if it was Patrick Stewart's natural warmth and kindness coming through the gruff demeanour Picard was written to have." When reviewing the show in 2006 for AOL TV, he gave it an overall score of B-plus. Keith DeCandido reviewed the episode for Tor.com, praising the guest actors; Stanley Kamel was "magnificent" and "ooze[d] arrogance, overconfidence, and bull in equal measure", while Herta Ware brought "tremendous gravitas" to her role. He described the episode as the best of the first season, with strong performances from the main cast, and gave it an overall score of eight (out of ten). Jamahl Epsicokhan, on his website Jammer's Reviews, said that it was the first time in the series that space itself generated "awe and wonder"; however, he thought the "fresh and intriguing" nature of the episode faded as it went along. He criticized Wesley Crusher, describing him as a "cloying geek" and "you just want to strangle him". He gave the episode a score of 2.5 (out of 4). In Richard Hanley's book The Metaphysics of Star Trek the appearance of the Traveler in "Where No One Has Gone Before" was described as a continuation of intellectually advanced aliens in Star Trek, beginning in The Original Series with Apollo in "Who Mourns for Adonais?" and Gary Mitchell in "Where No Man Has Gone Before". Metaphysics is referenced in this episode by Wesley Crusher, who asks if thought is the basis of existence. Home media and theatrical release The first home-media release of "Where No One Has Gone Before" was on VHS cassette on April 1, 1992 in the United States and Canada. The episode was later included on the Star Trek: The Next Generation season-one DVD box set released in March 2002. Episodes from "Encounter at Farpoint" to "Datalore" were released in Japan on LaserDisc on June 10, 1995, as part of First Season Part.1. This included the first season episode "Where No One Has Gone Before", and the set has a total runtime of 638 minutes across multiple 12-inch optical video discs. The episode was released as part of the season-one Blu-ray set on July 24, 2012. To celebrate the 25th anniversary of Star Trek: The Next Generation and promote the release of the first season on Blu-ray, the episodes "Where No One Has Gone Before" and "Datalore" received a theatrical release in the United States on July 23, 2012 in nearly