star trek: the original series – Trekking with Dennis

Star Trek: The Original Series Episode Re-Watch – Season 1, Episode 3: Where No Man Has Gone Before

Spoiler Warning: There are spoilers ahead for Star Trek: The Original Series.

2026 marks Star Trek’s landmark 60th anniversary – and six decades later, we’re still getting brand-new episodes and stories! That’s something incredibly special; a milestone few other franchises have ever reached or will ever reach. Today, as part of my ongoing celebrations of the 60th anniversary, I thought we could step back in time, not only to the first season of The Original Series, but to a particularly special – and rather unusual – episode. Today, we’re watching Where No Man Has Gone Before – Star Trek’s second pilot.

After The Cage wasn’t picked up by NBC in 1965, Gene Roddenberry and his team were given a rare and unusual second chance to salvage Star Trek. The resulting script was Where No Man Has Gone Before, and after almost the entire cast – sans Leonard Nimoy as Spock – was changed, the new episode entered production. Recycling the sets which had been built for The Cage, but which were subsequently dismantled and rebuilt ahead of filming the rest of what we now know of as The Original Series, the episode has a completely distinct look, one which simply doesn’t appear anywhere else in the franchise.

Promo photos for Star Trek TOS showing Nimoy and Takei (l) and Shatner (r) — Black-and-white promotional photos showing Leonard Nimoy with George Takei (left) and William Shatner (right).

The uniforms may be the most obvious, with Star Trek’s (in)famous red shirts nowhere to be seen! Instead, the entire crew wears either blue, a different shade of “gold” that almost looks green or khaki, or beige. And, with the exception of Kirk, the remaining characters we’d come to know – Spock, Scotty, and Sulu – are all wearing a different colour than we’d expect. Spock gets a uniform similar to Kirk’s in command gold, Sulu – who isn’t the helmsman this time, but some kind of mathematical aide – wears medical blue, and Scotty is in one of the beige uniforms that seem to have taken the place of engineering/security’s red.

The uniforms are also different in the way they appear: visual zippers on the shoulders, a softer, ribbed crew-neck collar that evokes World War II-era naval uniforms, and smaller, slightly different Starfleet delta patches, too. These uniforms are similar to those seen in The Cage, which is another quirk of production. But for the main crew and characters we’d come to know, this was the only time we’d ever see them in these particular uniforms.

Two still frames from Star Trek TOS showing early uniform variants — The uniforms are different in this episode.

Then there are the sets. The bridge is different – albeit in ways that may not be obvious at first. Kirk’s chair has a large communicator on one side, which I think I’m right in saying wasn’t seen again. The main viewscreen, though, is the most clear and obvious point of difference; its corners are far more rounded than they would be in the rest of the show, again evoking more of that World War II naval style in some ways. The set was moved to a different sound stage when The Original Series entered full production, which is why it looks different here.

Sickbay, which is one of the only other Enterprise rooms where the episode spends much time, is also quite different, with different coloured walls and simpler upholstery than we’d see in the rest of the show. Some doors in Where No Man Has Gone Before are grey or silver instead of the more familiar red, chairs are a different colour and have shorter backs, and the Enterprise as a whole just feels a little… different. You weren’t making that up, if you felt something was “off” upon watching this episode! Things really are different.

Two still frames from Star Trek TOS showing the viewscreen and sickbay — The main viewscreen on the bridge (left) and sickbay (right) aren’t quite the same as they are in the rest of the series.

Unusually for a pilot episode, Where No Man Has Gone Before wasn’t the first to be broadcast. That honour fell to The Man Trap, which executives at NBC apparently felt was a simpler, more straightforward story. This episode was pushed back and aired as the third of Season 1 in the United States… but interestingly, when Star Trek came to the UK in 1969, it actually was the first episode that the BBC chose to broadcast. I wonder why that happened?

Here’s a fun question: how many times, across The Original Series, do we see Captain Kirk wielding his phaser rifle? This iconic, legendary prop, which is well-known to all of us Trekkies and instantly recognisable, must’ve been used a lot… right? Well, no! The phaser rifle *only* appears here, in Where No Man Has Gone Before, and despite being seen in publicity photos of William Shatner in his role as Kirk, it never appears again in the entire series. According to Star Trek legend Bjo Trimble, Gene Roddenberry disliked the design, feeling that it looked “too lethal” for his calmer, more rational vision of humankind’s future.

Still frame from a YouTube video showing the Star Trek phaser rifle prop with its designer — Prop designer Reuben Klamer (pictured in 2013 with the original prop) designed the phaser rifle for *Where No Man Has Gone Before*.

In addition to Chekov, who wouldn’t be seen until Season 2, Where No Man Has Gone Before is also noteworthy insofar as it was produced before Nichelle Nichols was cast as Uhura, and before DeForest Kelley was cast as the ship’s doctor. The role of communications officer is instead taken by Lieutenant Alden, played by Lloyd Haynes, and standing in for DeForest Kelley is Paul Fix, who plays the character of Dr Mark Piper.

I’ve always felt that Dr Piper – in his limited on-screen moments – is a bit of a half-step between The Cage’s Dr Boyce and the main show’s Dr McCoy. He’s similar to both characters in as much as he’s older than Kirk, but he comes across as being a bit less serious than Dr Boyce, slouching during a conference meeting, but also less lighthearted or quippy than Dr McCoy would be. The archetype that Gene Rodenberry wanted to create – the older, slightly wiser ship’s doctor, who could be a guide to the captain both in medical matters and beyond – was clearly present in Dr Piper and Dr Boyce, but these versions feel… less refined, if that makes sense. Like, I can see where Dr McCoy is going to materialise, but the full personality of the character isn’t there yet.

Still frame from Star Trek TOS showing Kirk and Dr Piper — Dr Piper with Captain Kirk.

As an interesting aside, Gene Roddenberry had his heart set on casting DeForest Kelley for both The Cage and Where No Man Has Gone Before, but was overruled by others involved in the production. It was only when Star Trek was fully greenlit that Rodenberry got his man – and I think we can all agree that it was the right call! Still… it’s interesting to see what might have been.

I usually prefer to watch Star Trek on streaming nowadays… or at least I do during the months where I pay for Paramount+! But on this occasion, I actually went back to my old DVDs; the streaming versions are the remastered ones, complete with new special effects and CGI shots of the Enterprise. And while the remastered version of The Original Series does look, by every objective measure going, “better,” I wanted the classic look this time. There are differences in the way the episode looks – the Galactic Barrier, for instance, looks very different, as do a few other VFX shots. The Enterprise itself is also a fully CGI model in establishing shots.

Side-by-side comparison of Star Trek TOS original and remastered shots — The original versions (left) and remastered versions (right) of two moments in the story.

As a Trekkie, there are a lot of things that seem “wrong” about Where No Man Has Gone Before. What I mean by that is… with the hindsight that six decades and almost 1,000 subsequent stories can provide, there are things in the story that just don’t seem to fit. Spock being so quick to advocate for Mitchell’s extrajudicial execution, the Enterprise being on a mission to scout outside of the galaxy, some confusion about warp drive and impulse engines, and how fast impulse actually is when trying to get between star systems… all of these things feel a little “off.” To what extent that will bother you, or whether you can set it all aside and enjoy the story for what it is will be a matter of personal taste!

