A Guest Blog by Mindless-Droid

This week’s classic Star Trek episode is Where No Man Has Gone Before. This was the second pilot episode even though it aired after The Man Trap and Charlie X. The Enterprise is on a mission to probe outside the galaxy but while in route picks up a recorder marker from the SS Valiant a ship lost some two centuries before. The recorder marker is analyzed and Spock discovers that the Valiant encountered some sort of energy barrier that damaged the ship and killed several crewman. As Spock continues it seems one crewman came back to life. It was then that the captain of the Valiant began requesting information on ESP. Spock then says he believes that the captain ordered the ship to self-destruct.

Kirk decides to continue the mission to see what is out there. The Enterprise encounters the energy barrier which Spock describes as negative energy. The ship is damaged and nine crewman are killed. Gary Mitchell a friend of Kirk and Elizabeth Dehner are injured after being zapped by a strange electrical charge. Dehner seems okay as does Mitchell except Mitchell now has a strange silver glow in his eyes and is taken to sick bay.

Dehner reports that the dead crewman as well as her and Mitchell all had high ESP ratings. Spock mentions the report of the Valiant captain requesting ESP information and is concerned but Dehner believes there is little danger. Kirk visits Mitchell in sick bay and reminisces about old times. Just as Kirk leaves Mitchell in a booming echoing voice warns Kirk “you’d better be good to me” which startles Kirk. Kirk returns to the bridge and Spock informs him that Mitchell is reading through the ships library at an alarming rate. Dehner next visits Mitchell and he exhibits strange powers as he can control his medical readouts and now has a photographic memory. As Mitchell and Dehner are getting close Lieutenant Kelso walks in to check on his friend. Mitchell tells him that there is damage to the impulse engines that would result in an explosion. Kelso doubts him but Mitchell insists and Kelso leaves. Mitchell tells Dehner that Kelso saw the damage but didn’t realize it and that he could see the image in Kelso’s mind.

At a briefing Kelso reports that Mitchell was right about the damage even though there was no way of him knowing. Scotty then reports that buttons and levers were moving by themselves in engineering. Sulu reports that Mitchell’s powers are expanding exponentially. Dehner defends Mitchell as she has become close to him but Spock disagrees and states that he is dangerous. Spock suggests that the ship head to Delta Vega an uninhabited planet with an automated mining operation, for repairs and tells Kirk they should leave Mitchell behind. Kirk disagrees telling Spock Mitchell is his friend but Spock convinces him that it is what’s best for the ship.

Arriving at the planet Kirk Spock and Dehner attempt to transport Mitchell to the surface Mitchell resists threatening to squash them like insects but is sedated. Mitchell is imprisoned and the crew begin salvaging parts from the facility to repair the ship. Mitchell tries to escape but the force field drains his power momentarily but it soon returns. With repairs almost complete Spock convinces Kirk that Mitchell is dangerous and Kirk orders Kelso to rig a switch to destroy the facility if Mitchell escapes. After most of the crew has returned to the ship Mitchell kills Kelso using a cable controlled by his mind and escapes with Dehner and rendering everyone else unconscious. Kirk orders everyone back to the ship and if they don’t hear from him to blast the planet with lethal radiation.

Kirk peruses Mitchell and is confronted by Dehner who now also has the power. Kirk tries reasoning with her to help him when Mitchell shows and manhandles Kirk even opening up a grave to put him in Kirk attacks him with a phaser rifle but it is ineffectual. Dehner realizing Kirk was right attacks Mitchell weakening him enough to allow Kirk a fighting chance. Kirk gains the upper hand but Mitchell regains his power as they both fall into the grave Kirk acting quickly jumps out and retrieves the phaser rifle fires it at an outcrop of rock which falls on Mitchell in the grave sealing his fate. Kirk tends to Dehner who was badly injured in her exchange with Mitchell she asks him for forgiveness before she to dies. Back on the ship Kirk enters into his log “Add to official losses, Dr. Elizabeth Dehner. Be it noted she gave her life in performance of her duty. Lieutenant Commander Gary Mitchell. Same notation.” Saying that Mitchell didn’t ask for what happened to him.

