Where No One Has Gone Before
"Where No One Has Gone Before" | |
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Star Trek: The Next Generation episode | |
Episode no. | Season 1 Episode 6 |
Directed by | Rob Bowman |
Written by | Diane Duane Michael Reaves |
Based on | The Wounded Sky by Diane Duane |
Featured music | Ron Jones |
Cinematography by | Edward R. Brown |
Production code | 106 |
Original air date | October 26, 1987 |
Guest appearances | |
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"Where No One Has Gone Before" is the sixth episode of the American
Set in the 24th century, the series follows the adventures of the
In this episode, Menyuk made the first of three appearances as the Traveler. Biff Yeager made his first appearance as the longest-running chief engineer of the first season.
Plot
The
Kosinski and his assistant, an alien from Tau Alpha C who claims his name is unpronouncable and asks them to refer to him as Kosinski's Assistant. As Kosinski and the Assistant explain the tests to the engineering crew, Wesley Crusher (Wheaton) quickly grasps what the tests are designed to accomplish and the Assistant expresses admiration for his problem-solving abilities.
The test quickly goes awry when the Enterprise speeds up, surpassing the known capabilities of warp engines. Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) orders the ship stopped, and the crew finds themselves on the far side of the M33 Galaxy (more than 2.7 million light-years from the Milky Way, the Enterprise's home galaxy). Although Kosinski is pleased with the results, Picard reprimands him and asks him to simply redo the process to return home.
Crusher attempts to warn Riker that during the warp test, the Assistant appeared to "phase", drifting in and out of reality, but Riker dismisses him without listening. However, after Kosinski begins the second test, Crusher and Riker both observe the Assistant again drifting out, appearing more tired. The Enterprise again experiences a burst of speed, and when it stops, the crew cannot determine their position. Picard demands that Kosinski get the crew home.
While Kosinski, the Assistant, and the engineering crew work on reversing the process, the rest of the crew begins experiencing lifelike visions of their past. After having a vision of his mother (Herta Ware), Picard surmises that they have arrived at the theoretical Outer Rim of the universe, and issues a red alert to awaken the crew from their visions.
Riker suggests that Kosinski may have had nothing to do with the warp jumps, which were more likely done by the Assistant himself, resulting in his weakness. Picard finds the alien in sick bay, dying, but Dr. Crusher (Gates McFadden) cannot evaluate the Assistant's alien biology, and is unable to treat him.
The Assistant explains he is a Traveler with the ability to channel thought into reality, brought the crew of the Enterprise to the Outer Rim, triggering similar effects in anyone within it to ascertain if they were ready to experience thought as reality, and apologizes for bringing them before they were ready. The Traveler confides to Picard that he looks for scientific prodigies such as the young Crusher, and suggests that Picard nurture him.
When he returns to the engineering section, the Traveler asks Crusher to assist him in returning the Enterprise to known space. As they concentrate, beginning to return the ship home, the Traveler again phases and finally disappears completely. The Enterprise is back in Federation space. After the incident, Picard promotes Crusher to acting ensign (following his own unspoken suggestion in "The Naked Now") on the Enterprise for his performance.
Production
Writing
The original story for "Where No One Has Gone Before" was developed before the start of Star Trek: The Next Generation, with Michael Reaves and Diane Duane invited to pitch story ideas.[2] Duane did not belong to the Writers Guild of America (a requirement to write for the show at the time), and doubted she would be asked to write a script.[3] Duane and Reaves worked together on several ideas; after a week, Reaves informed Duane that he developed an idea based on her 1983 Star Trek novel The Wounded Sky and asked her to collaborate with him.[3] She worked on the story idea with Reaves, and they expanded the story slightly from Reaves' original idea.[3] One version of the script involved the Enterprise causing the birth of a new universe, with a play on the Genesis creation narrative.[4]
They pitched the story to story editor
The script was given to Maurice Hurley to rewrite.[3][4] He took six weeks for the rewrite, and his initial version was received poorly by TNG executives. Hurley later said, "they absolutely hated it, I think they wanted to fire me, and they would have if I didn't have a guaranteed contract".[1] He rewrote the script, and this version was filmed. Hurley was pleased with the result, saying that "everything about that episode worked".[1] The final version differed significantly from the original Reaves-Duane script; Duane later said that only two scenes remained: where Picard sees his mother, and where he nearly falls out of the turbolift into space.[3] Reaves later said that the episode "came together much better on the screen than we thought it would when we read the script. We were lucky, because it was out of our hands".[1]