For me… I kind of place Where No Man Has Gone Before along with The Cage in almost their own category. These are fun Star Trek stories, of course, but they’re also unique oddities within the broader franchise; episodes which almost seem to take place apart from the rest of The Original Series. I think I can fall victim to being overly nitpicky sometimes (check out some of my other episode write-ups and reviews for that!) and the temptation is there with Where No Man Has Gone Before to say that things like the uniforms, the attitudes of some of the characters, and the Enterprise’s strange mission all seem to be, for want of a better word, “wrong.” But placing the episode in context, and understanding it for what it is, helps me set a lot of that aside. Even though it’s not an episode I re-watch all that often, I still had a good time when I revisited it, and I found myself getting swept along for the ride.

Promo photos for Star Trek TOS showing Doohan and Nimoy — Black-and-white promotional photos of James Doohan (left) and Leonard Nimoy (right).

That’s testament to the power that Star Trek still has some six decades later! There are undeniably outdated things in Where No Man Has Gone Before: papier-mache rocks, for instance, or Kirk and Mitchell’s attitude towards women. But the story itself is timeless; a classic morality fable about the dangers of granting a mere mortal the powers of a god. Given where we are today with conversations about artificial intelligence and its potential to far exceed us in terms of its capabilities, and the so-called “alignment problem,” stories like Where No Man Has Gone Before actually seem *more* relevant, not less.

So I like that we catch a glimpse of a kind of “alternate reality” for both Star Trek the show and the USS Enterprise in-universe. We see Kirk, presumably at a slightly earlier moment in his command, with different crewmates, wearing different uniforms, and even with a slightly different design to parts of the ship. It makes for a fun “what if;” what might The Original Series have looked like if *this* series – the one we catch a glimpse of for just one episode – had been continued with zero changes? Would these uniforms have been as iconic, with their toned-down colours and no red? Would the phaser rifle have become a standard part of the Federation’s arsenal? Would Dr Piper have been as well-received and well-remembered as Dr McCoy? And would some of the characters we don’t spend as much time with in the episode – like Alden or Yeoman Smith – have gone on to fill the absent roles of Uhura, Rand, or Chapel? I guess we’ll never know, eh?

Still frame from Star Trek TOS showing Alden — Lieutenant Alden, the Enterprise’s communications officer in this episode.

I think I’m right in saying that extra-sensory perception, or ESP, wasn’t mentioned again after Where No Man Has Gone Before. Obviously, we’ve seen similar abilities in races like the Talosians, Betazoids, Q Continuum, and more – and humans would occasionally gain similar powers in some stories. But it was never again expressed in quite this way, with Starfleet apparently keeping track of humans who possessed these seemingly magical powers.

It’s interesting that this vision of the future sees almost a blend of magic and science. ESP, even in the 1960s, was a fringe idea at best, but Where No Man Has Gone Before wraps it up in the language of science, presenting it as something to be merely noted and catalogued, the way we might expect Starfleet to make note of someone’s height or allergies. Because ESP is this kind of pseudoscientific, paranormal thing – which, if we think sceptically, has never been proven to exist – it feels odd to see it included in a Star Trek episode in this manner. I don’t hate it, and when you look at other stories in The Original Series, The Animated Series, and even early Next Generation episodes, it doesn’t feel that out-of-place. But once you get past, say, Season 2 of TNG, it’s not the kind of storyline I’d expect to see. Star Trek could make a comparable episode today, but if one were commissioned, I don’t think the ESP angle would be included at all – at least, not in this straightforward, scientific way.

Still frame from Star Trek TOS showing Kirk, Spock, and Dehner — Kirk, Spock, and Dr Dehner discuss extra-sensory perception.

So we’ve talked a lot about what makes Where No Man Has Gone Before stand apart, different from the rest of Star Trek. Let’s move on to ways in which the episode *does* feel familiar!

I recently had the opportunity to meet William Shatner – Captain Kirk himself – at an event here in the UK. Click or tap here to check out my thoughts on that, by the way; it’s a big part of why I wanted to write up another TOS episode re-watch! Shatner’s Captain Kirk arrives in Where No Man Has Gone Before basically fully-formed as the character we know and love: friendly with his crew, especially close to Spock, flirty with women, and with a strong sense of duty and protectiveness for his ship. Those traits would go on to define the character, and they’re all present here, in what was the first time Kirk was conceived and brought to the screen.

Spock has changed from The Cage, but in terms of the character we’re most familiar with, he’s also more or less fully-formed. Where No Man Has Gone Before was the first time (in production order, I mean) that the Vulcans were established as being a logical, unemotional people, and Spock embodies that here in a way he didn’t in The Cage.

Still frame from Star Trek TOS showing Kirk and Spock — Kirk and Spock in the conference room.

The barest bones of Scotty can be glimpsed; James Doohan is already doing the accent, and while we don’t exactly see Scotty as a miracle-worker (major repair tasks and the retrofitting of Delta Vega’s station fall to other characters this time), he’s at least established as the Enterprise’s senior engineer. Sulu is a bit of an oddity; as I said above, he’s not a helmsman, nor even a bridge officer, and if uniform colours mean *anything* in this particular story, he might well be supposed to be affiliated with the science or even medical divisions. But nevertheless, we have George Takei in his familiar role, and Sulu gets a few lines.

Dr Piper is a Dr McCoy prototype, as discussed above, and although he doesn’t get a ton of screen time or a lot of lines, you can see the outline for that kind of character in Paul Fix’s performance. So, once again, we have the bare bones of a familiar character – albeit that this one isn’t played by the actor we’d expect to see!

The Enterprise, despite some key differences that we’ve already discussed, still feels familiar. The bridge is set up the same, despite the different main viewscreen, and the captain’s chair, Spock’s science station, the red turbolift doors, and the helm console are all exactly as we’d remember them. Minor differences may be a result of the set being dismantled and rebuilt at a different location, but by and large, the internal areas of the Enterprise that we see are still familiar enough not to feel totally “wrong.”

The exterior of the ship is also exactly the same. Where No Man Has Gone Before re-uses the filming model that had been built for The Cage, and some establishing shots of the ship would go on to be mainstays of The Original Series. The remastered Blu-ray version has different CGI shots; the Enterprise moves in ways we didn’t really see in the show’s original run. But, like I said, that’s partly why I wanted to watch my old DVD copy on this occasion!

For a one-off character, Gary Mitchell is surprisingly well-written. He fits seamlessly into The Original Series at this very early stage, and if Where No Man Has Gone Before was the first episode you ever watched, I could see what happens to him being genuinely shocking – especially to an audience some sixty years ago. I genuinely buy into Kirk and Mitchell’s friendship. Some one-off characters who are introduced as supposed besties of someone on the main cast don’t always stick the landing – their inclusions can, sometimes, feel a little *too* forced. But Mitchell and Kirk have chemistry together, thanks to William Shatner’s performance playing well with guest star Gary Lockwood.

