Star Trek: Elizabeth Dehner and Gary Mitchell, Explained

Summary

NBC favored action over intellect in Star Trek, which prompted the creation of a second pilot.
"Where No Man Has Gone Before" featured characters with psychic conflicts and engaging storylines.
Mitchell and Dehner grew powerful after contact with the Galactic Barrier, leading to a tragic conclusion.

One fascinating bit of Star Trek lore (which longtime fans will know) is that The Original Series had two pilots. The first, called "The Cage," featured Captain Pike and his crew encountering the Talosians, a powerful race of psychic aliens. Upon its completion, NBC felt that "The Cage" was too slow and too intellectual. However, instead of rejecting the show outright and despite the steep price tag, they commissioned an unprecedented second pilot. "The Cage" would go on to be incorporated into a two-part story in season 1, episodes 11-12 "The Menagerie." "The Cage" was also later released on home video in 1986.

The second pilot, "Where No Man Has Gone Before," a lso featured psychic conflict. But in addition to this, there was also enough action to satisfy NBC for pickup. (However, it would air as the show's third episode, since there were still concerns that it was too expository.) In this episode, Captain Kirk and the rest of the Enterprise crew attempt to pass through an energy barrier, which ends up giving two Starfleet members potent psychic powers, Gary Mitchell and Dr. Elizabeth Dehner. Who are they, and how did their powers change them?

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By Kathleen Grotzinger

Before the Galactic Barrier

Lieutenant Gary Mitchell (Gary Lockwood) was a friend of Kirk's from his Starfleet Academy days. Although the two became fast friends, Mitchell found Kirk's class challenging, so he set Kirk up with a blonde lab technician to distract him and make the class easier. (It was a successful move to the point where Kirk almost married her.) Mitchell and Kirk were so close that Mitchell once took a poison dart for Kirk while on a mission, nearly dying. Mitchell's family had ESP in their line, and Mitchell himself was able to telepathically communicate with the Bandi.

Like Mitchell, Dr. Elizabeth Dehner (Sally Kellerman) had ESP in her bloodline. In childhood, Dehner was able to use this ability for guessing games, which partially inspired her decision to be a psychiatrist. Dehner had a high interest in other beings with extrasensory abilities, even writing her college thesis on them. This thesis was the reason she was posted to Aldebaron Colony, whose residents harnessed psychic energy. She later joined the Enterprise to study crew reaction in emergency scenarios.

After the Galactic Barrier

When the Enterprise entered the Galactic Barrier in "Where No Man Has Gone Before," Mitchell and Dehner were zapped by some kind of electricity. While Dehner appeared unaffected at first, Mitchell showed signs of changing almost immediately. His eyes took on a strange, silver sheen, and he was able to read faster, sense people's presences, and his intelligence skyrocketed.

Kirk assigned Dehner to work with Mitchell. The two had a rocky start when they first met — Mitchell tried to flirt with Dehner, and she rejected him. However, they grew closer as Mitchell revealed more of his abilities to Dehner. He changed his vital signs and even came back from a short death. When Dehner tested Mitchell's memory of a passionate poem, a romantic spark ignited between them.

Concerns rose as Mitchell's powers showed signs of increasing, while his empathy for others waned. Once he sensed Kirk and Spock's conflict over whether they might have to kill him to save the crew, he tried to fight back, but Dehner subdued and tranquilized him. Eventually, however, he was able to escape along with Dehner, whose own eyes had turned silver like Mitchell's.

While on Delta Vega, Mitchell used his powers to create trees and Kefarian apples, a favorite of his, to make a better environment. Dehner was impressed. Her own powers were improving, perhaps a little slower, because her initial ESP rating had not been as high as Mitchell's. However, Mitchell began to express disdain for humanity and to call himself a god. Kirk tried to appeal to Dehner, who still had some of her remaining humanity, asking what she thought Mitchell would do if his power continued to develop. Mitchell forced Kirk to kneel before him, asking him to pray to him like a god. Dehner blasted Mitchell with her powers, which allowed Kirk to take him down. Tragically, though, Dehner herself also perished. In the end, Kirk recorded that their deaths took place in the line of duty, granting them respect since they had not asked for what had happened to them.

Although Mitchell and Dehner only officially appeared in a single Star Trek episode, they made an impression. Mitchell received a mention and even appeared on-screen during an episode of Lower Decks. The three-part novel series My Brother's Keeper also explored Kirk and Mitchell's relationship prior to the events of "Where No Man Has Gone Before." A photonovel called Strange New Worlds (no relation to the series) also depicted Gary's resurrection. In the IDW comics, Mitchell and Dehner appear in the Kelvin timeline. However, this time, Dehner chooses not to come aboard the Enterprise once she hears McCoy is on board, as they had an awkward past in that universe. Perhaps the two will reappear in the series Strange New Worlds? Time will undoubtedly tell.