| Series: | TOS |
| Season: | 1 |
| Original airdate: | Never aired |
| Production number: | Unknown |
| Year: | 2254 |
| Stardate: | Unknown |
| Written by: | Gene Roddenberry |
| Directed by: | Robert Butler |
While investigating an 18-year-old distress call, Captain Pike is captured by Talosians.
Summary
U.S.S. Enterprise recieves an old radio distress signal from planet Talos IV. A landing party led by Captain Pike discovers survivors from the crashed S.S. Columbia, which was on a scientific expedition for the American Continent Institute. Among the survivors is a beautiful woman called Vina. Distracted by the woman, Pike is captured by the Talosians and taken to an underground prison.
It is revealed that the crash-site and the survivors, Vina excepted, were all powerful mental illusions made by the Talosians to trap the Enterprise and Captain Pike. The Talosians have severely weakened because they haved used their mental powers for so long. They want Captain Pike and Vina as breeding stock for a new, stronger race to repopulate the barren planet surface, wich was ravaged by nuclear warfare.
They try several illusions on Pike to make him interested in Vina, all based on Pike's memories. These include a misfortunate mission to Rigel VII and a pleasant picknick outside Pike's hometown of Mojave. When these illusions don't work, the Talosians also capture Number One and Yeoman Colt to give Pike a choice of women.
Pike discovers that strong primal emotions cancel out the Talosian mental powers. He uses this knowledge to take a weapon from one of the Talosians, and escapes with his crew to the surface. There, the Talosians confront Pike with their demands. Pike refuses to cooperate, but Vina (despite her attraction to Pike) decides to stay on the planet, because underneath the Talosian illusions, she is badly deformed from the crash of the Columbia. The Talosians agree to take care of Vina and release the other crew.
Afterwards, the Federation imposes General Order 7 on the Talos system, preventing anyone from ever approaching the planet again under penalty of death.
Background Information
This was the first ever episode of Star Trek produced. It never aired though, because NBC dismissed this pilot and made the extraordinary move to order a second pilot (Where No Man Has Gone Before). Almost all footage of this episode was later reused in The Menagerie Part I and Part II.
Links and References
Main Cast
- Jeffrey Hunter as Captain Christopher Pike
- Leonard Nimoy as Lieutenant Spock
- Majel Barrett Roddenberry as Number One (credited as M. Leigh Hudec)
- John Hoyt as Dr. Phillip Boyce
- Peter Duryea as José Tyler
- Laurel Goodwin as Yeoman J.M. Colt
Guest Stars
- Susan Oliver as Vina
- Meg Wyllie as The Keeper
- Jon Lormer as Dr. Theodore Haskins
- Clegg Hoyt as Transporter Chief Pitcairn
- Malachi Throne as The Keeper's Voice
- Mike Dugan as Kaylar
- Georgia Schmidt as 1st Talosian
- Robert C. Johnson as 1st Talosian's Voice
- Sande Serena as 2nd Talosian
- Barker as Talosian female
- Leonard Mudie as Survivor #2
- Anthony Jochim as Survivor #3
- Ed Madden as Geologist
- Robert Phillips as Orion Space Officer
- Joseph Mell as Earth Trader
References
hyperdrive, laser weapons, Orion animal women, time warp factor, Vega Colony
| Episodes of Star Trek: The Original Series | Next episode: Where No Man Has Gone Before |