Series: Star Trek: The Next Generation
Episode: 1.06 Where No One Has Gone Before (10-26-87)
Rating: 3/5
Redshirt Status: 0/0
Notable Guest Stars:
Victoria Dillard – She was known for her role on Spin City and also appeared in Ricochet. She is a ballerina in this episode.
Stanley Kamel – Kosinski. He played a role on the series Monk.
Eric Menyuk – The Traveler. He will appear on a few episodes, and plays a hand in the endgame for Wesley Crusher.
Biff Yeager – Commander Argyle. He would continue to play the Chief Engineer, and made the most appearances before Geordi got the position.
Review:
Once again, Wesley is in Engineering, although this time with adult supervision. He is working on a school assignment (although why he would need to be engineering I do not know) when Kosinski, a warp engineer, and his assistant wonder in to do some tests that Riker and the Chief Engineer seem to think is gibberish.
Riker & Argyle are not wrong. It is gibberish. They find out (eventually) that it was in fact the assistant, known as the Traveler, who has been using his abilities in time and movement to help fine tune the engines of the Starfleet Vessels.
This episode is particularly important in Wesley’s arc on the show. It not only confirms that Wesley is a prodigy, but also gives him legitimate reasons to be on the bridge. He becomes an acting engisn, and Riker is put in charge of his education into making a full ensign and entrance into the academy.
It’s a bit too soon after The Naked now to do a hallocinatic episodes. We still don’t know the characters (other then Will Riker is a nerd) and this episode is big on the non-speaking characters.
Also Troi seems out of character in this episode. She seems very stern and I have to wonder if Marina Sirtis was having a bad day. The make-up department didn’t do her make-up right and that hair do still suggests migraines to me.
I think this would have been more interesting towards the end of the season. My final grade is 3, because I feel other then Wesley’s character arc it doesn’t do any of the characters or the series much good.
Interesting Notes:
- Written by Diane Duane and Michael Reaves (Diane Duane also wrote the book it was based on, The Wounded Sky. Rewrites done by Maurice Hurley.
- Directed by Rob Bowman
- Not directly related to the TOS Episode Where No Man Has Gone Before, but does relate to similar themes of advanced humanity.
- The engineering table was a prop from The Voyage Home.
Pros:
- Finally Wesley has a legitimate reason to be on the bridge and is being trained to actually know what he is doing. Good, less annoying in the future
Cons:
- Marina’s make-up. They made her look a bit too boney. I usually don’t like to focus on make-up/personal appearance, but I feel like the majority of this season she looks like they tried to make her look thinner and not in a good way.
Sokorra Lewis 