Episode of the Week : Where No Man Has Gone Before

[Botany Bay]

Each week we're having a look at a TOS episode, going through in production order. Please rate the episode out of ten, and have your say below. I'll record the scores each week and save them so we can rank TOS in order of popularity.

If you're new to TOS thanks to JJ-Trek, please watch along with us and ask anything you like about the episodes. TOS veterans, feel free to add any bits of trivia, or stories about the production of the episode as well. Some key websites :

Memory Alpha
Episode transcripts
Unseen elements of the Original Series
Star Trek Fact Check

Happy watching and reviewing!


This week : Where No Man Has Gone Before

 

[mach7]

I give it an 8.

NBC got what they wanted. A faster paced action episode.

I think Shatner is a huge improvement over Hunter. Spock is getting
into character. Scott is here, but woefully underused.

Gary Lockwood and Sally Kellerman are outstanding.
I like Lloyd Hayes as Alden.

Dr. Piper and Yeoman Smith seem out of place.

Still no Bones.

The sets are still being worked out, hence the helm subbing as the transporter.

We get more nice exterior shots of the Enterprise, which is always nice.

Over all a nice second/real start for the show!

 

[CorporalCaptain]

This one is a 9 for me.

There are two scenes that I regard as masterpieces: listening to the Valiant logs and the briefing room scene, especially once it's down to just Kirk and Spock.

The climactic fistfight being somewhat unbelievable to me is the only major minus, although I also think that the story sorta drags in the middle, in some of the sickbay scenes.

I could criticize the glowing eyes and the ESP angle as pulpy nonsense, but the attitudes projected by the characters, of being in danger and of utter seriousness, those more than compensate, I think.

With the series crew taking shape and the format getting ironed out, this demonstrated the potential of the Star Trek that was to come.

 

[Ssosmcin]

I love this episode, it’s a solid 10 for me. As far as I’m concerned, Shatner’s performance sold the series. The entire episode stands or falls on the leading man here since he carries the emotional and dramatic burden. It’s Kirk’s story, how he deals with this threat, how it affects his oldest friend and how his decisions will save his crew. It is the template for the series to come, only with extremely little humor.

I always loved how the early nature of the sets, wardrobe, makeup and props set this episode apart visually. Even as a kid, I liked the “episode with two stripe Kirk.”

The music and effects are unbeatable and while Delta Vega is simply Talos IV revisited, the planet sets were never this realistic again. Everything about this episode works for me and I go back to it often. The unaired edit, available on the 3rd season Blu-Ray is my go-to print.

The idea of the barrier (and a thin one at that) doesn't bother me. I don’t miss McCoy and I’m fine with the transporter/helm double up. What I really love is how perfectly the transporter sound effects are coordinated with the buttons as Scotty pushes them. Very cool.

10 out of 10 stars, dammit.

 

[CrazyMatt]

A solid 8. They should have shown this instead of "The Man Trap" as the premier episode.

 

[BoredShipCapt'n]

It wasn't until last time I watched this one that I noticed what they did with the turbolift scene, filming it all in a single shot and evidently sliding a wall out of the way so you'd see the doors open onto the bridge after they had closed in the corridor. A neat little trick to lend believability.

 

[feek61]

I would rate it a 9. Great start to the series.

 

[Warped9]

A solid 9. My quibbles are quite minor. A better start and setup for the series to come.

 

[Lance]

After all the early instalment weirdness of "The Cage", this one feels immediately and instantly more like the Star Trek we all know.

The uniforms are all different, some of the set trimmings are different, but a lot of it has become instantly recognisable.

It's a much more action orientated take on the concept in, but in my view without losing the strongly philosophical aspect of "The Cage": just masking it beneath a veneer of rough-house action scenes, as per studio feedback on the first pilot beng 'too cerebral'.

I don't think it's really any less 'cerebral' than "The Cage". It just throws those kinds of questions at the viewer in a different way.

Perhaps it's the fact that "The Cage" had already been made, but all concerned behind-the-scenes seem much more confident here, and the unique identity of Star Trek is much more clearly defined.

William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy have an instant rapport in their roles as Kirk and Spock. Where the 'Vulcanian' felt like something of a second tier character in "The Cage", here he is immediately elevated to somebody of equal importance to the plot as The Captain. When it comes to the fate of Gary Mitchell, Spock's role is to tell Kirk the uncomfortable-but-necessary truth, even though Kirk doesn't really want to hear it. This is maybe Kirk's most personal episode. We don't see him this raw again very often hence, maybe in "City On The Edge Of Forever" and in a couple of the movies, but seldom elsewhere.

Bones isn't here yet, but 2/3rd's of the series' most important character trio has already fallen easily into place.

"Where No Man Goes Before" is easily a 10/10 in my book.

 

[Harvey]

It's a good episode, certainly better than the first pilot, but not quite as good as the series yet.

The negatives mostly revolve around the series still trying to define itself:

- Paul Fix is totally unremarkable as Doctor Piper, possessing neither the charm nor the ability to speak his mind that characterized Boyce and McCoy.
- Lloyd Haynes does a better job with the material, but he also has a nothing part (he doesn't even have a specific job; it's hard to believe he was an intended regular).
- Andrea Dromm is a forgettable actress in an even more forgettable role; easily the least defined of the three yeoman intended as regulars.
- The cinematography still hasn't found the bright, colorful look that would characterize the series proper, although it has more life than the first pilot, I think.
- The costumes and props haven't quite been fully realized yet, either. The phaser rifle, for example, just doesn't have the black, sleek look that would work so well for the series. It looks more like something out of Buck Rogers (or, reflecting the brief given to Reuben Klamer, the gun from The Man From U.N.C.L.E.)