Opinions on Mitchell himself may vary, I suspect, due to the passage of time. Writing in 2026, some six decades on from the character’s debut, I view Mitchell as being kind of arrogant and unlikable from the get-go; his dismissive attitude to the Enterprise’s helm officer and his unpleasant interaction with Dr Dehner being examples of this. But to an audience back then, I think Mitchell was meant to come across as kind of similar to Kirk; a ladies’ man with a sense of humour, perhaps even a happy-go-lucky attitude that would contrast with his later god-like powers.

Still frame from Star Trek TOS showing Mitchell — Gary Mitchell, prior to his transformation.

I would argue, though, that Mitchell’s early scenes with Kirk on the bridge and in the turbolift are at least meant to inform us of a selfish or arrogant side – something that would make his developing powers even harder to handle. Because Mitchell starts out as arguably a flawed person, there’s room for him to abuse the powers he develops later on in a way that feels plausible. If a character like Kirk had been given such powers, it would be harder, perhaps, to imagine that he’d want to misuse them; Kirk has a stronger moral core – or at least, I feel he does with the benefit of more than a hundred other episodes and films! But Mitchell has that arrogant streak from the get-go; a flaw that makes him susceptible to being corrupted by power.

But is that the moral of the story? That *only* a flawed person would abuse power?

I suspect the real intention was to show that a normal guy – as Mitchell is supposed to be, for the era in which Where No Man Has Gone Before was produced – is always going to be too tempted to abuse power. He’s an example of, to quote Kirk in the episode itself: “absolute power corrupting absolutely.” Mitchell was intended to be just an “everyman,” a regular Starfleet officer who couldn’t handle that kind of power. None of us can… and that’s supposed to be the point.

Gene Roddenberry saw Star Trek, in part, as a vehicle for conveying these kinds of morality fables. Yes, there’s a vision of the future where humankind has overcome all kinds of obstacles, and there’s an incredibly positive outlook which, at the height of the Cold War, seemed impossible to a lot of folks. That inspirational side, that optimism, and that sense of hope are still part of the franchise to this day. But there’s also storytelling by metaphor – Gary Mitchell receives god-like powers, but those powers can be read as a metaphor for political power. Mitchell’s transformation, seen through that lens, is a warning against granting *anyone* – even a likeable guy or an “average Joe” like Gary Mitchell – too much power. I wonder if you can think of a contemporary example of someone like that… a politician, perhaps?

Then there’s Dr Dehner. Her powers take longer to manifest, and seem to be a little behind Mitchell’s – whether that’s because she’s supposed to be weaker, or because powers grow and improve over time isn’t 100% clear in the story itself, but it’s still an interesting question. It’s fascinating that Dr Dehner, not Mitchell, is the character able to be reasoned out of her power-mad state. If we take what I was saying before about storytelling by fable and metaphor, I think we can argue that Where No Man Has Gone Before wants to present intelligence, and perhaps education, as being virtues; that Dr Dehner, as a psychiatrist and a more intelligent and thoughtful person than Mitchell – was able to snap out of it and resist the temptation of unlimited power.

Kirk was able to remind Dr Dehner of her humanity in a way he couldn’t with Mitchell.

So I hope this has been interesting.

Where No Man Has Gone Before is, in many ways, an odd little curiosity; produced more than a year before the rest of The Original Series’ first season, it doesn’t integrate with it perfectly. But the outline of what Star Trek would become is present here – some characters aren’t fully fleshed-out yet, and others would be added, removed, or changed entirely. It makes the episode feel… unique. A distinct offering, and a rare glimpse at a vision for the series that’s both similar and different. Compared to The Cage, the episode is a lot closer to the rest of The Original Series. But compare it to any story produced later and it stands apart.

My encounter with William Shatner last month, and Star Trek’s big 60th anniversary year, were the catalysts for returning to Where No Man Has Gone Before. And you know what? I had fun with it! It’s an episode I haven’t actually re-watched in a few years, at this point, and it’s been even longer since I went back to my TOS DVD collection and watched the show in its un-remastered form. It was a lot of fun.

Still frame from Star Trek TOS showing the bridge and smoke — Fire on the bridge!

As the 60th anniversary nears, I have a few other ideas for episode re-watches, essays, discussion pieces, and more. Some of those may eventually make their way onto the website – so please stay tuned for that! And just next month we’ll be graced with Strange New Worlds’ fourth season. I plan to write individual episode reviews, so if that’s something you’re interested in, I hope you’ll join me for that.

Thanks for checking out my thoughts on this unique episode. If you’re interested in more of my take on TOS, I have write-ups of The Original Series episode Arena and The Animated Series episode How Sharper Than A Serpent’s Tooth, which you can find by following those links. And I’ve got pieces about The Motion Picture and The Search For Spock, too. Click or tap those links to check them out.

As always… Live Long and Prosper, friends!

Star Trek: The Original Series (a.k.a. Star Trek) is available to stream now on Paramount+ in countries and territories where the platform is available. The series is also available on DVD and Blu-ray. The Star Trek franchise – including The Original Series, Strange New Worlds, and all other properties discussed above – is the copyright of the Skydance-Paramount corporation. This article contains the thoughts and opinions of one person only and is not intended to cause any offence.

What If…? Star Trek Edition!

Sat 31.01.26Sat 31.01.26Dennis

Spoiler Warning: There are spoilers ahead for the following Star Trek productions: The Original Series, The Motion Picture, The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, Voyager, Enterprise, Discovery, Picard, and the video game Star Trek: Voyager – Across the Unknown.

Let’s celebrate Star Trek’s 60th anniversary year with another of my Marvel-inspired “What If…” articles! This is something I’ve done a couple of times before here on the website, and I’ll briefly go over the format if you’re unfamiliar with it. I thought this could be a fun and interesting way to continue our 60th anniversary celebrations, anyway.

In 2021, Disney and Marvel premiered a series called What If…? on Disney+. The concept was, in brief, to show alternate histories of the Marvel universe; different characters or altered decisions leading to, in some cases, radically different or unexpected outcomes. I didn’t watch the show (because I’m not really into Marvel or superheroes that much), but I really liked the concept behind the series, and I wanted to apply it to the Star Trek franchise, too.

Promo graphic for Season 3 of Marvel's "What If." — This idea is based on the Marvel TV series *What If…?*

My first take on this idea – which you can find by clicking or tapping here – saw me consider what might’ve happened if: Captain Picard died after the events of The Best of Both Worlds, Spock was never resurrected on the Genesis Planet in The Search for Spock, Voyager decided to head for the Gamma Quadrant terminus of the Bajoran Wormhole, the USS Discovery never went to the future, and Captain Sisko wasn’t the Prophets’ Emissary. I had fun delving into all of those ideas and laying out my “alternate histories of the future!”

Last year, in my second piece – which you can find by clicking or tapping here – I talked about what could’ve happened if: Captain Picard and Q never met, Section 31 was responsible for creating the Borg, the USS Voyager was destroyed over Ocampa and the survivors were picked up by Chakotay’s Maquis raider, the Romulans eventually figured out the deception from In The Pale Moonlight, and Captain Kirk survived the events of Generations. Again, all of those were a ton of fun to consider.

