Line #66 Recap/StarTrekS1E0TheCage


1	[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/crew_on_bridge.jpg]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:[[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness Hey, why do the uniforms look like that? Who's that on the captain's chair? Where are Sulu and Uhura? Why isn't anyone wearing a red shirt? Why is Christine Chapel on the bridge? Who's that sitting next to her?]] [[ArsonMurderAndJaywalking And what are those lamp things doing there?]]]]
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4	The original PilotEpisode of ''Series/StarTrekTheOriginalSeries''. Written by Creator/GeneRoddenberry and produced in late 1964, it preceded the series itself by a good two years. While this pilot was not considered to have been a success at the time, the network executives did like it enough to finance a second pilot episode. And you all know how well that turned out.
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6	The episode begins with the USS ''Enterprise'' (under the command of Captain Christopher Pike) on a routine patrol. Pike is suffering from self-doubt, having just come from a mission where a number of his landing party were killed in action (including his close friend and Yeoman).
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8	The ship receives a belated S.O.S from survivors of an Earth spaceship that crashed on the nearby planet Talos IV some time ago. Once they arrive on this barren and desolate planet, they find a ragtag bunch of survivors, but something doesn't feel quite right about them. While the landing party does a thorough examination of the group, a young woman named Vina lures Captain Pike to a secluded spot, where he gets zapped by humanoid aliens and taken deep underground.
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10	The survivors vanish, having been revealed to be an illusion created by the alien Talosians. Captain Pike has been placed inside a zoo. The Talosians aim to pair him off with Vina, who is in fact the only true survivor of the earlier spaceship crash. While the aliens use their telepathy to try and bring Pike and Vina closer together, in illusionary versions of his recent near-death encounter, his home city of Mojave back on Earth, and a Orion slave harem; the crew of the ''Enterprise'' attempt to breach the underground complex and rescue their kidnapped captain.
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12	The Talosians finally kidnap two further females from the ''Enterprise'' crew, giving Pike the choice of three potential mates. The ''Enterprise'''s female first officer sets her hand phaser to self-destruct, forcing the Talosians' hand and giving them no option but to let the three of them go. Pike watches sadly as the true extent of Vina's injuries are revealed, explaining why she cannot come with them.
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14	Footage from this unaired pilot was later re-edited as a [[Recap/StarTrekS1E11TheMenageriePartI two part]] [[Recap/StarTrekS1E12TheMenageriePartII regular episode]] called "The Menagerie", where the events were presented as something that had happened to a former crew of the ''Enterprise'', ten years prior to the start of the main series. The original version, however, eventually made its broadcast premiere in 1988, as part of the TV special ''The Star Trek Saga: From One Generation To The Next'', which previewed the writers' strike-delayed second season of ''Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration''. "The Cage" was also the last of the digitally remastered TOS episodes to air, debuting the week before ''Film/StarTrek2009'' opened in theaters.
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16	''Film/StarTrek2009'' takes place in an AlternateTimeline and predominantly takes place at about the same time as this episode, reimagining Pike as played by Creator/BruceGreenwood and a mentor figure for Kirk before showing the change of command. In the main timeline Captain Pike is [[TheOtherDarrin recast]] with Creator/AnsonMount as he shows up in the second season of the {{prequel}} series 2017's ''Series/StarTrekDiscovery'', chronologically about two years after the events of this episode. In 2022 ''Series/StarTrekStrangeNewWorlds'' debuted, set shortly after the events of ''Discovery'' and about seven years before the first season of TOS.
17	----
18
19	!! "The Cage" provides examples of the following tropes:
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21	* AdamAndEvePlot: The Talosians kidnap Captain Pike, and then Number One and a female yeoman (Colt), to act as breeding stock. To avoid it being a "polyg" situation, the Keeper mentions that "with the CHOICE of female...", in keeping with 1964 TV broadcast standards, but what would have been done with the two women Pike didn't choose is unclear. Had the Talosians intended to produce a race of human servants, it'd have made sense to have Pike sire children with ALL THREE of them. At the end, safely back aboard the ship, Yeoman Colt, her "unusually strong female drives" and curiosity getting the best of her, asks her Captain WHO would have been "Eve", much to Number One's annoyance.
22	-->'''Number One:''' "Offspring" as in... he's Adam.
