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“The Enemy Within”
Star Trek: The Original Series  Episode
The-enemy-within-title-card-01.jpg
In-Universe Details
Stardate1672.1
Date12 May 2266  (Terran)
LocationUSS Enterprise
PlanetAlfa 177
SystemAlpha Honorus
QuadrantBeta
Background Information
James Kirk's evil counterpart.jpg
Production
Written byRichard Matheson
Directed byLeo Penn
Produced byGene Roddenberry
John D. F. Black (AP)
Robert H. Justman (AP)
EpisodeTOS: 1x04
Production No.6149-05
Date aired6 October 1966
Chronology
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In-universe events
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The Naked Time
Main Article This subject has a "real world" background information article! Click here for more information In-Universe
Sulu on Alfa 177

"The Enemy Within" is the fifth episode of the first season of the American science fiction television series, Star Trek. Written by Richard Matheson and directed by Leo Penn, it first aired on October 6, 1966.

Story and production[edit | edit source]

  • Writer Richard Matheson's main influence on writing this episode was Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, as he envisioned Robert Louis Stevenson's classic story put in a science fiction context. He eventually came up with the idea of the transporter causing a man to be split into two halves.[1]
  • The subplot of Sulu and three other crewmembers stranded on the planet was not present in Matheson's original script, and was added in staff re-writes. Matheson did not like the idea, as he had an aversion to B-stories in general, believing they slowed stories down. He explained, "My script stayed entirely with Bill [Shatner] having this trouble of his two selves, on the ship [...] They added a whole subplot about people down on the planet, ready to freeze to death, because they have [a] transporter functioning problem [...] I stuck entirely with Bill."[2]
  • The last two scenes of Act One are switched in order from what appears in the script. In the teleplay, Kirk and Spock learn about the assault of Janice in sickbay, then head to the transporter room, where they are faced with the discovery that the transporter is creating duplicates. The act ends with Scotty suggesting, "We don't dare beam up the landing party. If this should happen to a man…" and Kirk exclaiming, "Oh, my God!" In the episode itself, the sickbay scene follows the one in the transporter room, and the act ends with Spock declaring, "There's only one conclusion – we have an impostor aboard." Director Leo Penn was known to reorganize scenes when he deemed them to be more dramatic in a different order from what was scripted.[3]
  • In the final draft and the revised final draft of this episode's script, McCoy mused that part of "the Human condition" was having "an enemy within."
  • Grace Lee Whitney once recounted that, while shooting the scene when a distraught, tearful Janice Rand accuses Captain Kirk of trying to rape her, William Shatner slapped her across the face to get her to register the proper emotion.[4] As they shot the rape scene days earlier, Whitney couldn't get into the same emotion successfully, and it was Shatner's "solution" to the problem.[5]

Props and sets[edit | edit source]

Scott and Fisher with a spectrum scanner
Spock and Kirk in engineering
  • A shot, showing two extras (Frank da Vinci and Ron Veto) in red technician jumpsuits (and Veto holding the aforementioned "Cutie Pie" prop) in the engineering set was filmed, but cut from the episode. It was probably filmed as an insert shot for scenes at engineering.[7]
  • The gauzy, red-bordered triangular set piece behind which the evil Kirk emerges briefly in engineering during the hunt scene appears to have been left over from the early briefing room as seen in “The Cage” and “Where No Man Has Gone Before”.

Special effects[edit | edit source]

A sketch that Matt Jefferies did for the "Sulu heats rock" sequence
  • This is the only appearance of the showering phaser effect, used when Sulu heats the rock to provide warmth for himself and the other stranded on Alfa 177.
  • There are two split screens used: after Kirk's double is neck-pinched and, in sickbay, when he takes the hand of his counterpart. All other instances of the two Kirks appearing in the same shot were done using doubles.

