TOS: The Enemy Within

[Yukaphile]

I also think an evil Kirk would be more aggressive, lust for revenge and the slaughter of his enemies. I mean, we saw hints of that with Kodos, so it'd be more pronounced if evil Kirk inherited it.

[BridgeConsoleMasher]

He'd probably be a bigot too.

[Makeshift Python]

I dunno. I think fear is good, despite what Yoda says. Fear can help you make good decisions that save your own life, or protect the safety of others. This strikes me as... Gene being Gene. My "perfect humans" will never be afraid! Only their evil halves are terrified!

Like I said earlier, its really all about a balance that both Kirks are lacking when separated. Fear can be helpful, but without the intellect that calms one’s emotions one can’t be able to control that fear properly. The episode is arguing that all aspects of Kirk’s personality are perfectly valid for the whole, only they’re weaker when separated. To take even one aspect of Kirk away is to make him a lesser person.

[Yukaphile]

I guess it ties back to what I'd said. It needed more fleshing out the rest of the season gave the series.

[Makeshift Python]

One aspect I don’t like is that they kept referring to the aggressive half as the “impostor” after it’s established they’re both split versions of the original Kirk, the implication being he’s not as valid as the more meek Kirk that’s working with the crew. Maybe that kind of thing would have been thought out better in later episodes.

[Darth Wedgius]

One aspect I don’t like is that they kept referring to the aggressive half as the “impostor” after it’s established they’re both split versions of the original Kirk, the implication being he’s not as valid as the more meek Kirk that’s working with the crew. Maybe that kind of thing would have been thought out better in later episodes.

I think there being an "imposter" that was the story they were giving to the crew.

[Yukaphile]

So, here's another issue I'd had with the episode (I saw it recently within the last few months), and it's... if Sulu and that other guy (I forgot who) were freezing down on the planet, and the transporters weren't working... why not send a shuttle down to retrieve them? Now, this is a point I remembered all through my watch-through, wondering, "Why the flipping hell don't you idiots send a shuttle down?" I wouldn't have minded if they came up with some excuses on why a shuttle wouldn't work, but as far as I recall, they don't even give us that, so it looks like Sulu and that other guy are freezing to death when you just wanna bang your head on the wall and scream, "DOES IT NEVER OCCUR TO YOU GUYS TO USE THE SHUTTLES?!" This is another example of what I mean about how it's early TOS, and needed more fleshing out that the later half of the season gave it which made it truly memorable.

[Makeshift Python]

Because shuttlecrafts were not written into the show by that point. By that time the writers thought beaming was the only mode of transport from ship to planet and vice versa.

[Yukaphile]

Exactly, but I'm not speaking "because it wasn't part of the show" then. You really default into that explanation a LOT. I'm talking within universe, not out of universe.

[Makeshift Python]

Well that would be easy: I would assume the shuttlecrafts were inoperable at that time. There. Done.