This was a great episode the network got the action they wanted while the show still retained the strong sci-fi element of the original pilot. I like the re-mastered effects especially planet fall and the shots of the Enterprise they are not over done here. During the chess game between kirk and Spock in the opening act Kirk says to Spock he plays an irritating game of chess to which Spock replies smiling about Earth emotion maybe they should have left out the smile. This episode being the pilot differs in some aspects like Scotty in a gold uniform Spock’s eyebrows being more upswept the uniforms are different and there are some unique camera shots and angles.

The one thing that always bothered me with this episode was is there really an edge to the galaxy wouldn’t it just fade away and if the Valiant only had old impulse engines how did it make it to the edge of the galaxy. The barrier is a cool effect though so I always overlooked that part. Glad they ditched Spock’s earpiece with the wire and why was he always yelling I guess they hadn’t gotten all aspects of his character down yet.

Mitchell’s character was interesting his friendship with Kirk made Kirk’s decisions later that much more dramatic and that lab technician he aimed at Kirk is theorized to be Carol Marcus if you like a good retcon and he was something of a jerk before the incident. When Kirk tends to him on the bridge after being zapped he has a subtle hint of evil in his voice. Then in sick bay the booming echo reinforced his evolution into something different. I also like when Mitchell tells Dehner how he knew to tell Kelso of the engine damage “The image of what he had seen was still in his mind.” I always found it funny that Kelso said he was on his coffee break I guess coffee is forever same with Sulu mentioning pennies. During his time in sick bay we see Mitchell changing but with hints of his former self very nicely done. The cup effect was a neat little spot I wonder how they pulled it off.

The contrast between Spock and Dehner is interesting Dehner being more emotional and Spock with his logic. Kirk hearing both of them knows what he must do but I like how he needs Spock’s confirmation to do it. It’s a good way to show their mutual trust and friendship.

The matte painting of the facility on Delta Vega is quite impressive but why is there a brig on a lifeless planet and why did they let Mitchell regain conciseness when they put him in there. I like the way Gary Lockwood would tilt his head and just have a sense of arrogance about him as Mitchell became more powerful. The scene in the brig when Mitchell tries to escape and the force field drains his power is very dramatic. As Mitchell looks at Kirk with normal eyes and says simply “Jim” it really emphasizes that he is not at fault for what he becomes and makes his ultimate fate that much more tragic.

I was disappointed that Kelso was killed it seemed he would have been an interesting character. Too bad they didn’t get to use the destruct button he set up that could have been a cool explosion but that wouldn’t have served the story and they probably couldn’t afford the effects budget for something like that.

The final confrontation between Kirk and Mitchell is what the network wanted lots of action. It did however show Kirk to be quite skilled in negotiation as he convinced Dehner that Mitchell was dangerous. Dehner was indeed a tragic figure in all of this but in the end sacrificed herself for the others. The battle between Mitchell and Dehner does remind one of a certain Sith skill, throwing electricity around. Kirk was put in an awful position having to kill a good friend and you see that when he says “Forgive me Gary” but that hesitation almost costs him everything.

A couple of quick notes. This is the only appearance of the Phaser rifle in the series. The tombstone Mitchell conjures has Kirk’s middle initial to be R not T. No red shirts were harmed in this episode as well.

A Guest Blog by Mindless-Droid

This week’s classic Star trek episode is Charlie X. The Enterprise picks up a unique passenger from the cargo ship Antares. Charlie Evans is the sole survivor of a ship crash on the planet Thasus. Charlie’s ship had crashed when he was just three years old. Now an adolescent Charlie tries to adjust to life around other people. At first Charlie seems like just another teenager trying to fit in but strange things begin to happen including the destruction of the Antares. The Enterprise crew soon learn that Charlie has extraordinary powers that allow him to do whatever his mind wishes.

This episode is pretty much an absolute power corrupts absolutely story. Then you throw in the fact that Charlie is a teenager and he has been alone for most of his life compounds his issues. I like the subtle way they show Charlie’s powers when he comes aboard the Enterprise as the Antares crew are both eager to leave and are then saying how wonderful a boy Charlie is. Then we have the hint that he knew something happened to the other ship before Spock scanned it and found nothing but debris.