On the other hand:

- Shatner nails Kirk from the get-go. The writers would adjust the character of the course of the series to more closely fit his ticks, but there's a presence here that enlivens everything in a way that Hunter's more internal Captain didn't.
- Nimoy and the writers (Sam Peeples and an uncredited Roddenberry) still haven't nailed down the Spock character (that wouldn't happen until early in the first season), but the one thing they do get right is the Kirk-Spock relationship, as evidenced by the 3-D chess scene.
- Gary Lockwood and Sally Kellerman are both terrific. You immediately feel that Mitchell and Kirk have a long history, which only makes his fate more of a blow (I particularly like the moment when Mitchell loses his powers for just an instant during the final battle). Likewise, Kellerman makes you believe Dehner's temptation, but keeps enough humanity that her final sacrifice doesn't come out of left field.
- Paul Carr as Lee Kelso is also memorable (indeed, the guest stars fare better than most of the intended regulars -- alas, they all get killed off!).

 

[Gary Mitchell]

I'd have to give this episode a big fat 10. My favorite of the original series.

 

[Botany Bay]

Agreed that Kelso should have stayed a regular.

Gary Lockwood is one of the coolest guys you could ever meet. He happily chatted away with me for nearly an hour, putting up with my endless questions about, what, to him, was a week's work 40 years ago. I wanted to hear about Trek, he wanted to hear about Australian girls and beaches

This episode is an 8 for me. Endlessly re-watchable, with the stars of the outing being Shatner, Lockwood, Kellerman and Carr.

It's nice to see Sam Peeples getting the credit he deserves in guiding Roddenberry through the world of SF by contributing ideas and lending Roddenberry his SF library in Trek's earliest days.

 

[Maurice]

It ranks highly for me despite it's prototype hiccups because it is, at heart, a solid dramatic story. Kirk makes decisions. He decides to risk following the Valiant, despite what they learned of its doomed mission, creating the problem of Mitchell. He then has to make the decision to maroon, and ultimately kill his friend as a consequence. The Captain drives the action, makes the tough decisions, and lives with the consequences. It's a model Star Trek story.

 

[ZapBrannigan]

I give WNM a 9. It's true the production design isn't cool and great-looking yet, but the episode successfully creates a vivid sense of probing into dangerous, eerie unknowns and then answering the situation with some rousing, rockem sockem action. The music score is a standout and contributes greatly to both of these story aspects.

 

[BillJ]

Solid 8.

Some hiccups but much closer to the Star Trek we know and Shatner brings an energy to the show that was lacking with Hunter.

This is one of the episodes I wish they'd use as a template for a big screen Trek outing.

 

[Use of Time]

I've probably seen this episode more than any other episode or movie in the franchise. I give it a 9. Really wish they could have salvaged Mitchell. I would have liked him as a recurring character but I guess that would have crowded the McCoy/Spock/Kirk triumvirate.

 

[TREK_GOD_1]

I love this episode, it’s a solid 10 for me. As far as I’m concerned, Shatner’s performance sold the series. The entire episode stands or falls on the leading man here since he carries the emotional and dramatic burden. It’s Kirk’s story, how he deals with this threat, how it affects his oldest friend and how his decisions will save his crew. It is the template for the series to come, only with extremely little humor.

Solid summary. WHMHGB is not just a fantastic TOS episode (one of the best ever produced among all ST series), but grand television.

Historically, pilot episodes tend to hammer too many concepts, trying to sell the merits, the "you need to watch this, because--" elements, leaving a raw, stuffed product that--if lucky--reveals potential, but in the end, the episode seems to be its own animal compared to what will follow.

WHNMHGB does not suffer from that, as so much of what made Star Trek "that show" came to life in the episode, and guided the rest of the series. It is no coincidence the title is the end-call to action of the series's title narration--going where none have gone before is Mitchell's story--and that of Kirk's Enterprise.

We cannot know a history that never happened, but I seriously doubt any of the other stories considered for the 2nd pilot would have had the power and influence of WNMHGB.

Rating: 10...and beyond.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

By the way, at one time footage of this episode was exhibited, in an endless loop, in the National Air and Space Museum of the Smithsonian, as a part of the "Life in the Universe" exhibition, along with the Enterprise herself. I know because I was there and saw it.

 

[TREK_GOD_1]

By the way, at one time footage of this episode was exhibited, in an endless loop, in the National Air and Space Museum of the Smithsonian, as a part of the "Life in the Universe" exhibition, along with the Enterprise herself. I know because I was there and saw it.

Do you mean back in the 1970s?

 

[CorporalCaptain]

By the way, at one time footage of this episode was exhibited, in an endless loop, in the National Air and Space Museum of the Smithsonian, as a part of the "Life in the Universe" exhibition, along with the Enterprise herself. I know because I was there and saw it.

Do you mean back in the 1970s?

Yes. As stated in the link provided, that would be: July 1, 1976 – 1979.

At the moment, I don't have the exact date that I was there and saw that, but it was certainly before the summer of 1980, since that's when my camera was stolen. For other reasons, I can date it after Logan's Run (1976) was released.