Standard Orbit: A Star Trek Original Series Podcast
Oct 6, 2026 · 49 min · 12 segments
“Charlie X” 60th-anniversary reflections While investigating the planet Thasus, the crew of the Antares takes in a young crash survivor who had been stranded alone for 14 years. The boy, Charlie…
Matthew RushingHost
C Bryan JonesHost
[laughs] All right, everyone, we're going to continue our 60th anniversary look at TOS today with the second aired episode of the series, which is Charlie X.
While investigating the planet Thasus, the crew of the Antares takes in a young crash survivor who had been stranded alone for 14 years.
The boy, Charlie Evans, is then transferred to the Enterprise where his teenage angst becomes amplified as he tries to fit in with other humans.
Attempts by Kirk, Rand, and others to help him acclimate are made far more difficult thanks to Charlie's psychokinetic powers.
Acting out whenever something doesn't go his way, Charlie eventually takes over the Enterprise, and the non-corporeal Thasians, who protected him during years of isolation and are responsible for his powers, are forced to step in and bring Charlie back home.
[laughs] He freaks me out anyway, and I can only imagine that if I were Rand, I might be very uncomfortable with the fixation that he has on me.
Yeah, I mean, uh, this is an interesting part of the episode, and I think that the most interesting part is the fact that this is so incredibly relevant still.
And, and a part of that is the way in which certain men who, you know, have not progressed in maturity can end up fixated on things, and specifically people, in a way that is dangerous-
And, and I think, you know, look, the whole part of this character is to partially be a commentary on the idea of nature versus nurture, right?
And so that, you know, with no nurturing, the fact that all he grows up with are, uh, tapes and, you know, a computer to talk to-
... who cannot love him back, cannot reach out to him, cannot, uh, actually teach him from right and wrong, it, it can only talk logically in that sense.
I mean, there really is a whole conversation here about what it means to, like, nurture someone, but also so much of what we learn about society and culture are the unwritten rules, and those are the other things you can't learn.
And so, um, and, and what happens when, uh, you run into somebody who hasn't learned those?
And so yes, you, you find him here, um, being a character who is only driven by kind of like his instinct.
[laughs] All right, everyone, we're going to continue our 60th anniversary look at TOS today with the second aired episode of the series, which is Charlie X.
While investigating the planet Thasus, the crew of the Antares takes in a young crash survivor who had been stranded alone for 14 years.
The boy, Charlie Evans, is then transferred to the Enterprise where his teenage angst becomes amplified as he tries to fit in with other humans.
Attempts by Kirk, Rand, and others to help him acclimate are made far more difficult thanks to Charlie's psychokinetic powers.
Acting out whenever something doesn't go his way, Charlie eventually takes over the Enterprise, and the non-corporeal Thasians, who protected him during years of isolation and are responsible for his powers, are forced to step in and bring Charlie back home.
[laughs] He freaks me out anyway, and I can only imagine that if I were Rand, I might be very uncomfortable with the fixation that he has on me.
Yeah, I mean, uh, this is an interesting part of the episode, and I think that the most interesting part is the fact that this is so incredibly relevant still.
And, and a part of that is the way in which certain men who, you know, have not progressed in maturity can end up fixated on things, and specifically people, in a way that is dangerous-
And, and I think, you know, look, the whole part of this character is to partially be a commentary on the idea of nature versus nurture, right?
And so that, you know, with no nurturing, the fact that all he grows up with are, uh, tapes and, you know, a computer to talk to-
... who cannot love him back, cannot reach out to him, cannot, uh, actually teach him from right and wrong, it, it can only talk logically in that sense.
I mean, there really is a whole conversation here about what it means to, like, nurture someone, but also so much of what we learn about society and culture are the unwritten rules, and those are the other things you can't learn.
And so, um, and, and what happens when, uh, you run into somebody who hasn't learned those?
And so yes, you, you find him here, um, being a character who is only driven by kind of like his instinct.
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