Star Trek Rewatch: S1E3 Where No Man Has Gone Before

Colonization turns the colonizers into monsters.

See the Star Trek TOS Rewatch Index page for links to all the episodes covered so far.

“WHERE NO MAN HAS GONE BEFORE” RATING: 7.5/10

The title “Where No Man Has Gone Before” quotes Star Trek’s famous intro. The phrase—in itself and in light of where the franchise boldly went—sounds like a rousing, optimistic call for exploration and adventure.

But instead, the third Star Trek episode continues the downbeat, horror-tinged approach of “The Man Trap” and “Charlie X” The Enterprise’s expansionary program is presented as a kind of hubristic power grab. More, in the context of the Cold War and the escalating conflict in Vietnam, “Where No Man Has Gone Before” comes off as an unexpectedly dire warning about the dangers of superpower imperialism.