The Cage (episode) | Memory Alpha | Fandom powered by Wikia The year is 2254 – eleven years before Captain Kirk 's five-year mission commanding the USS Enterprise . Two weeks after a battle on Rigel VII that left seven crewmembers injured and took the life of three Enterprise crewmen, including Captain Christopher Pike 's yeoman , the ship encounters a space distortion on a collision course, according to helmsman José Tyler . It turns out to be an old radio distress signal , "keyed to cause interference and attract attention." The crew says it was sent eighteen years earlier from the Talos star group , but first officer Number One notes they have no Earth colonies or vessels that far out. Pike declines to investigate without any indication of survivors but proceeds to the Vega colony to care for the crew's own injuries. Pike calls the Enterprise's chief medical officer , Dr. Boyce , to his quarters but Boyce instead fixes Pike a martini to induce Pike to talk about the battle on Rigel VII. Pike has been thinking of resigning, burdened with making lethal decisions, but Boyce counsels against it.

The science officer Spock interrupts on the intercom that a follow-up message from Talos IV indicates there are eleven survivors. Pike returns to the bridge and orders the ship to Talos, at "time warp, factor seven." He encounters a comely young woman, J.M. Colt . The ship's first officer, a woman named Number One, says Colt is the captain's replacement yeoman. Pike expresses discomfort with "a woman on the bridge," assuring Number One that she is an exception, as she's "different, of course." Pike leads a landing party to the surface of Talos IV and finds the makeshift campsite of a disheveled group of male scientists from the crashed survey ship SS Columbia . The scientists identify themselves as an expedition of the American Continent Institute and Lieutenant Jose Tyler describes technological advances while they have been marooned, particularly in the time barrier being broken. A beautiful young woman approaches them. She is Vina , born almost as the group crash-landed on the planet. Vina strangely tells Pike he is a "prime specimen" – as three aliens with huge, pulsating heads watch the landing party through a viewing screen.

Boyce provides his medical report to Pike and reports that the survivors are in good health, "almost too good." The scientist Theodore Haskins offers to show Pike their "secret," and Vina leads him away from the others. Vina suddenly vanishes, along with the scientists and their camp. Talosians render Pike unconscious and abduct him through a doorway in the rock. The landing party fires laser pistols at the door to no avail and Spock advises the ship via his communicator that this "is all some sort of trap. We've lost the captain. Do you read?" Pike wakes up without his jacket, communicator, and laser, inside an underground cell with a transparent wall, through which he sees several creatures of different species in nearby cells. Several Talosians arrive and make callous scientific observations about him, which he perceives not through sound but telepathy . They note that Pike is more adaptable to his new surroundings and prepare to begin "the experiment." Pike and Vina enjoy an illusory picnic outside Mojave The Talosians intend to make Pike experience illusions based on his memories, in order to interest him in Vina. The first illusion returns Pike to Rigel VII, with the new task of saving Vina.

Pike is not interested in participating, telling Vina he is "not an animal performing for its supper," but he is interested in learning the parameters of the illusions and of his captivity. Nevertheless, he manages to survive the illusory attack from the Kalar and is returned, with Vina, to his cell. He learns from Vina that the Talosians have severely weakened their world and themselves by reliance on their telepathic powers. They want Captain Pike and Vina as breeding stock for a new, stronger race to repopulate the barren surface of the planet. The Talosians punish Vina for revealing this information to Pike. The Talosians provide him with a vial of liquid nourishment and insist that he consume it, even offering to make it appear as any food he wishes. Pike proposes to starve himself instead, which results in the Keeper punishing him with an illusion of being surrounded by scorching flame and threatens to punish him more severely for continued disobedience. Pike appears to relent by consuming the liquid, but then displays another outburst of attempting to break through the containment, unexpectedly startling the Keeper.

Pike realizes that the Keeper was unable to read his mind during his outburst of anger and tries to inquire more as to why this is. The Keeper, still unable to probe Pike's mind, attempts then to distract Pike by changing the subject to Vina. Pike relents again, and the Keeper reveals that Vina was the sole survivor of the Columbia crash and confirms what she inadvertently revealed previously – that Pike and Vina were being kept to propagate Humanity and repopulate Talos IV. The conversation ends with Pike demanding that the Talosians punish him instead of her, since he is the one being uncooperative, which the Keeper regards as an excellent development in their relationship. Vina appears as an Orion slave girl The next illusion is a pleasant picnic just outside Pike's hometown of Mojave , with Vina attempting to entice Pike with the familiar setting, but with Pike still resisting, knowing that all of it is just a mere illusion. Vina then realizes that scenarios with which Pike is already familiar have not been successful in enticing him to cooperate, and surmises that he might be more easily swayed by a forbidden fantasy. The Talosians next tempt Pike by making Vina appear as a dancing Orion slave girl .

The Enterprise landing party and Vina The Enterprise tries without success to channel the starship 's power to the surface to blast a way to Pike. Then Spock locates the Talosians' power generator and prepares a landing party . However, only the females (Number One and Yeoman Colt) are the only ones transported, as the Talosians seek to give Pike a choice of mates; and their weapons and communicators appear not to work. Vina resents the competition; Number One says records indicate Vina cannot be as young as she appears. As the rescue attempts have failed, Spock orders the Enterprise to leave orbit, but the Talosians immobilize it and scan its records, convincing Spock that the ship's utility to the Talosians is at an end and that they will now "swat... this fly." Pike determines that any strong emotions keep the Talosians from controlling his mind and uses this to his advantage. While Pike feigns sleep, the Talosian magistrate tries to recover the female officers' lasers from the cage. Pike seizes the magistrate and ignores the illusions. He reasons that the malfunction of the lasers was itself an illusion and uses the laser pistol to compel the magistrate to stop deceiving him.

He now sees that they had blasted away the wall of the cage on their first attempt. He escapes with the women to the surface and sees that the blasting operation on the door had also succeeded, despite an illusion made to appear otherwise. But the communicators still don't work, and the Talosian says that the original goal was to put the group on the surface. Pike offers himself as a captive for the freedom of the others and the Enterprise, but Number One begins a "force-chamber" overload of her laser pistol, intending to destroy herself and her shipmates to thwart the Talosians' plans. She tells the Talosian magistrate that it is wrong to create a whole race of Humans to live as slaves. The magistrate's aides arrive, presenting the summary of the ship's records. The records have shown that Humans possess a "unique hatred of captivity," even when pleasant, making them too dangerous for the Talosians' needs. The magistrate does not apologize for the imposition but concedes that they will now become extinct. Pike asks if commerce or cooperation might not restore the planet, but the magistrate replies that Humans would learn the Talosians' power of illusion and destroy themselves, just as the Talosians did.

The crew members are free to go, but Vina says she cannot join them. After the others transport aboard, the Talosians show Pike Vina's true appearance: underneath the Talosian illusions, she is badly deformed from the crash of the Columbia. They were able to make it so that she could remain alive, but could not restore her appearance. The Talosians agree to take care of Vina and they provide her with an illusory Captain Pike to keep her company. Pike returns to the bridge, reassuring Dr. Boyce that he is completely refreshed for work, and waving off a query from Yeoman Colt about whom he would have chosen as a mate, as well as accusing the doctor of being a "dirty old man" for inquiring into the meaning of Colt's remark. The Enterprise departs. Memorable quotes "It can't be the screen then." - Spock and Tyler, speaking the first lines in Star Trek history "Records show the Talos star group has never been explored. Solar system similar to Earth; eleven planets. Number four seems to be...class M.

