I wasn’t sure when I was going to review “The Cage.” My initial pledge for the Star Trek Project was to watch stuff as they were first presented. By that logic I would be watching this after some of the films and after a little bit of “Next Generation.” But the folks at Paramount bundled the episode after Season 3 of TOS, so, well, I let inertia take over.
The truth is that 95% of The Cage is to be found in The Menagerie I and The Menagerie II. You get a *little bit* more of the old Enterprise crew. (I like Nurse Chapel as a brunette and I like the gee golly gosh Ensign. And the button-cute redhead Yeoman is delightful.)
It is really amazing when you think this was shot in 1964. 1964! Project Gemini hadn’t even gone up yet! There’s part of me that would’ve liked to’ve seen this Enterprise continue. I don’t know what the Network’s problem was. This episode is plenty adventurous. . .and, in a way, better than Where No Man Has Gone Before. Still, if it hadn’t’ve been for the rejection, we’d have no Kirk. . .and Spock wouldn’t be Spock. And the decor of the Enterprise would be all grey instead of colorful like it is supposed to be. Life is full of unexpected twists and turns.
And so. . .with this review. . .I must say I am sad to say “good-bye” to the Original Series. I know that it’ll never get as good as this. I’m looking forward to the rest of this ongoing project — and I won’t be leaving the original crew yet (6 feature films and 22 animated episodes are on deck.) But. . .you know. . .a little moment of nostalgia here, okay? I started the Project in late July, so there’re quite a lot of effort here. You think I like being known as the guy who’s watching every Star Trek episode? (Don’t answer that.)
Brilliant episode. Cerebral and satisfying.
Great pilot episode for what could have been a great series in its own right. The late Jeffrey Hunter gives a compelling performance. And props for those gray field jackets which never appeared again on TOS.