Spock kidnaps his former captain, Pike, who has been seriously wounded, and hijacks the Enterprise to take Pike to Talos IV, an act that will condemn Spock to death. Kirk and Commodore Mendez chase Spock down, and he is forced to slow to pick them up or let them die when their shuttle runs out of power. Spock saves them and surrenders to McCoy for the charge of mutiny, triggering his court martial, but leaves the Enterprise on his automatic program to continue to Talos IV. During Spock's trial he plays a mysterious tape from an unknown source on Talos, showing Pike's mission to the planet years ago, which included a younger Spock serving on the ship. During that mission, Pike was captured as a mate for another human, Vina, by a superior species. They could make Vina look any way they want, and make Pike's fantasies comes true. When it is discovered where the evidence is coming from, Kirk is relieved of command and both Spock and Kirk face the death penalty. Spock is trying to return Pike now that he is an invalid so he can live out the rest of days in happiness. It turned out that Mendez was never on board, and the court martial was merely a distraction until Pike was able to get to the planet, so it all ended happily, without Spock being punished, and Pike living out a fantasy life.
This was the only two part episode of the original series, though it is only listed by one episode number in the episode guide because that was how it was budgeted, due to use of old footage. It is a little odd because Kirk was just tried for court martial in the last episode, and tampered records were involved again. But this episode was so different that it can be forgiven. Not many shows make two completely different pilots, but only Star Trek continued the original pilot canon, in large part because much footage from the original pilot was used in this two parter so that the studio didn't feel that it had thrown away money on the original episode. It was a good thing that Chapel wasn't in this episode because she was playing Number One on Pike's ship and the computer voice, and having a third character might have been chaos. It is interesting that Pike only had about two hundred crew on the Enterprise in his day, when Kirk had over twice that many on the same ship a few years later. It is also weird when Spock smiles, Roddenberry not having decided that Vulcans would not show emotion when he made the original pilot. It was also a bit odd that the fake Mendez was never swayed in Spock's guilt, while the real Mendez, seeing the evidence, absolved Spock. I just wonder if the Pike / Vina happy ending was pre-filmed, or if they tried to recreate it for this episode. It had to have been pre-filmed, as Jeffrey Hunter wasn't available to play Pike again. Whatever. It was good.
Despite some glaring differences, I love the original pilot, and this was a very clever way to use it in the series. When "The Menagerie" was first aired, no one had seen the original pilot, so this would have been very interesting, finding out more of Spock's history. Both hours were compelling, and it was a successful experiment. It is no wonder that many choose this episode as one of the best, and it was released at select movie theaters last year. The framing story was engaging, and the idea of living in an illusion is intriguing.
RECURRING CHARACTERS:
DeForrest Kelley as McCoy
James Doohan as Scotty
Nichelle Nichols as Uhura
Hagan Beggs as Mr. Hansen
NOTABLE GUEST STARS:
Malachi Throne as Commodore Jose Mendez
Sean Kenney as Captain Christopher Pike (injured)
Jeffrey Hunter as Captain Christopher Pike (evidence footage)
Susan Oliver as Vina
Meg Wyllie as The Keeper
Majel Barrett (credited M. Leigh Hudec) as Number One
John Hoyt as Dr. Phillip Boyce
Peter Duryea as Jose Tyler
Laurel Goodwin as Yeoman Colt
Quote:
"Mr. Spock is, um, under arrest. Is confinement to quarters enough?"
"Adequate, Doctor." ~ McCoy and Spock
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