Oxygen atmosphere." "Then they could still be alive after eighteen years." "If they survived the crash." - Spock, Number One and Pike Pike and Boyce "Sometimes a man'll tell his bartender things he'll never tell his doctor." - Boyce, offering Pike a martini "Chris, you set standards for yourself no one could meet. You treat everyone on board like a Human being except yourself." - Boyce, explaining Pike's work exhaustion "I'm tired of deciding which mission is too risky and which isn't. And who's going on the landing party and who doesn't. And who lives. And who dies." - Pike, hinting at his retirement to Boyce "A man either lives life as it happens to him, meets it head-on, and licks it. Or he turns his back on it and starts to wither away." - Boyce, advising Pike against retirement "We both get the same two kinds of customers. The living and the dying." - Boyce to Pike, as doctor and bartender "It's just that I can't get used to having a woman on the bridge." (Number One looks surprised) "No offense, lieutenant.

You're different, of course." - Pike to Number One, about Colt "You appear to be healthy and intelligent, captain. Prime specimen." - Vina's first observations of Captain Pike "There's a way out of any cage, and I'll find it!" - Pike to the Talosians, on his captivity "But they found it's a trap. Like a narcotic. Because when dreams become more important than reality, you give up travel, building, creating." - Vina, on why the Talosians developed their mental powers "I'm a woman as real and as Human as you are. We're like Adam and Eve." - Vina, convincing Pike that she is not an illusion "No, please! Don't punish me!" - Vina, about to be punished for revealing the truth that she and Pike are meant to breed (and finally proving that she's for real) "You overlook the unpleasant alternative of punishment." - The Keeper, outlining the consequences for disobedience "You either live life – bruises, skinned knees and all – or you turn your back on it and start dying." - Pike, understanding Boyce's advice "But we're not here. Neither of us.

We're in a menagerie, a cage!" - Pike to Vina, in the picnic fantasy "A curious species. They have fantasies they hide even from themselves." - The Keeper, watching the picnic fantasy "A person's strongest dreams are about what he can't do." - Vina, before becoming an Orion woman "Can you believe it? Actually like being taken advantage of!" - One of Pike's guests, describing the nature of Orion slave girls "The women!" - Spock, after Number One and Colt disappear "Since you resist the present specimen, you now have a selection. Each of these two new specimens has qualities in her favor." - The Keeper, referring to Number One and Colt "Although she seems to lack emotion, this is largely a pretense. She often has fantasies involving you." - The Keeper to Pike, about Number One "The factors in her favor are youth and strength, plus unusually strong female drives." - The Keeper, about Colt "Wrong thinking is punishable. Right thinking will be as quickly rewarded.

You will find it an effective combination." - The Keeper, after Pike suffers pain "With the female of your choice, you will now begin carefully guided lives." "Start by burying you?" "It's wrong to create a race of Humans to keep as slaves." - Number One, just before preparing to kill the Humans and the Keeper "The customs and history of your race show a unique hatred of captivity. Even when it's pleasant and benevolent, you prefer death. This makes you too violent and dangerous a species for our needs." - The Keeper, before releasing Pike, Number One and Colt "No other specimen has shown your adaptability. You were our last hope." - The Keeper, explaining why Pike's inability to cooperate would lead to the extinction of the Talosians "She has an illusion and you have reality. May you find your way as pleasant." - The Keeper, after restoring Vina's beauty (as well as creating an illusory Christopher Pike to keep her company) "Who would have been Eve?" "Yeoman!" - Colt and Number One referring to whom Pike would have chosen "Eve?

As in Adam?" "As in all ship's doctors are dirty old men." - Boyce and Pike, before the Enterprise leaves Talos IV "What are we running here, a cadet ship, Number One? Are we ready or not?" "All decks show ready, sir." "Engage!" - Pike and Number One, as the Enterprise prepares to leave Talos IV Background information Edit The title of this episode – the first installment of Star Trek ever produced – was changed in production from "The Cage" to "The Menagerie". However, when the two-part episode " The Menagerie, Part I " and " The Menagerie, Part II " (which reused almost all the footage from this episode) went into production, the title of this installment reverted to "The Cage". ( The Star Trek Compendium , 4th ed., p. 10; [1] ) Story and script Edit The genesis of this episode was the first of twenty-five proposed stories in Gene Roddenberry 's series outline Star Trek is... .

The description of the plot concept that became this episode (preliminarily entitled "The Next Cage") read, "The desperation of our series lead, caged and on exhibition like an animal, then offered a mate." During an early May 1964 meeting wherein Gene Roddenberry and Herbert F. Solow pitched the series to television network NBC , Jerry Stanley – NBC Program Development Vice President – asked to hear more about the idea for the series' pilot episode. Solow later reflected, "I asked Gene to explain. He did, very succinctly describing the premise of 'The Menagerie'." Neither Grant Tinker – who was also present at the meeting and was, at the time, NBC Vice President of Programs, West Coast – nor Jerry Stanley was convinced to agree to a series deal with Roddenberry and Solow. Just as Roddenberry was about to leave the room, Solow made a last-ditch attempt to persuade the NBC executives, stating, "If you give us a commitment for a ninety-minute script instead of one hour, and we make the pilot, you can always run it as a TV special and recoup your investment if it doesn't sell as a series.

Besides, I'm not leaving this room until you give us a script order." This was enough to sway NBC's stance and the executives agreed to make a deal. ( Inside Star Trek: The Real Story , pp. 6, 19-20) This episode's premise was not the only concept that NBC considered for the series' pilot. Herb Solow explained, "They wanted to hear more stories before one of them was chosen for the pilot script. We had more meetings, and Gene gave them more stories." ( Inside Star Trek: The Real Story , p. 20) This episode's narrative style was selected after Oscar Katz , the president of Desilu Television at the time, personally pitched four different narrative approaches to the NBC executives. Whereas the first two story types primarily focused on events aboard the Enterprise and the third option featured a planet whose inhabitants were much like Humanity of either the past or the future, the fourth type involved a planet that was highly different from Earth and was inhabited by people who were likewise very different from Humans. NBC chose the fourth type, the hardest to produce, as they wanted to challenge Desilu by making it as hard as possible for that studio to prove the series was doable.

Explained Katz, "I tried to talk them out of it, because I knew it was going to be expensive and, even more, I felt that it might not be representative of the series. But they couldn't be talked out of it." ( Captains' Logs: The Unauthorized Complete Trek Voyages , p. 11) The plot idea for this episode underwent further development in early May 1964, after NBC vice-president Mort Werner provided Gene Roddenberry with US$20,000 in development money to write three different story outlines based on the Star Trek format. ( The Making of Star Trek , pp. 41-42; The Star Trek Compendium , 4th ed., p. 10) With so much at stake over the trio of episode outlines, Roddenberry diligently labored away at them, obsessing over each page and every word. He spent a month writing the outlines as well as several weeks revising them, after which he finally turned the pages over to NBC. ( Star Trek Memories , p.

33) The outlines had been forwarded to the network by the end of June 1964 and the particular outline for this episode was dated 29 June ( The Making of Star Trek , pp. 45 & 47). The other two candidates were "The Perfect World" (which became " The Return of the Archons ") and "The Women" (which became " Mudd's Women "). ( These Are the Voyages: TOS Season One ) Following the submission of the outlines, NBC took several days before announcing their choice of "The Cage" as the pilot-to-be. ( Star Trek Memories , p. 33) The episode's story outline consisted of 26 pages. [2] In those pages, the name of the Enterprise's captain was Robert April (as it was in the series outline Star Trek is...). He was the only one of his crew whose name was to be changed, as the episode continued to evolve. Also, the Talosians were crab-like aliens (their species remaining unnamed, though they were commonly referred to as "crab-creatures"), and their planet was "Sirius IV". The outline is fully transcribed in The Making of Star Trek (pp.

