Would you be OK with a remake of The Cage?

[Commander Richard]

A remake would be fine. Same story with a few different scenes or a slightly different angle.

Or they could tell the story from a red shirt's perspective. The Kelvin era comics did that with "The Apple".

 

[Tenacity]

Boyce offering Pike a martini so he'll talk about what's on his mind doesn't look too good through a 2019 lens either.

People in 2019 do drink, and I thought it was a great line, "people will tell their bartender things they would never tell their doctor" (something like that).

Obviously "I can't get used to having a woman on the bridge" would have to go.

But then how would we find out that Number One is different?

Both misandry and misogyny exist, let's make Pike interesting, instead of perfect.

 

[Kor]

...
I think Vina would need a new motivation for staying behind. "I can't go with you because I'm deformed and I think I'm ugly" wouldn't fly anymore. First because we now know Federation doctors can fix that. And, much more importantly, because "I can't go with you because I'm ugly" just sends the wrong message to people. Vina's motivation for remaining on Talos IV would have to change or at least be added to. She can be vain. But there would have to be more to it.
...

She seemed to have physical mobility issues as well.

Kor

 

[Lord Garth]

People in 2019 do drink, and I thought it was a great line, "people will tell their bartender things they would never tell their doctor" (something like that).But then how would we find out that Number One is different?

They do. I've had drinks myself.

But it seems kind of odd for a Doctor to offer someone a drink if they're on duty acting in an official capacity. Not that it takes away from a great scene. I'm just putting that out there as something professionally-speaking.

 

[fireproof78]

People in 2019 do drink, and I thought it was a great line, "people will tell their bartender things they would never tell their doctor" (something like that).

It's less professional appearing now than then.

Though, it could perhaps still work in a similar vein to the scene in Beyond.

 

[Tenacity]

Kirk and McCoy (TOS) were clearly drinking buddies.

 

[Noname Given]

I wasn't a big fan of "The Cage", but the basic idea is sound and has been done a million times (recently-ish on The Orville), and I'm sure they could put a fresh twist on the story.

Just no scene-for-scene remake with the new actors, that would be a waste of time.

They'd never do it though, they're too stuck in their own weird version of TOS continuity which is very strict in some ways (no Spock/Sarek confrontation) but not others (the scope of the battle at the end of the season begs many questions as to why fleets of fighters are never launched again, it's okay to give Spock a sister)

So, I guess STV:TFF fits into that same type of wierd TOS continuity as it gave Spock a Brother we never heard of in the 20 or so years Kirk, Spock and McCoy had known each other.

Star Trek from DAY ONE has never really had strict continuity.

 

[eschaton]

I have no personal problem with remaking The Cage - or any other episode of Trek. That said, it would make fans heads explode.

The basic problem is the almost religious nature that a lot of fandom has related to canon. I think arguments related to "visual canon" have been mostly defused, and the visuals could be updated without concern. But past this, you'd have to do one of two things.

1. Keep the original script almost in its entirety to not violate canon. The one exception to this might be adding additional scenes from a POV not seen in the original, since this would give the writers freedom to depict things we haven't seen before. An extreme version of this would be if the whole episode was reshot from the POV of Vina.

2. Just write a new episode that has the same broad strokes plot, but differs significantly in details, and tell the fan base that nope - the original Cage is actually not canon. Meaning not only visuals, but also scripted dialogue in Trek can't be trusted as something that really happened in universe.

 

[DaveyNY]

I think somebody already mentioned it up-thread, but I'd rather see a prequel story dealing with the actual away mission that led to The Cage.
And even a sequel story about how Pike handles the aftermath of The Cage.
(especially if he remembers the 'Fortune' he found on the Discovery)

 

[Lord Garth]

I have no personal problem with remaking The Cage - or any other episode of Trek. That said, it would make fans heads explode.

The basic problem is the almost religious nature that a lot of fandom has related to canon. I think arguments related to "visual canon" have been mostly defused, and the visuals could be updated without concern. But past this, you'd have to do one of two things.

1. Keep the original script almost in its entirety to not violate canon. The one exception to this might be adding additional scenes from a POV not seen in the original, since this would give the writers freedom to depict things we haven't seen before. An extreme version of this would be if the whole episode was reshot from the POV of Vina.

2. Just write a new episode that has the same broad strokes plot, but differs significantly in details, and tell the fan base that nope - the original Cage is actually not canon. Meaning not only visuals, but also scripted dialogue in Trek can't be trusted as something that really happened in universe.

I think everything I mentioned before could be fixed without changing what happens in the scenes.

• The whole "Can't get used to having a woman on the bridge line" can be cut by just not showing it. They did that even in "The Menagerie". The viewer can decide for themselves whether or not to accept the line. I don't, and never did, but others can.
  
  
• Boyce offering Pike a martini. Add in a moment during it, when Pike looks like he's about to make a comment about regulations but then Boyce non-verbally shrugs it off before anything can be said. He's old, he doesn't care anymore. Then Pike follows with his line, "What the devil are you putting in there? Ice?" TMP and TWOK have several lines and moments that were cut from the theatrical releases but were present other home media versions. So this would be an extremely subtle, makeshift version of that.
  
