So in rewatching this gem of a story, a few items stuck out but it's not going to stop me from thinking it's an impressive reuse of pilot footage never intended to have been shown and in a cost-saving measure by enveloping them inside a new story, which is pretty nifty regardless (as well as expanding the universe and giving a glimpse of the past).
1. Pike can only bleep once for yes, or bleep twice for no. Since 23rd century technology was already showing talking computers and somehow Pike could bleep out a yes or a no, why was Pike's ability to communicate so limited? (Apart from ensuring the drama of the moment.) This is probably the one element of the story that doesn't quite fit, a wheelchair/life support system that prevents communication apart from a plot contrivance, but it was easy enough to accept and go along with. I'd argue there is one other issue, more an omission or missing link that would explain the end result, however... more on that later.
2. Pike is originally objecting, double-bleeping all over the place ("No, no, noooo!") over being kidnapped to be sent to a planet he'd hated for a while. I'm pretty sure he'd thought it all through, realized, and changed his mind over time and based on some clever guesswork, since nothing onscreen really confirms Spock was telling Pike of his plan to bring him back to Talos where he could have some form of life again.
3. So the 2-parter hinges around Talosian mind manipulation, how do we really know this isn't Spock doing anything altruistic to a former commander* but the Talosians changing their minds about keeping humans in their zoo (regardless if species reproduction were possible)?
4. The penultimate commercial break where Spock tells the court to wait for the next transmission but the screen remains blank for several pointless seconds as if the people who are transmitting are trolling Spock, and then Spock is pronounced guilty by the tribunal - even Pike bleeps but once and without waiting. Cue commercial break, and after that we get tonal whiplash as Spock now states how Talos now controls the vessel and now they can see the rest of the transmission and the transmission comes up right on cue (which is good because, if it hadn't, we'd have a radically different ending...)
5. Given the Talosian leader is really nice at the end toward Kirk, I'm leaning toward a true change of heart and altruism, but I either missed a scene or some expanded inference has to be made to go between the Talosians' original intent via the transmitted scenes shown at the "trial", and to when the leader and Spock decided to do this nice thing for fried Captain Pike.
6. The ending is pretty pat as Starfleet sends notification they discovered the image transmissions and are A-OK and really nice with it, given Pike's history with the Talosians. Plus, the dialogue lifted from "The Cage" says it all about the mental abilities of the Talosians. If Mendez was a projection prior to this scene Uhura relays, could the Talosians be continuing to play more mindgames? And, if so, what purpse would it be for? They opted to leave the humans alone after they sifted through the ship's records, so it's more likely Spock would have contacted them to see if they would take Pike in and without asking anyone else and hoping Pike would realize and agree (noting that, in story, Spock also did not want to risk Kirk getting the death penalty either, hence doing this bit of insurrection solely on his own.)
Any nitpicks aside, the 110 minutes fly right on by and it's a very engaging story with a heartfelt ending. Definitely one of TOS's standouts that, again, made fantastic use of the unaired pilot. Now I want to see "The Cage" as itself again to be reminded of what we might have had for a series, had the suits greenlit "The Cage" instead of demanding big changes for an unprecedented second pilot. As a pilot, it's the most cerebral of Trek's extensive history, even if it's dated.
1. Pike can only bleep once for yes, or bleep twice for no. Since 23rd century technology was already showing talking computers and somehow Pike could bleep out a yes or a no, why was Pike's ability to communicate so limited? (Apart from ensuring the drama of the moment.) This is probably the one element of the story that doesn't quite fit, a wheelchair/life support system that prevents communication apart from a plot contrivance, but it was easy enough to accept and go along with. I'd argue there is one other issue, more an omission or missing link that would explain the end result, however... more on that later.
2. Pike is originally objecting, double-bleeping all over the place ("No, no, noooo!") over being kidnapped to be sent to a planet he'd hated for a while. I'm pretty sure he'd thought it all through, realized, and changed his mind over time and based on some clever guesswork, since nothing onscreen really confirms Spock was telling Pike of his plan to bring him back to Talos where he could have some form of life again.
3. So the 2-parter hinges around Talosian mind manipulation, how do we really know this isn't Spock doing anything altruistic to a former commander* but the Talosians changing their minds about keeping humans in their zoo (regardless if species reproduction were possible)?
* Which is unlikely; Spock has demonstrated loyalty and friendship several times to Kirk during many diverse occasions, so why not a former commander he also appreciated? This is the biggie and it is in character for Spock to do. He saw Pike in his current condition, recalled the events of all those years ago, and felt it was a better existence for Pike - and for whatever underlying reasons, the Talosians agreed. Probably because Pike was in a condition worse than Vina's and felt sympathetic (especially as their version of a pleasant prison is preferable to where Pike was at this juncture!!) - as with Vina, they weren't really malicious as such. Just complex, even if Vina makes supposition that if Pike had left they'd try to find another human. IMHO, both "Cage" and "Menagerie" are wonderful pieces of sci-fi for their own reasons...
4. The penultimate commercial break where Spock tells the court to wait for the next transmission but the screen remains blank for several pointless seconds as if the people who are transmitting are trolling Spock, and then Spock is pronounced guilty by the tribunal - even Pike bleeps but once and without waiting. Cue commercial break, and after that we get tonal whiplash as Spock now states how Talos now controls the vessel and now they can see the rest of the transmission and the transmission comes up right on cue (which is good because, if it hadn't, we'd have a radically different ending...)
5. Given the Talosian leader is really nice at the end toward Kirk, I'm leaning toward a true change of heart and altruism, but I either missed a scene or some expanded inference has to be made to go between the Talosians' original intent via the transmitted scenes shown at the "trial", and to when the leader and Spock decided to do this nice thing for fried Captain Pike.
6. The ending is pretty pat as Starfleet sends notification they discovered the image transmissions and are A-OK and really nice with it, given Pike's history with the Talosians. Plus, the dialogue lifted from "The Cage" says it all about the mental abilities of the Talosians. If Mendez was a projection prior to this scene Uhura relays, could the Talosians be continuing to play more mindgames? And, if so, what purpse would it be for? They opted to leave the humans alone after they sifted through the ship's records, so it's more likely Spock would have contacted them to see if they would take Pike in and without asking anyone else and hoping Pike would realize and agree (noting that, in story, Spock also did not want to risk Kirk getting the death penalty either, hence doing this bit of insurrection solely on his own.)
Any nitpicks aside, the 110 minutes fly right on by and it's a very engaging story with a heartfelt ending. Definitely one of TOS's standouts that, again, made fantastic use of the unaired pilot. Now I want to see "The Cage" as itself again to be reminded of what we might have had for a series, had the suits greenlit "The Cage" instead of demanding big changes for an unprecedented second pilot. As a pilot, it's the most cerebral of Trek's extensive history, even if it's dated.