47-65). Some of Gene Roddenberry's initial thoughts for the episode's illusory scenarios had to be altered or scaled back due to production and budgetary realities. ("The Menagerie, Part II" text commentary ) Hours after NBC greenlighted the pilot (a duration that Gene Roddenberry and Herb Solow spent ironing out some of the "twists, turns, and bends in the plot"), Gene Roddenberry set to work on writing the teleplay. ( Star Trek Memories , p. 36; Inside Star Trek: The Real Story , pp. 20-21) As he wrote the first draft script, he spared no thought for the practicalities of producing what he was writing about, such as the episode's laser cannon, instead leaving such realistic considerations until later. Noted Herb Solow, "The network draft wasn't for shooting, the network draft was for selling. When we got the order for the pilot film, then we'd face the budget problem head on." ( Inside Star Trek: The Real Story , pp. 20-21) Gene Roddenberry did, however, care about the believability of the script.

To this end, he initiated a period of intensive scientific research and began an acquaintance with Harvey P. Lynn , a physicist from the RAND Corporation who served as Roddenberry's unofficial technical adviser on the pilot. ( The Making of Star Trek , pp. 74, 76-77) During the remainder of the summer and into the early autumn of 1964, major effort was invested in the development of the shooting script, the intention being that it was to later be submitted to NBC for approval. ( The Making of Star Trek , p. 78) The first script draft was dated 8 September 1964 . ( The Star Trek Compendium , 4th ed., p. 11) In that version of the episode, the captain's name was still Robert April, though both the Talosians and their homeworld of Talos IV received their eventual names. ( The Making of Star Trek , pp. 91-95) It was also the initial draft of the episode's teleplay that changed the Talosians from resembling crabs to becoming small and slim humanoids with elongated heads. ( The Making of Star Trek , p.

93) This alteration was made because the production staff realized the aliens might seem too much like the bug-eyed monsters of "1950s horror movies," the antithesis of what Gene Roddenberry wanted the more intellectually-minded Star Trek to be. Depicting the extraterrestrials as crab-like creatures would have not only run a good chance of making them look unconvincing but also would have been prohibitively expensive, two deciding factors in the adjustment of their form. ( Star Trek: The Original Series 365 , p. 008) According to Majel Barrett , the first character introduced in the script was Number One. "That was the first character Gene wrote into the script," Barrett stated. "Captain April was not an afterthought because he knew he had to have a captain, but the first character that was described was Number One." ( Star Trek Monthly issue 27 , p. 43) The episode's first draft script had an opening scene in the hangar bay where Captain April, whose character at this stage was a tad older than Captain Pike was later written, is inspecting new crew members.

He remarks disapprovingly to the doctor, at one point, about the young age of some of these officers. "Something," Roddenberry later wrote in a memo, "that Jim Kirk , the boy wonder of the Academy , never would have done." In this same scene, April sees a number of badly-wounded crewmen off the ship, onto a space shuttle or taxi from the Human colony of Antares . Among these departing officers is an uninjured former navigator named Crowley who April is sending back in disgrace, because he fired on friendly aliens. The officer argues that they were monstrous in appearance and asks how he could have known that they were intelligent enough to have weapons. These protests are met by a stern but subdued dismissal from the captain, who quietly orders, "Get off my ship, mister." ( The Making of Star Trek ; The Star Trek Compendium , 4th ed., pp. 11-12) While scripting the episode, Gene Roddenberry developed a habit of being somewhat possessive about story ideas, to such a degree that Herb Solow considered this quality to be excessive.

"As Gene completed the first-draft pilot script," Solow remarked, "he unfortunately became overly protective of his new baby." Furthermore, Roddenberry began to frequently lay claim to the input of others. "A new side of Gene slowly appeared: ownership of ideas," commented Solow. "If a good story or series point came from anyone, be it NBC, [Desilu's agent] Ashley-Famous, or Desilu, Gene Roddenberry appropriated it." ( Inside Star Trek: The Real Story , p. 21) A copy of the episode's first draft script was sent from Gene Roddenberry to Harvey P. Lynn, shortly prior to 14 September 1964. On that date, Lynn responded with correspondence of his own – a letter that included many comments on the script draft. Concerning the docking scene, Lynn proposed a theoretical docking method and a suggestion that the name Antares, since it refers to a sun unsuitable for the habitation of Humans, be substituted with "a more vague name" such as Tycho, Fabricus, or even Lynnicus (the latter name clearly being offered as an in-joke).

Additionally, Lynn took the liberty of suggesting that the shuttle or taxi might be from a ship similar to the Enterprise and that that vessel had recently departed from Earth, which Lynn observed would correlate well with the introductions of both Tyler and Yeoman Colt. ( The Making of Star Trek , pp. 90-92) The docking scene was excised from the script in a revised draft, and Roddenberry notified Lynn of the scene's exclusion in a letter sent on 24 September. ( The Making of Star Trek , pp. 96-97) Though the first script draft referred to Talos IV as being located at the "edge of the universe" and stated that Earth was "at the other end of this galaxy," Harvey P. Lynn rejected these notions, advising Gene Roddenberry that traveling from one end of the galaxy to the other would take an impossibly long time and encouraging him to switch the latter reference to "far away in this galaxy." ( The Making of Star Trek , pp. 92, 94) Evidently, Roddenberry ultimately minimized the references to the far distance between Earth and Talos IV; of the two such references, the first was deleted while the second remained. Harvey P.

Lynn recommended that Talos IV be stated to be in either Sigma Draconis, Eta Cassiopeiae, or HR 8832 (aka Gliese 892 ), owing to both their proximity to our solar system and the fact that it is unknown whether any of them have any Earth-type planets. Other astral names that Lynn requested be changed were Epsilon VII, Orion, and Rigel 113, which he suggested substituting with Draconis, HR 8832, and Vega 113, respectively. A similar idea that he presented was changing Orion traders to Centaurian traders. ( The Making of Star Trek , pp. 92, 95) In his reply on 24 September, Roddenberry expressed an interest in having the names of the stars in this episode be ones that were familiar to the audience. "This is why I've avoided such terms as 'HR8832,' etc," he explained.

On the other hand, he conceded that the continued use of Rigel and Orion could still be substituted, in the final shooting script, with names such as Vega, admitting that such names – while being more appropriate from a scientific perspective – were also possibly just as familiar. ( The Making of Star Trek , p. 97) Comparing the second revised final draft script (dated 20 September 1964) to the episode's final draft indicates that Roddenberry ultimately replaced Rigel 113 with Rigel VII. Neither the same script draft nor the actual episode contain reference to Epsilon VII, though they also evidence that Roddenberry ultimately excluded not only HR 8832 but also Draconis and Vega 113. Due to Harvey P. Lynn's influence, the SS Columbia is said to have been lost in the same "region" as the Talos star group, rather than the same "quadrant" as that star system, and the gravity of Talos IV was altered from "1.3 of Earth" to less than Earth's gravity.

Lynn submitted the latter suggestion on the basis of the Talosians' appearance and proposed that Talos IV have a gravity that was 85% as powerful as Earth's. ( The Making of Star Trek , p. 92) In the episode's final version, it is said to be "0.9 of Earth." The character of Geologist was known as Astroscientist in the first draft script, but this was also changed on the recommendation of Harvey P. Lynn, who opted for "Geologist" because he believed it was a more specific title. ( The Making of Star Trek , p. 93) In the first draft script, the illusory Columbia survivors had more dialogue than they do in the episode's final edit. For instance, it was established that the survivors' distress call had been a directional beam. Harvey P. Lynn, however, proposed that it would be more likely for the survivors' signal to have been a broadcast beam, owing to the increased probability that such a beam would be intercepted.