Costumes[edit | edit source]

  • At the start of the episode when Kirk is beamed up from Alfa 177, both he and his evil counterpart are missing the Enterprise insignia on their uniforms. Lieutenant Farrell is also missing his insignia at some points during the episode (and also in a shot recycled from this episode in “Mudd's Women”). The Star Trek Compendium suggests that the insignia were removed every time the uniforms were cleaned (union rules required them to be cleaned daily), and during production of this episode, someone forgot to put them back on Kirk and Farrell's uniforms.
  • The first season version of the captain's wraparound tunic was created for this episode, with the original purpose of differentiating Kirk from his double. It reappears in “Charlie X” and “Court Martial”, and in Kirk's briefcase in “This Side of Paradise”. The tunic was constructed of wool crêpe fabric, in contrast to the velour of the standard duty tunics.

Continuity[edit | edit source]

  • Spock's log entry in this episode calls himself "Second Officer Spock", however, in "Court Martial" the computer lists him as "First Officer Spock" and from then on is referred to as a "first officer" until his return in Star Trek: The Motion Picture as simply science officer.
  • This was the first episode to show the Vulcan nerve pinch, as well as the first time McCoy says "He's dead, Jim." Leonard Nimoy objected to the script's directive that Spock "kayoes" the evil Kirk on the head, so he improvised the neck pinch on the spot and demonstrated it on William Shatner for director Leo Penn. (Star Trek Encyclopedia) The script's original directive survives to this day in the James Blish adaptation of this episode (in the book Star Trek 8) as Blish only had access to the scripts and not to the finished episodes.
  • The transporter was depicted as the only mode of transport between a planet and the ship because this episode was written and filmed before the existence of the hangar deck and shuttlecraft were established.[8]
  • This episode establishes that the phaser two unit consists of a phaser one unit fitted into a pistol mount. Sulu can be seen doing this just before he phasers the rocks for warmth. This procedure is seen in no other episode.
  • In the sequence of aired episodes, this is the first episode where we see or hear the new middle initial for James Kirk. "Captain James T. Kirk" is briefly visible as the negative-Kirk enters Kirk's quarters. The initial was first spoken in “Mudd's Women”, but that episode aired after "The Enemy Within".
  • In the latter part of the scene where the two Kirks appear together on the bridge, a close-up shot of the Negative Kirk shows the scratches on the right side of his face, although wider shots (and all earlier scenes) showed they were on the left side. This was due to the shot being reversed during editing. Director Leo Penn and cameraman Jerry Finnerman mistakenly filmed the close-up out of axis, breaking the 180-degree rule, and editor Fabien Tordjmann could only help by reversing it, hoping the audience won't notice the resulting continuity error.[9]

Apocrypha[edit | edit source]

  • In the novel Foul Deeds Will Rise, the duplication witnessed here is documented as 'the Alfa Effect', with another character duplicating the effect to give herself an alibi for various murders (One of her appears in public while the other commits the crimes), claiming to have adjusted the balance so that both duplicates share the same personality traits as opposed to the imbalance witnessed here (although the duplicates do demonstrate a divergence later, with one being more violent while the other accepts their failure).

Preview[edit | edit source]

  • The preview contains a Captain's Log recorded solely for the preview, but based on one from the finished episode: "Captain's log, stardate 1672.9. Due to the malfunction of the ship's transporter, an unexplained duplicate of myself exists."

Reception[edit | edit source]

