Star Trek Episode Review- TOS 100: The Cage

(Before we get started, I'll note that for this leg of the project, I used the episode order listed on tv.com, thus episode numbers are labeled and ordered accordingly. I don't know if it's the most accurate one or not, but it's the one I used. Additionally, as we encounter them, I keep a running tab on time travel and alternate universe events, because I'm just a sucker for those kind of stories)

100: The Cage
-Premise: Pilot episode focusing on the previous captain of the Enterprise, Christopher Pike, as they investigate a distress signal which lures Pike and his ship to Talos IV, where a race with powerful mental abilities use their powers of illusion to trap Pike in a zoo-like facility.

-Quest Comments: Despite being a pilot, this one is actually pretty decent and has a slightly more serious/mature feel to it (though the big brained aliens are still silly, and it's hard not to crack up at Spock's exclaimation of "The women!!")

The Number One character played Mrs Roddenberry actually improves the general dynamics of the crew arrangement and, in retrospect, is sorely missing from the actual series and actually makes a whole lot of sense; thankfully the position would be resurrected later on with Riker in TNG. The Cage is more of a show that was not to be, replaced with what we know now, though I can't help but think it might have been a better show.

Lacking any solid transition from Pike to Kirk, I wouldn't reccomend this be viewed as an introduction to the series itself, and so it kind of remains a standalone oddity of interest. So, with that in mind, and given aspects of The Menagerie two-parter, I'd put this one down as an "Ok, But Not Necessarily Essential" episode.

As an aside, the "Remastered" version of The Menagerie does a great job of making the introductory "zoom into the bridge" camera motion from this episode into one continuous shot from exterior to interior.

(image via Memory Alpha: The Star Trek Wiki)