Solar batteries were mentioned by at least one of the survivors too, but Lynn opposed this by suggesting that the illusory Human instead say, "After we could no longer use the ship's power, we switched to automatic batteries and started praying." ( The Making of Star Trek , p. 93) This dialogue was evidently later cut or omitted entirely. Harvey P. Lynn also made some notes on the specifics of several elements that were intended to continue to be featured in the forthcoming series (such as lasers , for which he submitted four alternative names, though Gene Roddenberry maintained that he wanted the name to stay as it was, due to the high odds that it would be recognizable to viewers). ( The Making of Star Trek , pp. 94, 97) Executives at Desilu were also included in the revision process. Herb Solow explained, "Finally, all the top executives received copies of our pilot [script] to read, review with others, and comment on. I personally walked the Star Trek pilot script into [Desilu president and actress] Lucy [Ball] 's dressing room and handed it to her. 'Lucy, this is the Star Trek pilot script.

There'll be lots of changes, so if you have any comments, let me have them, because there'll be ample time to implement them.' Lucy never mentioned the script [....] I know Oscar [Katz] read his copy of the pilot script, but he never offered any comments [either]." ( Inside Star Trek: The Real Story , p. 22) The second revised final draft script of the "The Cage" indicates, as does the episode, that Spock, José Tyler, and others had been wounded in the fighting on Rigel VII – events which took place just prior to the action in "The Cage". The script includes stage directions for Spock to be limping and for Tyler to have a bandaged hand. As late as 20 November 1964 (in the second revised final script), the captain's name was James Winter. Even though Gene Roddenberry was open to some of Harvey P. Lynn's suggestions, his possessiveness over plot ideas affected his interactions with NBC. ( Inside Star Trek: The Real Story , p.

21) The script's final draft was ready to send to the network by the end of September 1964 and the proposed shooting script was submitted to NBC in the last week of September. ( The Making of Star Trek , pp. 90, 99) Herb Solow offered, "Gene and I met with NBC to get their script comments. He took offense at most of them, at times unnecessarily so. Some ideas were really good." ( Inside Star Trek: The Real Story , p. 21) However, Roddenberry was pleased with the network's general reaction to what he had written, the major stumbling block between them, at this point, being a specific dream sequence that Roddenberry had scripted. NBC warned against overly focusing on the sequence, wary that the message concerning what is reality might be lost on the audience. Numerous other, minor alterations were requested, but NBC more-or-less gave their approval for the episode to be filmed. ( The Making of Star Trek , p. 99) By the time this episode's script was completed, Gene Roddenberry's initial concept for the installment had been greatly changed by suggestions from Desilu and NBC. ( Inside Star Trek: The Real Story , p.

22) The teleplay also reflected the input of the numerous scientific advisers who Roddenberry had consulted. ( The Making of Star Trek , p. 90) Having finished writing the script, Roddenberry asked Robert Butler to read it. Butler later remembered his reactions to the teleplay; "I remember thinking it was a terrific yarn, but that it was somewhat obscured because it was such a showcase script. 'The Cage' showcased such solid, good and fascinating science-fiction disciplines, examples and events, that it was, I thought, a little obscure. The story was somewhat remote." ( Starlog , issue 117, p. 55) By the time filming began, the name of the Enterprise's commanding officer had finally been changed to Christopher Pike. ( The Making of Star Trek , p. 115) Cast This is the first of six Star Trek instances in which Leonard Nimoy appeared without William Shatner, the other five being TAS : " The Slaver Weapon ", TNG : " Unification I " and " Unification II ", and the series reboot films Star Trek and Star Trek Into Darkness . Michael Dugan , who played the illusory Kalar warrior, was actually a stunt performer.

("The Menagerie, Part II" text commentary ) After the crew beams down to the planet surface of Talos IV , Spock is seen limping as he walks toward the singing plants. It has been mistakenly stated that Nimoy had suffered an injury prior to filming. In fact, Nimoy's limp here was feigned, in accordance with the script. ( The Making of Star Trek ) José Tyler similarly appears with a bandage around his hand. Because Jeffrey Hunter (who played Pike) was playing a very controlled, internalized character, Nimoy felt the need to bring in some energy and animation onto the set. ( Mind Meld: Secrets Behind the Voyage of a Lifetime ; et al.) Production Makeup artist Fred Phillips turning Susan Oliver into an Orion slave girl While Susan Oliver was wearing her green Orion slave girl makeup, she became very tired. A doctor was called to the studio to give her a vitamin B shot. He went to her dressing room where, not having been informed of her appearance, he was greatly surprised to see that her complexion was green. The doctor was so flustered, in fact, that it took him nearly five minutes to simply identify an area to administer the shot. ( The Making of Star Trek , p.

78) The spearhead Pike uses to kill the Kalar on Rigel VII was a recycled prop from RKO Pictures . It measured approximately thirty inches in length and was seven and a half inches wide. ( Star Trek: The Original Series 365 , p. 011) Robert Butler said in an interview with Star Trek Monthly that he wanted some dirt and rust on the sets, but Roddenberry vetoed this idea, claiming that everything must be clean and shiny. In another interview, Butler claimed that this was his basic reason for disliking Star Trek overall, calling it "too square-jawed, heroic" and "too worthy and clean" for his taste. The landing party jackets in this episode were fastened by long strips of black Velcro running down the entire length of the inside flap, visible in some of the scenes. The belts were grey-colored elastic-type bands that had metal hook/clip fasteners at the front which held the communicator and hand weapon. They were worn over the shirt but under the jacket, at the waist. When indicating the region of the Talos group on his viewscreen, Spock calls up a photograph of the Pleiades Cluster .

Datin (l) delivers the three-foot USS Enterprise studio model to Roddenberry, 14 December 1964, who later that day discusses the model with Jeffrey Hunter (l) on the set of "The Cage" The scene inside the Rigel fortress was one of the last scenes to be shot for this episode. It was filmed on 14 December 1964 . Gene Roddenberry was present during the filming and model maker Richard C. Datin, Jr. also payed a visit to the set, presenting the three-foot USS Enterprise study model to Roddenberry, it eventually turning out to be a full-fledged filming model onto its own. ("The Menagerie, Part II" text commentary , [5] ) This was the single most expensive episode ever created for the original Star Trek series. ("The Menagerie, Part I" text commentary ) According to several sources (including the The Star Trek Compendium , 4th ed., p. 17), NBC spent US$630,000 on this episode. According to Majel Barrett, however, there was only US$168,000 available for the pilot.

( Star Trek Monthly issue 27 , p. 43) The episode's preproduction costs were reduced thanks to the use of rear-screen projection for images on the Enterprise's main viewscreen. ("The Menagerie, Part I" text commentary ) Based upon extensive research author Marc Cushman had performed on the internal studio documentation used at the time, he has reported the budget and total cost at $452,000 (hugely debunking Barrett's earlier statement) and $616,000, respectively. ( These Are the Voyages: TOS Season One , 1st ed., p. 64) Visual effects Edit Datin (l) taking delivery of the eleven-foot studio model Howard Anderson Company , the company responsible for all visual effects or "opticals" as they were called at the time, subcontracted the build of the Enterprise studio model to Richard Datin. Datin himself built the above-mentioned small three-foot that was originally intended to serve as a study model, but which ended up being used for filming nevertheless. The actual large eleven-foot filming model he himself had to sub-contract to Production Models Shop due to time pressure and lack of space in his workshop.

