1x11 The Menagerie (i)

Figured it was time to get back to this seeing as season 2 is sitting on the shelf and I haven't even unwrapped it yet.

Anyway, I can't imagine any better way to make sure all the money spent on an unsuccessful pilot episode didn't go to waste than this, it's terrific.

Of course, part 1 has the bulk of the new material, setting the scene for part 2 to really show what The Cage had to offer. The first time I saw this episode I didn't have a clue what was going on. Spock's actions were a complete mystery: I knew his motives couldn't be sinister... or could they? It's kind of difficult to tell when his expression doesn't change (apart from when he realises that Kirk's shuttlecraft has gone beyond the point of no return - a momentary flicker of anguish crosses Nimoy's face, very nicely played).

There's so much to like about this episode. Above all else, it has a lot to say about our ability to treat patients whose minds are trapped in a disabled body. Okay, it doesn't have that much to say about it, and what it does have McCoy spells out word for word in a nicely judged speech, but it's effective anyway.

I like Kirk's slowly dawning horror that Spock might be behind everything that's going on after his initial loyalty and refusal to believe that the Vulcan could do anything of that nature. It's also interesting to see the original two captains (well, they were the original two captains at this point, anyway ) and how different they are in nature and approach, with Pike coming across almost as cold and indifferent, while Kirk is ever the humanitarian.

I like the wonderfully named Malachi Throne, just for his monicker if nothing else.

There are a couple of nicely judged bits of humour. I particularly like McCoy's bewilderment at having to have Spock arrested - "Is confinement to quarters enough?"

And the final scene is very dramatic. "Do you know what you're doing? have you lost your mind?" Kirk asks as they realise the Enterprise is heading for, if you'll excuse the pun, the forbidden planet, Talos IV. Cue dramatic music and the words "To be concluded next week".

Great stuff.

I'll be picking this back up as soon as I conclude the Band of Brothers marathon as well Steve

Did you get the season 2 box set James?

Not yet Steve, went to get it, but then got two Transformers boxsets and two Tom & Jerry boxsets instead. Maybe next month, or Christmas

Wise man. I still haven't unwrapped it.

You're obviously just waiting for the right time Steve

You're obviously just waiting for the right time Steve

Yeah, course I am...

I probably prefer "The Cage" to the intertwining "The Menagerie", but not by much. It was a remarkably successful blending of plots. Except for the very last thought/line from the alien, in Part 2. It doesn't make sense in the "The Menagerie" but it makes perfect sense in "The Cage".

It's amazing to think that "The Cage" was judged too cerebral by network executives. It is basically an actioner. And I find Jeffrey Hunter a much more convincing man-of-action than Wm Shatner. And he has a strong presence that I like.

A favorite scene of mine is the Doctor offering to be a bartender to the Captain. John Hoyt as the Doctor, seldom got roles as good as that. And his paternal relationship with his Captain contrasts strongly with the moody relationship between Kirk and Bones.

I think the lovely Susan Oliver did her green-skinned dance in Part 1. I recall my mother going "Eeee. Eeee. She's green!"--while my dad, brother and I droooled.

I don't know if it occurs in Part 1 or 2, but I'm also fond of the picnic scene between Pike and the girl. Very pastoral. And tall, lanky Hunter makes a good cowboy-type.

I saw a TV biography of Jeffrey Hunter. He was offered the role of the STAR TREK Captain, but, apparently his wife resisted the idea. She wanted to be married to a movie star, not a lowly television actor. And he didn't have the courage to make up his own mind and stand up to her. So, in real life, he wasn't anything like Captain Pike.