Be sure to check out those earlier pieces if you enjoy this format. And feel free to use the same concept in your own writing or on social media, too!

Scan/photo of hand-drawn concept art of the USS Enterprise (or the Enterprise filming model) from Star Trek: TOS. — Concept art of the USS Enterprise filming model.

So today, I’m back for a third crack at this idea. I’ve chosen five storylines from across the Star Trek franchise, and I’m going to answer the question “what if things were different?”

My usual caveat applies: all of this is *subjective, not objective*, so if you hate all of my ideas and mini-stories, that’s okay! There’s plenty of room in the Trekkie community for differences of opinion and disagreements without getting into an argument. None of this is even *remotely* canon, anyway, nor will it ever be – so if you really do hate my ideas, you can take solace there, I hope!

With all of that out of the way, let’s get started!

What If… #1:
What if… the USS Voyager returned home after the events of Caretaker?

Screenshot from the Across the Unknown demo showing Janeway and Earth. — Could Captain Janeway bring the crew home seven years ahead of schedule?

Shout out to the upcoming video game Across The Unknown, where you can actually pull this off if you want!

In this scenario, we’re starting with Voyager’s premiere: Caretaker. But we’re going to do things a little differently! As happened in an alternate timeline glimpsed in the episode Non Sequitur, Tom Paris got arrested by Odo on DS9, and never even set foot aboard Voyager. In our take on the story, we’re going to say that Captain Janeway approached Commander Sisko for advice, as she was still in need of a guide to the Badlands. Sisko would “loan” two of his officers to assist her on the mission – people who are familiar with the Badlands, both scientifically and geographically: Jadzia Dax and Michael Eddington.

Both officers would be present on the bridge during the search for Chakotay’s ship, and both would survive the displacement wave that dragged Voyager to the Delta Quadrant. After encountering the Kazon, Ocampa, and the Caretaker, Voyager’s captain and senior staff would be faced with the same dilemma as in the prime timeline: use the Array to return home, or destroy it to prevent it from falling into the hands of the Kazon.

Screenshot from Star Trek: Voyager - Across the Unknown showing Voyager, Kazon ships, and the Array. — Voyager and three Kazon vessels at the Caretaker’s Array.

There are two factors at play, I think. Firstly, Eddington’s true loyalties lie not with Starfleet, but with the Maquis. I think he’d be desperate to get back to DS9 so that he could continue to work undercover, building up to his big defection in For The Cause. Eddington would be one of the most significant voices arguing for a return home. Dax, too, would be keen to get back, but her centuries of experience and scientific background would come into play here. Dax might be able to find a way to set Voyager’s tricobalt devices to detonate on a timer, allowing the Array to be sabotaged, and then used to return home. Or, by having someone with a keen scientific mind access the Array, other options for using its technology could have presented themselves.

In any case, we’re going to say that a way is found for Voyager to use the Array to return home. Eddington would do just enough to ensure that the Val Jean (Chakotay’s ship) makes it back just before Voyager, allowing them to escape Federation custody while keeping his cover intact. Then, Voyager would end up back in the Alpha Quadrant, just outside of the Badlands. Waiting for them would be Sisko and the USS Defiant, just beginning a search-and-rescue when Voyager failed to report back.

Edited still frame from two Star Trek episodes, depicting the USS Defiant as seen on the USS Voyager's viewscreen. — How it might’ve looked if Voyager had returned home almost immediately.

The real consequences of this would be felt later, though. Chakotay, B’Elanna, Eddington, and others would be killed at the beginning of the Dominion War, when the Dominion-backed Cardassians (perhaps aided by Seska as an embedded spy) wiped out the Maquis. In the Delta Quadrant, the Ocampa would still be confronted with the reality of life without their Caretaker, and would eventually have to find a way to leave their underground city.

But there are more serious repercussions. At time of writing, it seems as if Janeway is directly responsible for the destruction of the Borg Queen and at least a significant portion of the Borg Collective (as seen in Picard Season 3). If she doesn’t undertake that seven-year journey, never meets Seven of Nine, and never travels back in time to plant a pathogen directly into the Borg Queen… the Borg will be in a massively strengthened position by the early 25th Century. The Collective may not need to employ rogue changelings to infiltrate Starfleet – they might just choose to launch a full-scale invasion. And without crucial information on the Borg that was collected by Voyager, Seven of Nine, the Hansen family, and more… Starfleet would be significantly more vulnerable.

What If… #2:
What if… the Talosians joined the Federation?

Still frame from Star Trek's original pilot (The Cage) showing four Talosians. — A group of Talosians.

We’re going all the way back to the beginning with this one – appropriate, in this milestone anniversary year. In short, it’s never sat quite right with me that Starfleet and the Federation would view the Talosians so negatively – and as such a dangerous threat – after just one interaction. Lest we forget, Captain Pike’s mission to Talos IV ended without any loss of life, and arguably with the beginnings of an understanding or even dialogue between the Talosians and humankind. Pike and the crew came to understand the Talosians’ situation, and for their part, the Talosians were able to acknowledge that humans (and Vulcans) were not suitable captives.

So in this alternate timeline, we’re going to say that Captain Pike returns to Starfleet HQ with a different mission report. Instead of recommending that Talos IV be quarrantined and declared to be off-limits, he instead advocates for sending aid to the Talosians to help rebuild or maintain their technology and rehabilitate the devastated surface of their world. The Talosians would be taken aback by this generosity, and would vow never to use their impressive telepathic powers to trick the Federation.

Still frame from Star Trek: Discovery Season 2 showing a trio of Talosians. — The Talosians as they appeared in *Discovery’*s second season.

Over time, the Talosian population would begin to grow, and Talosians would occasionally venture off-world, mingling with other citizens of the galaxy. The Talosians and Betazoids would form a particularly strong bond, as two races that both prefer telepathic communication. This would, in turn, set the stage for Talos IV joining the Federation as a full member world, coming under the protection of Starfleet and deepening their ties.

Though their numbers would be small at first, by the early 24th Century, Talosian officers would occasionally be seen in Starfleet – though the Federation would make them take oaths not to use their powers for deception (similar to the oaths that Deltan officers had to take, as seen in The Motion Picture). Talosians would be present for many of the major events of the late 23rd and 24th Centuries: the Federation’s alliance with the Klingons, the Romulan Empire’s isolation, the rising Borg threat, and the Dominion War.

Screenshot from Star Trek Online showing a Jem'Hadar ship and DS9. — A Jem’Hadar warship near DS9.
*Image: Star Trek Online Wiki*

It’s the latter event that I want to focus on now. After the Dominion War breaks out, the Talosian government, working in conjunction with Section 31, would hatch a plan to deceive the Dominion and the Cardassians on an unimaginable scale. Working as a group, the Talosians would use their mental powers to trick the Dominion alliance into believing they were on the offensive, about to retake Deep Space Nine and Bajor – all the while, a combined Federation and Klingon fleet would be launching an assault right into the heart of Cardassian territory.