Direction and casting
Eric Menyuk was cast as the Traveler. The actor had previously been runner-up for the role of Data several weeks earlier[4] (the role went to Brent Spiner).[8] He was a Star Trek fan since age six,[4] and would later return as the Traveler twice more: in "Remember Me" and "Journey's End".[9] Menyuk's return in "Journey's End" would also mark the last on-screen appearance of Wesley Crusher.[10] Biff Yeager made his Next Generation debut in "Where No One Has Gone Before" as Chief Engineer Argyle, who would become the most frequently appearing chief engineer of the first season (appearing twice).[9][11] Geordi La Forge took over that role in the first episode of season two, "The Child".[12] Stuntman "Dangerous" Dennis Madalone also made his series debut as the science division crewman threatened by his own (imagined) fire.[13] From season three onwards he was stunt coordinator for The Next Generation, and continued to portray a number of crew members.[9] Viewers learned Picard's mother's first name in "Chain of Command"; she was played in "Where No One Has Gone Before" by Herta Ware, who appeared in the 1985 science-fiction film Cocoon.[9]
Visual effects and makeup
Some effects in the episode were created in
The Klingon
Music
"Where No One Has Gone Before" was the second episode scored by Ron Jones.[16] Some themes in the soundtrack were rearrangements of Jerry Goldsmith's score from Star Trek: The Motion Picture. In the piece "Talk with Mom" (played during Picard's meeting with his mother), Jones tried to create an effect identical to the finale of Aaron Copland's 1944 Appalachian Spring. Alexander Courage's themes from The Original Series are included in a seven-note ostinato in the pieces "Log", "Visitors", and "Fly-By".[16]
The score was recorded with a 40-piece orchestra. Jones formatted the orchestra to generate a bigger sound than normally heard on television soundtracks to make it sound more like Goldsmith's The Motion Picture score. Keyboards were used to make the cellos more prominent, and other changes included an increase in the midrange of the string section.[16] The soundtrack to "Where No One Has Gone Before" was released (as part of The Ron Jones Project box set of Star Trek: The Next Generation scores) in a limited run of 5,000 copies in 2010 by Film Score Monthly.[16]
Reception
With the full weight of its network behind it, TNG got away with a lot of things that would have killed other shows stone-dead. This episode is a prime example of that. The crew lack agency in their situation, the ideas it presents are wholly unrelatable, and the story has virtually nothing resembling an emotional core. And yet, it works, if only because it tickles the part of you that wonders exactly what might be out there. Early TNG was many things, but "Where No One Has Gone Before" shows that it wasn't bland.
James Hunt, Den of Geek[17]
"Where No One Has Gone Before" aired in
Several reviewers revisited the episode after the end of the series. Cast member Wil Wheaton later described the episode as "the first time The Next Generation really started to come together".[13] However, the episode was flawed in dialogue and in Picard's changes in tone: "I'm not sure if that was a deliberate choice, so he would appear as a conflicted man, or if it was Patrick Stewart's natural warmth and kindness coming through the gruff demeanour Picard was written to have."[13] When reviewing the show in 2006 for AOL TV, he gave it an overall score of B-plus.[13] Keith DeCandido reviewed the episode for Tor.com, praising the guest actors; Stanley Kamel was "magnificent" and "ooze[d] arrogance, overconfidence, and bull in equal measure", while Herta Ware brought "tremendous gravitas" to her role.[11] He described the episode as the best of the first season, with strong performances from the main cast, and gave it an overall score of eight (out of ten).[11]
Jamahl Epsicokhan, on his website
In Richard Hanley's book The Metaphysics of Star Trek the appearance of the Traveler in "Where No One Has Gone Before" was described as a continuation of intellectually advanced aliens in Star Trek, beginning in The Original Series with
Home media and theatrical release
The first home-media release of "Where No One Has Gone Before" was on VHS cassette on April 1, 1992 in the United States and Canada.[22] The episode was later included on the Star Trek: The Next Generation season-one DVD box set released in March 2002.[23]
Episodes from "Encounter at Farpoint" to "Datalore" were released in Japan on LaserDisc on June 10, 1995, as part of First Season Part.1.[24] This included the first season episode "Where No One Has Gone Before", and the set has a total runtime of 638 minutes across multiple 12-inch optical video discs.[24]
The episode was released as part of the season-one
Notes
- ^ a b c d e Gross; Altman (1993): p. 158
- ^ Reaves, Michael. "Preface to "Where None Have Gone Before"". Michael Reaves' Website. Archived from the original on April 21, 2003. Retrieved February 14, 2013.
