Where No Man Has Gone Before

Enterprise passes through the barrier at the edge of the galaxy and suffers lasting consequences.

Where No Man Has Gone Before is the second pilot episode of the original series and experimentation can be seen in its cast and production design. It looks and feels totally different to what we become accustomed to watching during majority of its episodes. This makes it unique and is one of the most interesting aspects about it.

The story has quite familiar themes that will be explored in plenty of other episodes throughout the franchise. We have characters with god-like power interacting with ordinary humans. In this case we see someone obtaining the power and a plot centred around a dilemma of what others should do about it. Key to this dilemma is a central theme that will drive many plots throughout the franchise, a decision between taking actions based on pure logic or those based on humanity and compassion. Spock and Kirk embody this dilemma in a script written before the introduction of Dr McCoy and the establishment of the central trinity.

What I like about what happens to Gary Mitchell is that its handled quite intelligently rather than stupidly reactive as things like this are in some of the lesser episodes. We have characters anticipating what is likely to happen and thinking about it before it happens. From Gary's perspective it even made me wonder what I would do in his position. This all builds nicely to a pretty exciting and somewhat menacing conclusion.

All the cast give solid and likeable performances. Shatner is magnetic as Captain Kirk and Nimoy is to coin a phrase fascinating as the logical Spock. Guest stars Gary Lockwood and Sally Kellerman are excellent in their transformation to an Adam and Eve state as two godly entities unsure of how to act with their new power.

I can only imagine that the utterly polarised world of the 1960s, with the devastation of two world wars in people's memories, must have been an era so full of subject matter for sci-fi writers to explore. Television was relatively uncharted space for artists and classical themes such as the corruption of humanity by power is a perfect example of what people needed to see.

Although it was the third Star Trek episode that aired, Where No Man Has Gone Before (the title is taken from the final phrase spoken by William Shatner in the intro) is actually the pilot of Gene Roddenberry's sci-fi classic. Correction: it's the second pilot, since NBC rejected Roddenberry's original pitch, The Cage (it was too cerebral, apparently), but was still willing to give Trek the chance it deserved. The result is one of the show's best episodes, one that covers relevant themes like friendship, power and the misuse of the latter.

Like most Star Trek episodes, it all begins as if it were just another day on the Enterprise. Then, out of the blue, the ship is hit by a magnetic storm. While assessing the material damage, Kirk and the crew make a horrifying discovery: two of the people on board, who have limited psionic abilities, are suddenly more powerful than ever, and soon that newfound power leads to insanity. At this point, Kirk must decide whether to kill them or not, before it's too late, and the choice is made even harder by the fact that one of the psychics is his best friend.

Star Trek has been lauded for its frequent uses of a science-fiction context as tools to deal with more contemporary issues, such as war, genetic manipulations or racism. One of the most significant examples can be found here, with the story taking on religious connotations in the last section. This is not uncommon in the genre, which often relied on ancient myths and legends, which were updated in the futuristic setting. In fact, it's hard to watch Where No Man Has Gone Before and not think of Bellerophon, the man who got so blinded by his power he believed he was to be treated like a god, and was severely punished for his behavior. Of course, the friendship element means there's much more at stake, the script giving Shatner many opportunities to prove he isn't just a charismatic lead with peculiar speech patterns.

Where No Man Has Gone Before isn't just a title, it's a statement. Gene Roddenberry wanted to do something new, something unprecedented, something that people would remember for years after it stopped airing. Boy, did he succeed.

Hated this episode fifty years ago, love it today. As a little kid I was freaked out by the scary silver eyes, but also I didn't like the unfamiliar uniforms and the unfamiliar faces or the way Kirk and Spock barely seem to know each other.

Today all the weak points seem like strong points to me. This is the one episode where Kirk and Spock actually relate like an earth man and an alien, with a wary distrust that gradually changes to grudging respect. I could do without Nimoy's SHOUTING his dialogue, though. "FULL power!"

The fact that the villain is an old friend of Kirk's makes it a lot more powerful, though they repeated this trope a little too often in later episodes. But Gary Lockwood really has a very Kirk like quality, and that strengthens the story as well as adding some unintentional humor. ("I'm not JOKING, Lee!")

But the best thing about this episode by far is Sally Kellerman, at the very height of her beauty, playing a woman who has dignity, integrity, empathy, and compassion -- and who falls head over heels for a man destined to destroy her. It's silly science fiction stuff, but when she cries out "a mutated man could also be a *WONDERFUL* thing" you are seeing right into her heart and soul, seeing how she's fallen and she doesn't even know it.

Oh, and don't forget pretty little Yeoman Smith -- I mean Jones! I really wish she had become a series regular.

This was the first non-pilot episode, though it was shown third. It stars two stars of the sixties and seventies, Gary Lockwood (2001: A Space Odyssey) and Sally Kellerman (M.A.S.H.). They receive a jolt when Kirk takes the Enterprise into a cloud at the edge of the galaxy. This leads to both characters developing incredible powers. Kirk is faced with a dilemma. He must decide what to do with a man to whom he owes his life. Spock, in all his logic and practicality, determines that Lockwood should be killed. Kirk and the crew don't have the wherewithal to become executioners. This leads to the death of a crewman when Lockwood uses telekinesis to strangle him. Every effort to disable Lockwood only increases his powers. This is a pivotal effort in the canon because it introduces us to a recurring theme. Kirk versus a threat that must be squelched, even though he has limited resources and strengths to handle his opponent, he must depend on luck and opportunism. This is quite a good episode and sets the series off well.

I'm agreeing with the reviewer that this episode was what really launched the Star Trek series toward cult status. Gary Lockwood who had done his time in outer space with 2001, A Space Odyssey plays one of two Enterprise crew members who are changed when the ship passes through a magnetic storm in space. The other crew member is Sally Kellerman who is assigned to the Enterprise as a psychologist who is changed and is able to understand the nature of the changes as Lockwood can't.

Both have some latent Extra Sensory Perception powers and both are seeing that increasing exponentially. Lockwood is affected far more than Kellerman.

Lockwood is truly a frightening person, one of the most frightening of Star Trek villains. He's been given absolute powers that are growing day by day. The Krels from Forbidden Planet could have served as a warning to him, his monsters from the ID are taking over completely.

And as captain, William Shatner has to deal with this on the level of a threat to his ship and the whole galaxy and on the level of a friend of Lockwood's saddened to see the changes in him and the humanity that has been driven from his soul.

A truly thought provoking episode, one of the best from Star Trek prime.