( Star Trek: Communicator issue 132 , p. 51-53) For a far more detailed treatise on the two models, see: Constitution-class model The opening shot of this episode was filmed with the use of frame-by-frame stop-motion animation, in order to allow for the transition between the footage of the Enterprise model and the shot that was taken on the set for the starship's bridge. Due to the movement of the space vessel, the shot was necessarily very intricate and extraordinarily difficult to produce. It was created by the Howard Anderson Company. ("The Menagerie, Part I" text commentary ) The shot used the eleven-foot model of the Enterprise, while the other ship shots of this episode involved the three-foot miniature of the spacecraft. ("The Menagerie, Part II" text commentary ) The shot was the very last to be produced and the only one where the large model was utilized, as it was only delivered to Anderson's on 29 December 1964 , after all other footage had approximately been completed a week earlier. ( Star Trek: Communicator issue 132 , p.

54) The text commentary for "The Menagerie, Part I" refers to the shot's creation as "an outstanding achievement in television visual effects." The opening establishing shot of the Enterprise was reused in several early episodes: " Where No Man Has Gone Before ", " The Corbomite Maneuver ", " Mudd's Women ", " The Man Trap ", and " Charlie X ". The starship, traveling at warp speed, is depicted in a unique effect that was never re-created for the series; the camera "sidles up" to the Enterprise model and "swoops over" the top of the primary hull. Combined with this shot are two space effects: one of a stationary star field and the other of a star field moving rapidly, from right to left. The completed effect is meant to suggest that "local" stars are flying past the Enterprise while the great "backdrop" of the galaxy remains motionless. ( These Are the Voyages: TOS Season One , 1st ed., pp 90-91) The effect of the laser cannon firing was an animation produced by the Howard Anderson Company.

("The Menagerie, Part II" text commentary ) Majel Barrett felt that her perceived lack of "special effects" in this pilot episode was an indication that the finances provided for the pilot "didn't go very far." ( Star Trek Monthly issue 27 , p. 43) Music Edit Upon first hearing the theme tune for this episode (which went on to serve as the theme music for the original Star Trek series), Robert Butler was impressed. He later reminisced, "The music was good; I remember that theme song was quite wonderful [....] I remember liking it when I heard it." ( Star Trek Monthly issue 6 , p. 53) Alexander Courage provided not only this thematic composition as well as the episode's score but also created the sounds of the Talosian singing plants . ("The Menagerie, Part I" text commentary , TOS Season 1 DVD ; et al.) The musical score of this episode has been released on CD, tied with the score of the episode "Where No Man Has Gone Before".

Reception and aftermath Landing party jackets also vanished after "The Cage", but returned in Star Trek: The Motion Picture , also appearing in Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan , Star Trek III: The Search for Spock , and Star Trek V: The Final Frontier . Star Trek: Enterprise was the only other television Star Trek that depicted hats and a variety of environment-specific outerwear being regularly issued to crew members. Judging by the shape of the wall and the window, Pike's quarters seem to be directly below the bridge; there are no other curved windows on the saucer section of the model. The bed in Pike's quarters was far too short for Jeffrey Hunter. His feet are extending well beyond the end of the mattress, as he briefly reclines on it. The sign next to the door of the captain's quarters reads simply "Captain." When the series went into production, Captain Kirk's name was put on the nameplate outside his quarters. The pants that the crew wear have a very conspicuous pleat down the front and seem to be a shade of dark blue-grey. At the end of "The Menagerie, Part II", Kirk sees Pike and Vina – with their illusions of youth and beauty – running off, hand in hand.

This is an example of the reused footage from this episode. Here, it is an illusion of Pike who the Talosians have provided for Vina to keep her company. In "The Menagerie, Part II", it is the "real" Pike (or rather the non-physical consciousness of the now-disabled Pike) rejoining Vina to start a new life. In one brief part of the first transportation sequence, the transporter chief's assistant is a man wearing glasses , but the scene changes and he appears without them. This is one of only three occasions where Starfleet officers are shown wearing corrective eyeglasses. Although Pike cites the crew complement as 203 other lives besides his own, the Enterprise's total crew complement was changed to 428 in " Charlie X ", and 430 in later episodes. This episode's depiction of a parkland near Mojave is the only time that 23rd century Earth is ever seen in the entirety of the original Star Trek series. Given that this is merely an illusion created by the Talosians, the first appearance of the real Earth of the 23rd century was in Star Trek: The Motion Picture in 1979 .

"The Menagerie, Part II" establishes that, following the events of this episode, the Federation imposed General Order 7 on the Talos system, preventing anyone from ever approaching the planet again, under penalty of death . Apocrypha Pocket TOS : Burning Dreams Additionally, a few novels have theorized as to the cause for the vast differences between Spock's highly emotional behavior in this episode and his reservedness in the regular series of Star Trek. Examples of this include Spock possibly not having complete control of his emotions at that point, as he was still quite young, and that he achieved full control of his emotions by observing Captain Pike. In fact, the novel Burning Dreams establishes that indeed, whether Pike liked it or not, Spock did consider him a mentor and so Pike tried his best to live up to that assignment. Burning Dreams also establishes that Spock yelled early in his career because he was under the mistaken impression that humans couldn't hear him unless he did. The novel The Fire and the Rose establishes that Spock was simply emulating Human behaviors such as smiles, and that there was truly no emotion behind his own smile.

He eventually stopped though when his crewmates came to distrust him, believing him not to be truthful about himself to them. Burning Dreams delves much deeper not only into Pike's life before and after Talos, but also Vina's, establishing her to have been a singer and a dancer, who was lovers with the real Theodore Haskins. In fact, before Enterprise's arrival, she spent much time in illusion, dreaming that Columbia had successfully returned to Earth and she led a dance troupe afterward. The novel also establishes that Vina stood up to the Talosians, demanding that they never refer to her as a 'specimen' again and she was just as important as them, perhaps moreso, because their plans for Pike depended on her. During the Rigel VII illusion, she played the "damsel in distress" role effectively, although she hated female characters that screamed like she had to do. Production timeline "The Cage", Star Trek: The Original Series' first pilot episode | World History Project 1964 "The Cage", Star Trek: The Original Series' first pilot episode "The Cage" is the original pilot episode of the original Star Trek science fiction series and resulting franchise.

It was completed in early 1965 (with a copyright date of 1964), but not broadcast on television in its complete form until 1988. The episode was written by Gene Roddenberry and directed by Robert Butler. Source: Wikipedia Added by: Jabril Faraj "The Cage" had most of the essential features of Star Trek, yet the differences between this episode and the series proper were manifold. The Captain of the starship USS Enterprise was not James T. Kirk, but Christopher Pike. Spock was present, but not as First Officer. That role was taken by a character known only as Number One, played by Majel Barrett. Spock's character differs somewhat from that seen in the rest of Star Trek: he displays a youthful eagerness that contrasted with the more reserved, logical Spock that is better known. He also gets the first line in all of Star Trek: "Check the circuit!" NBC reportedly called the pilot "too cerebral", "too intellectual", and "too slow" with "not enough action". Rather than rejecting the series outright, however, the network commissioned — in an unusual and, at the time, unprecedented move — a second pilot: "Where No Man Has Gone Before".

