History Recap / StarTrekS3E24TurnaboutIntruder

* ContinuityNod: Kirk (while in Lester's body) recalls the events of "The Empath" and "The Tholian Web" to Spock.

* DidntThinkThisThrough: Lester pitches a huge fit when one of her orders is questioned... '''by Starfleet Command'''. Did she really think that being a starship captain would make her some kind of untouchable dictator, or consider that even captains have to answer to someone?

* VillainousBreakdown: Lester gets these whenever someone contests her orders.

* Leonard Nimoy stated flatly and unequivocally in interviews that Gene Roddenberry intended for this to mean women can't be captains.

!!This episode contains examples of the following tropes:

** Notably, the original [[Recap/StarTrekS1E0TheCage pilot]] of the series included a ''female first officer''.[[note]]Never mind that Roddenberry created that role for his mistress. The fact is he put a female in an extremely important position, especially considering the more military aspects in the early episodes.[[/note]] She capably commanded ''Enterprise'' for most of the episode while the (male) captain was held captive by aliens. In fact, she was the one who dispassionately decided that letting the aliens breed humans for slavery would be unacceptable, when Captain Pike seemed willing to let it happen as part of a bargain to save ''Enterprise''. [[NumberTwo Number One]] coldly threatened to blow everyone up -- including herself -- instead, and this was what finally convinced the aliens to abandon their plot and let everyone go. If only they let Roddenberry keep that character in the show, it would have been an ''amazing'' aversion of this trope... but the pilot's test audiences failed to react well, and Roddenberry pissed off the network and his own production staff by casting his girlfriend in the role.[[note]]The often-heard excuse that "a female was considered too domineering" is apparently bullshit. The truth is they liked the idea; they just didn't like Majel. This is one reason she wears a blonde wig as Chapel; Gene honestly thought no one would notice.[[/note]]

** Notably, the original [[Recap/StarTrekS1E0TheCage pilot]] of the series included a ''female first officer''.[[note]]Never mind that Roddenberry created that role for his mistress. The fact is he put a female in an extremely important position, especially considering the more military aspects in the early episodes.[[/note]] She capably commanded the Enterprise for most of the episode while the (male) captain was held captive by aliens. In fact, she was the one who dispassionately decided that letting the aliens breed humans for slavery would be unacceptable, when Captain Pike seemed willing to let it happen as part of a bargain to save the Enterprise. [[NumberTwo Number One]] coldly threatened to blow everyone up -- including herself -- instead, and this was what finally convinced the aliens to abandon their plot and let everyone go. If only they let Roddenberry keep that character in the show, it would have been an ''amazing'' aversion of this trope... but the pilot's test audiences failed to react well, and Roddenberry pissed off the network and his own production staff by casting his girlfriend in the role.[[note]]The often-heard excuse that "a female was considered too domineering" is apparently bullshit. The truth is they liked the idea; they just didn't like Majel. This is one reason she wears a blonde wig as Chapel; Gene honestly thought no one would notice.[[/note]]

--> His goal was to prove, quote, 'That women, although they claim equality, cannot really do things as well, under certain circumstances, as a man' -- like the command function, for example... What he set out to prove was that this lady, given command of the ship, would ''blow it''. That's really what the script was about. Just that simple."
*** If this was Roddenberry's intention, it's arguably a LostAesop. It's not as though command was taken by the most qualified woman in all of Starfleet and she still blew it. No, command was taken by a clearly deranged person who happened to be female. Janice Lester could be replaced by a deranged male villain and the change to the story would be superficial, so how could her behavior say anything about women in general?

After an escape attempt, Kirk-in-Lester is placed in solitary confinement. Spock visits and Kirk-in-Lester explains what happened. Spock performs a Vulcan mind meld (or at least a mind touch), which convinces him, but he notes that it won't count for anything in the way of evidence. Really? Freakin' telepathy isn't considered evidence of a body swap? ''Really?'' Granted, only Spock can sense it firsthand and he could lie, but... no wait, he can't lie because he's a Vulcan. What the hell?[[note]]Evidence obtained by telepathy is inadmissible in court because it's considered hearsay. Apparently this is still true in the 23rd Century.[[/note]] Spock tries to help Kirk-in-Lester escape, but they're caught and Lester-in-Kirk has Spock charged with mutiny. At a court martial, Spock states his case. Kirk-in-Lester is then questioned in a very condescending, chauvinistic manner by Lester-in-Kirk. Kirk-in-Lester characterizes Lester as a StrawFeminist defined by "her intense hatred of her own womanhood". When Spock refuses to drop his charges, Lester-in-Kirk has a VillainousBreakdown and goes into a yelling tirade. Her new favorite word is "mutiny".

