Original air date: November 17,1966
SYNOPSIS
Spock kidnaps the crippled Capt. Pike, hijacks the Enterprise and then surrenders for court martial.
CANON CONTEXT
Having seen the original pilot episode, The Cage, this was an interesting episode (two-parter) to watch. It was originally made into a two-part episode because Desilu had an issue with delivering episodes on time. Let’s face it, filming a sci-fi show back then was not easy and having someone ready every week was difficult. To stem the gap, Gene Roddenberry took The Cage (that was never aired on television) and created a storyline to frame it into segments. This allowed them to film just enough necessary to give the show two weeks time to catch up on episodes.
RECAP
Okay, while I give Gene credit for attempting a fix by using scenes from The Cage to create this two-part episode, I must say it’s hard to believe. Let’s start at the beginning. The Enterprise heads to a location where Captain Christopher Pike is being taken care of. He was in a serious accident that rendered his body unusable and disfigured. The only way he can communicate is by blinking a light once for ‘no’ and two for ‘yes.’
But that’s not even the half of it! Spock, for whatever reason, decides he’s going to kidnap Captain Pike and steal the Enterprise to take them both to Talon IV.
All the while Captain Kirk is trying to explain why Spock, a Vulcan incapable of lying is behaving so irrationally. What I don’t understand is why he never goes to find Spock to ask him just that. Instead he seems to just brood in one room until it’s too late.
With Captain Kirk in a small shuttle craft in their tail Spock has to act fast to get the crew to continue to follow his orders. At this point the shuttle has lost gas and is coasting with just two hours of oxygen left. Spock has no choice but to surrender to court Marshall and rescue Kirk.
Now here’s where the old footage comes into play. As part of his defense, Spock is using clips from the unaired pilot to explain why he needs to get Captain Pike to Talon IV. Of course, the veracity of the scenes are questioned as they would never be filmed in such a cinematic way. Eventually going to be explained away. But in the meantime, if you were like me and watched The Cage then we must offer through the bits we’ve seen before. How will this trial where Spock went all rogue end? Stay tuned for part II tomorrow.
DID THEY REALLY SAY THAT?
Mr. Spock: Doctor, as senior officer present, I present myself to you for arrest.
Dr. McCoy: What?
Mr. Spock: The charge is mutiny, Doctor. I never received orders to take command.