The Cage (Episode)
"The Cage"
| Episode | 00 |
| Production Number | 01 |
| Released | Unaired, 1964 (Released 1989) |
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Stardate Unknown: Captain Pike and his crew are lured to Talos IV by a race capable of creating powerful illusions.
En route to the Vega Colony following an incident on Rigel VII, the U.S.S. Enterprise NCC-1701 investigates a distress call from Talos IV. An attraction quickly forms between Captain Pike and one of the survivors, Vina. When Vina lures Pike to a rock formation to show him the secret of how the survivors stayed in perfect health for nearly twenty years, several Talosians emerge from a concealed elevator, render Pike unconscious, and drag him into their underground chamber.
Pike awakens in a small enclosure, where he is transported by way of the Talosians' telepathic powers of illusion, to a number of locales, all of which feature Vina as an object for him to protect, desire, and even love. The Talosians have lured the Enterprise to their planet so that Pike can serve as a mate for Vina, enabling the Talosians to breed a race of Humans they can use as slaves.
The Talosians allow Number One and Yeoman Colt to beam down, reasoning that perhaps the captain would be more attracted to one of his crewmates. Pike, having discovered that the Talosians cannot probe into hostile emotional moods, deliberately assumes an attitude of mindless anger, which he uses to cloud their telepathy as he plans the group's escape. The Talosians confide to Pike that they never wanted slaves; they only wished to perpetuate their heritage in the offspring of Pike and Vina. Finding Humans to be unsuitable for their goals, Pike and his crew return to the Enterprise, though Vina, who was horribly injured and disfigured during the crash of the S.S. Columbia, chooses to remain behind, where the Talosians can continue to give her an illusion of beauty. Back aboard the Enterprise, Pike refuses to discuss what had happened, and the Enterprise resumes course for the Vega Colony.
Image Gallery
Jupiter's red spot
Lunar surface
- milky way galaxy-tos00.jpg
Surface of Orion
Surface of Rigel VII
Map of the Sol system
Talos Star Group map
Surface of Talos IV
Map of Washington, D.C.
Waterfall at Yosemite
S.S. Columbia "survivors"
Vina's true appearance
Chief Petty Officer rank insignia
Apollo Program Command and Lunar modules
Apollo Program orbital path
Apollo Program orbital path
An axe
A bed
An eye
A diagram of an eye
Fat Man, the first atomic bomb
A mace
Explosion of a nuclear weapon
Ranger Series Probe display
Ranger program flight plan
A torch
Apollo Program liftoff
Apollo Program Command Module diagram
Apollo Program Lunar Excursion Module
Apollo Program Lunar Excursion Module diagram
Soyuz capsule
Vostok capsule
A crane
Enterprise bridge, exterior
Enterprise bridge
Starfleet delta, command division
Starfleet delta, operations division
Starfleet delta, sciences division
- survivors camp-tos00.jpg
"Survivors" camp
Starring
Jeffrey Hunter
Guest Star
Susan Oliver
Star Trek Created by
Gene Roddenberry
Directed by
Robert Butler
Written and Produced by
Gene Roddenberry
Co-Starring
Leonard Nimoy as Mister Spock
Majel Barrett, John Hoyt, Peter Duryea, Laurel Goodwin
A Desilu Production
Uncredited
Associate Producer
Byron Haskin
Guest Cast
Clegg Hyot, Adam Roarke, Malachi Throne, Meg Wyllie
Notes and References
- ↑ The year that "The Cage" takes place, 2254, is derived from information given in "The Menagerie." Spock states that it has been 13 years since the incident on Talos IV, and that he served under Captain Pike for 11 years. Therefore, the episode is in the second year of Captain Kirk's five-year mission, which began in 2265, per the Star Trek: Voyager episode "Q2." Therefore, "The Menagerie" is set in 2267, and thirteen years prior to that is 2254.
