Closet Sci-Fi Geek

The Menagerie is an interesting two-part episode because it is the first episode in Star Trek that alludes to the Enterprise ever belonging to another Captain, as well as helps create a rich back-story for the series. It is also the only two-partner in the three seasons.

That Gene Roddenberry did this with the failed original pilot, “The Cage,” is even more impressive. The events in this episode are supposed to be 13 years prior, and it really does seem this way; when in fact it was only a couple of years in real time. Even the overly-emotional Spock from the original pilot seems appropriately youthfully exhuberant.

There are several stand-out elements in the integration of the pilot into a court-martial episode about Spock’s loyalty to his former commanding officer Captain Christopher Pike, who was played by Jeffrey Hunter (best known for playing Jesus in the film King of Kings).

Jeffrey Hunter has a sad story. First he passed on the lead role in Star Trek which was only the beginning of his troubles. His film career collapsed shortly after that. The one role he was after was that of Mike Brady in The Brady Bunch but that went to Robert Reed. Soon after that disappointment Hunter had an accident and sustained a severe head injury. He died in 1969 at the age of 42.

Hunter made an extremely convincing captain of the Enterprise. He was handsome in a less accessible way than Bill Shatner and made the Enterprise a much more WASP-y affair. Still, there were many good points in the way that show might have developed. The women got to wear uniforms just like the men and Pike had a female first officer, Roddenberry’s wife, Majel Barrett (who ended up as Nurse Chapel of course, with a blonde wig, and a demotion. It seems men weren’t quite ready to have women in pants and in command!).

Pike had an excellent relationship with his ship’s doctor; this relationship was set up as the primary friendship, as opposed to Kirk and Spock’s unlikely friendship. Hunter brought movie-star authenticity to the role. He was a terrific and powerful actor with incredible charisma. He made those around him seem even better.

Pike was a controlled captain, much more so than Kirk. He was a bit more military and intellectual. Logical, even. Yet he was suffering from burn-out and the responsibility of the lives of his crew weighed heavy upon him. Not that it didn’t on Kirk certainly, but Kirk was born to the life of a starship captain. It would never burn him out. He thrived on it, he pulsated with the joy of his purest desire – star trekking.

This episode works incredibly well too because Captain Kirk cannot believe that Spock would do what he has done for his former commander. In order to give the severely injured and completely immobilized Pike a new chance at life on Talos IV, the only planet in the Federation, off-limits and punishable by death to visit; Spock has stolen the Enterprise after making contact with the Talosians.

Those big-veined pulsating heads (on the Talosians, not Spock), that look a little like buttocks, really freaked me out as a kid. These aliens actually looked – well – alien. And they were telepathic and had incredible powers of illusion.

Taken on its own, the original pilot would have been a terrific start for the series had Hunter continued on as Captain Pike.

The Kirk Factor: However, Hunter passed on the series and that has made all the difference. At least to me. Because I have my captain. And how good does he look in a dress uniform?

September 28th, 2006 | Category: Star Trek, Television, The Original Series | Subscribe to comments | Leave a comment | Trackback URL