  
• Same with Vina. Add in a line somewhere where Vina legitimately wants to help the Talosians but also feels conflicted. I think on some level she wants to help. But on another level she actually thinks what she said, "They keep after you and after you, year after year." It's a gray situation that would have more layers added to it.

So it can be done. If treated with care, and done surgically instead of with a sledgehammer, you can enhance the story without taking away from it.

For the rest of the episode itself, I think the primary message not only still holds up today, but actually works better. I think we're more disconnected from reality than ever. We have our illusions which are fed to us by logarithms on the Internet and are continuing to feed us information that supports our views, so it creates a warped perception that most people see things our way or that what's being said is actually true, even if it's just an opinion or a slanted interpretation of the facts.

 

[The Old Mixer]

The ice line is when Pike first starts to realize that Boyce is making him a drink, so a comment about regulations wouldn’t work before that.

Any desire from Vina to help her captors could be attributed to Stockholm Syndrome.

 

[Kor]

Yeah, I always got the impression that Pike first assumed that Boyce was pouring something medicinal. Then the ice got his attention.

Kor

 

[serabine]

It seems kinda redundant, no? Either the viewers already know about/watched the Cage, watched Menagerie and therefore knows the most important parts about the Cage, or they watched If Memory Serves and know the quintessential information about it.

There's revisting an interesting time period/character to explore them further, and then there's regurgitating stuff. I know what I prefer.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

There's no need for a Cage remake. The original pilot footage at the beginning of "If Memory Serves" signals that there isn't any intention of doing it, and that episode functions just fine without it.

It would be a waste of effort.

Also: no.

 

[fireproof78]

At the risk of sounding extremely pedantic the OP is: Would you be OK with a remake of The Cage?

No, there is no need to remake the Cage. There is no need to have any Star Trek. Need is not the question, though.

 

[BillJ]

I love "The Cage", and I have no issues with them remaking it.

First because we now know Federation doctors can fix that.

You would think Federation doctors could've done a better job with Pike, yet here we are.

 

[CorporalCaptain]

At the risk of sounding extremely pedantic the OP is: Would you be OK with a remake of The Cage?

No, there is no need to remake the Cage. There is no need to have any Star Trek. Need is not the question, though.

Yep. The OP question was not about need, and your post sounds extremely pedantic. Also, see the spoiler code here and in the OP.

To clarify: My characterization of a remake being unneeded was specifically (and explicitly) in the context of DISCO already having the narrative embodied by "The Cage" told in a DISCO episode in recap form using original pilot footage. A remake is not needed in the sense that it would be both literally redundant to and countervailing to season two DISCO episode footage. I further opined that the use of said original pilot footage signals an intent not to remake the original pilot, which renders the question of whether I'd be OK with a remake even more irrelevant than it already would be otherwise.

Spoiler

The OP himself addressed this issue in spoiler form, so my remarks about need aren't even outside the umbrella of material covered by the OP.

But I answered the literal OP question directly, anyway, in a paragraph all its own (the final paragraph).

 

[fireproof78]

To clarify: My characterization of a remake being unneeded was specifically (and explicitly) in the context of DISCO already having the narrative embodied by "The Cage" told in a DISCO episode in recap form using original pilot footage. A remake is not needed in the sense that it would be both literally redundant to and countervailing to season two DISCO episode footage. I further opined that the use of said original pilot footage signals an intent not to remake the original pilot, which renders the question of whether I'd be OK with a remake even more irrelevant than it already would be otherwise.

On this point, I do agree. I think it demonstrates where they are going with the story.

The rest I'll leave aside. But, I'll freely admit my struggle when people talk about need and entertainment. I'm weird like that and I'll own it.

 

[Noname Given]

I have no personal problem with remaking The Cage - or any other episode of Trek. That said, it would make fans heads explode.

The basic problem is the almost religious nature that a lot of fandom has related to canon. I think arguments related to "visual canon" have been mostly defused, and the visuals could be updated without concern. But past this, you'd have to do one of two things.

1. Keep the original script almost in its entirety to not violate canon. The one exception to this might be adding additional scenes from a POV not seen in the original, since this would give the writers freedom to depict things we haven't seen before. An extreme version of this would be if the whole episode was reshot from the POV of Vina.

2. Just write a new episode that has the same broad strokes plot, but differs significantly in details, and tell the fan base that nope - the original Cage is actually not canon. Meaning not only visuals, but also scripted dialogue in Trek can't be trusted as something that really happened in universe.

I thionk it's a valid concern when you look at TNG's crap filled "The Naked Now" compared to the classic and wonderfully executed TOS "The Naked Time". YMMV.

 

[BillJ]

I thionk it's a valid concern when you look at TNG's crap filled "The Naked Now" compared to the classic and wonderfully executed TOS "The Naked Time". YMMV.

I always liked "The Naked Now".

Difference being this would be a remake of "The Cage" versus a sequel.