  • Actress Grace Lee Whitney was very unhappy about the last scene of this episode, in which Spock asks Yeoman Rand, if "the impostor had some very interesting qualities, wouldn't you say, yeoman?". In her autobiography, she wrote: "I can't imagine any more cruel and insensitive comment a man (or Vulcan) could make to a woman who has just been through a sexual assault! But then, some men really do think that women want to be raped. So the writer of the script (ostensibly Richard Matheson – although the line could have been added by Gene Roddenberry or an assistant scribe) gives us a leering Mr. Spock who suggests that Yeoman Rand enjoyed being raped and found the evil Kirk attractive!" (The Longest Trek: My Tour of the Galaxy, p. 95)
  • Despite this, Whitney enjoyed this episode. "I liked 'The Enemy Within' because seeing Captain Kirk act in that fashion challenged me as an actress." (Starlog #105, April 1986, p. 49) Several years later she echoed those sentiments, stating "I love "The Enemy Within" because it gave me a chance to really react and act with Bill Shatner. I love it! I loved the whole concept of him breaking into two characters because that really was what Kirk and Rand were about. There were two sides of Kirk and two sides of Rand. Rand was there to be of service to him but she was also in love with him. But she knew she mustn't go over-go the boundaries."[10]
  • Director Leo Penn also praised Shatner's performance. "William Shatner's a very good actor and gave a very good performance… I had a good time on that show."[10]
  • Richard Matheson elaborated, "I thought Bill Shatner was brilliant. I loved what he did. He carried the whole thing. I was a little sorry that Roddenberry put so much emphasis on the crew being stuck on the planet [....] But I liked it and I was very satisfied with the production value."[10]
  • Roddenberry picked this as one of his ten favorite episodes for the franchise's 25th anniversary.[12]

Syndication cuts[edit | edit source]

During the syndication run of Star Trek, the following scenes were typically cut from broadcast

  • Extended scene of Scott preparing to beam Kirk up to the ship.
  • A longer conversation between Spock and Good Kirk about Evil Kirk demanding brandy from McCoy.
  • Extended scene of Evil Kirk in Rand's quarters.
  • Additional segments of discussion with Rand and Fisher in sickbay.
  • Extra dialogue between Good Kirk and Spock, followed by another scene showing the two entering engineering to look for Evil Kirk.
  • Longer reports from Sulu on the surface of the planet, including a split scene of Sulu speaking to Kirk, then a shot of the Enterprise in orbit, followed by Kirk's reply.

Video and DVD releases[edit | edit source]

Production timeline[edit | edit source]

Cast[edit | edit source]

Starring[edit | edit source]

Featuring[edit | edit source]

And

Uncredited co-stars[edit | edit source]

Stunt double[edit | edit source]

Stand-ins[edit | edit source]

References[edit | edit source]

  1. ^ Cushman, Marc. "Excerpt from "The Writing of 'The Enemy Within' " - The Story Behind The Story". Jacobs Brown Media Group. Archived from the original on 3 March 2014. Retrieved 9 December 2019. 
  2. ^ Herman, Karen (16 April 2002). "The Interviews - Richard Matheson". Television Academy Foundation. Academy of Television Arts & Sciences. Retrieved 9 December 2019. 
  3. ^ Eversole, Dave. "The Enemy Within". Orion Press. Retrieved 7 December 2019. 
  4. ^ "Bring Back Star Trek 3/8" on YouTube
  5. ^ Whitney, Grace Lee; Denney, Jim (July 1998). The Longest Trek: My Tour of the Galaxy. Quill Driver Books. p. 94. ISBN 188495605X. 
  6. ^ "Nuclear-Chicago Model 2586 "Cutie Pie" (1957 - 1960)". Health Physics Historical Instrumentation Museum Collection. Oak Ridge Associated Universities. 10 May 2011. Retrieved 9 December 2019. 
  7. ^ "Contributors Part 1". startrekhistory.com. Star Trek History. 10 May 2011. Clip 19. Retrieved 9 December 2019. 
  8. ^ Star Trek Encyclopedia (? ed., p. ?)
  9. ^ Cushman, Marc; Osborn, Susan (August 2013). These Are the Voyages: TOS Season One. Jacobs Brown Press. ISBN 0989238113. 
  10. ^ a b c Cushman, Marc; Osborn, Susan (August 2013). These Are the Voyages: TOS Season One. Jacobs Brown Press. p. 159. ISBN 0989238113. 
  11. ^ Beam Me Up, Scotty, p. 132
  12. ^ TV Guide, August 31, 1991

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