The Dominion War could be ended in a matter of days, thanks to tapping into the Talosians’ impressive powers, and the Dominion would be forced to the negotiating table having been deceived into believing they were winning. But while the war was being settled and a peace treaty signed, something else would happen: the Battle of Sector 001, where a lone Talosian officer would be serving aboard a starship. This would be the Borg’s first encounter with a Talosian, and their assimilation might just have given the Borg a terrifying new upgrade…

What If… #3
What if… Bruce Maddox successfully convinced Starfleet to let him disassemble Data?

Still frame from Star Trek: The Next Generation (The Measure of a Man) showing Dr Maddox. — Dr Bruce Maddox.

In The Next Generation Season 2 episode The Measure of a Man, we’re introduced to Dr Bruce Maddox: the Federation’s top cybernetic scientist. Dr Maddox would request that Data be turned over to him in order to be disassembled, planning to use the knowledge he’d gain to create legions of synths. In the prime timeline, Starfleet would deny this request, allowing Data to explore his sentience and his life in his own way. But in our alternate timeline? Starfleet instead rules that Data, as an artificial being, is not a “person,” and therefore cannot refuse Dr Maddox’s request.

This is such an interesting debate, because right now, out here in the real world, artificial intelligence – or some form of it, in any case – is a big deal. And despite what I’ve argued in the past about the limitations of today’s large language models, I admit to feeling uncomfortable about the idea of a potentially sentient A.I. being forced to do things it may not want to do. This will have to be the subject of an entire essay one day, but it’s so interesting to me how, some thirty-five years on from The Measure of a Man, the issues it raised are incredibly relevant!

Still frame from Star Trek: The Next Generation (The Measure of a Man) showing Riker holding Data's arm at the trial. — Data and Riker at the hearing.

But that’s enough about that for now. There would be *many* consequences as a result of Starfleet’s decision. In the immediate term, I think Captain Picard would resign his commission. It would be a desperate, last-ditch effort to convince the higher-ups at Starfleet to change their minds, but it would ultimately fail. This would lead to Riker getting temporary command of the Enterprise-D, before command would ultimately pass to a more senior officer – someone like Captain Edward Jellico.

But more serious consequences lay in store. In the prime timeline, Dr Maddox was able to use B-4 – an earlier and less complex Soong-type android – to construct a large number of pretty basic synths. But with Data fully disassembled, Maddox’s work would progress a lot further a lot faster, and synthetics not quite at Data’s level, but not too far behind, would begin to be rolled out across Starfleet. This would draw the attention of the Zhat Vash – an underground Romulan faction dedicated to preventing synthetic life from ever coming to exist.

Still frame from Star Trek: Picard (Maps and Legends) showing a group of synths. — Synths as seen in *Star Trek: Picard*.

The timing of this couldn’t be worse for Starfleet. After the Battle of Wolf 359, Starfleet was at a particularly low ebb. Senior admirals encouraged Dr Maddox to work faster, hoping to use his new synths in the rebuilding process, and poured a lot of resources into his synth programme. At the same time, Ambassador Spock travelled to Romulus in the hopes of promoting reunification. Without Picard and Data to stop the Romulans, and with the Zhat Vash aggressively pressuring the Romulan leadership to engage the Federation, the Romulan attack on Vulcan would prove successful – and it would be the first strike in a new Federation-Romulan conflict.

With Commodore Oh acting as an embedded spy, feeding information back to the Romulan Empire, they’d quickly gain the upper hand in this new war. The war would go poorly for the Federation, even if Oh was eventually captured, and with Starfleet still underpowered after the defeat at Wolf 359, it would be impossible for the Federation to defend all of its territory. The only outcome short of total conquest would be accepting a very difficult peace treaty, which would certainly include a clause prohibiting any and all research into synthetic life.

What If… #4:
What if… the Borg attack on Earth in the 22nd Century had been much more serious?

Still frame from Star Trek: Enterprise (Regeneration) showing the assimilated shuttle bearing down on the NX-01. — The Borg attacking the NX-01 Enterprise.

Regeneration, from Season 2 of Enterprise, is a fun episode in isolation… but I don’t really like what it does for the timeline of humanity’s conflict with the Borg. Setting that aside, though, let’s think about what might’ve happened if the Borg had managed to do a lot more damage to Earth in the 22nd Century. I’m not going to argue that this handful of defrosted drones would’ve been able to fully assimilate Earth in this era; I think, somehow, Starfleet and humanity would have prevailed. But in our alternate timeline, things are much more serious and the damage much more extensive.

Instead of merely assimiliating a single shuttle, the reactivated Borg drones would take over an entire starship: Enterprise. They’d assimilate practically the entire crew, kitting out the ship with upgraded weapons, and then they’d bring the fight back to Earth, in line with their original mission. It would take everything Starfleet had – and the sacrifice of many human and Vulcan lives – but the attack would eventually be stopped, with the remaining Borg being captured and studied.

Still frame from Star Trek: The Next Generation (Q Who) showing a Borg drone attacking the Enterprise-D. — A Borg drone.

After causing devastation to parts of Earth unseen in more than a century, the United Earth government would re-think its planned mission of space exploration. Enterprise, humanity’s first long-range exploration vessel, has been lost, and the NX-02 would be repurposed as a purely defensive ship instead. The alliance with the Vulcans would weaken as humanity became a much more insular and isolationist power, scarred by the Borg attack and frightened of venturing too far into a galaxy that clearly poses a lot of dangers.

The Borg remnants would be extensively studied, in the hopes of discovering ways to counteract their technology, and some of these discoveries would lead to powerful Earth- and space-based weapons for humanity centuries ahead of schedule. The Xindi attack a year or so later would be *easily* defeated with Borg-powered weapons salvaged from the wreck of Enterprise.

Still frame from Star Trek: Enterprise (Regeneration) showing scientists and a Borg arm. — Humanity would study the Borg and their tech.

But in the longer term, this isolationist stance would mean that the galaxy looks *very* different. Without humanity to mediate, the Vulcans and Andorians would wage a devastating war. Without Starfleet exploring and pushing the boundaries, there’d be no conflict between humanity and the Romulans. But most significantly… there’d never be a United Federation of Planets. Earth would maintain limited interstellar trade, including with the Denobulans and Vulcans, but fear-induced isolationism would become baked into the United Earth government at every level, with all talk of alliances or further missions of exploration being shut down.

By the time we reach the more familiar 23rd and 24th Centuries, the snowball has been rolling for a long time, and changes become unpredictable. But I’m going to posit that some of the Alpha and Beta Quadrant’s more aggressive powers – the Klingons, Romulans, and Cardassians – are all in much stronger positions without the Federation as a counterbalance. New alliances may emerge, such as the Mirror Universe’s Klingon-Cardassian alliance, or some powers may fully conquer others. The Romulans, for instance, may succeed at conquering Vulcan after the Andorian war left the Vulcans in a weakened state, or maybe the Klingons will launch an all-out war against their Cardassian rivals. And all the while, a strange, overlooked, isolationist Earth will be ready to shoot first and ask questions later whenever an uninvited guest arrives in the Sol system.

