Episode Title: The Cage
Air Date: Did not air
publicly, it was made in 1964 and screened by NBC in February 1965
Written by Gene
Roddenberry
Directed by Robert
Butler
Cast: Jeffrey
Hunter as Captain Christopher Pike
Majel Barrett as Lieutenant Commander Una Chin-Riley Leonard Nimoy as Lieutenant Spock John Hoyt as Dr. Phillip Boyce Peter Duryea as Lieutenant José Tyler Laurel Goodwin as Yeoman Second Class J. M. Colt Clegg
Hoyt as Transporter Chief Pitcairn Ed Madden as Enterprise Geologist Adam Roarke as C.P.O. Garrison Susan Oliver as Vina Meg Wyllie as The Keeper Malachi Throne as The Keeper (voice) Georgia Schmidt as the First Talosian Robert C. Johnson as the First
Talosian (voice) Serena Sande as
the Second Talosian Jon Lormer as
Dr. Theodore Haskins Leonard Mudie as the Second
Survivor Anthony Jochim as the
Third Survivor Michael Dugan as The Kaylar Robert Phillips as Space
Officer (Orion) Joseph Mell as
Earth Trader
Ships: USS
Enterprise NCC-1701
Planets: Talos IV
My Spoiler filled summary
and review: The first scene opens on
the bridge of the USS Enterprise, the crew notice sensor reading of some unknown object out in space but they can’t pick
it up on their view screen. It turns out
that it wasn’t an object at all but a radio waive designed to fool ship sensors
to think it was an object. Captain Pike
says that it was an old-fashioned distress call that was designed to track
attention. Spock is able to trace the signal to planet Talos IV. He reports that is an M class planet[1]
and it is possible that there are survivors. Pike
however doesn’t think this is likely given that the message was very old. Whoever sent it probably died or was rescued
long ago. Pike said they had their own
“sick and wounded” and decided they should stay on course to the starbase they
were already headed for. Once that
was settled they could come back just in case.
Pike then nearly snaps at Yeoman Colt for doing her job. He shares a joke with his First Officer about him
not being use to “having a woman on the bridge.”
This must be a private joke between them seeing as there are plenty of
women in Starfleet and Number One herself is a woman. But whatever the joke is I don’t get it.
 |
| The Bridge of the Enterprise for the first time. |
Captain
Pike suddenly realizes he is being way too dark and moody to stay on the bridge
and decides to go be dark and moody in his quarters instead. While there he calls the Doctor to come see
him. Not because he is sick but because
he knows Boyce will bring booze. Doctor
Boyce brings the booze and Pike pretends to be surprised. The two drink and Pike starts crying in his martini about
how his last mission went and how he lost people under his command. He feels guilty and wants to quit his job and
go retire back to Earth or become a merchant.
He wants to do something other than what he is doing, while the Doctor
thinks he just needs a vacation. Just
then a call from Mr. Spock interrupts their drinking to tell them they have
located survivors. It’s a good thing
that Pike only had one drink because now he has to organize a landing party.
 |
| "How dare you do your job in front of me Yeoman Colt!" |
 |
| "So I heard you were being a dink on the bridge?" |
Captain
Pike organizes his landing party and leaves Number One in command of the Enterprise. The away team uses the transporter, a mode of
transportation that would become the staple of the series being
used for the first time. They transport
far enough way as not to startle the survivors and then they walk to the
camp. When they get there they find a
group of old scientists and a young beautiful woman named Vina.
Pike really likes Vina and she feels similarly about
him. She is not at all shy coming
outright and saying what a fine specimen of a man he is. The lead scientist explains Vina was a child
when they landed and she spent her whole life among aging scientists.
While
everyone is packing up, Vina takes Pike over the hill. Pike probably thinks he is about to get lucky and is completely unaware of these large headed Talosians who have been watching him
this whole time. In an instant the camp
and all its survivors disappear. One of
the Talosians appears from under the hill and zaps Pike with a weapon knocking
him out. They take him underground while
the remaining landing party, led by Lts. Spock and Tyler try to free him by
blasting the hill with their hand lasers, but to no avail.
 |
| Vina wants that fine specimen of a man she is looking at! |
 |
| "You can't take our Captain! Oh, you can." |
When
Pike wakes up he finds himself in a cage in what appears to be a zoo. The Talosians come out to examine him and
they communicate using thought patterns that even Pike can here. Despite Pike being able to understand their form of communication the Talosians seem to be talking more at him than with him as they regard him as some
sort of creature for their entertainment. Pike demands to know what is going on and
what their plans are and the Talosians think that is funny. The one known as “the Keeper” shows off his
telepathic skills by predicting what Pike will do before he does it. They leave and Pike is placed in an illusion putting him back on Rigel VII where he had been weeks before. It was in this place that he had his
disastrous mission and members of his crew died. Here Vina, the same woman from before but
with a new dress and longer hair, is acting as the damsel in distress who Pike
must protect. Pike defeats the Rigelian
warrior just like he did in real life, then he is back in the cage with
Vina. He tries to get information out of
Vina but she speaks to him in riddles.
