How many times did the Enterprise go past the Galatic Barrier

[BlueshirtGuard]

Seems like in Season 3 they leave it every other episode.

we all know 'where no man has gone before' they passed the barrier and gary mitchell got his powers.
'By any other name' they even reference where no man
'day of the Dove' for some reason.

I know there are more but I can't think of them. Anyone know why only the first time crewmen got special powers? Why did it never happen again?

 

[Green]

Because it only happened twice and the second time the entire crew (except for four) were cubes.
They didn't cross the barrier In "Dove" or when Marvick fiddled with the controls (they went somewhere else.)

 

[TLOZ Lover]

WNMHGB, By Any Other Name and Is There in Truth No Beauty? are the only three TOS episodes I can think of where they actually crossed the barrier. As to why only Gary Mitchell and Elizabeth Dehner developed psychic powers (plus an unknown number on the ill-fated ship SS Valiant), the concept was apparently not repeated after WNMHGB. Otherwise, we would see the same thing happening in the other two episodes.

 

[Green]

No, actually as I stated above -- when the crossed the barrier in "By Any Other Name" the entire crew was cubed.
In "Is There in Truth No Beauty" they just happened to use stock footage from WNMHGB. The dialogue indicates they are in an unknown void -- but have not simply flown thru the barrier as they did the other two times. They tried to make this more clear in the re-mastering by showing completely different FX.

 

[TLOZ Lover]

I always assumed the void in ITITNB was the galactic barrier. Interesting! The story line of WNMHGB indicates crew members with high ESP capabilities are the ones who seem to develop the highly advanced psychic abilities when crossing the barrier. Dr. Dehner and Gary Mitchell both had high ESP ratings, and while Dehner was not shocked by any piece of equipment on the bridge, Gary Mitchell was as he sat at the helm. Whether or not this is a factor is unclear, but in BAON we do not see bridge equipment shorting out as it did in WNMHGB. Kirk, Spock, Scotty, McCoy, Uhura, Chekov and a few other bridge personnel all pass through the barrier with no ill effects, so one could assume either 1) they possess no extraordinary ESP capabilities or 2) the writers simply dropped that concept in BAON. Just my thoughts!

 

[Vger23]

They crossed the barrier in every other episode of season 3?

By my count, they encountered the Galactic Barrier 3 times total in TOS, and only confirmed actually "crossing" it once (By Any Other Name). They failed to cross it in WNMHGB and what happened in ITITNB is unclear, although I always interpreted it as they entered the barrier and somehow in the process ended up in a dimensional void of some sort...maybe trapped in subspace.

 

[Green]

I always assumed the void in ITITNB was the galactic barrier. Interesting! The story line of WNMHGB indicates crew members with high ESP capabilities are the ones who seem to develop the highly advanced psychic abilities when crossing the barrier. Dr. Dehner and Gary Mitchell both had high ESP ratings, and while Dehner was not shocked by any piece of equipment on the bridge, Gary Mitchell was as he sat at the helm. Whether or not this is a factor is unclear, but in BAON we do not see bridge equipment shorting out as it did in WNMHGB. Kirk, Spock, Scotty, McCoy, Uhura, Chekov and a few other bridge personnel all pass through the barrier with no ill effects, so one could assume either 1) they possess no extraordinary ESP capabilities or 2) the writers simply dropped that concept in BAON. Just my thoughts!

1. Yeah, we all wondered about that. No one mentions the galactic barrier and in BAON they simply turn around and go back and are not lost. But clearly they weren't going to spend a lot of money on a new effect if they could use stock footage to get the job done. But they forgot how alert fans would remember that effect so clearly. But pretty sure the script of ITITNB does not mention the galactic barrier but "an unknown void"
2. Right, we know Kirk, Spock and Scotty weren't affected the first time and odds were good that Uhura, Chekov and McCoy were not "espers"! It was only 11 out 430 the first time. That's under 3% chance.

They crossed the barrier in every other episode of season 3?

By my count, they encountered the Galactic Barrier 3 times total in TOS, and only confirmed actually "crossing" it once (By Any Other Name). They failed to cross it in WNMHGB and what happened in ITITNB is unclear, although I always interpreted it as they entered the barrier and somehow in the process ended up in a dimensional void of semen sort...maybe trapped in subspace.

Dude, this is a G rated thread -- maybe PG -- that's uncalled for!

 

[Vger23]

1. Yeah, we all wondered about that. No one mentions the galactic barrier and in BAON they simply turn around and go back and are not lost. But clearly they weren't going to spend a lot of money on a new effect if they could use stock footage to get the job done. But they forgot how alert fans would remember that effect so clearly. But pretty sure the script of ITITNB does not mention the galactic barrier but "an unknown void"
2. Right, we know Kirk, Spock and Scotty weren't affected the first time and odds were good that Uhura, Chekov and McCoy were not "espers"! It was only 11 out 430 the first time. That's under 3% chance.



Dude, this is a G rated thread -- maybe PG -- that's uncalled for!

Hahahaha! $&@#% autocorrect!!! How bizarre is that???

 

[ZapBrannigan]

I think they filmed colored dyes swirling in a container of water. You can buy plenty, and it's a lot easier on the staff.

