Star Trek - The Original Series, Episode 2: Where No Man Has Gone Before [VHS]
"Where No Man Has Gone Before" saved the originalStar Trekseries even before it launched. It was actually the secondTrekpilot produced by Gene Roddenberry after NBC rejected "The Cage" (now a subject of cult fascination). A retooled cast now included William Shatner as Captain James R. Kirk (the middle initialTcame later), Leonard Nimoy as Mr. Spock, George Takei as Ensign Sulu, and James Doohan as Chief Engineer Montgomery Scott. (DeForest Kelley, Nichelle Nichols, and Walter Koenig signed on in subsequent episodes.) A lot of thought went into scriptwriter Samuel L. Peeples's story about a crewman named Gary Mitchell (Gary Lockwood) who has a close relationship with Kirk and some natural ESP abilities. When theEnterpriseapproaches an energy barrier at the edge of the galaxy, Mitchell metamorphoses into a godlike being with silver eyes, awesome psychic abilities, and a rapidly developing ego. As Mitchell becomes an increasing threat to the ship, Kirk is faced with making a terrible choice to save his crew.--Tom Keogh