Charlie is inability to control his power gets the best of him whether it is being laughed at in the gym, people not being “nice” or when Yeoman Rand rejects his advances. Charlie becomes embolden by his power but Kirk who is something of a father figure to the boy theorizes that Charlie’s power may have limits and he may be over taxing himself when he takes control of the ship. As Kirk confronts him and an alien ship appears it is the Thasians from the planet Charlie crashed on, The Thasians gave Charlie the power so he could survive and had not realized he had gone. They were unable to help the Antares but have restore the ship and crew of the Enterprise. The Thasians say they will take Charlie home with them. Charlie pleads with Kirk to let him stay as he does not want to live with the alien Thasians but the Thasians fearing he will be unable to control his power take him from the Enterprise Bridge.

Robert Walker who played Charlie did an excellent job of making Charlie out to be menacing and at the same time innocent and in the end you even feel for him as he pleads to stay on the Enterprise. You feel sorry for him as the Thasians take him from the bridge as his pleas to stay fade away.

Some bits of trivia. This episode is one of six that take place entirely on the Enterprise. This is the only episode that features the ships gymnasium. In the re-mastered episode the Antares is modeled after the grain ships from the animated series episode More Tribbles, More Troubles. There were several red shirts harmed in this episode but they were made whole by the Thasians in the end.

A Guest Blog by Mindless-Droid

This week we go back to the beginning and the first Star trek episode ever aired The Man Trap. Even though it wasn’t the series second pilot it was aired before Were No Man Has Gone Before. The Enterprise is sent to planet M-113 to perform routine medical checkups on Professor Crater and his wife Nancy who are studying the planet. Kirk, McCoy and lieutenant Darnell beam down and encounter Nancy Crater an old flame of McCoy’s but things are not as they seem and each member of the landing party sees a different Nancy Crater. Unknown to the landing party Nancy Crater was killed by a shape shifting creature native to the planet and has assumed her identity.

The creature in need of salt kills several crewman and with its shape shifting ability beams aboard the Enterprise in disguise. It then leads Kirk, Spock and McCoy in a dangerous game of cat and mouse changing shape to avoid capture. Professor Carter eventually confesses to Kirk that the creature had killed Nancy but that he spared its life saying that it was the last of its kind like the buffalo on Earth. After a meeting in which Crater reveals he can identify the creature in whatever form it takes the creature disguised as McCoy and fearing Crater would give it up kills Crater. After the creature kills Crater and attempts to kill Spock it returns to McCoy’s cabin in Nancy’s form and after a dramatic showdown in which McCoy must put aside his feelings for Nancy he kills the creature before it can kill Kirk.

This episode was a good way to start the series you get a lot of good background on some of the main characters especially the big three. There is the mystery aspect of the creature it was a good idea to only see its true form at the end of the episode. The dramatic showdown made for a great ending. One of the things that makes this episode slightly different then say The Horta episode is that the creature is simply the monster of the week. Even though the creature is said to be intelligent there is no attempt to make peace with it. It’s a slight criticism but the creature was shown to be quite aggressive but so was the Horta. We even get a bit of regret from Kirk at the end when he says he was thinking of the buffalo.

We get the first he’s dead Jim when Darnell is killed by the salt creature.

The first death also is oddly enough not a red shirt.

During Spock and Uhura’s chat we get a little background on Spock and his lack of emotion and that Vulcan has no moon.

After Darnels death we also get the first glimpse of Kirk’s devotion to his crew and how he suffers each death.

During the early part of this episode we also see the friendship between Kirk and McCoy and also Spock the big three.

The second crewman and Green are killed next and neither have a red shirt either.

To identify the creature to the audience in whatever form it takes whoever played the part bit on its knuckle as a common characteristic.

Would have liked to have seen more of Sulu’s plants during the rest of the series but they sort of forgot about old Beauregard.

“May the Great Bird of the Galaxy roost on your planet.” Sulu’s comment to Rand when she brought him his tray, the great bird of the galaxy is actually Gene Rodenberry’s nickname.

I really wish they would have kept Rand’s character for the whole series.

It was a nice touch having the creature speak Swahili to Uhura and gave a nice little bit of info on her background.

Crater uses the old hand laser from the original pilot.

The climax of the episode gives us a nice introduction to the friendship between the big three Kirk Spock and McCoy.

The salt creature is one of Trek’s most iconic aliens even though it’s only on screen for a short amount of time.

There were no red shirts harmed in this episode but the blues and yellows didn’t fare so well.