What If… #5:
What if… the Federation and the Ferengi went to war?

Still frame from Star Trek: The Next Generation Season 1 showing three Ferengi. — Three Ferengi from *The Next Generation*.

Chances are you already know this if you’re a Trekkie, but the Ferengi were originally supposed to be a major antagonist when The Next Generation was in early production. Gene Roddenberry intended for the Ferengi to take over the role vacated by the Klingons, now that Worf was going to be a permanent fixture on the bridge of the Enterprise-D. However… it didn’t pan out that way, mostly because of the way the Ferengi were presented in their first couple of appearances, and the way audiences responded to that.

In this case, though, we’re going to say that the Ferengi and the Federation didn’t just get off on the wrong foot… they continued down a path that would quickly lead to war. Ferengi DaiMons, eager for plunder, began raiding Federation convoys, stealing everything they could get their hands on, and even holding Starfleet officers and crew for ransom. Starfleet responded by taking an aggressive stance towards the Ferengi, sending armed escorts with trading and supply vessels, and gearing up for a confrontation.

Behind-the-scenes photo from the Star Trek TNG S3 episode Menage a Troi showing Gene Roddenberry and actor Peter Slutsker (in Ferengi makeup). — Gene Roddenberry originally intended for the Ferengi to become a major villainous faction.

This version of the Ferengi – perhaps led by a more aggressive ruler than Grand Nagus Zek – would be less conciliatory, and would instead see war and piracy as opportunities for profit. Around the time of The Next Generation’s second season – which takes place in approximately 2365 – this would spill over into all-out war. The Ferengi DaiMons – most of whom had been acting autonomously up to this point – would be corralled by their Nagus into a proper fighting force, and their powerful D’Kora-class ships (the Ferengi Marauders) were more or less evenly-matched with Starfleet’s Galaxy-class vessels. The war would drag on.

I doubt this war would become existential for either the Ferengi or for the Federation, but it would be the most significant conflict either power had been involved in for decades, at the very least. The distraction would pause Starfleet’s mission of exploration, with more vessels being refitted and sent to the front lines, meaning that dozens of first contacts (and other missions) would come years later – or else would be missed entirely. And all the while, the Borg are on the prowl, scooping up outlying Federation and Romulan colonies. Blame for that might even initially fall on the Ferengi.

Promo screenshot for Star Trek Online showing a D'Kora Class ship. — A D’Kora-class ship.

A peace treaty would eventually be signed, with the Ferengi and Federation agreeing to respect a shared border, and a prohibition would be placed on piracy – though renegade Ferengi DaiMons would continually flout this. But the war would sap Starfleet’s resources, leading to a monumental decision: the Federation would decline the Bajorans’ request to take over Terok Nor after the Cardassian withdrawal. Deep Space Nine would never be established, and the Bajoran wormhole would go undiscovered for decades.

This would completely change the course of the latter 24th Century: there’d be no Dominion War, no Cardassian alliance with the Dominion, no changeling infiltrations, and no Emissary of the Prophets. The Bajoran provisional government would struggle to remain in control of its system, and the Federation would commit to providing only limited aid to the Bajorans, earning their resentment. The eventual discovery of the Bajoran wormhole in the early 25th Century would lead to plenty of interest, including from the Ferengi – who can pay handsomely for access to the Gamma Quadrant. The Bajorans, still wary of the Federation after their very lukewarm response decades earlier, would deny Starfleet access to the wormhole, preventing the Federation from exploring the Gamma Quadrant. Bajor wouldn’t be on a path to joining the Federation, and first contact with the Dominion might be made by the Bajorans… or even the Ferengi.

So that’s it!

Promo image for Star Trek TNG: A Final Unity showing a warbird. — A modified Romulan warbird.

We’ve considered five possible “what if” scenarios from the Star Trek franchise.

I hope this has been a bit of fun. I love writing, and I love Star Trek, so writing about Star Trek is a great way for me to spend a bit more time in this wonderful galaxy. I tried to get creative, picking on a few different storylines and ideas from across the franchise, and extrapolating what might plausibly be able to happen if things turned out differently. I hope that the sequences of events made sense, and that I arrived at conclusions that you feel are at least *possible* based on the changes I proposed!

In any case, this was just for fun, and an excuse to talk about Star Trek as the franchise’s milestone 60th anniversary year rolls along. I have a few ideas for later in the year, as we get closer to the anniversary date itself, so I hope you’ll stick around and join me for some of those. And in a few weeks’ time, I’ll be sharing my thoughts on the franchise’s latest outing: Starfleet Academy. Click or tap here to check out my review of the two-part premiere, if you missed it.

Until then… be sure to check back for more discussion of the Star Trek franchise. Live Long and Propser, friends!

All shows and films discussed above can be streamed on Paramount+ or purchased on DVD and/or Blu-ray. The Star Trek franchise (including all properties discussed above) is the copyright of Skydance/Paramount. This article contains the thoughts and opinions of one person only and is not intended to cause any offence.

Star Trek: The Original Series Episode Re-Watch: Season 1, Episode 18: Arena

Sun 06.07.25Dennis

Spoiler Warning: There are spoilers ahead for Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Seasons 1, 2, and 3, Star Trek: Enterprise Season 4, and Star Trek: The Original Series Season 1.

It’s been more than five years since I set up this website. In that time, I’ve written hundreds – literally hundreds – of articles, essays, and reviews all about Star Trek. But this’ll be the first time I’ve written up a full re-watch of an episode of The Original Series. I must be the first Trekkie in history to write up a re-watch of an episode of The Animated Series before The Original Series! But this catastrophic failure of Trekkie-dom comes to an end today, as we sit down together to watch the classic first season episode Arena.

I’m going to split this article into two parts. We’ll talk about Arena on its face, including some of the episode’s production history – and the reason why the creator of the iconic Gorn costume went uncredited and unknown for almost a decade after the episode aired – and then we’ll talk about the Gorn themselves in a bit more detail. Spoiler alert if you haven’t watched Strange New Worlds and still plan to, but the Gorn appear prominently in that show. That’s actually part of the reason why I wanted to re-visit Arena ahead of the third season premiere!

Still frame from a TV advert for the Star Trek video game circa 2013 showing William Shatner and someone in a Gorn costume. — The Gorn and Captain Kirk…

Arena is an iconic episode – and the Gorn captain has to be one of The Original Series’ most recognisable villains. In fact, I was a little surprised not to see Arena on the list when I did my recent recap of IMDB’s top-rated Star Trek episodes – according to that site’s users, Arena ranks a measly 19th out of The Original Series’ 79 episodes! I think I’d have put it a fair bit higher than that; it’s gotta be a top ten episode, at the very least! It has a strong story, expanding our understanding of the Federation, while also containing enough of that esoteric sci-fi “weirdness” that makes Star Trek the franchise we know and love.

