Where No One Has Gone Before
"Where No One Has Gone Before" is the sixth episode of the American science-fiction television series Star Trek: The Next Generation, which originally aired October 26, 1987, in broadcast syndication in the United States.
Duane and Michael Reaves pitched the idea to David Gerrold and Gene Roddenberry, and then submitted a script.
The Traveler sends the Enterprise to distant parts of the universe, and help is required from Wesley Crusher (Wil Wheaton) to bring the ship back home.
The Enterprise rendezvous with the USS Fearless to bring aboard Mr. Kosinski (Kamel), a Starfleet propulsion expert who plans to run tests on the warp engines to improve their efficiency.
After the incident, Picard promotes Crusher to acting ensign (following his own unspoken suggestion in "The Naked Now") on the Enterprise for his performance.
[3] The episode was now entitled "Where None Have Gone Before", differing significantly from the final version:[5] Kosinski was a roommate of Picard's at Starfleet Academy, and instead of the Traveler, the ship's extreme propulsion was provided by a "warpdrive booster" with a miniature black hole.
The resolution of the plot involved imagining a duplicate miniature Enterprise and the interaction between the black holes on the two ships' propulsion units.
[5] After Duane and Reaves turned in the first version of the script based on that premise, nothing was heard from the TNG staff for two weeks.
Executive producer Robert Justman brought in Rob Bowman to direct his first Star Trek episode.
[12] Stuntman "Dangerous" Dennis Madalone also made his series debut as the science division crewman threatened by his own (imagined) fire.
[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.
Some effects in the episode were created in Robert Legato's basement with water reflections and Christmas tree lights.
The script was vague about what was seen at the end of the universe, so Legato played with the effects of water reflections on his basement wall.
Shooting through BoPET film, he created multiple images that were layered over one another for the final effect (which Legato described as "peculiar and bizarre").
"[9] To appear as the Traveler, Eric Menyuk wore a prosthetic piece (created by Michael Westmore) on his forehead, which ran into his hairline.
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".
The crew lack agency in their situation, the ideas it presents are wholly unrelatable, and the story has virtually nothing resembling an emotional core.
[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] Jamahl Epsicokhan, on his website Jammer's Reviews, said that it was the first time in the series that space itself generated "awe and wonder"; however, he thought the "fresh and intriguing" nature of the episode faded as it went along.
[22] The episode was later included on the Star Trek: The Next Generation season-one DVD box set released in March 2002.
[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.
"Where No One Has Gone Before" was chosen by Star Trek experts Mike and Denise Okuda because of the unusual space special effects.
