Customer Reviews

Star Trek - The Original Series, Episode 2: Where No Man Has Gone Before [VHS]

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Much has been written already about plot and performances, so I'll concentrate on one of my pet subjects: continuity.

The entire cast of the original pilot is gone from this one except for Leonard Nimoy as Mr. Spock. Captain Kirk, Chief Engineer Scott, and Mr. Sulu are introduced. It's interesting, though, that Sulu is not at the helm in this episode, but is a member of the sciences team. Knowing what we do about Sulu's personality, it's easy to imagine that sometime following this episode he was drawn to the more exciting duty of piloting a starship.

Uhura and McCoy don't appear to be on board for this episode. In fact, there is another doctor entirely. The uniforms are still evolving in this episode and are not quite the familiar uniforms that we come to know in the series. The basic elements are there, but the color coding is limited to gold and blue.

Spock reveals for the first time that his race prizes logic over emotion, but he does so with a very self-satisfied, dare-I-say-emotional smirk. He also explains that he may be subject to some "earth emotions" because one of his "ancestors" married an earth woman. In the very next episode ("The Corbomite Maneuver") we find out that this is a half-truth at best.

Some have speculated that the "little blonde" whom Gary Mitchell threw at Kirk as a distraction in the academy might be Dr. Carol Marcus from STAR TREK II: THE WRATH OF KHAN. There's little to base that on, but it's fun to think about. Certainly Kirk's comment that he "almost married her" would be consistent with the relationship he has with Dr. Marcus.

The second time proved to be the charm. After "The Cage" didn't play too well with NBC executives, another pilot for Star Trek was commissioned. The most noticeable difference in "Where No Man Has Gone Before" was the casting of the ship's captain. Gone was Jeffrey Hunter who did an admirable job but was missing that pizzazz that was so crucial to the lead of a television series. In was William Shatner as Captain James T. Kirk and the landscape of popular culture was never the same again.

The U.S.S. Enterprise recovers the record-marker of the U.S.S. Valiant, a ship that was mysteriously destroyed after it encountered an energy barrier at the rim of the galaxy. The Valiant's library tapes indicate that the crew was seeking information on the subject of psionics before they perished. The Enterprise soon finds out for itself why the Valiant was pursuing this research when they encounter the same energy barrier and witness the transformation of Lieutenant Commander Gary Mitchell (Gary Lockwood) and Dr. Elizabeth Dehner (Sally Kellerman) into psi-powered beings. As their powers grow, Kirk realizes the threat they pose to the galaxy and tries to exile them on a deserted planet. However, Mitchell refuses to go along with the plan and attacks Kirk and Dehner. Dehner is fatally wounded in the savage battle but Kirk eventually triumphs by burying his old friend in a rockslide.

The tone of Star Trek was set with "Where No Man Has Gone Before." The rather plain uniforms would soon disappear but the episode featured many of the elements that would characterize the series for its entire run: the handsome captain running around with a torn shirt doing physical battle with the threat of the week, the highly-literate science-fiction story, the metaphorical commentary on the human condition, quality guest stars, and the crisp and natural dialogue between the characters. Sure, the special effects and production design look cheesy by modern standards but the innovative spirit and creative spark behind them can still be felt. The truth is that Star Trek's official first episode still holds up astonishingly well after nearly 40 years. Now that's solid evidence that the series truly was way ahead of its time.

This episode, the second pilot shot for the proposed Star Trek series, cleans up many of the problems of the original pilot and sets down the high standards for the show. William Shatner was clearly an improvement over Jeffrey Hunter as the captain of the Enterprise and eliminating most of the emotion from Mr. Spock was a stroke of genius. Gary Lockwood and Sally Kellerman play their roles of modified humans with extreme ESP powers to near perfection.
The Enterprise encounters a buoy from the missing ship U. S. S. Valiant and it contains some rather odd data. After encountering an energy barrier, the crew suddenly becomes frantic over information about E. S. P. and is destroyed. The Enterprise also encounters the energy barrier and the Lockwood and Kellerman characters (Gary Mitchell and Elizabeth Dehner) into people of extraordinary abilities, although it takes Dehner longer.
Mitchell rapidly achieves Godlike powers and Kirk tries to maroon him on a remote planet. Mitchell learns of the plot and with Dehner's help, Kirk has a fight to the death with Mitchell and kills him.
We see here the fundamental position that a captain of a starship exploring the unknown may encounter. Gary Mitchell and James Kirk are clearly friends of long standing yet Kirk must kill his friend in order to protect his ship, crew and probably the rest of humanity. It is not an easy thing to live with, yet it does summarize the dynamic energy and responsibility of a starship commander.

