I'm quite happy with my previous blog review on the episode, so I'll be brief. This revisit was just as rewarding as in time's past. I have always loved this episode, mainly because of the casting of Lockwood and Kellerman in guest roles, knowing they would become well recognized in great films directed by two of the greatest directors in the history of Hollywood...both "encountering" a powerful alien "force" that grants them god-like, evolving power. Those eyes are just so unsettling!
This just remains so fascinating to me because Where No Man Has Gone Before feels so out of place, three episodes in, as it was the obvious "preferred pilot" to The Cage, where the designs of sets and uniforms, even the characters (especially, Spock), aren't quite fully formed. Kirk, though, is right where he remains throughout the entire series for the exception of his initial, erroneously placed on a tombstone created by his lost friend, Gary Mitchell (Lockwood), who seems buried under the overwhelming influence of that god-like alien force encountered in space, once by a ship called The Valiant, and later by The Enterprise NCC-1701.
Ultimately, for me, seeing Spock so ready to murder Mitchell is an intriguing character aspect, pointing out to a reluctant Kirk -- who knew him from the Academy days -- that logic dictates if they don't take action, what possesses him will consider them an annoyance, an insect so beneath him. Fix, who I think is always a welcome presence in westerns, just doesn't feel right for the Enterprise doctor. I can see why Roddenberry didn't feel he fit what he was looking for as creator and producer. Don't get me wrong: as the town doctor of a 50s or 60s western television show or movie, Fix is reliable. Seeing Scotty and Sulu still sort of minor characters with very little to do, it is cool that they would soon become more involved in the series. It's too bad Paul Carr is killed off as officer, Kelso. He looks like such a tried and true Star Trek regular. I guess, if one looks at it, his murder gives that unpredictable feeling of "at any point or time, a potentially important character can be killed". Again, as a pilot treated by NBC as just a mission weeks into the season, this episode clashes greatly with the episodes before and after it. But for that very reason, I remain so glued to the screen because of so many differences that make it so unique. 5/5
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| Scotty at the helm |
I was watching the Big Bang Theory the other day, where Sheldon and Leonard were playing this kind of chess. This was what initially inspired me to watch this episode of Star Trek.
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| Sulu not a helmsman in this episode |
There was a trivia piece on the actor behind Lockwood here, a black actor Nichelle Nichols would replace as Uhura, Lloyd Haynes. I'll always wonder if he could have been used as another significant character on the show, with Nichols also in an important role had the producers kept him in place. Too bad.
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| The laser rifle |
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| Sulu, Scotty, and Dr. Piper |
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