These two episodes are among Classic Trek's finest, showing the original series' daring in a couple of revolutionary hours.

Charlie X poses two questions which, asked together, really are kind of terrifying: what if a child was given ultimate power over matter and energy, to do with as he pleases - and what would that child do with such power when going through the insecurities, hormonal mood and body changes, and identity crises of adolescence? This is a story that future Trek series really never touched, and that's probably for the best, as the 24th century's too-perfect future (and the apparently utterly bland past-future of the 22nd century) would've robbed the story of its edge. One wonders why Charlie couldn't just influence the minds of others, a la the fist-shaking brats of season three's ...And The Children Shall Lead, but there are dramatic and logical reasons to counter that: dramatically, it raises the emotional stakes if Charlie has to try to win Janice Rand's heart on his own unusual merits, and logically, if Charlie grew up an orphan, why would the Thasians give him that ability to begin with?

Charlie X only loses some of its cohesion at the end, when we're bailed out by yet another godlike species (the first season universe is full of 'em), and some bizarre sound editing that re-loops dialogue over what could be poignant pauses as Charlie pleads with the bridge crew to let him stay.

Balance Of Terror sets a high standard for all future psychological-action-thrillers to follow in the Trek universe, and presents an idea which is, in the show's original Cold War context, groundbreaking: what if we come face-to-face with an evil empire we've all been taught to hate, only to find a society not unlike our own? What if, in fact, they look just like us (or, better yet, like early fan favorite Mr. Spock)? How can we hate them then?

There's more than just the introduction of the Romulans here, though. There's some genuine focus on life aboard the Enterprise (with the oft-imitated wedding sequence which has been quoted word-for-word in several on-screen Trek weddings since), a welcome glimpse of Starfleet officers with genuine flaws (an almost-justifiable prejudice), and some tactical thinking that, while it borrows heavily from submarine movies, is revolutionary for a space drama. Throw an armed nuke in with the debris and wait for Enterprise to find it? Babylon 5's John Sheridan would've been proud.

These are two of Trek's best hours, and still stand on their own merits today. As much as I want to count off for the usual lack of DVD extras outside of the four-pack of episode promos, the quality of these two episodes merits a four-star rating.

Reviewed by Earl Green
theLogBook.com webmaster / editor-in-chief