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Star Trek Thoughts: Where No Man Has Gone Before
The eighth and last episode on the two "Best of The Original Series" DVDs I had to watch was one I'd been contemplating commenting on beforehand. That was in good part a product of my having seen it before, the first time years and years ago when my family rented the videotape of it (the only Star Trek episode we ever did that for, as I remember). As the famous "second pilot" of the series, its rare second chance at getting under way (if, in the narratives of some, proof Gene Roddenberry's role as series creator should have just amounted to giving very general ideas others would totally rework, an ambiguously familiar statement), one thing I find interesting about it is seeing the series still in development, with the familiar cast beginning to assemble but not all there yet.
From the Enterprise model itself to the bridge, things still look a little different. Remembering the uniforms were still nearly unisex (and some of their colours aren't quite as distinct, although an old impression there were just two colours at this point doesn't hold up with the "Remastered" picture), I was inclined to imagine some reality where they'd stayed that way, until, perhaps, I realised the female shirts had not just a looser collar but also an obvious zipper seam up the back.
As with "Space Seed," this episode might be seen as "man versus superman," and once more man's chance seems to amount to the superman not being "humane" any more. I suppose I've found myself quasi-annoyed comments from the 1990s about Star Trek having to be a "surrogate space program," though, and wondering if there's a touch of "limitations" to this episode. The Enterprise, in reaching the edge of the galaxy, discovers an Earth ship had made it there two centuries before, only to also be repelled by something beyond conception. Then, damaged and looking at a long haul back, the Enterprise can still get to an automated industrial facility in a reasonable length of time, which does seem to place "the frontier" not that far off from "where man could go, but usually doesn't bother to."
Beyond the physical threat of the edge of the galaxy, the threat of the "superman made too soon" (with uncomfortable-looking silver eyes) is tied into ESP, casually referred to as demonstrable if not that useful. "Psychic powers" don't quite seem to have the same cachet in written science fiction as they used to, and I suppose I've wondered if that's a product of the 1970s having been a bit too credulous towards them, prompting a skeptical counter-reaction and a sort of "once general pop culture picks up on something, it's not that exciting in serious science fiction any more" attitude. (With that said, I am of course quite able to accept "the Force" as it is...) I suppose I'm conscious of Gary Mitchell being claimed to be Kirk's long-time friend but never being mentioned again; I can imagine a modern, more "plot arc-conscious" series would make a bigger deal of this setting up development over the space of a season instead of things developing fast in a seemingly organic and unconscious fashion.
From the Enterprise model itself to the bridge, things still look a little different. Remembering the uniforms were still nearly unisex (and some of their colours aren't quite as distinct, although an old impression there were just two colours at this point doesn't hold up with the "Remastered" picture), I was inclined to imagine some reality where they'd stayed that way, until, perhaps, I realised the female shirts had not just a looser collar but also an obvious zipper seam up the back.
As with "Space Seed," this episode might be seen as "man versus superman," and once more man's chance seems to amount to the superman not being "humane" any more. I suppose I've found myself quasi-annoyed comments from the 1990s about Star Trek having to be a "surrogate space program," though, and wondering if there's a touch of "limitations" to this episode. The Enterprise, in reaching the edge of the galaxy, discovers an Earth ship had made it there two centuries before, only to also be repelled by something beyond conception. Then, damaged and looking at a long haul back, the Enterprise can still get to an automated industrial facility in a reasonable length of time, which does seem to place "the frontier" not that far off from "where man could go, but usually doesn't bother to."
Beyond the physical threat of the edge of the galaxy, the threat of the "superman made too soon" (with uncomfortable-looking silver eyes) is tied into ESP, casually referred to as demonstrable if not that useful. "Psychic powers" don't quite seem to have the same cachet in written science fiction as they used to, and I suppose I've wondered if that's a product of the 1970s having been a bit too credulous towards them, prompting a skeptical counter-reaction and a sort of "once general pop culture picks up on something, it's not that exciting in serious science fiction any more" attitude. (With that said, I am of course quite able to accept "the Force" as it is...) I suppose I'm conscious of Gary Mitchell being claimed to be Kirk's long-time friend but never being mentioned again; I can imagine a modern, more "plot arc-conscious" series would make a bigger deal of this setting up development over the space of a season instead of things developing fast in a seemingly organic and unconscious fashion.