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.
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.