It’s also best-known, of course, as “the Gorn episode,” introducing the famous reptillian species to the franchise. But Arena is as much about another alien race – the Metrons – as it is about the Gorn. The Metrons feel, with the benefit of decades of hindsight now, almost like a prototype of what would become the Q Continuum – millennia ahead of the Federation, considering themselves to be enlightened, but not above a bit of interference in galactic affairs. The Metrons have never returned to Star Trek, though, and I can kind of understand why: for a “morality play” like Arena, they work well as a somewhat neutral arbiter. But as the franchise has expanded, we’ve seen fewer of these kinds of stories. Modern Star Trek in particular lends itself much more to the inclusion of the Gorn than it does the Metrons!

Still frame from Star Trek: The Original Series Season 1 episode Arena, showing a Metron. — An unnamed Metron from the end of the episode.

Because the battle at Vasquez Rocks is so well-remembered, it can be easy to overlook the first part of Arena – but the away mission to Cestus III is one of the first season’s most tense combat sequences. Drawing on war films for inspiration, with an unseen enemy and whistling noises reminiscent of World War II-era mortars, the entire away mission to the destroyed outpost is – for the time, anyway – really exciting stuff. This is also one of the first away missions to be shot on location – i.e. not on a sound stage or backlot. Following the previous episode, Shore Leave, which was also shot in the Los Angeles area, Arena took the cast and crew to a set near Vasquez Rocks which had been built a few years earlier for a different television series.

I think I’m right in saying that it’s this away mission sequence in Arena, which used several pyrotechnic explosions to create the effect of the Gorn attack, that led to both William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy suffering from tinnitus – a condition that causes ringing in the ears and can be painful. The Original Series used pyrotechics throughout its run, but this battle sequence pushed the performers to act in close proximity to these explosive devices. Knowing the impact the sequence had on the actors, that does taint how we view it. Because as exciting and intense as the Cestus III mission was, no television scene is worth suffering from life-long after-effects.

Still frame from Star Trek: The Original Series Season 1 episode Arena, showing Kirk being flung into the air by an explosion. — One of the explosions on Cestus III.

The first part of Arena, it could be argued, plays out similarly to Balance of Terror, which would’ve premiered just a month or so earlier. The attack on a Federation outpost, pursuing a powerful but unseen enemy… it starts the story in a familiar way. But the episode soon takes a completely different turn with the intervention of the Metrons. What begins with a deadly raid and an attack on the away team seems to be building up to another starship battle – but just as the Enterprise seems to be catching up to the Gorn vessel, the Metrons rebuke both ships and crews for their violent nature.

The Metrons are an interesting addition to the story. Rather than just another enemy encounter or a straightforward action story, their intervention puts a different spin on things. Kirk, who seemed hell-bent on revenge at first, is forced to confront the way he handled the interaction, and this idea of revenge at any cost – mutually assured destruction, perhaps – is thrust into the spotlight in an uncomfortable way.

Still frame from Star Trek: The Original Series Season 1 episode Arena, showing the crew on the bridge. — Spock, Kirk, and the crew on the bridge while the chase unfolded.

That’s part of the context behind Arena, this idea that seeking revenge isn’t healthy and is, in itself, a violent urge. But there’s more to it than that. The revelation that the Gorn considered Cestus III to be one of their planets, and that’s why they attacked the outpost, reframes things for Kirk, Bones, and the rest of the crew. The Federation may not have been aware of the Gorn claim, but either way, they settled an outpost on a planet that someone else considered to be their territory. There’s another analogy here that I think is particularly interesting.

The Original Series draws inspiration from the western genre. The idea of space as a new “frontier” conjures images of the wild west, and in Arena itself, Kirk refers to himself and the Enterprise as the only lawmen in this region of the galaxy. The Gorn, therefore, are this story’s metaphorical Native Americans, having a pre-existing claim to the land and attacking the Federation settlers who’d moved in on their territory. Maybe that wasn’t exactly how the story was written, but I think that reading is there, just beneath the surface. And for the 1960s – when the western genre was still riding high at the box office, with films like El Dorado, Ride in the Whirlwind, and The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly – that’s kind of a progressive idea. To make the point that, in this case, the Federation may have been in the wrong… that’s a pretty neat inversion of the typical western-inspired frontier story.

Still frame from Star Trek: The Original Series Season 1 episode Arena, showing Dr McCoy. — Dr McCoy put it best: “we could be in the wrong.”

Vasquez Rocks has become an iconic location within the Star Trek franchise, and that really began here in Arena. The filming location, which is just inside the famous “thirty-mile zone” around the film studios in Los Angeles, has appeared in The Next Generation, Voyager, Enterprise, Picard, and two of the Kelvin films as well as The Original Series and The Voyage Home. It was a great choice for Kirk’s battle against the Gorn commander, and even though I’ve criticised some modern Star Trek productions for re-using the same filming locations too often, I think Vasquez Rocks is such an iconic spot that it gets a pass!

I absolutely love the original Gorn design, and even though it might not be as “realistic” as the updated variant seen in Strange New Worlds… I think there’s something special about the original costume. I always compared the Gorn to a Tyrannosaurus Rex – but that’s because I first watched Arena after having seen Jurassic Park in the mid 1990s! The design draws inspiration from real-world reptiles like the komodo dragon, using reflective, almost insect-like eyes and needle-sharp teeth to complement the monstrous design.

Still frame from Star Trek: The Original Series Season 1 episode Arena, showing Kirk and the Gorn captain's first encounter. — I just love this costume.

Wah Chang designed the Gorn costume as well as many other iconic Star Trek props. The tricorder, the flip-open communicator, and tribbles were all his creations – but he went uncredited for all of it, and was unknown until members of the Star Trek fan community uncovered his role in the 1970s. Chang seems to have been commissioned by Desilu – Star Trek’s production company – in a weird legal grey area; director and producer Bob Justman wanted to use Chang’s work, but Chang wasn’t a member of the prop-makers union. In a kind of workaround, Desilu would “purchase” items from Chang, but he was never credited on screen for any of his creations.

This is another great example of the early Star Trek fan community pulling together! Chang’s role was eventually uncovered in the 1970s by Trekkies, who were keen to find out more about some of the show’s iconic props and designs. It’s one of those fun little stories that, were it not for the dedication of fans, would’ve simply never come to light. Chang’s contributions to Star Trek – not only the episode Arena, but really across the entire first season – helped to define the look and feel of this vision of the 23rd Century. Who knows where Star Trek would’ve been without him?

Two set photos from Star Trek: The Original Series showing the Gorn costume. — The original Gorn costume.

There are some great moments between Kirk and Spock in Arena, as they wrangle with the aftermath of the Gorn attack on Cestus III and what it could mean. In the context of Arena itself, disregarding any other Gorn stories, we can see both points of view. Kirk argues that the attack – which seems, at first, to be completely unprovoked – could be the precursor to a wider invasion, and as the only ship in the area, it falls to the Enterprise to prevent that. But Spock is also correct – without more information about what happened, who perpetrated the attack, and why… Kirk is kind of jumping to conclusions. His line about seeking revenge hits particularly hard.

