The Enemy Within first aired on October 6, 1966. The writer, Richard Matheson found inspiration from Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde and spun a plot around the two halves we all have, a good side and a bad side. The fifth episode, or sixth if you are counting the Pilot, carries three themes. The overall theme consists of the duality of personality. At one time Spock tells Bones
“being split in two halves is no theory to me, doctor. I have a Human half, you see, as well as an alien half, submerged, constantly at war with each other. Personal experience, doctor. I survive because my intelligence wins over both, makes them live together.”
The second theme is the need for the “bad side” for an effective leader. Recently, studies show that leaders do have a different psychology. Third, the attack on Janice Rand provides insight into women’s roles in the 1960s and how the series saw a change as we traveled to the stars.
Plus, the Enemy Within is the first time we see the Vulcan Neck Pinch and set the status of the line “He’s dead, Jim”! Therefore, let’s level set with the plot line.
The Plot
The episode opens on Alfa 177 where the landing party is collecting specimens. Sulu is cuddling an alien unicorn puppy, which seems as happy as a purring kitten in his arms. We hear the planet can reach 120 degrees below zero at night time. Brrrrrr.
Fisher trips and hurts himself. He transports to the Enterprise for medical attention. As he does so, some strange ore on his uniform causes a malfunction with the transporter. Captain Kirk transports next and seems disoriented when the transport completes. Scotty helps the Captain to sick bay. The transporter room is empty as a second Captain Kirk beams in.
We now have Good Kirk/Bad Kirk to keep straight. The first way to know which is which are the shirts. Bad Kirk is in the gold shirt with black trim. We see him enter sick bay and demand Saurian Brandy. Cut to the Captain’s quarters and Spock enters. Good Kirk is wearing an olive-green shirt with Gold braid. Spock tells Good Kirk the Doctor reported he was acting like a wild man demanding brandy.
At this point the Officers do not know about the duplication. However, that changes in the next scene where we see Good Kirk and Spock in the transporter room. The sweet unicorn puppy had duplicated when it beamed up. They now know they cannot transport the crew on the surface and night is coming. It’s going to get a bit chilly for Sulu and the boys.
In the meantime, Bad Kirk has been roaming the corridors, drinking brandy and lets himself in Yeoman Rand’s quarters. When she enters, he talks about how beautiful she is and their attractions for each other. He grabs her and attempts to rape her. She fights him. Scratches his face. As her door opens, Fisher is walking by and she yells at him to call Mr. Spock. Bad Kirk chases Fisher down and knocks him out.
In Sick Bay, Yeoman Rand is questioned by Bones, Kirk, and Spock. I’ve seen this scene many times. However, this time, in the light of the Me Too movement, I notice the questioning is without accusation. It really isn’t questioning. She is not made to feel like she led Kirk on. She is not made to feel as if she were making it up. Yeoman Rand tells them, “I fought you. I scratched your face.”
Kirk says, “Look at me Yoeman. I have no scratches. It wasn’t me.”
Yeoman Rand looks and becomes confused. But I’m sure … Then Fischer comes from the other room and confirms her story. Spock, concludes, “the only logical answer is that we have an imposter aboard.”
Now that we know about the split, we begin to see the progression of Good Vs Bad Kirk and Kirk’s leadership abilities faltering. He finds it harder and harder to make command decisions. We also see the growing psychosis in the Bad Kirk. When Good Kirk announces on the ship’s intercom about the imposter, we see Bad Kirk fly into a rage “I’m Captain Kirk!”
During the ship wide search, Spock and Kirk go to the lower decks, the place Kirk says he would go to avoid a ship wide search. Good Kirk finds Bad Kirk and tries to talk him into coming with him. Bad Kirk has a phaser pointed at Good Kirk. At the crucial moment, Spock steps out behind Bad Kirk and incapacitates him with the Vulcan Neck Pinch. Bad Kirk also blows a hole in the wall.
And we’re back in sick bay. Bad Kirk is strapped to the bed screaming. Bones provides a diagnosis. He’s dying. The general consensus is there has to be a way to get the two of them back as one. They both need each other. Great timing on that decision because the transporter room calls with a working hypothesis. The transporter is fixed and they are going to test the hypothesis on the unicorn puppy.
Cut to the transporter room … both puppies go into the transporter. One puppy comes out. Bones pronounces, “He’s dead, Jim”. The first of meany “He’s dead” from Bones to eventually become a filk song.
The big debate ensues where Spock claims that Kirk will survive because he is a man with intellect. Kirk, struggles with the debate. “Help me. Somebody make the decision.” To which Spock replies, “Are you relinquishing Command?”
Kirk does not relinquish command, but goes to sick bay to retrieve the Bad Kirk and take him to the transporter for them to be joined. The Back Kirk tricks the Good Kirk, knocks him out and heads to the bridge where he orders the crew to leave orbit. Bones and the Good Kirk arrive on the Bridge. Good Kirk talks Bad Kirk down. They take him to the transporter room.