** This does raise the question of why Kirk agreed with her. Given that she's an old flame who went crazy when ''she'' didn't become a captain, the answer might be subtextual: he's not agreeing with her, but rather saying her mental illness and delusions are "not fair"; she did not deserve this fate. He chooses to be ambiguous in order to tactfully avoid arguing with her. Or Kirk ''thought'' she meant the first one, [[OneDialogueTwoConversations and was agree to that statement, when she was actually just talking crazy-talk]].

** This does raise the question of why Kirk agreed with her. Given that she's an old flame who went crazy when ''she'' didn't become a captain, the answer might be subtextual: he's not agreeing with her, but rather saying her mental illness and delusions are "not fair"; she did not deserve this fate. He chooses to be ambiguous in order to tactfully avoid arguing with her. Or Kirk ''thought'' she meant the first one, [[OneDialogTwoConversations and was agree to that statement, when she was actually just talking crazy-talk]].

** This does raise the question of why Kirk agreed with her. Given that she's an old flame who went crazy when ''she'' didn't become a captain, the answer might be subtextual: he's not agreeing with her, but rather saying her mental illness and delusions are "not fair"; she did not deserve this fate. He chooses to be ambiguous in order to tactfully avoid arguing with her.

** The franchise, naturally, retconned this in ''Series/StarTrekEnterprise'', introducing Erika Hernandez, a no-nonsense woman who had previously served with Archer, as the captain of the second Warp 5 starship (''Columbia'' NX-02). Of course, in the 2000s, viewers were ready for that sort of thing.

* DeusExMachina: The transference happens to break just when it's time for the episode to wrap up. The weird part is that it seems entirely unnecessary. Since the crew was already mutiny, it's easy to imagine the episode could have ended with them overthrowing Lester-in-Kirk, returning to Camus II, and swapping the bodies back.

* {{Superdickery}}: The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TbfgOXrSQSY original preview trailer]] doesn't make it clear that a body swap has taken place, and instead tries to sell you on, "Why is Kirk's whole crew mutinying against him?"

* Superdickery: The [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TbfgOXrSQSY original preview trailer]] doesn't make it clear that a body swap has taken place, and instead tries to sell you on, "Why is Kirk's whole crew mutinying against him?"

'''Kirk-in-Lester:''' A subtlety that somehow escapes me.

* GrandTheftMe

** Also, during the hearing, the crew did not think to try the age old trick of asking Kirk/Lester and Lester/Kirk questions that only the real Kirk should know the answer to. It wasn't enough for Kirk in Lester's body to know about their episode with the Tholians and the Vians (something the real Lester shouldn't have been able to look up anywhere). But it was enough to convince Spock to make telepathic contact and discover the truth. What is never explained is how Lester in Kirk's body could have access to all of Kirk's personal authorization codes and passwords, things that are likely solely memorized and never kept anywhere written down. Without this sort of info, her plan couldn't have succeeded for long.

** Notably, the original [[Recap/StarTrekS1E0TheCage pilot]] of the series included a ''female first officer''. She capably commanded the Enterprise for most of the episode while the (male) captain was held captive by aliens. In fact, she was the one who dispassionately decided that letting the aliens breed humans for slavery would be unacceptable, when Captain Pike seemed willing to let it happen as part of a bargain to save the Enterprise. [[NumberTwo Number One]] coldly threatened to blow everyone up -- including herself -- instead, and this was what finally convinced the aliens to abandon their plot and let everyone go. If only they let Roddenberry keep that character in the show, it would have been an ''amazing'' aversion of this trope... but the pilot's test audiences failed to react well, and Roddenberry pissed off the network and his own production staff by casting his girlfriend in the role.

** Also, during the hearing, the crew did not think to try the age old trick of asking Kirk/Lester and Lester/Kirk questions that only the real Kirk should know the answer to. It wasn't enough for Kirk in Lester's body to know about their episode with the Tholians and the Vians (something the real Lester shouldn't have been able to look up anywhere). But it was enough to convince Spock to telepathically meld and discover the truth. What is never explained is how Lester in Kirk's body could have access to all of Kirk's personal authorization codes and passwords, things that are likely solely memorized and never kept anywhere written down. Without this sort of info, her plan couldn't have succeeded for long.
** Before taking over Kirk's body, Lester was the leader of an archaeological expedition. Was she incompetent in that leadership position as well, or is being a starship captain "different" for some reason?[[note]]Probably. Would you take someone from an obscure archaeological dig and hand them the keys to a battleship?[[/note]]

** The franchise, naturally, retconned this in ''Series/StarTrekEnterprise'', introducing Erika Hernandez, a no-nonsense woman who had previously served with Archer, as the captain of the second Warp 5 starship (''Columbia'' NX-02). Of course, in the 2000s, people were ready for that sort of thing.