- ^ a b c d e f g Duane, Diane (October 28, 2006). "Star Trek: The Next Generation: Where No One Has Gone Before". DianeDuane.com. Retrieved February 14, 2013.
- ^ a b c d e f Nemecek (2003): p. 36
- ^ a b Duane, Diane; Reaves, Michael. "Where None Have Gone Before". DianeDuane.com. Archived from the original on 2012-05-31. Retrieved February 14, 2013.
- ^ Gross; Altman (1993): p. 159
- ^ "Looking Back At TNG With Director Rob Bowman, Part 1". StarTrek.com. December 3, 2012. Retrieved February 14, 2013.
- ^ a b Westmore, Nazzaro (1993): p. 57
- ^ a b c d e f g Nemecek (2003): p. 37
- ^ DeCandido, Keith (March 15, 2013). "Star Trek: The Next Generation Rewatch: "Journey's End"". Tor.com. Retrieved January 27, 2022.
- ^ a b c DeCandido, Keith (May 23, 2011). "Star Trek: The Next Generation Rewatch: "Where No One Has Gone Before"". Tor.com. Retrieved January 27, 2022.
- ^ DeCandido, Keith (August 11, 2011). "Star Trek: The Next Generation Rewatch: "The Child"". Tor.com. Retrieved January 27, 2022.
- ^ a b c d Wheaton, Wil (October 27, 2006). "Star Trek The Next Generation: Where No One Has Gone Before". HuffPost TV. Archived from the original on June 14, 2015. Retrieved February 14, 2013.
- ^ "Star Trek: TNG "The Travellers Hands" from "Where No One Has Gone Before"". Star Trek Prop Collector.com. Retrieved February 15, 2013.
- ^ "Star Trek: TNG "The Traveller Costume" from "Where No One Has Gone Before"". Star Trek Prop Collector.com. Retrieved February 15, 2013.
- ^ a b c d Ron Jones (2010). "Star Trek: The Next Generation: The Ron Jones Project" (Interview). Interviewed by Jeff Bond; Lukas Kendall. Film Score Monthly. Retrieved February 15, 2013.
- ^ Hunt, James (October 12, 2012). "Revisiting Star Trek TNG: Where No-One Has Gone Before". Den of Geek. Retrieved January 25, 2022.
- ^ "Star Trek: The Next Generation Nielsen Ratings – Seasons 1–2". TrekNation. UGO Networks. Archived from the original on October 5, 2000. Retrieved June 12, 2016.
- ^ a b c Epsicokhan, Jamahl. "Star Trek: The Next Generation: "Where No One Has Gone Before"". Jammer's Reviews. Retrieved February 15, 2013.
- ^ Hanley (1998): p. 37
- ^ Hanley (1998): p. xvii
- ^ "Star Trek: The Next Generation – Episode 6 (VHS)". Tower Video. Retrieved February 14, 2013.
- ^ Periguard, Mark A (March 24, 2002). "'Life as a House' rests on shaky foundation". The Boston Herald. Archived from the original on June 10, 2014. Retrieved October 13, 2012.
- ^ a b "LaserDisc Database - Star Trek Next Generation: Log. 1: First Season Part.1 [PILF-2005]". www.lddb.com. Retrieved 2021-02-18.
- ^ Shaffer, RL (April 30, 2012). "Star Trek: The Next Generation Beams to Blu-ray". IGN. Retrieved January 25, 2022.
- ^ "'Star Trek: TNG': Jonathan Frakes light years past 'Farpoint'". Los Angeles Times. June 19, 2012. Archived from the original on March 23, 2013. Retrieved February 15, 2013.
- ^ "TNG 25th Anniversary Event In Theaters July 23". StarTrek.com. May 31, 2012.
References
- Gross, Edward; Altman, Mark A. (1993). Captain's Logs: The Complete Trek Voyages. London: Boxtree. ISBN 978-1-85283-899-7.
- Westmore, Michael G; Nazzaro, Joe (1993). Star Trek: The Next Generation Make-Up FX Journal. London: Titan. ISBN 978-1-85286-491-0.
- Hanley, Richard (1998). The Metaphysics of Star Trek. New York: Basic Books. ISBN 978-0-465-09124-9. (subscription required)
- Nemecek, Larry (2003). Star Trek: The Next Generation Companion (3rd ed.). New York: Pocket Books. ISBN 0-7434-5798-6.
External links