Star Trek: The Cage | Headhunter's Holosuite Wiki | Fandom powered by Wikia Star Trek: The Cage Share Ad blocker interference detected! Wikia is a free-to-use site that makes money from advertising. We have a modified experience for viewers using ad blockers Wikia is not accessible if you’ve made further modifications. Remove the custom ad blocker rule(s) and the page will load as expected. This page is similar in name or subject to other pages. See also Cage for a complete list of references to clarify differences between these closely named or closely related articles. "I'm tired of being responsible for 203 lives, and... I'm tired of deciding which mission is too risky and which isn't, and who's going on the landing party and who doesn't... and who lives... and who dies." Season 1, Episode 00 / 80 [1] Air date "The Man Trap" "The Cage" is the original unaired pilot episode for the 1966 science fiction television series Star Trek . After being presented to studio heads, NBC ordered a second pilot episode for the series which was entitled "Where No Man Has Gone Before" .

The original pilot features the lead character Christopher Pike as Captain of the USS Enterprise . Along with fellow crew members Mr. Spock , Number One , Doctor Philip Boyce , Lieutenant José Tyler and Yeoman J.M. Colt , Captain Pike encounters a strange, telepathic alien race known as the Talosians . From this initial episode, only Mr. Spock, played by Leonard Nimoy , was brought over to the regular series. Actress Majel Barrett , who played Number One , was also brought over to the regular series, this time portraying the part of nurse Christine Chapel . Scenes from this episode were colorized and incorporated into the two-part season one episode "The Menagerie" . The entire episode was colorized and remastered in 1986 and broadcast on network television on October 4th , 1988 . A digitally remastered version of the episode aired on May 2nd , 2009 . Contents Captain Christopher Pike The crew of the United space ship Enterprise under the command of Captain Christopher Pike is flying through space en route to the Vega Colony when they intercept a distress signal originating from the Talos Star Group .

The crew theorizes that the signal might have something to do with the survey ship, the SS Columbia , which disappeared eighteen years ago. Pike orders them to maintain course to the Vega Colony and retires to his cabin. He summons his Chief Medical Officer, Doctor Philip Boyce to his room. Boyce prepares what Pike believes to be a tonic, but is in fact a martini. He says that some people are more willing to open up to their bartender than they are to their doctor. Pike vents his frustration about some of his prior missions, in particular, a recent fracas that took place on Rigel VII . He is overwhelmed with the burden of having to be the caretaker of 203 lives. From the communicator, Science Officer Spock interrupts their conversation to report that they have discovered eleven survivors of the SS Columbia on the planet Talos IV . Pike goes to the bridge of the ship and orders his navigator, José Tyler , to direct their course to the Talos Star Group - Time Warp 7. Once they reach the planet's orbit, Pike puts together a landing crew of six people consisting of Spock, Doctor Boyce, José Tyler, C.P.O.

Garrison , a geologist and himself and transports down to the planet. They find an encampment of survivors, one of whom is an elderly scientist who introduced himself as Doctor Theodore Haskins . Doctor Boyce runs a quick analysis on the condition of the survivors and determines that they are in perfect health. Doctor Haskins introduces a young woman named Vina to Captain Pike. He explains that Vina was born shortly before the Columbia crashed on this world eighteen years ago. Vina offers to show Captain Pike the secret to their restored health. The landing party is unaware that they are secretly being observed by a race of subterranean beings called Talosians . Vina lures Captain Pike into the hills of a nearby canyon. A doorway in the side of the cliff's face opens and a Talosian emerges. It stuns Captain Pike with an energy weapon and brings him inside the cave. The rest of the crew look about astonished as Haskins and the other members of the encampment disappear before their eyes. It was all an illusion. The crew looks toward the area where Pike disappeared and begin firing their phasers at it. Their blasts have no effect and it appears that Captain Pike is gone for good.

Mister Spock inspects the fauna of Talos IV . Captain Pike awakens inside of a transparent cell underground. His cage is adjacent to several other similar cubicles, all of which contain strange alien life forms from other planets . One such alien is an Anthropoid ape while another resembles a humanoid bird. The Talosians stand silent and continue to observe him as he takes in his surroundings. The Talosian magistrate and two attendees approach Pike's cell. They commune with one another telepathically and Pike can perceive their thoughts. Meanwhile, the landing party returns to the ship and calls a meeting. Pike's second-in-command, Number One is in attendance as well as a fresh new Yeoman named J.M. Colt . Having seen the alien who grabbed Captain Pike, Spock offers his own theories as to the nature of these aliens. He deduces that they are telepathic in nature with brains three times the size of a normal human. Doctor Boyce adds to Spock's deduction and illustrates how the Talosians are able to create elaborate illusions in the minds of others. Back on the planet, Vina suddenly appears within Captain Pike's cell.

She pleads with him to cooperate with the Talosians and asks him to tell her about his dreams. He presses her for answers about his captors, but she deflects his inquiry, insisting that he can exist in any fantasy world of his choosing. The Talosians create a mirage of the planet Rigel VII, and Pike finds himself in an all-too-familiar setting. He sees Vina dressed in the gown of a princess, playing the role of an atypical damsel in distress. A beastly, giant known as a Kaylar emerges and advances towards them. Although Pike knows that this is only happening in his mind, he feels compelled to defend Vina. He grapples with the Kaylar and manages to keep him at bay by hitting him with rocks. The Kaylar pushes Pike to the ground, then chases Vina up the steps of a castle parapet. Pike hurls a sword at the monster, stabbing him in the back. The Kaylar reels in pain and falls off the parapet onto Captain Pike's mace. The illusion ends and Pike and Vina find themselves back in the cell. The Enterprise crew return to the planet's surface, this time armed with a large laser cannon.

They concentrate their fire power on the side of the cliff, but as before, the weapon is having no effect on the environment. The Talosian " Keeper " Having satisfied Vina's wishes to some extent, Pike begins to ask her more about the Talosians. She reveals that there was once a great war that left the surface of the planet uninhabitable. Life is only now beginning to come back to Talos IV and the Talosians are seeking two compatible life forms to help repopulate the planet. Suddenly, Vina cries out in immense pain and disappears. She is being punished by the Talosians for revealing too much. The Talosian magistrate comes down to the cell and provides Pike with a nutrient drink. She expects him to consume it, but Pike refuses. To punish him, the Talosian creates the illusion in Pike's mind that he is burning to death. Once the image fades, lunges towards the glass and the startled Talosian takes a step back. Pike realizes that the alien couldn't perceive his thoughts at that moment and deduces that the Talosians cannot read primal emotions such as rage and hate.

The Talosians attempt to distract Pike from this thought process by placing more fantasy settings into his head. In the next mirage, he sees himself with Vina having a picnic in his home town of Mojave back on Earth. He presses Vina for more information about the Talosians' vulnerabilities and she confirms what he had suspected - that thoughts of intense hate mentally blind them. Vina as an Orion slave girl . Pike tries to dispel the illusion, only to find himself placed into another. This time, he is at the Orion Colony with a merchant and a Space officer watching an Orion slave girl dancing before him. As the woman turns, Pike sees that it is Vina once again. Frustrated, he gets up and leaves, but Vina trails after him. Back on the Enterprise, the crew embark upon a third attempt to beam down to the planet to rescue their missing Captain. The Talosians are aware of their plans and use their powers to alter the perceptions of the crew members. They manipulate the transporter chief into only sending Number One and Yeoman Colt down to the surface.

As the rest of the crew remain on the transporter pads, Spock exclaims "The women!" Number One and Yeoman Colt materialize inside the underground cage next to Captain Pike. They train their phasers on the transparent window, but find that they have lost their charge. They discard the seemingly useless weapons just as the Talosian magistrate re-enters the chamber. The Talosian reveals that since Pike is refusing to mate with Vina as they would prefer, they have provided him with two more suitable options in the forms of Number One and Yeoman Colt. They reveal that Number One has her own private fantasies about Captain Pike while the Yeoman's youth has bred a fiery, sexual appetite within her. Both women are embarrassed by this revelation. The magistrate leaves the three of them to get some rest. Vina 's true face. Later, the magistrate attempts to sneak into the cage to recover the discarded phasers. Captain Pike pounces on top of the alien and begins throttling the Keeper . He theorizes that there is nothing wrong with their phasers at all and that the Talosian has simply led them to believe that they are inoperable. He threatens to test his theory by placing the weapon against the Talosian's head.

