I'd like to note at the outset that I'm watching the episodes in the order outlined on Memory Alpha. As such, it will be out of sync with the order outlined here and on Netflix.
It's difficult, I think, to approach Star Trek with anything like a critical blankness as I'm trying to do throughout this project. Its cultural influence is so pervasive that watching this episode for the first time I'm already familiar with Kirk the cad, Spock the logical but trusted deputy and all the tropes that will undoubtedly play out over the course of the series. I doubt that this will dampen my enjoyment at all, but it's worth taking into consideration. The episode opens well as both Kirk and Spock's characters are established, in broad strokes, in the first two minutes or so. From there the viewer is taken through the scenario: through an encounter with a magnetic storm, crew member Gary Mitchell is changed somehow and begins to develop latent psychic powers at an accelerated rate. His concerns become less human, leading him to become a danger to the rest of the crew as he seeks to transcend humanity.
The effects are dated and the writing isn't phenomenal, but the episode does a solid job of portraying Mitchell's change while revealing more about Kirk. What was less convincing was Dehner's sudden willingness to follow him but she acts as a convenient stooge. The confrontation allows all-action Kirk to reveal himself and Mitchell is defeated accordingly. What is most important is that the Enterprise's mission has been established, Kirk and Spock and their individual traits have been introduced and emphasised and the format that I gather the show will follow is demonstrated - the ship encounters an external force and Kirk, along with Spock, uses his ingenuity and brawn to overcome it. Once I know all this I'm able to sit back and enjoy it all - the effects, the bad one-liners, the occasional lack of forward momentum. One of the things I find compelling about the Star Trek universe is the expansiveness of it, and I'm looking forward to delving into it.
Good plot in a way: the conflict between mind (Spock) and feelings (the psychologist); the burden of command: friendship and comradeship vs. doing what's right for the starship. I'm getting a bit tired of aliens with supernatural, mind-manipulating/telepathic powers disguising as humans though. I mean he's not really an alien. It's a mutation that turned an old comrade of Kirk into a dangerous foe. And Kirk does what Kirk does: a mano a mano solo til death. Who needs a crew anyway if you have two fists and a huge laser phallus.
Plus, I don't understand how they found their way back. Didn't they say the Enterprise was teleported light years across the galaxy? Or did I miss that? Or was that only the ancient ship that suffered that fate?
A very good episode. It has all the right elements to be great, but I think it's biggest shortcoming is that it assumes someone that can read intent could be overcome so easily. If Mitchell can already read a Vulcan's disciplined mind, he could very easily read Kirk and Dehner. Mitchell should never have been killed in such an easy manner, even if Dehner used her powers to assist. Dehner was much further behind on the geometric growth curve, meaning she was a pissant in comparison.
And speaking of Dehner, she was written fairly poorly for a psychologist. I expected her to get a clue several times throughout the episode, but instead she seemed smitten with Mitchell and unable to do her job. She never really had anything intelligent to say or anything meaningful to contribute. I'm not sure if this is because the episode is a product of the 60s, bad writing, or both.
This was actually the second pilot episode that Gene Roddenberry submitted to NBC, at their request, and I can completely understand why they've decided to pick it up for a full season. It's so much better than the original pilot and must have looked so advanced at the time that it probably blew everyone's mind. The narrative is quite dense and could have easily been extended to a full feature length. However, you can clearly see the changes they've implemented to both characters and tone of the show, even though the crew's uniforms, phasers and overall characterization would still be refined for future episodes. However, the fact that the antagonist turned out to be Captain Kirk's long time friend and helmsman of the Enterprise made the whole ordeal more personal and that much harder to overcome. We also get to witness one the many perils that lie beyond the edges of our galaxy and just how unprepared the Enterprise is to face them. This is, without a doubt, one of the strongest entries in the series.
This episode feels out of place with what Star Trek would become, due to being a (2nd) pilot. It takes quite a whole to get going and I was getting bored, but the writing remains good throughout and the final scenes are quite exciting. Great to see Scotty finally appear, but I was taken aback by how eager Spock was to kill Gary!