We’ll get into this more in a moment when we discuss the Gorn, but this is one area where more recent Star Trek productions – and Strange New Worlds in particular – arguably re-frame this conversation. As a veteran of conflicts against the Gorn while serving under Pike’s command, Spock is acutely aware of how bloodthirsty and vicious the Gorn can be, and how single-minded they are when staking their claims to planets that the Federation already occupies. There is wiggle-room here, and nothing in Strange New Worlds explicitly contradicts Arena (at least as of the end of Season 2). But it does change how we perceive these conversations – which, it shouldn’t need to be said, supposedly take place a decade or so after the events of that show.

Still frame from Star Trek: The Original Series Season 1 episode Arena, showing Kirk and Spock in Kirk's cabin. — The conversation in Kirk’s cabin.

Kirk’s hand-to-hand battle with the Gorn captain is a ton of fun. The lumbering monster reminds me of the titular Creature from the Black Lagoon with its heavy rubber suit and somewhat clumsy movements, and I just really love that kind of old-school style of creature design. The rubber suit may be old-fashioned compared to, say, the new dinosaur-inspired Gorn depiction from Strange New Worlds… but I think it’s light-years ahead of the awful CGI rendition that we got in Enterprise! The very “sixties” fabric used for the Gorn captain’s uniform just adds to the charm.

The fight has its tense and serious moments. Kirk’s two-handed attack, which we’ve seen him use to great effect across the show’s first season, has absolutely no impact on the powerful and muscular Gorn, which was interesting. We also see the Gorn’s own ingenuity as he devises a trap – Kirk ends up injured and seemingly about to be impaled… just in time for the ad break! But the fight also has moments that, almost sixty years later, seem almost cartoonish or campy. The obviously polystyrene rocks – which look even less convincing in HD on a large television set – are part of that.

Still frame from Star Trek: The Original Series Season 1 episode Arena, showing the Gorn captain using a communicator. — The Gorn captain.

Then there’s Kirk’s “Wile E. Coyote” moment! Sneaking up on the Gorn captain from atop Vasquez Rocks, Kirk plans to drop a very large boulder on his opponent. And look, I get it: it’s a smart move given the circumstances. But the way this sequence is framed and shot makes it look like something straight out of the old Road Runner cartoon. It’s a ton of fun, but perhaps less tense or serious to a modern audience than it was intended to be in 1966!

The fight ends with Kirk choosing to show mercy to his defeated and injured opponent, impressing the Metrons and showing that, despite his earlier feelings about the attack on Cestus III, Kirk has learned something from the experience. His final conversation with Spock suggests that Federation diplomats might be able to contact the Gorn and peacefully resolve the Cestus III dispute. This resolution was clearly successful, because according to Deep Space Nine, Cestus III had a Federation colony again in the 24th Century… though we never saw this on screen for ourselves!

Still frame from Star Trek: The Original Series Season 1 episode Arena, showing Kirk and a boulder. — Captain Kirk’s plan was clearly inspired by the great tactician Wile E. Coyote.

With Strange New Worlds’ third season coming up, I want to talk a little bit more about the Gorn, and how Arena still has relevance to Star Trek today.

The Gorn have become Strange New Worlds’ most important villain, filling a role that the Klingons arguably did in The Original Series, the Borg did in The Next Generation, or the Cardassians and Dominion did in Deep Space Nine. Gorn stories have had profound impacts on Pike and the crew, from La’an’s tragic backstory, through Hemmer’s untimely death, and ultimately leading to the attack on Parnassus Beta, the infection of Captain Batel, and the abduction of Ortegas and many surviving colonists.

Strange New Worlds took the barest of outlines of the Gorn – a race who, since Arena, had only made a couple of other appearances in Star Trek – and changed them into a genuinely intimidating and threatening villain. Strange New Worlds’ depiction of the Gorn blends together the likes of Jurassic Park’s velociraptors with Alien’s iconic Xenomorphs. The new series takes the foundation established by Arena – that the Gorn are kind of monstrous reptillians – but pads it out with newer inspirations from the horror and sci-fi genres.

Still frame from Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 2 episode Hegemony showing Captain Batel and a Gorn. — An updated depiction of the Gorn from *Strange New Worlds*.

If you take a straight reading of Star Trek as a whole, from the point of view of a “canon purist,” then I guess I can understand why this change might not work. It *is* a change, at the end of the day, and with Strange New Worlds being a prequel, the fact that a major conflict against the Gorn happened just a few years earlier – involving several of the same characters – arguably gets close to treading on Arena’s toes. I’m not a “canon purist,” though, and I’m perfectly happy to enjoy both of these different depictions of the Gorn on their own terms.

I wish I had the photoshop skills to bring Arena’s Gorn captain into Strange New Worlds! I think that would be a really funny visual, and would make a great little Star Trek meme. Highlighting the differences in these depictions would be fun, and much of that would come from how different they appear to be – even though, I would argue, in terms of how they’re depicted, the Gorn aren’t actually all that inconsistent.

Still frame from the Star Trek: Strange New Worlds Season 3 trailer showing a Gorn. — A Gorn from the *Strange New World* Season 3 trailer.

Think about it: the attack on Cestus III and the total destruction the Gorn wrought isn’t far off what we see on Parnassus Beta in Strange New Worlds. The Gorn captain still makes the same kinds of horror-inspired “monster” noises, emphasising how different this life-form is to our familiar characters. The differences are really twofold: the limitations of the visual effects of the time compared to a more modern production with a higher budget, and perhaps more importantly, the limitations imposed on broadcast television at the time in terms of how graphic and horrifying visuals could be. For the mid-1960s, the Gorn captain is pure horror – and I think we can forget that because of how much time has elapsed and the kinds of things television shows today can do that they couldn’t do back then.

All that being said, I still adore the original Gorn design. I think it was incredibly creative, and Arena is just a fantastic episode all around, really. I think the parts we tend to overlook – the mission to Cestus III, the spaceship chase, and the involvement of the Metrons – are arguably the story’s most interesting parts, and to reduce Arena to Kirk and the Gorn squabbling in the desert is incredibly reductive and does Arena a huge disservice.

Still frame from Star Trek: The Original Series Season 1 episode Arena, showing Kirk firing his cannon at the Gorn captain. — Captain Kirk fires his makeshift cannon.

So that’s it for now. The Gorn are coming back, though… and soon! Strange New Worlds’ third season is just a couple of weeks away at time of writing, and I’m really looking forward to the resolution of the cliffhanger from Hegemony last season. I’ll do my best to write up reviews of Hegemony, Part II and the rest of the episodes in a more timely fashion this time around!

I hope this has been a bit of fun. I’ve been wanting to do a full write-up of an Original Series episode for ages, but I kept putting it on the back burner for one reason or another. Stay tuned, though, because I’ll definitely return to Star Trek’s roots before too long! I’d love to tackle one of my favourite episodes next: The Doomsday Machine! I have no idea when that’ll be… but one of these days, for sure.

Live Long and Prosper!

Star Trek: The Original Series (a.k.a. Star Trek) is available to stream now on Paramount+ in countries and territories where the platform is available. The series is also available on DVD and Blu-ray. The Star Trek franchise – including The Original Series, Strange New Worlds, and all other properties discussed above – is the copyright of Paramount Global. This article contains the thoughts and opinions of one person only and is not intended to cause any offence.