The Keeper relents and reveals that the weapons are fully operational. There is even a large hole in the glass from where Number One and Yeoman Colt fired upon it earlier. With the magistrate under the control, they go back up to the surface. Number One sets her phaser to overload, which would produce an explosion that would wipe them all out unless the Talosian agrees to let them go. The magistrate understands now that human beings are too violent of a species for their needs. They decide to let Captain Pike go. Pike also learns that Vina is an actual human being and not merely another illusion. As the one true survivor of the SS Columbia, Vina is considerably older than Captain Pike and horrifically disfigured because of the crash. Before leaving, Pike asks the Talosians to restore Vina's illusion of beauty. The Talosians comply and they create the belief that Pike has chosen to stay on Talos IV to be with her. Pike and the others return to the Enterprise and they resume their course to the Vega Colony. Yeoman Colt ruminates about chosen as a potential mate for Captain Pike in the Talosians' "Adam & Eve" scenario.

Boldly, she asks Captain Pike "Who would have been Eve?", a question that earns her a stern look from Number One. Pike doesn't respond and the ship continues on its way. Cast First appearance of all characters. Captain Christopher Pike appears next in "The Menagerie" (Part 1) . Mister Spock appears next in "Where No Man Has Gone Before" . Jeffrey Hunter is the only credited star in this episode. Susan Oliver is credited as a guest star in the opening credits. Everyone else is listed in the end credits. In "The Menagerie" , Majel Barrett is credited under the name M. Leigh Hudec . This may have been done to avoid confusing the viewers who might recognize Barrett's name as the character Nurse Christine Chapel . Spock has the first lines of dialogue in the series. He issues the order, "Check the circuit." In the episode, after José Tyler gives the order to engage Time Warp Factor 7, he holds up seven fingers to Captain Pike as if Pike somehow mis-understood the order. The extended colorized version of the episode includes an introduction by series creator Gene Roddenberry .

The opening title card and logo used in this episode is different from the one used in subsequent episodes. This episode also doesn't include the traditional opening narrative. The Communications Officer in this episode holds of the rank of Chief Petty Officer . In later episodes the Communications Officer holds the rank of Lieutenant . When the first landing party arrives on Talos IV, Spock can be seen walking with a slight limp. The reason behind this is never explained in the episode. Quotes Christopher Pike : Are you real? Vina : As real as you wish. Christopher Pike : No. No. No, that's not any answer. I've never met you before, never even imagined you. Vina : Perhaps they made me out of dreams you've forgotten. .... Vina : You're a fool. Christopher Pike : Since you're not real, there's not much point in continuing this conversation, is there? .... The Keeper : Since you resist the present specimen, you now have a selection. Christopher Pike : I'll break out of this zoo somehow and get to you. Is your blood red like ours? I'm going to find out. The Keeper : Each of the two new specimens has qualities in her favor.

The female you call Number One has the superior mind and would produce highly intelligent children. Christopher Pike : All I want to do is get my hands on you. Can you read these thoughts, images of hate, killing? The Keeper : The other new arrival considered you unreachable but now realizes this has changed. The factors in her favor are youth and strength plus unusually strong female drives. .... The Keeper : She has an illusion, and you have reality. May you find your way as pleasant. .... Doctor Philip Boyce : ...and now you're tired... Christopher Pike : You bet I'm tired! I'm tired of being responsible for 203 lives, and... I'm tired of deciding which mission is too risky and which isn't, and who's going on the landing party and who doesn't... and who lives... and who dies. .... Doctor Philip Boyce : Sometimes a man will tell his bartender things he'll never tell his doctor. .... Christopher Pike : The point is this isn't the only life available. There's a whole galaxy of things to choose from. Doctor Philip Boyce : Not for you.

A man either lives life as it happens to him, meets it head-on and licks it, or he turns his back on it and starts to wither away. Christopher Pike : Now you're beginning to talk like a doctor, Bartender. Doctor Philip Boyce : Take your choice. We both get the same kinds of customers -- the living and the dying. .... Vina : I'm beginning to see why none of this has worked for you. You've been home and fighting, as on Rigel. That's not new to you either. A person's strongest dreams are about what he can't do. Yes. A ship 's captain--always having to be so formal, so decent and honest and proper. .... Christopher Pike : You can read my mind. I can read yours. Now, unless you want my ship to consider capturing me an unfriendly act... The Keeper : You now see the primitive fear-threat reaction. The specimen is about to boast of his strength, the weaponry of his vessel and so on. Next, frustrated into a need to display physical prowess, the creature will throw himself against the transparency. (Pike does so) Christopher Pike : If you were in here, wouldn't you test the strength of these walls too?

There's a way out of any cage. .... The Keeper : The customs and history of your race show a unique hatred of captivity. Even when it's pleasant and benevolent, you prefer death. This makes you too violent and dangerous a species for our needs. .... Vina : When dreams become more important than reality, you give up travel, building, creating; you even forget how to repair the machines left behind by your ancestors. You just sit, living and reliving other lives left behind in the thought records. .... The Cage | Memory Beta, non-canon Star Trek Wiki | Fandom powered by Wikia 2254 "The Cage" was the first pilot episode of Star Trek: The Original Series . The episode was written by series creator Gene Roddenberry and directed by Robert Butler . After being filmed by Desilu Studios , the episode was rejected by the NBC television network, remaining unaired until a film print of the episode was found and specially aired in syndication on the week of 4 October 1988 , during a gap in scheduling of Star Trek: The Next Generation episodes created by a writer's strike.

Despite being unaired during the initial decades of the Star Trek franchise, the story was familiar to fans as portions of the episode were included in the two-part TOS episode : " The Menagerie ". A photomontage comic version of the story was adapted for Star Trek's 50th anniversary in a special unnumbered issue of New Visions by John Byrne . "The Cage" depicts one of the earliest missions of the USS Enterprise comes in the aftermath of its visit to the planet Rigel VII . Under the command of Captain Christopher Pike , the Enterprise sets course for Vega colony to undergo repairs, but is contacted by a mysterious distress call . Contents Edit A primitive radio wave distress signal emanating from the SS Columbia , a survey ship believed lost 18 years earlier , would normally persuade Captain Pike to alter course and investigate the signal. But the Enterprise's last mission has left him deeply troubled following the loss of three crewmen . He confides to the chief medical officer , Dr. Phillip Boyce , that he is contemplating resigning from Starfleet and return to his home town of Mojave on Earth , and possibly become a trader.

With the Enterprise having suffered losses, Pike's only concern is getting the starship to the Vega colony , but Lieutenant Spock speculates that there could be survivors from the Columbia still living on planet Talos IV . When a follow-up message confirms this as fact, Pike finally decides to alter course and head for the previously uncharted Talos star group . After arrival in the system , Pike leads a landing party to the surface of Talos IV and discovers a group of old Human scientists from the American Continent Institute , led by Dr. Theodore Haskins , alive. Haskins then introduces Pike to a beautiful woman named Vina , who was born around the time of the crash on Talos. Vina offers to reveal their secrets to Pike, and she leads him away from the rest of the landing party. Unbeknown to Pike and his crew, they are being observed by the inhabitants of the planet, the Talosians . Suddenly, Vina and the other crash survivors disappear, and Pike is rendered unconscious by a weapon . The Talosians appear from below the surface and take Pike underground. When he regains consciousness, he finds himself locked in a cage and being observed by three Talosians.