UPDATE - SECOND WATCH (2021): Enjoyed it a fair bit more this time around. When you consider that this episode was intended to be the first one, it actually launches the show much better than the episodes that were initially broadcast before this. Mitchell being one of Kirk's best friends and the disrupted character continuity just fits in better when this kicks things off. I also found I quite liked the character moments throughout this and it kept my attention.
So I'm not one for special features on shows or movies, but there was just something about this that was bugging me that I just couldn't put my finger on it. After watching the Disc 1 special feature, it all became clear. The series has been remastered, music re-recorded, and special effects replaced with modern-ish CGI.. Which all makes this legendary ground breaking series even more of a joy to watch.
One psycho per episode, so ...
‘where no man has gone before’ yeah because it’s boring as hell. respectfully.
So this was the actual pilot episode. The one that got aired, anyway. Which is why everything all of a sudden looks and even sounds different.
The story is solid scifi. A little bit too close to Charlie X as we deal again with a human having superpowers. I think Lockwood really did well in portraying the arrogance and how he felt about the "normal" humans. Of course there is some sort of romantic interest with Dr. Dehner and a fistfight at the end. Those things were dictated by the studio.
Was it, in hindsight, a better pilot then the one that didn't air ? The storie goes that the studio feard the first one was to complicated and intellectual for the audience back then. This one's more down to earth. I like both and who knows what might have happened had "The Cage" aired. Maybe there would be no Star Trek, maybe there would be no Capt. Kirk.
STAR TREK: WHERE NO MAN HAS GONE BEFORE
WRITING: 50
ACTING: 65
LOOK: 60
SOUND: 65
FEEL: 65
NOVELTY: 60
ENJOYMENT: 60
RE-WATCHABILITY: 60
INTRIGUE: 55
EXPECTATIONS: 60
After salt vampires to angsty teenagers, the third episode shows what TOS has to offer in terms of space action. Sinister music and a creepy crewmember gone bad, this is another episode intercut with splendid tension and dragged out moments. The most memorable climax so far, with a proper fight sequence.
60% = :heavy_minus_sign:
Review by Andrew BloomVIP 9BlockedParent2016-12-23T20:49:22Z
6.6/10. I find that I enjoy the thought experiment element of the show more than the actual execution of that idea. The concept of someone become god-like, to the point that they pose a threat not because they're malevolent, but because human would become like ants to them is an intriguing one that was later explored with Dr. Manhattan in Watchmen. But it's taken in an interesting direction here with Kirk and Lt. Mitchell having a history together, and the prospect of having to kill or maroon a friend complicating matters in an interesting way.
By the same token, there's an interesting philosophical debate on the merits of logic vs. emotion, embodied by Spock's presence here and a certain merciless quality to him. But the other side of the coin is that when Kirk worries about the godlike Mitchell, he's also worried about the "human frailty" part of him, the part that is jealous or gives into primal urges without constraint. It's a little melodramatic, but the way the episode delves into pop psychology here, discussing the sense in which there are parts of ourselves we close off, and someone who unleashes them with godlike power could be very frightening is an intriguing one.
Still, it's taking me a bit to acclimate to the sixties-ness of it all. The ACT-TING is still a little difficult for me to stomach, and while the pacing was a little better here than in the prior episodes, there's still a lot of a "tell you something, show it to you, and the describe what the audience just saw" type of hand-holding that doesn't work for me. Of course the foam rocks and cheesy karate combat don't help either.
But this was still ane pisode that piqued my interest. The actor who played Mitchell hammed it up a bit, but create a notable sense of velvet menace much of the time. (Though the business with Dr, Dehner was a little uncomfortable.) And the sci fi-esque question of what ordinary men do in extraordinary situations, where they have to kill or strand people they care about, and whether you need to "command with compassion" or not show the introspective bent and grand ideas at the core of the series. I'm not hooked yet, but I'm definitely intriguied.