 

[johnnybear]

In my Trek quiz book from the 70s it asks how many times did The Enterprise cross the barrier in the series and the answer is three according to it! But the third time is very debateable I agree, it's definitely the same effects lifted from the earlier shows but is it the barrier itself and was Medusa that close to the edge of the galaxy? If Kirk hadn't of defeated the entity in Dove then I'm sure the ship would have crossed the barrier again eventually due to them heading out of the galaxy on Kirk's logs!
JB

 

[UnknownSample]

No, actually as I stated above -- when the crossed the barrier in "By Any Other Name" the entire crew was cubed.
In "Is There in Truth No Beauty" they just happened to use stock footage from WNMHGB. The dialogue indicates they are in an unknown void -- but have not simply flown thru the barrier as they did the other two times. They tried to make this more clear in the re-mastering by showing completely different FX.

And semi-ruined the episode by doing so. Maybe technically you're right, but the footage was used. I certainly went nearly half a century seeing no reason to question its being the Barrier, despite some unclear dialogue. What's onscreen is what counts, and visual information counts as much as dialogue. This is a show where they hoped very much that we would care about the world of the show enough to recognize something like the Barrier.

In Day of the Dove, maybe they talked about the Barrier but never reached it? Or they just talked about the possibility of leaving the galaxy without even bringing up the Barrier.

 

[Push The Button]

Perhaps the shields were upgraded in the post-WNMHGB refit, so the ship is able to cross the barrier without damage in later episodes.

 

[UnknownSample]

Engineers had a chance to study what the Barrier did the first time, and they really know what they're doing, so they came up with a defence.

 

[ZapBrannigan]

Engineers had a chance to study what the Barrier did the first time, and they really know what they're doing, so they came up with a defence.

Yeah, I also formulated that idea a long time ago. Spock's case study of the events in "Where No Man" led to shield upgrades that prevent the barrier from killing people ("casualties: nine dead") or making another Gary Mitchell.

Also, no matter which version of TOS you watch, it's entirely up to you whether "Is There in Truth No Beauty" goes to the familiar barrier or someplace new. The barrier is complicated, and innumerable unknowns could cause it to look different on a different occassion or a different region within it.

 

[UnknownSample]

An objection might be that they reach it awfully fast in ITITNB.... in a pancake shaped galaxy though, you might have the edge of the galaxy closer to you at any given time than you might think...

 

[Grant]

There are straight up visual errors so what you see is sometimes just wrong. In Changling, they say Nomad is leaving sickbay, but they use a stock shot of it leaving a turbo lift. It is a continuity errpr caused by use of stock footage of another already used scene. I have to ignore the fact he is shown exiting a turbolift when he is clearly supposed to be exiting sickbay. They are in an unknown void in BAON because the galactic barrier is not unknown or a void -- it is a barrier that can be seen. In ITITNB, they are not seen approaching the barrier as in the first two cases.
Script and novel of the script mention something other than the barrier.
Besides, in BOAN, they are so specific with both their terminology in calling it a barrier and that they have encoutered it before. Why would they play so coy and unspecific if it was the same barrier they crossed twice before?

 

[Methuselah Flint]

Perhaps the shields were upgraded in the post-WNMHGB refit, so the ship is able to cross the barrier without damage in later episodes.

Yes, plus I assumed that during the Kelvins' modification of the ship for galactic travel, they would have improved travel through the barrier. Early on they say to Kirk they have passed through it, and then Kirk in a log states the Kelvins are modifying the ship for 'galactic travel', I believe.

 

[CrazyMatt]

They crossed the barrier in every other episode of season 3?

By my count, they encountered the Galactic Barrier 3 times total in TOS, and only confirmed actually "crossing" it once (By Any Other Name). They failed to cross it in WNMHGB and what happened in ITITNB is unclear, although I always interpreted it as they entered the barrier and somehow in the process ended up in a dimensional void of some sort...maybe trapped in subspace.

Amazing how someone is always able to tie bodily functions to Star Trek.

 

[johnnybear]

There was no reference to the barrier in Day of The Dove at all only that the ship was out of their control and heading for the edge of the galaxy!
JB

 

[Noname Given]

In my Trek quiz book from the 70s it asks how many times did The Enterprise cross the barrier in the series and the answer is three according to it! But the third time is very debateable I agree, it's definitely the same effects lifted from the earlier shows but is it the barrier itself and was Medusa that close to the edge of the galaxy? If Kirk hadn't of defeated the entity in Dove then I'm sure the ship would have crossed the barrier again eventually due to them heading out of the galaxy on Kirk's logs!
JB

Actually the answer should be: Twice (and both times in the same episode: "By Any Other Name".)

In that episode they successfully crossed it once to exit the Milky Way galaxy and then crossed it again (although that was not shown in the episode, but definitely HAD to occur as they re-entered the Milky Way galaxy.)

In "Where No Man Has Gone Before" they successfully entered it, but immediately turned around and exited back the way they came (IMO this doesn't count as 'Crossing the Barrier'.)

As others have mentioned, in "Is there In Truth No Beauty" there actually is some dialogue from the visiting Enterprise designer that he DID take the ship into the Galactic Barrier; but something else happened, and they were trapped in some void that they couldn't navigate out of using Humanoid senses or instruments. Again, IMO that doesn't count as 'Crossing the Barrier'.)