During a search and rescue mission that takes the Enterprise through the Galactic Barrier, ships captain James ‘R’ Kirk has another problem. During the trip through the barrier, Kirks crewmate and long time friend Gary Mitchell takes a blast of weird energy that slowly transforms him into everyone’s best friend, to a telekinetic megalomaniac proving that old parable about absolute power….
By this point, everyone knows the story of Star Trek’s two pilots. The Cage was filmed, rejected and the show got a rare second chance. That second chance as Where No Man Has Gone Before. Same ship, different Captain and crew aside from a green blooded alien…
This year marks the 60th anniversary of Star Trek, so it seems only fitting we should start, where the show began on screen with the pilot that saw the idea become a series order and planted the seeds of a show that should become a legendary franchise.
Of course, if you know that The Cage was the first real pilot, you’ll also likely know that Star Trek wasn’t released in filming order. On September 8th 1966 it all began with another episode, The Man Trap with the pilot episode being third in line. Here in the UK however, things were done in proper order. Sure, it took three years for Star Trek to broadcast, but in July 1969, paired in anticipation of Apollo 11’s trip to the moon, Where No Man Has Gone Before introduced the UK to Star Trek on BBC One.
The second go round for Star Trek was famously said to be more action and bravery over philosophical dilemma’s with the self doubt of Captain Pike replaced by the decisive, shirt ripping action of Captain Kirk. These days especially the internet loves to poke fun at executives interfering, which we know can have disastrous effects on a production with the wrong feedback. When it came to the feedback that caused the changes for Star Trek, Where No Man Has Gone Before showed that time they were right.
The story isn’t non stop action, and it is a slow burner in itself. But it made a difference showing a captain who didn’t doubt himself. Instead he balanced his options. Gary Mitchell gets the transformation treatment with some silver eyes to help highlight how clever he’s getting. Another shipmate, Dr Dehner, was also infected with the transforming energy, though not as obvious at first. Throughout we see the balance of her being amazed at Michell’s evolution, and Kirk’s slow burning caution in realising this is no longer the Gary knew knew and loved.
It’s a nice and straight forward story. Wrestling with his conscience, Kirk has to decide how to handle a man turning into a maniac, opting to boot him off the ship and let him evolve into whatever he wants at first before things get a little too heated and Dehner has to intervene, atoning for her misjudgement at fawning over Mitchell by giving her life to save the Captains.
Sure, it’s not quite the refined product it would later become. The sets and costumes aren’t quite in their final form yet and not all the supporting cast are in the right place just yet. But compared to the questions posed in the Cage, Where No Man asks a simpler question; how much can someone change before they stop being human? For all the wonder and awe of travelling the galaxy, where’s the limit between absorbing massive power and knowledge, and staying human.
For what was to come next, especially for the next sixty years, it was the perfect introduction to the final frontier.
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