What a difference 20 years makes.
I first saw “Charlie X” as a teenager, not much younger than Charles Evans himself, and found him to be sympathetic. His struggle to fit in, that feeling of being laughed at was all familiar, if not his ability to make everyone go away.
And it was so sad at the end! With poor, misunderstood Charlie X being vanished away by the Thasians as he screamed about not being able to touch them. Heartbreaking. He should have been allowed to stay and learn to assimilate because he was just a kid and adults don’t understand anything.
Now I’m a cranky old school marm. My reaction to that same scene, 20 years later?
“It’s called consequences, kid.”
The irritation isn’t totally directed toward the young lad, though. Kids are a product of their environment and his was one without human contact or boundaries on an uninhabitable planet, due to a crash landing when he was three years old. He was given psychokinetic powers to survive without being taught the value of life or the consequences of hurting others.
Charlie is a sociopath because his bodiless Thasian keepers inadvertently turned him into one. That doesn’t absolve Charlie of his actions; it only offers an explanation of them. This time around, I’m all on board with him suffering the consequences, even if it isn’t his fault that he is what he is.
Now, let’s get on to the really important part of “Charlie X”: Shirtless Kirk.
I loved Kirk and McCoy playing hot potato with the responsibility of Charlie’s guidance in all things manly. Kirk, throws it all to Bones because, you know, all that down there stuff is all medical and stuff. Bones throws it to Kirk because he’s the manliest man on the ship, who knows about fighting and lady business. Which is important because Charlie is very interested in Yeoman Rand’s lady business.
Yet, for all his bravado and womanizing, Captain Kirk is hilariously unable to explain this to Charlie.
And because Charlie is who he is, he quickly becomes a stalker and harasser, ultimately doing harm to Yeoman Rand when she continues to reject his advances.
My favorite things about “Charlie X” are the scenes of off-duty life on the Enterprise. We go to the ship’s workout room where everyone has the most unflattering gym clothes in the history of the universe and women are doing gymnastics while dudes practice fighting (ahhhh, gender essentialism).
We go to a ship’s lounge where there’s card games and three-dimensional chess and Uhura freestyles a song about Spock (they want each other soooo bad).
Then there’s Yeoman Rand’s off-duty, pepto-pink chiffon nightmare of a nightgown, which I’d rather not think about.
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Lisa Fary's earliest influences are Princess Leia, Rainbow Bright, Astronaut Barbie, and her 6th grade teacher, Ms. Palmer. She's angry that it's 2011 and she still doesn't have a hovercraft, but will accept a jetpack as consolation. That jetpack had better be pink with a rhinestone monogram. 
I love Charlie X!
And I STILL have the opinion you did 20 years ago. 
Or rather, of COURSE he needed to be punished for his actions, but he’s still sympathetic, because he’d never before been taught any other way to be.
And I REALLY wish there’d been more Spock/Uhura action on TOS. That Nurse Chapel business was BULLs#@t.
At the very least, Charlie X is an excellent example of why “ship’s counselor” isn’t a BS position. Counselor Troi would never have let it come to this!
Oh, man! Those red tights with black socks! HOLY…!
The color schemes of this episode are amazing. Fantastic use of shading–especially for a color show. You sure don’t see that visual color drama nowadays. No way.
Uhura is one stone cold FOX! (Lol)
And Yeoman Rand ‘s ability to apply her space-aged basket weaving skills to her hair is totally out of this world!
I’ve always wanted to be able to do that with my hair. But, I get annoyed just with the simple act of combing it, so a space-age basket weave is probably not in my hair future.