Both Kirks go into the transporter. One Kirk comes out. In the standard commanding Kirk manner, the one Kirk orders “Get those men above fast!”
Themes
As mentioned, there are basically three themes in this story line: (1) We all have a good side and a bad side, (2) the role the bad side plays in leadership, and (3) the rights of a women attacked by her boss. I’m going to skip commentary on the first theme, but will provide some commentary on the last two. I think Leonard Nimoy explains the Good vs. Evil theme better than I ever could in the following clip.
The Role of the “Bad Side” in Leadership
In 1960, we hear Spock speculate that it was Kirk’s “bad side”, the evil twin, that made him an effective leader. It wasn’t until 2006 when Babiak and Hare published Snakes in Suits when we learn about the Dark Triad of the leader personality that comprises Psychopathy, Narcissism, and Machiavellianism.
It appears the writers of Star Trek were speculating about what psychologists will soon identify that not all psychopaths are serial killers. There are successful psychopaths. So today, we still consider psychopathy as a personality disorder. However, psychopathy is probably one of the most debated disorders. The psychological test for psychopathy, Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R) measures subjects on a scale. Scores of 30 or above qualifies a person as a primary psychopath. Hare recommend persons with scores between 21 and 29 to be classified as middle subjects.
The successful psychopath can have the personality traits relating to psychopathy, but avoid the criminal deviance behavior. These people exhibit charm, cool decisiveness, and confidence. They can demonstrate loyalty and trust as long as it suits their plans. The key to their success if an uncanny ability to make an outstanding first impression on peers, coworkers, and hiring managers. The Wexler test identifies common corporate labels found when searching for an Executive. Each label compares to a psychopath characteristic.
I’m not saying Kirk was a psychopath. Nor am I saying all CEOs are psychopaths! However, there is considerable research that indicates leadership requires a higher score on the psychopathy scale to be successful. For example, courage is a valued trait, which accompanies the psychopathic “lack of fear.” Ability to live with tough decisions translates to the psychopath’s lack of emotional intelligence and empathy.
The flip side is the well-balanced Dr Jekyll and Mr. Hyde. The most highly sought-after leader leads with integrity, compassion, and values human dignity. Yet the successul leader balances the good with the bad and finds a way to live with their decisions that may not sit with their ethics. There are episodes within the Star Trek universe where we see Captains deal with the tough decisions, the ethics, and ramifications of their decisions. I think eventually, the term Psychopath will not be part of the personality disorders listed in the DSM-IV.
Women’s Rights
In the 1960s the Penal code defining rape was reformed from Blackstone’s concept of forcing a woman to have sex to include nonviolent duress, such as threatening to fire someone or take away the custody of their children. Not all states in the US adopted the new Model Penal Code. Even those who generally followed the code continued to define rape as a crime of physical violence. Consider the laws of the 1960s with the filming of Kirk forcing himself on Yeoman Rand. Consider the women who faced similar situations in the 1960s watching this scene and the emotions they felt watching it.
Today we know that people who experience a rape attack can suffer from Rape Trauma Syndrome (RTS). RTS is similar to Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome (PTSD). The difference between the two syndromes center around the symptoms and cause. While some people may say to simply call the reactions after rape as PTSD, I see one of the main reasons to discuss the aftermath as Rape Trauma Syndrome due to the nature of the attack. Consider the following statistics – in the US, it is estimated that over 270K people over the age of 12 have been victimized by rape and sexual assault; however, only 41% were reported to police. Even today, 60 years later, sexual assault carries so much stigma that victims do not come forward or even seek help.
Think about the stigma, the shame, the fear that women in the 1960s felt as they were moving into the workforce and faced with male bosses who believed that No meant Yes and the boss was entitled. In looking through the online clips, I don’t find one of the debriefing of Yeoman Rand after the attack. However, what I noticed was something women today do not even face. She faced her attacker, her Captain, without fear of retaliation. It was one woman with three men. Yet, these men treated her with respect. Captain Kirk, being accused of the attack did not speak down to her. He treater her with respect. They did not discount her story. They assumed she was telling the truth. If this were Next Generation, Yeoman Rand would get free counseling and help immediately.
In the 21st century, we still make people feel like they are responsible for being sexually attacked. By the 23rd century, let’s hope we’ve grown to show respect and treat victims with compassion. Until then, if you have experienced sexual assault or know someone who has, please reach out to your local rape crisis center or you can find resources to help at the National Sexual Violence Resource Center (nsvrc.org).
References
https://journals-sagepub-com.ezproxy.snhu.edu/doi/pdf/10.1177/1077801212440020
https://scholarship.law.umn.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1577&context=lawineq