As this two part story opens the Enterprise diverts to Starbase 11 after Spock claims to have received a subspace message from his former captain, Christopher Pike. It soon becomes apparent that Pike couldn't have sent any message as he has been severely injured and can only communicate 'yes or no' by beeping once or twice. As Kirk tries to get to the bottom of what is going on Spock sends orders to the Enterprise which enable him to take Pike to the planet Talos IV; going there is the only capital offence in the Federation for reasons that are so serious they remain classified! Kirk and the commander of the star base pursue in a shuttle and when they get to the Enterprise Spock is placed in custody but the ship continues to head to Talos IV. During his court martial Spock starts to show them details of the only visit by a Federation ship to Talos IV; the time the Enterprise, under the command of Capt. Pike went there thirteen years previously. We see how they were lured there by a false distress signal and how Pike was captured by aliens. To discover what happens next we'll have to watch part two!
This, the only two part story in the original series, nicely uses scenes from the original pilot, 'The Cage' in an almost entirely new story. There is a good sense of mystery as surely the ever reliable Spock would be incapable of breaking any rule, let alone one so serious, unless he had a very good reason. We are also treated to the sight of Spock overpowering Star Fleet computer engineers prior so he can give plausible orders that will enable him to take command of the Enterprise. Once his trial begins and we start to see scenes that were originally part of 'The Cage' it is nicely explained how we can see recordings of the action form viewpoints where there wouldn't have been cameras to record the scene or even private moments that wouldn't be recorded at all. The thirteen year time gap serves to explain why most of the crew of Pike's Enterprise have been replaced and why the uniforms have changed. Overall this was a fine episode that made good use of material from the original pilot and set things up nicely for the concluding part of the story which will tell us the truth about the planet Talos IV and why Spock would risk everything to take his former captain there.
This, the only two part story in the original series, nicely uses scenes from the original pilot, 'The Cage' in an almost entirely new story. There is a good sense of mystery as surely the ever reliable Spock would be incapable of breaking any rule, let alone one so serious, unless he had a very good reason. We are also treated to the sight of Spock overpowering Star Fleet computer engineers prior so he can give plausible orders that will enable him to take command of the Enterprise. Once his trial begins and we start to see scenes that were originally part of 'The Cage' it is nicely explained how we can see recordings of the action form viewpoints where there wouldn't have been cameras to record the scene or even private moments that wouldn't be recorded at all. The thirteen year time gap serves to explain why most of the crew of Pike's Enterprise have been replaced and why the uniforms have changed. Overall this was a fine episode that made good use of material from the original pilot and set things up nicely for the concluding part of the story which will tell us the truth about the planet Talos IV and why Spock would risk everything to take his former captain there.