Where No One Has Gone Before

The Enterprise's engines are tested by a Federation expert and his assistant in order to boost the ship's engines. When the initial test run goes wrong, the ship finds itself marooned in an area of space far beyond what has previously been explored.

The first episode to really expose Wesley Crusher's role on the ship as a "solve-all", this episode feels far closer to the spirit of the original series than the previous episodes as it explores the human condition as well as the perils of deep, deep space. The effects are a little clunky but the script makes up for it and is easily one of the best season one episodes thus far.

A true science fiction episode where time, space, and an interesting third element are explored. Really enjoyed this one. A nice break from the usual political and social dramas. Some significant character development for Wesley as well.

This is one of the better season 1 episodes. Wesley has a nice new orange sweater and what look like corduroy pants but not quite. Turns out Wesley is a warp field Mozart with an intuitive grasp of the interrelated nature of space, time, and thought. A hidden relationship between thought and the material world is a recurring theme in Star Trek that I rather like.

It's also hard not to compare and contrast the The Traveler with Q as they are both member's of species that live unconstrained by time. Portal and Nagilum also come to mind as it seems season 1 is all about humanity being tested and examined by beings with greater knowledge and power.

I think I am beginning to understand what's going on with Wesley. As a character, he is given more attention than the main cast we come to know and love by the end of the show. Why? Brace yourself for some grade A armchair psychology:

Wesley is Gene Roddenberry romanticizing a childhood he wished he himself had had. Roddenberry projected his idealized version of the future onto the world through Star Trek, and an idealized version of his childhood through Wesley. He gives Wesley the extra attention he wished he would have gotten as a boy, and we hate Wesley because we know he doesn't deserve the attention that he gets. He hasn't earned it. He's the kid who got the blue ribbon because he tried hard and the adults felt sorry for him, not because he was actually any good. We are repeatedly told he is wonderful and special, but we hate him because it never feels true.

Wesley might have worked as a character if he had been fleshed out over the course of the entire season. Seeing him earn the commission of acting ensign might have been satisfying if it took place in episode 26, perhaps after some act of valor. Instead, he's got it by episode 5 after looking over an alien's shoulder, and it just feels forced.

Verdict: Watchable and memorable, but irksome.

Fun Facts:

The Hubble can see well over ten billion light years, nine times further than Picard's estimate of the distance the Enterprise traveled in this episode.

The distance to M33 is accurately stated according to the internet.

If it takes 300 years to travel the 2.7 million light years we can approximate maximum warp to a little bit more than one light year per hour. 2,700,000 div 300 year gives 9000 light years per year. Div 365 gives 24.65 ligh years per day. Div 24 gives 1.027 light years per hour. WooWee!

Subspace radio speed can be calculated in a similar manner. 2,700,000 div 52 years (10 months and 9 weeks, really Data!?) is 5.92 light years per hour.

This is the best episode so far. What makes it so is that the laws of physics become accessible to the broad array of characters. The Enterprise and its ilk have the greatest potential but they are limited by their very structures and the forces of time and space. So we need to have a force of some kind enter the picture. This is what happens with the Traveller. We also come to realize that while raw and impulsive, Wesley Crusher is a key figure. I know he is an annoying kid, but he is the focal point here. Something must be done as the crew fly across the universe, arriving at galaxies that could only be dreamed of. The Traveller is the embodiment of an x-factor to go beyond and yet integrate the physics they are dealing with. There are some marvelous twists and turns here. Characters and objects fade in and out during warping. At some point, one has to admit some sense of defeat and draw in the forces that are not understandable to the mere mortal. I found this episode really interesting.

Enterprise tinkers with its engines and appears to travel an incredible distance.

This is reasonably strong episode with a decent concept and some interesting guest characters.

It suffers a bit of clunky exposition dialogue in the introductory sequence, but aside from that the story flows very well.

There is some relatively strong focus given to Wesley Crusher, which is bad news for those who dislike the character, but I do not think he comes across as particularly unlikeable in this episode. Riker on the other hand patronises and ignores Wesley in a rather silly way that knocks some of the credibility he built in the previous episode.

The guest character of The Traveller is for me the most interesting aspect and the sci-fi concept that comes with him is quite intriguing, albeit not fully explained.

I enjoyed the visuals, sound and most performances, particularly Eric Menyuk, Stanley Kamel and (as always) Patrick Stewart. Will Wheaton does nothing wrong, but has the tendency to overuse that goofy smile a bit.

For me it's a 7.5/10 but I round upwards.