘take care of her’. Through the lens of our own social baggage, this sounds like she is a weak woman who needs to be taken care of by a man. However, it could just as easily be interpreted as a physician wanting to take care of her as a mental patient. Perhaps society may reach a point where we would see Dr. Lester as a mistaken villain, once the idea of inequality between the sexes is long forgotten. Future generations, lacking our social context, will see a story exploring the corrupting influence of ambition and power, universal among all humans.
Hopeless Trekkie 