TNG Flashback: Where No One Has Gone Before

"Where No One Has Gone Before" is the first episode of Star Trek: The Next Generation's long seven season run that I feel I could actually recommend to someone who isn't a Star Trek fan -- without apologies or excuses -- as a solid representation of the show. It doesn't pack any of the emotional punch that many later episodes would carry, but it does do a great job of conveying the sense of wonder and adventure inherent in the Star Trek series concept.

A pompous warp specialist named Kosinski comes aboard the Enterprise to test upgrades which appear to be meaningless nonsense. But Kosinski's assistant is a powerful alien with the ability to merge space, time, and thought. His presence accidentally accelerates the ship to such an impossible velocity that it reaches the edge of the universe, a place where every thought can be transformed into reality. But the effort injures him, and he may die before he can get the Enterprise back home.

The episode title, of course, is a reference to the opening "saga sell" read by the ship's captain at the start of each episode. It's also similarly titled to the original series' second pilot, "Where No Man Has Gone Before," but the title is much more fitting here. That classic Trek episode involved traveling to uncharted territory only as a Macguffin to get into a basically unrelated story; here, the entire point of the story is the journey to uncharted space, and the wondrous, impossible things that exist there.

Actor Eric Menyuk really anchors the episode through his airy, understated performance as the Traveler. According to many sources, Menyuk was actually the runner-up to play Data, and was given this role as something of a consolation. He was memorable enough here to be brought back again later in the series. By contrast, actor Stanley Kamel is a bit over the top as Kosinski, though the part is admittedly written fairly over the top. In any event, he's worlds more natural than the half dozen or so minor actors cast in this episode for a line or two each.

Composer Ron Jones created a fantastic score for this episode. It does lean rather heavily on Jerry Goldsmith's Star Trek fanfare (The Next Generation's title theme), but modulates wonderfully between bombastic adventure and atmospheric wonder. There's also a simple but interesting theme for The Traveler that's very well-suited to the character.

The visuals of this episode are particularly striking, and actually still hold up well even 25 years later. They're especially impressive on the Blu-ray remaster. The visual representation of the "thought realm" at the edge of the universe is both elegant in its simplicity, and yet quite unlike anything represented on Star Trek before or since.

Character-wise, the big takeaway from this episode is the revelation that Wesley Crusher is a gifted genius, a Mozart of thought and science. The Traveler asks Picard to encourage his development, and the episode ends with Wesley receiving a commission as an Acting Ensign to allow him regular access to the bridge.

I think I appreciate Wesley's ultimate character arc now more than I did originally. Wesley was a real avatar for every Star Trek fan in this early episode; who wouldn't want to adventure on the Enterprise, if that were somehow really possible? As The Next Generation first ran on television, I was even close to his age, further helping the fantasy. But ultimately, Wesley's arc would be played for greater truth. Not many people know as a teenager what they really want to do with their lives, and sure enough, once he got into Starfleet Academy (college), he found he was completely wrong. Ultimately, he finds the right path for himself. At the time, I think a lot of fans were upset by this, because Wesley didn't choose their dream of being on the Enterprise. But instead, the writers told a much more truthful story about finding one's own way.

Of course, that happens in the last season of the show, so I'm getting way ahead of myself here. So, to bring it back to the point with some other observations about this episode:

• It's been so long since I regularly watched Star Trek (in any incarnation) that I'm really realizing just how much the Captain's Log is a ham-fisted technique for compressing exposition. If my memory serves, the more sophisticated Deep Space Nine slowly phased the log entries out almost entirely. These early Next Generation episodes are even more conspicuous, using log entries not only to kick off the episode, but to remind everybody of the plot after each commercial break.


• Counselor Troi is written better here than in any prior episode, and Marina Sirtis gives a matching performance. The character is much more articulate, and her emotions much less showy.


• The fact that people's thoughts are made real in this episode really tells us a lot about the few main characters whose thoughts we get to see. Worf's a big softie at heart, thinking about his childhood pet targ while on duty. Picard has a lot of anxiety he tries not to let on to others; his first thought is stepping off the turbolift into the void of space, and soon after he seeks comfort from his mother.


• The revelation of Wesley's commission here would have been a lot cooler if they hadn't already let him man one of the bridge stations during "Code of Honor."

As I said, this was not a deeply emotional episode, but it was a thoughtful and intriguing one. I rate it a B+. It's certainly a standout from the first season.