‘Star Trek’ Retro Recap: ‘Turnabout Intruder’

Written by John Edward Betancourt

When one thinks of the series finale of a television show, one often hopes that the series that is leaving the airwaves, has made preparations to properly put an end to the saga it brought to life, with a final tale that brings forth satisfying closure and a wonderful farewell. But while some shows are able to do that in an absolutely brilliant fashion, there are plenty of other shows out there that never quite get this opportunity. For the ratings just aren’t there, prompting the network to cancel the series, which makes an everyday season finale a series finale. One that might not offer a comfortable and satisfying end and sadly, this is precisely what happened with Star Trek back in 1969.
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Because despite having a supremely dedicated fanbase, one that gave birth to season three in the first place with an impassioned letter writing campaign, the show never caught on with the masses. Which means that due to poor ratings overall, the season three finale was converted instead into the series finale. One that is disappointing for certain. In part because we never got to finish the five-year mission and learn what made this crew pull apart when we catch up with them in 1979’s The Motion Picture. But also because the series ends on a bit of a sour note, since ‘Turnabout Intruder’ is an episode that once again features a phenomenal idea that fell to pieces somewhere along the line during production.

Which is quite the shame, because this episode could have been ahead of its time. For it features a former love of Captain Kirk’s named Dr. Janice Lester, switching minds with Kirk by way of a unique alien device so she can finally command a starship, something that it seems is uncommon in Starfleet in the 23rd century and that is quite the powerful setup. Because it could have led to a beautiful discussion on how women are equal to men, and how they can do the job just as well as anyone else. Plus, this tale could have dug deep into gender identity issues by way of that mind flip. But it doesn’t take long to realize that this story is going to do very little in regard to those progressive themes, instead, it devolves into a tale that outright insults women through and through.

Because this episode features every negative and false trope that’s ever existed about women. Such as the lie that they cannot be good leaders because they’re too emotional or prone to hysterics since the Lester/Kirk hybrid constantly flies off the handled when challenged or questioned over simple stuff and this is just… awful to watch. Because it isn’t progressive in the slightest, which is counterintuitive to what Star Trek stands for and it really does make this episode difficult to get through, since the false narrative of female incompetence is only reinforced with more over the top and ridiculous moments as the episode rolls along. And that’s sadly how this series comes to a close, on a supremely sexist and misogynistic note and that’s stunning to say the least.

But while this is unfortunate for certain, eventually this franchise sets this mistake right by offering up equality in later storylines, since the fans were eventually treated to a magnificent female captain and later admiral in Kathryn Janeway. And while this is also a rough place to the end the five-year mission, the beautiful stories that the film franchise brought forth also make up for this woeful mistake and really in the end, this episode is nothing more than an unfortunate time capsule and well, that’s really all there is to say in regard to this tale and sadly, this part of the franchise as well. Because that’s it, the missions are over, the movies await and the next time we settle in to discuss a voyage through the stars, it will be to pick up the mantle, of the next generation. Until then.

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