** Notably, the original [[Recap/StarTrekS1E0TheCage pilot]] of the series included a ''female first officer''. She capably commanded the Enterprise for most of the episode while the (male) captain was held captive by aliens. In fact, she was the one who dispassionately decided that letting the aliens breed humans for slavery would be unacceptable, when Captain Pike seemed willing to let it happen as part of a bargain to save the Enterprise. [[NumberTwo Number One]] coldly threatened to blow everyone up -- including herself -- instead, and this was what finally convinced the aliens to abandon their plot and let everyone go. If only they let Roddenberry keep that character in the show, it would have been an ''amazing'' aversion of this trope... but the pilot's test audiences failed to react well, and Roddenberry pissed off the network by casting his girlfriend in the role.

After an escape attempt, Kirk-in-Lester is placed in solitary confinement. Spock visits and Kirk-in-Lester explains what happened. Spock performs a Vulcan mind meld, which convinces him, but he notes that it won't count for anything in the way of evidence. Really? Freakin' telepathy isn't considered evidence of a body swap? ''Really?'' Granted, only Spock can sense it firsthand and he could lie, but... no wait, he can't lie because he's a Vulcan. What the hell?[[note]]Evidence obtained by telepathy is inadmissible in court because it's considered hearsay. Apparently this is still true in the 23rd Century.[[/note]] Spock tries to help Kirk-in-Lester escape, but they're caught and Lester-in-Kirk has Spock charged with mutiny. At a court martial, Spock states his case. Kirk-in-Lester is then questioned in a very condescending, chauvinistic manner by Lester-in-Kirk. Kirk-in-Lester characterizes Lester as a StrawFeminist defined by "her intense hatred of her own womanhood". When Spock refuses to drop his charges, Lester-in-Kirk has a VillainousBreakdown and goes into a yelling tirade. Her new favorite word is "mutiny".

This episode's title is a play on the title of ''Turnabout'', a Creator/ThorneSmith body swap comedy about a husband and wife. For many years, it was a popular bit of ''Star Trek'' trivia that Sandra Smith (Dr. Lester) was the only person other than Creator/WilliamShatner to officially portray Captain Kirk. This remained true [[Film/StarTrek2009 until 2009]]. In the world of fanfiction, Dr. Lester would find a niche in SlashFic, her story providing a canon setup for JumpingTheGenderBarrier. Slashers have also had a lot of fun imagining what Spock saw in his mind meld to convince him Kirk was in Lester's body.

* AntiMutiny: Slowly the entire bridge staff turns against Lester-in-Kirk. First Spock believes Kirk when he mind melds with him and discovers he's telling the truth. Then during Spock's mutiny court-martial [=McCoy=] and Scotty conspire (albeit reluctantly) to take over the ship as "Kirk" has clearly gone mad and is unfit to command the ship. Then Chekov and Sulu, both horrified at "Kirk"'s actions, just stop following Lester-in-Kirk's orders and ignore her.

Hey, you know how this episode has clearly portrayed Lester as an insane, power-hungry mass murderer? Well, forget about that. She's in a pretty body now and FemalesAreMoreInnocent. The episode wraps up with an AlasPoorVillain ending, in which we learn Coleman was in love with Lester. (So he helped the woman he was in love with turn into a man? [[IWantMyBelovedToBeHappy That could say a couple]] [[HoYay of things about him.]]) Kirk delivers the last line of the series: "Her life could have been as rich as any woman's, if only... if only..." The meaning of this line is debated almost as much as the one from earlier. Does "if only" mean "if only she kept to her proper gender role" or "if only society hadn't forced her into a gender role she hated"? Or both, perhaps? Make up your own mind.

** Before taking over Kirk's body, Lester was the leader of an archaeological expedition. Was she incompetent in that leadership position as well, or is being a starship captain "different" for some reason?

This episode's title is a play on the title of ''Turnabout'', a Creator/ThorneSmith body swap comedy about a husband and wife. For many years, it was a popular bit of ''Star Trek'' trivia that Sandra Smith (Dr. Lester) was the only person other than Creator/WilliamShatner to officially portray Captain Kirk. This remained true [[Film/StarTrek until 2009]]. In the world of fanfiction, Dr. Lester would find a niche in SlashFic, her story providing a canon setup for JumpingTheGenderBarrier. Slashers have also had a lot of fun imagining what Spock saw in his mind meld to convince him Kirk was in Lester's body.

* SocietyMarchesOn: It's reveale that ''women aren't allowed to be captains in Starfleet,'' in the 23rd century. A female character who tries to get around this rule by using alien technology to switch bodies with Kirk is portrayed as being a horribly misguided fanatic.