Where No Man Has Gone Before

This one’s weird.

The cast is a muddled mess, at least compared to the rest of the series. Kirk and Spock are clearly the main characters, but much of the rest of the cast is different. Dr. McCoy hasn’t joined the crew yet, nor has Uhura. Scotty’s there, at least sorta. Sulu’s there, except he appears to be some kind of science officer.

The uniforms are also strange. These are the same get-ups used in the flashback sequences of “The Menagerie,” which wasn’t surprising considering that this one and the old chunks of that one were the first shows shot. They’re the strange, plush-looking things sporting turtleneck collars with clearly visible zippers. And the support crew members are wearing tan shirts rather than their later, clearly-contrasting-with-command-yellow red. No red shirts? How can the aliens tell whom to kill?

Even the camerawork is different. We get shots that include the ceilings. We get high angles in the hallways. In general we see the sets from views other than the standard camera placements used in most of the episodes.

Weirdness aside, however, it’s a reasonably good episode. Searching for a missing ship, the Enterprise journeys through a strange region of space that works a change on some of the crew. Lieutenant Commander Gary Mitchell seems particularly strongly affected. His eyes go funny (an effect achieved via silver contact lenses that looked like they were highly painful for actor Gary Lockwood to wear). But more important, a small drip of ESP he possesses gets turned into a raging flood.

Unfortunately his new, godlike powers also come with a new, godlike ego. In short order Kirk decides that he’ll need to strand the guy and his similarly-psychic girlfriend (Sally Kellerman) on an uninhabited world. This leads to a showdown in which Kirk tries desperately to find a vulnerable spot in his former friend’s awesome power.

Fun fact: During their battle on the planet, Mitchell makes a grave for Kirk appear out of nowhere. The headstone identifies the grave’s intended occupant as “James R. Kirk.” Loyal fans will of course recall that Kirk’s middle initial is T.

Episode rating:

Stardate: 1312.4

Episode type: Powerful alien

Written by: Samuel A. Peeples

Original air date: September 22, 1966

Charlie X / The Naked Time

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