ST: TOS: Pilot: The Cage

These eyes will soon reveal a sex rage.

When we started watching TOS I had forgotten that the pileot episode contained almost a wholly different crew. Captain Pike helms this episode with a woman at the actual helm. That actually struck me as pretty forward thinking until Pike acts like a douche bag because a female yeoman brings him the report(paper btw) that he asked for at the time he asked for it. He then says to one of the other bridge members that he'll "...never get used to women on the bridge." which earns him a glare for the helmsman. Pike then says that he meant no offense and that she doesn't count. Really smooth.

The only cast member you recognize is Leonard Nimoy's Mr. Spock, with his pointed ears be forward thinking emo hair style.  The odd thing is, even as the Star Trek character with the longest tenure in the franchise, this doesn't seem to be the beginning of the Spock that we know. He doesn't have the emotionless quality, or the logic based way of thinking. He's just a human with pointy ears. I didn't see anything spectacular out of his performance either, leading me to wonder what it was about Nimoy that got him invited to stay.

They try to characterize Pike, the whole plot revolves around him, but it's the Doctor that gets the most flushed out. He's older than the rest of the crew we meet, he knows the value of a stiff drink in place of medicine stating "A man will tell a bartender things he'll never tell his Doctor." You see, Pike is having all kinds of angst about being a Captain and having to make choices that are hard. "Boohoo, I'm the Captain of an awesome space ship and i have to make decisions. Boohoo." He lost some crew members on a mission immediately prior to the opening credits. His Doctor comes to talk to him about it. It's the most human and real thing that happens in the episode.

On this "space vehicle" Enterprise people walk around in nineteen '50's style clothing, like they are going to go to the ships malt shop and grab a burger. Maybe that was just a result of funding being tight.

Finally, a man with some sex rage.

Not only does Pike have to deal with making choices, but he apparently has a lot of pent up sex rage. When ever he is confronted with something that may have a vagina his eyes get all crazy and he starts to sweat like he's running a marathon. This starts with the blond refuge girl that the force him to protect and picnic with, but intensifies later with the dancing green alien woman. As he watches her dance you get the strong feeling that his penis is going to rip out of his uniform, kill everyone present and have sex with what ever is left. A Federation Captain that objectifies and hungers for women is really kind of disturbing.

This pilot does confront some tough issues though. I poke some fun at Pike's angst over the responsibility he has as Captain, but really it would be a good plot point and character builder. It would be if we had known him first, if we had been given a few episodes to see his actions and the choices that had lead him to feel that way. Coming into his internal conflict with no prior experience makes it hard to be empathetic.

No one in the crew seems to have any real relationships with each other. We see brief glimpses of friendship with the doctor and Pike, but even that seems kind of a reach.

The effects of the aliens illusions are interesting. They are very strong and seems that the humans are totally at their mercy. Pike's ability to fill his mind with hate, instead of another primal emotion, wins the day though. Still, even as he is making his escape, he must get his captors to comply before he can leave his cell, as he is unable to break the illusion.

All in all I wouldn't say that it felt like Gene Roddenberry's vision of the future. Hokey terms like time-warp drive and hyper-drive(which feels more at home in gritty Star Wars), the almost all white, all male bridge crew, and the lusty hunger of not only the captain but of many of the crew member doesn't feel like it would evolve into the show that we know. It does provide some stepping stones though. The aliens that confront mankind not out of malice but need or curiosity is present in this episode and will be hallmark of the franchise.