Back on
the Enterprise Number One takes
command with the determination that would terrify studio executives and test
audiences alike. A woman in command of men?!?
Even women in test audiences wondered why she wasn’t allowing one of the
boys to take charge. While the senior
staff discusses options Boyce tries to continually warn them what they are
facing beings that can read their minds and create illusions so powerful they
are like reality. He echoes what Vina
told Pike, even if it is not real they will still feel it.
Number
One ultimately decided on the old US Grant belief that doing something was
always better than doing nothing. And a
giant laser cannon powered by a starship’s engines is an awful lot of
something! However as they continue to blast the top of
the hill nothing happens, or as the Doctor says maybe something did happen but
they aren’t able to notice.
While
his crew was blasting a big rock with lasers, Captain Pike continued his
adventure in his cage of make believe.
The one consistent thing in each fantasy is the beautiful Vina who Pike
comes to believe must also be real and prisoner like him. She advises him on how to deal with their
captors but also begs him to comply warning they can be punished with their own
nightmares brought to life. The
Talosians are pleased as Pike becomes protective of Vina.
They are given different fantasies to try out. In one fantasy the couple is put in an ideal
domestic situation where they are husband and wife, who live on Earth, and ride
out on Pike’s horses for daily picnic lunches.
When Pike starts calling it out for not being real it causes Vina to think
she has figured out what is bothering Pike.
She rationalizes why none of the previous fantasizes worked for
him. Everything so far was pulled from
his memories places he has been to before, where a person’s fantasy is about
what they cannot or should not have.
With that the world transforms and Pike is now a wealthy merchant trader
and Vina is dancing Orion slave girl.
This works for a moment but Pike then tries to leave with Vina following
him.
 |
| Vina a damsel for Pike to save! |
 |
| Vina a wife for Pike to love! |
 |
| Vina a sexy slave girl for Pike to what ever he wants with. |
In his
conversations with Vina, Pike starts to learn something about his captors. At first he thought they captured him for
their entertainment purposes to live experiences through him. Vina tells him that the Talosians use to
live on the surface but a horrible war brought them underground. Pike reasoned the found physical life limited
so instead they concentrated on their mental power. Over time they become the big-headed masters of illusions. Vina says it’s a trap
that they are stuck living the experiences of others and have forgotten how to
work the machines of their ancestors.
Then Pike learns the actual reason he was captured: they don’t want him
to entertain them they want to rebuild their civilization with Vina.
Vina tries
to explain that they are to be like Adam and Eve. With that knowledge Pike has discovered an undeniable truth. For all their
telepathy and illusion making powers, the Talosians are an exceptionally stupid
people. They are so dumb that it is
arguable that in the first episode Star Trek introduced us to the stupidest
creature they would ever create. As one
later Star Trek character would say “How can you be so dumb with heads like that?”
It is
really hard to conceive how stupid the Talosians, as a group, would have to be
in order to believe that they could create and entire planetary population with
just two people. Why did they believe
this? Because Vina told them the story
of Adam and Eve? Did they find a copy of
the Bible on the ship she crashed in? Did
they read the rest of it? I assuming not
since they didn’t try steal one of Pike’s ribs to grow a woman.
With
the Vina not winning Pike over the Talosians grow more desperate. As the crew of the Enterprise attempts another landing party the Talosians arrange
that only Number One and Yeoman Colt are transported down right into Pike’s
cage. This actually is a better idea in
terms of creating a world population. If
Pike reproduces with three women at least the next generation will only be
required to marry half-siblings and not full ones. However the Talosians are not thinking this
way they expect Pike to choose between them.
 |
| More women to reproduce with right idea |
Vina understands and is angered by
Talosians bringing in the new women. She
berates both of them leading Number One to mention that she went over Vina’s
ship manifest and the only Vina in there was an adult. As she begins to do the math the Keeper and his agents show up.
He demands Pike makes a choice and he begins to compare the new
arrivals. The Keeper points to Number
One’s intelligence as good reason to choose her because she will provide intelligent
offspring. The Keeper also points out
Number One often has him as the object of her fantasies. He then mentions that the Yeoman also
fantasizes about him and that she has “usually strong female drives.”
