When I said from the start, I meant it. We’re going back 46 years, all the way to 1965 to the original, rejected Star Trek pilot, “The Cage”, which I’d heard about but never seen.
BTW, I’m now calling this column “The Star Trek 700″ because
- A) there are 700+ episodes to get through
- B) it sounds more like a race
With Captain Pike rather than Kirk, a smiling Spock, and a woman as first officer, “The Cage” was dramatically different from the fabulously kitchy ST: TOS I’m familiar with.
Some things were the same: the submarine-y sounds of the bridge, the examination of the nature of humanity, and of course, Leonard Nimoy. But, let’s talk about Number One for a moment, shall we?
In 1964, Number One was hated by test audiences. But, even in the 23rd century, it’s indicated that it’s a newfangled oddity to have a woman on the bridge at all, much less as second in command of a starship. However, Number One is conflicted about it, too: her reactions show that she wants to be taken seriously, but maybe doesn’t want to have to be “mannish”. This clip says it all:
Later on, Number One bitchslaps Vina with math and it’s awesome.
Looking at the differences, though, it was for the best that NBC ordered the show reworked.
For starters, “The Cage” is murderously slow and very serious about itself. There’s little sense of fun and that shows in the visuals, the plot, and the captain.
Visually, everything is washed out and bland. The sets, the costumes, all of it. The lone vibrant spot is when Vina appears as an Orion slave girl.
Everyone wears stern expressions all the time, even before encountering the Talosians.
That brings us to the plot, which superficially is about a dying race of giant brained ground dwellers and their attempt to find a suitable species for repopulating (I almost typed “repoopulating”, heh) the surface, but winds up being about the nature of humanity: primitive, emotional, and resistant to captivity.
Then there’s Captain Pike. We’re introduced to him as man weighed down by guilt and haunted by the crew members he lost on the previous mission. Understandable, but a real Debbie Downer and generally unlikeable guy.
I did appreciate that the female crew members not only got to wear pants, but also weren’t relegated to the skintight jumpsuits that passed as pants for shapely women in later years (I’m looking at you, T’Pol and Seven of Nine).
Overall, not a terribly enjoyable episode. However, having seen what Star Trek nearly was, makes me appreciate the things I love about it all the more.
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Lisa Fary's earliest influences are Princess Leia, Rainbow Bright, Astronaut Barbie, and her 6th grade teacher, Ms. Palmer. She's angry that it's 2011 and she still doesn't have a hovercraft, but will accept a jetpack as consolation. That jetpack had better be pink with a rhinestone monogram. 
I can see your points on this episode, but must respectfully disagree with your overall conclusion. What you consider to be the negatives of this original pilot are many of the things that I wanted to see in what became that steaming heap of dreck otherwise known as Enterprise. I found Pike to be a likeable and generally agreeable character, bearing the weight of command only by the skin of his teeth. The scene with the bartender-like Doctor Boyce also underlines how much Pike feels the pressure of being responsible for other people’s lives, how he would like to get away, and just how *dangerous* space exploration is, despite all of the retro-wonderful technology. Spock is anachronistic here, but not overwhelmingly so. I also like that this is one of the few episodes of TOS where there are women like Number One, competent and in-command. Sure, there were discontinuities with the rest of the series, the sets are a bit washed out, the Talosians are a funny-looking lot, and those horses are clearly standing by a picnic on astroturf, but nothing is so glaringly bad as any episode of Enterprise in which any of the characters make the mistake of opening their mouths.
Looking forward to the rest of your reviews!
That’s really interesting. I only seen one or two episodes of Enterprise (I didn’t have cable at the time and the UPN viewing position was too uncomfortable to hold for more than a few minutes) and I wonder how seeing the entirety (when I get to it) will change my thoughts on this ep. I do agree with you on the Number One point – I really enjoyed her character and, although I love Uhura, it’s disappointing that I then had to wait until Voyager to get a woman in any sort of command position.