"Where No Man Has Gone Before" is the second pilot episode shot for Star Trek, which was necessitated because "The Cage" was considered two cerebral. There is no such concern here as this episode ends with a nice knock down fistfight involving Kirk. The Enterprise encounters an energy barrier at the edge of the galaxy and two of the officers, Lt. Commander Gary Mitchell and Dr. Elizabeth Dehner develop amazing abilities that border on some sort of godhood. I always thought it was too bad this was the first episode, because the key sub-text is that Kirk and Mitchell are friends and an inherent sense of tragedy to their becoming enemies. But since this is the pilot, we really do not have a sense for their friendship or that this is any sort of significant loss. Ironically, there is no notion of anything existing at all between Kirk and Spock on a personal level at this point in the series. What would have been really interesting would have been if "Where No Man Has Gone Before" had come halfway through the first season, with Mitchell and Dehner as established characters (like what happened with Tasha Yar on "STNG" or Doyle on "Angel.") But the important thing is that this episode thrilled the NBC executives enough to put the show on the air, although I think "The Corbomite Manuever" would have been the best choice for a pilot episode of all the first season offerings.

Episode two was the 2nd pilot for "Star Trek", and it has different actors and a bit more action. This is one of the better Star Trek episodes because the script is very engrossing, and the two guest stars, Gary Lockwood and Sally Kellerman, offer plenty of suspense and excitement. In fact, Mitchell's character (Gary Mitchell) has more charisma and screen presence than Capt. Kirk. IMO, Bill Shatner was fortunate that Lockwood was just a one-time visitor; otherwise he would have been overshadowed by Lockwood's stronger personality.

This episode was the second one made after the pilot with Jeffrey Hunter was rejected. This episode was obviously made on a larger budget and had a different layout of the bridge than the preceding ones. The Enterprise finds remains of a starship that was destroyed over 200 years ago and Spock uses a device to decipher what happened to it. Then the crew pass through a force field that almost destroys the ship and mutates two of the crew members, who were played by Sally Kellerman and Gary Lockwood. Lockwood, who later starred in 2001: A Space Odyssey, flaunts his talent in this one, not playing such a robotic character as he later did. One of the best episodes.

This 2nd pilot episode is among the top-2 episodes in Star Trek histoy (my other favorite being "the doomsday machine"). It answers the question, "What would happen if some among us started to become GODs?" The original pilot "menagerie" was a flop, the studio execs sent it back calling it "too cerebral". They wanted action, sex, adventure, and drama. "Where No Man Has Gone Before" delivers all that and more, breaking new ground about what Sci-Fi could be on television.

This is an exciting and entertaining pilot episode. Gary Mitchell's erosion of moral character as he gains telepathic powers is well-done. Guest stars Gary Lockwood and Sally Kellerman submit effective performances, which enhance the story considerabley. This suspenseful and fast-moving episode is marred somewhat by an implausible ending. Spock's character is a "rough draft" and Dr. McCoy has yet to be introduced. Overall, this is a good, solid episode that adequately sets the tone for a classic television series.

"Where No Man Has Gone Before" was pretty good for the first episode of Star Trek that featured William Shatner as captain of the Enterprise. A strange force strikes two members of the Enterprise, one of them an old friend (Mitchell) of Captain Kirk. Mitchell then becomes possessed and can do anything with his mind such as make objects fly. He wants to take over the Enterprise. Kirk must find a way to put an end to his friend's scheme.

If you like the original series of Star Trek, I recommend getting "Where No Man Has Gone Before." It has some good effects and it was a great episode to get Star Trek going to where no man has gone before.

Ok, now this is much, much better that it seems. This is about a new crew who rockets to the edge of the known galaxy, and discovers more wonders as they get farther. And after their encounter with the Galactic Barrier, it gets more exciting. First, they deal with an uncontrollable Gary Mitchell, and Dr. Dehner as well. Then they have even more trouble on Delta Vega, and they should have been smarter than to think a force field could hold Mitchell. But then again, when they take the best precautions, it isn't that exciting. And you'll have to find out the rest for yourself.

Now some other good parts of the movie are the scenes, like the Enterprise in orbit of Delta Vega, engines restored, then there's the neat picture of the Enterprise going into the Galactic Barrier. Now you can't miss this. I really think that this should be a Voyager episode. But then again, the only rumor of the Barrier in Voyager is in the novel Endgame, I think Chapter 3 or 4. Enough about Voyager. You have to see this.