🔴Kirk’s First Star Trek: TOS Enemy Gary Mitchell Explained🔴
0Kirk’s First Star Trek: TOS Enemy Gary Mitchell Explained
Gary Lockwood starred as Lieutenant Gary Mitchell in the second pilot episode of Star Trek: The Original Series, "Where No Man Has Gone Before." Assigned as helmsman to the USS Enterprise under Captain James T. Kirk (William Shatner), Mitchell's friendly and accessible countenance allowed for a good relationship with his fellow crew members and echoed Kirk's preference for a more casual command style and atmosphere as standard. Lockwood's prior casting in the television series The Lieutenant by the show's creator and producer Gene Roddenberry led directly to Lockwood's role as Gary Mitchell on Roddenberry's next project, Star Trek.
Star Trek's successful second pilot, "Where No Man Has Gone Before," saw Lieutenant Commander Gary Mitchell slowly develop extraordinary powers when the Enterprise pierced an energy barrier at the galaxy's edge. The crossing inadvertently triggered Mitchell's unusually high ESP readings and transitioned him from popular crew member to cold, ruthless threat. As Kirk struggled between his loyalties to Mitchell and his crew, Gary's growing psionic powers led to murder, increasing disdain, and ultimately his undoing at the hands of Kirk and the similarly-affected Dr. Elizabeth Dehner (Sally Kellerman). Lockwood's performance as the unfortunate, friendly Starfleet helmsman offers a sympathetic insight into Kirk's first Star Trek foe.