The Talosians are a telepathic race who have created the elaborate illusion of the crash survivors and the distress signal to lure Pike and the Enterprise to the planet. Using Pike's memories, the Talosians create two scenarios for Pike. In the first scenario, Pike is a trader who, while negotiating a deal, observes Vina performing an erotic dance as an Orion slave girl . The second scenario depicts Pike's battle with the Kaylar on Rigel VII , but this time Vina is with him as a princess that needs saving. Pike resists the illusions, and instead tries to obtain as much information from Vina as possible. Eventually, Pike discovers that the Talosians can't read primitive emotions such as anger and hatred, so he builds up a state of intense anger at the Talosians to block their control of his mind and halt Vina's advances. However, the Talosians read this as a lack of interest in Vina, and so intercept the transporter beams of Number One and Yeoman Mia Colt to his cell as new candidates to be " Eve " to his " Adam ". Pike's mission to escape finally pays off when one of the Talosians enters the cage in order to obtain the landing party's laser pistols .

Realizing that the Talosians have created the illusion that the pistols don't work, Pike holds a Talosian hostage and demands that his party is set free. However, Vina warns Pike that the Talosians have the ability to create illusions aboard the Enterprise which would lead the crew to destroy the ship. Realizing that the Enterprise could be at risk, Spock, in temporary command , orders the starship to leave orbit and move out of range, but the Talosians create the illusion of complete power failure and the Enterprise is stuck in orbit. Meanwhile, on the surface the stand-off between Pike and the Talosians continue and they reveal that Vina is a disfigured woman who crashed on the surface and was treated by the Talosians. Having no template to work from, they reconstructed her in her present form, but grant her the illusion of remaining beautiful. The stand-off ends after the Talosians scan the Enterprise's computer banks and discover that Humans would not be suitable as a race of slaves to help them rebuild their world, and that they would resist captivity. The Talosians allow Pike and his party to leave, but Vina must remain on the surface to maintain her image of beauty.

Pike is at first concerned with leaving her alone, but the Talosians create an illusory Captain Pike to be her companion. Returning to the Enterprise, Pike realizes that, although he has his dreams and fantasies, his place is being in command of a Federation starship. References Hello, Tailor: Star Trek's original 1965 pilot episode: The Cage. Tuesday, 4 September 2012 Star Trek's original 1965 pilot episode: The Cage. If you haven't seen Original Series Star Trek, you are missing out, dear readers. This may sound counterintuitive, but I love it so much that I... still haven't seen all of the episodes. I have to keep something for my old age, you know? But the other day I did watch the original pilot episode for the first time -- the pilot pilot, back before James T. Kirk was even a twinkle in Gene Roddenberry's eye, and the captain of the USS Enterprise was still Christopher Pike. The premise of the unaired pilot is similar to a typical seek-out-new-worlds Trek episode, but the cast and overall tone is fairly different.

The main trio of Kirk, Spock and McCoy plus crewmembers Sulu, Uhura and Scotty didn't settle down until halfway through the first season, but the pilot episode featured the rather dour and worn-down Captain Pike backed up by first officer Number One (we'll get to her later), a surprisingly emotional Spock, and a crew of mostly interchangeable American men. Kirk's absence is significant, highlighting how gosh-darn serious the pilot is when compared to the rather jokey, colourful tone of "real" Star Trek episodes. I mean, there's still a hell of a lot of campy stuff to laugh at in The Cage -- angry humanoid pig-bear alien, anyone? -- but it was surely a good decision to replace the cynical, world-weary Pike with the more youthful, ridiculous Kirk and his love of doing forward-rolls in the middle of fight scenes for no apparent reason. (Sorry, have I mentioned yet that I LOVE CAPTAIN KIRK? I love him.) A bizarrely smiling Spock inspects some super-convincing local flora with Cptn Pike. ( source ) So, The Cage.

Some of the crew beam down to the planet Talos IV to look for survivors from a long-ago spaceship crash, and find a small encampment of old men and -- gasp! -- a hot girl. What could possibly go wrong? As soon as Pike and his companions set eyes on Vina ("This is Vina, her parents are dead," one of the old men explains suddenly, in a moment of great unintentional comedy.) they become incompetent, because everyone knows that merely seeing an attractive woman instantly turns all men into craven imbeciles. Within minutes, Pike has been captured by mysterious aliens and his crew are left bewildered and bereft in a landscape of haphazardly-painted cardboard boulders. Number One was left onboard the Enterprise to lead the rest of the crew in the Captain's absence, and I'm pretty sure that if she'd been on the landing team then this whole kidnapping malarkey would've been a non-issue. The plot of The Cage is pretty hackneyed, even by 1960s sci-fi standards, but it does work better with Pike than it would've done with Kirk.

Pike, who admits to his friend the martini-swilling ship's doctor (some things never change) that he's thinking of retiring and going for something less stressful like the Orion slave trade (!!!), is the perfect victim for telepathic aliens who tantalise their prey with projections of their heart's desire. So even though he quickly works out that what he's experiencing is an illusion, his mind continues to conjure up fantasies of rescuing a damsel in distress, watching a sexy Orion slavegirl dance around in a bikini, and being married to a nice lady who makes picnics for him in the forst. Unfortunately, poor Vina is made to act out the woman's role in every one of these scenarios. (It's really astonishing that Pike is still single, isn't it?) I love Number One's manicure and so should you. DITTO HER LASER GUN. In some ways The Cage is less sexist than much of the later Original Series episodes, but it's still utterly rooted in 1960s society.

Number One's presence on the bridge of the Enterprise tells us something about shipboard sexism almost immediately, beginning with an unfortunately realistic scene where Pike remarks that he's uncomfortable with "a woman" being on the bridge (referring to a young Yeoman, there to deliver some documents) before being reminded that Number One is a woman. He quickly catches himself and says that she "doesn't count". This kind of thing -- plus the fact that Number One is demonstrably the most competant person in the crew, yet is still left in a support role right up until the last moment -- indicates to me that the writers knew quite a bit about sexism and how it would show itself in this type of workplace (from a 1960s perspective, that is), and yet other aspects of the episode are preposterously misogynist. It's almost pointless to criticise a TV show written in 1965 for having terrible representations of women, but I find it fascinating that such a strong and strongly-written character as Number One can coexist with Vina's two-dimensional damsel/sexpot characterisation and Pike's incredibly dated fantasy life. Vina in her guise as an Orion slavegirl.

When Vina first appeared ("This is Vina, her parents are dead.") I laughed out loud because she seemed so parodically vacuous and poorly acted, but by the end of the episode I was thinking that her situation was about 3242 times more horrifying and tragic than Pike's relatively brief clash with the Talosians. As a survivor of the earlier spaceship crash, Vina had been in the hands of the Talosians for twenty years, being tortured and forced to live in a fantasy world created by her telepathic captors. Pike, on the other hand, was trapped by the Talosians for a couple of days before his crew rescued him, during which time the Talosians forced Vina to try and seduce him in the hopes of creating more humans for the Talosians' entertainment. And at the end? Vina chose to stay behind because it turned out that her beauty was a Talosian illusion all along (and probably she has Stockholm syndrome). Oh, and it was Number One who saved the day. I miss Number One. If only Majel Barrett could've stayed in that role instead of turning into Nurse Chapel for the rest of the series.

Question: Introduced in the episode The Cage, who was the original captain of the USS Enterprise in the Star Trek world?
Answer: Christopher Pike