In this episode the standard monster-of-the-week plot line is tweaked with pathos and a fascinating guest character. Charles Evans grew up without exposure to other humans, and so he has no social skills, a desperate need to be liked, a sincere desire to do good, and a growing frustration about not succeeding among his own kind. But he also has godlike abilities imparted on him by the benevolent aliens who raised him. When his frustrations and neurosis boil over, he acts out, using his powers to hurt, until finally he becomes a vicious tyrant because, in his eyes, everybody around him deserves it. The Enterprise crew has a problem for which the only real solution is the sad ending Charlie inevitably arrives at.
It's such a good episode because his character makes it work: he wants everything to work out well but he doesn't know how to do it. It's also good because it presents a realistic, sad resolution to the problem: Kirk and company want to help him, but like most of us they do not know the right way to address Charlie's problems. Nobody gets to be the hero and save the day: all anybody can do is helplessly watch as poor Charlie gets taken back by the aliens to the lonely, unhappy life he had before. Watch William Shatner carefully in the final moments of the episode: grieved for the kid he couldn't save. It's science fiction at it's most heart-tugging.
The episode has one pretty jarring drawback: the scene where Uhura sings to Spock is awkward and difficult to sit through without feeling embarrassed for Nichelle Nichols; it could have been played better.
It's such a good episode because his character makes it work: he wants everything to work out well but he doesn't know how to do it. It's also good because it presents a realistic, sad resolution to the problem: Kirk and company want to help him, but like most of us they do not know the right way to address Charlie's problems. Nobody gets to be the hero and save the day: all anybody can do is helplessly watch as poor Charlie gets taken back by the aliens to the lonely, unhappy life he had before. Watch William Shatner carefully in the final moments of the episode: grieved for the kid he couldn't save. It's science fiction at it's most heart-tugging.
The episode has one pretty jarring drawback: the scene where Uhura sings to Spock is awkward and difficult to sit through without feeling embarrassed for Nichelle Nichols; it could have been played better.