As the Keeper exposes the secret
crushes of the Enterprise women I can
hear in the back of my mind Dave Bautista’s voice “HA!! He just exposed your
deepest darkest secret.” It also leads
me to wonder: what are Yeoman Colt’s strong female drives? She always looks very meek and innocent as if
a strong wind could probably blow her over.
Considering this is her one and only appearance it’s a shame we will
never be able to find out.
Number One and Yeoman Rand had hand
lasers that were set aside for being drained of power. As Pike and his trio of women sleep however
the Keeper himself sneaks in the cage and tries to steal them. Pike however catches him, the Keeper tries
make himself appear as a creature but Pike isn’t buying it. Pike then tries one of the lasers on his cage. When it doesn’t work he points it at the Keeper’s head explaining he thinks the
lasers are working but they are keeping
them from seeing it. The Keeper gives
in but it is all just a ruse to the prisoners to the surface so the baby making
and world building can begin. This scene
once more demonstrates the Talosians intelligence and stupidity, they are smart
enough to lure their prisoners to the surface but dumb enough that they still think Pike
can choose one of the females and start a civilization.
Number One startles the Talosians by setting
her laser to self-destruct that and when they scanned the Enterprise’s data base they also found the humans incompatible with
captivity. With this the Talosians give
up and decided to let Pike and humans go.
Vina, however, tells Pike that she cannot leave with them. As the two other women beam back up to the
ship, the Talosians show Pike why Vina couldn’t go. Now if you thought the Talosians were dumbest
creatures in the galaxy going into this you discover that there is a level of
stupidity in the Star Trek universe that you didn’t even know was
possible. Vina isn’t young and
beautiful. She was a young woman when
her ship crashed and she had barely survived the Talosians helped as best they
could but as they had never seen another human, and weren’t too particularly
bright to begin with, all they ended up with was a mutilated Frankenstein type
woman.
So the Talosians thought they could
create an entire planetary population with one healthy man and one horrible
disfigured and mutilated middle aged woman! "Everything works" according to Vina but with all due respect how can she
know? She hasn’t had much of an
opportunity to become pregnant and I wouldn’t trust the word of Talosians. Not because I thought they were lying but because they are not smart meaning they are probably just wrong .
 |
| The Talosians were betting their future on this woman's reproductive capabilities. |
Pike asks them to return Vina’s
illusion of youth and beauty. They do
that and give her a fantasy Captain Pike to live with. Pike doesn't seem bothered by that. Pike returns to the Enterprise refusing to reveal Vina’s secret. He goes back to snapping at his crew and
being just as dark and moody as before. Okay so maybe he is bothered by it.
Additional thoughts:
The Cage is an exciting episode with lots of twists and turns. It is still clearly a prototype. I can’t say it is the foundation of the
series (I would consider that to be the early aired episodes of the first season) but it clearly starts to dig the foundation. In this episode we see the heroic Captain
Pike matched up against a powerful but not very bright opponent.
I
suppose the reason that Pike never points out the obvious ridiculousness of the
Talosians proposal to them is he is unsure what they will do to him if they
discovered he and Vina were useless to their plans. Either that or it might have something to do
with the Bible Belt being central to ratings they didn’t want to seem as
mocking. Having a demon-eared science
officer and woman first officer was hard enough.
Speaking
of those two when trying to salvage the series those they were the first ones
the studios want to jettison.
Rodenberry fought hard for both of them and the studio offered him
one. Classic Trek lore has it, according to
Leonard Nimoy, the event was settled when Roddenberry chose to keep the Vulcan and
marry the woman because he couldn’t do it the other way at least not legally.
In comparison to the rest of the series some
ways this episode was more advanced socially when it comes to women. We have a woman as the second in command who takes charge when the Captain is kidnapped. In other ways it was less, I didn’t see any
people of color on this ship and even if I missed them all the speaking roles
were with white characters.
Some good detail was when the Enterprise's computer was being scanned you see the last three US Presidents Eisenhower, Kennedy, and Johnson in sequential order. Since the Talosians were looking through historical records going back centuries they probably should have spent some time on the biography of King Charles II of Spain or King Tutankhamun of Egypt. That way they could have learned incest was bad.
I first
saw this episode when I was thirteen, my best friend’s father had all
the original episodes on tape. I
remember how excited I was after I saw the Orion slave girl dance scene. I think it has something to do with the late
Susan Oliver’s natural sexiness. As an
adult I would really like to walk into a strip club and hear that number that I
refer to simply as the “Orion Slave Girl music,” because I don’t know its actual name, playing over the speaker with real exotic dancers dancing to
it. "Wouldn't you say its worth a man's soul?" It is on my bucket list, if I
had one.
Even
with its short comings The Cage is a great part of Trek lore and a worthy start
to the series.
FINAL GRADE: (3 of 5)
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