23	* AggressiveNegotiations: Pike tries to negotiate the life of the Magistrate for his crew's freedom and to [[TakeMeInstead Take Him Instead]] but Number One threatens [[HeroicSuicide mass suicide]] before they respond.
24	* AlienBlood: When threatening the Talosians, Pike wonders along about what color their blood would be.
25	--> '''Pike:''' I'll break out of this zoo somehow and get to you. Is your blood red like ours? I'm going to find out.
26	* AlienGeometries: The alien prison has weird angles and perspectives (done purposefully with optical illusions), and also {{Bizarrchitecture}}: slanted walls and weird shapes. Notably, the form of their monitor display is in a really weird shape.
27	* AliensAreBastards: Pike certainly thinks so and he's right, at least at the start. [[SubvertedTrope Then we learn]] the Talosians do just as many benevolent things as they do malevolent. They saved Vina's life, try to find a suitable man to keep her company as she's lonely, and, [[Recap/StarTrekS1E12TheMenageriePartII later on]], allow Pike to peacefully retire with them to be with Vina after he's also disfigured.
28	* AlienSky: The first illusion where Pike is placed has a lilac sky dominated by an immense moon and distant ringed planet.
29	* AllPlanetsAreEarthLike: Of course there is a planet that is conveniently "Class M" (Trek for Human Habitable).
30	-->'''Spock:''' Solar system similar to Earth, eleven planets. Number four seems to be Class M, oxygen atmosphere.([[EarlyInstallmentWeirdness In the series proper, "oxygen-NITROGEN" atmosphere is used, anyone familiar with the Apollo I tragedy knows the extreme fire hazard of a pure oxygen atmosphere!]])
31	* AllThereInTheManual:
32	** Spock is shown to be limping when the party first beams down to Talos IV. According to the script, Spock was one of the crewmen mentioned as having been injured on Rigel VII.
33	** A few novels have theorized as to the cause for the vast differences between Spock's highly emotional behavior in this episode and his reservedness in the regular series. Examples of this include Spock possibly not having complete control of his emotions at that point, as he was still quite young, and that he achieved full control of his emotions by observing Captain Pike. In fact, the novel ''Burning Dreams'' establishes that indeed, whether Pike liked it or not, Spock did consider him a mentor and so Pike tried his best to live up to that assignment. The novel ''The Fire and the Rose'' establishes that Spock was simply emulating Human behaviors such as smiles, and that there was truly no emotion behind his own smile. He eventually stopped though when his crew mates came to distrust him, believing him not to be truthful about himself to them.
34	* AmbiguousGender: Enforced: Producers went out of the way to ensure ambiguity to the point of dubbing male voices over the female actors.
35	* AnatomicallyIgnorantHealing: Vina turns out to have been left disabled and disfigured by the Talosians' well-intentioned efforts to heal her -- they were able to successfully restore her to physical health, but their unfamiliarity with human anatomy led to them putting her back together as a scarred hunchback.
36	* BabyFactory: The aliens present the women to Pike so he can "choose" the best specimen for [[SexualEuphemism intelligent offspring]].
37	* TheBartender: Dr. Boyce brings some alcohol with him during his visit to the Pike's quarters, and mixes him a martini as a part of the captain's EpiphanyTherapy.
38	-->'''Boyce:''' Sometimes a man will tell things to his bartender that he'd never tell his doctor.
39	* BeneathTheMask: The Talosians put Captain Pike in a [[LotusEaterMachine fantasy]] where he's a decadent Orion slave trader with a GreenSkinnedSpaceBabe dancing erotically for him. Earlier Pike had been griping about TheChainsOfCommanding and let slip a thought about giving it all up to be an Orion merchant.
40	-->'''Vina:''' A person's strongest dreams are about [[ForbiddenFruit what he can't do]]. Yes, a ship's captain, always having to be so formal, so decent and honest and proper. You must wonder what it would be like to forget all that.
41	* BizarreAlienBiology: Inverted with the Talosians. They've never seen a human before Vina and have no idea how to properly heal her injuries beyond making her basically functional.
42	* BlondeBrunetteRedhead: The Talosians, who want Captain Pike to breed them a race of slave workers, offer him blonde fellow captive Vina and, later, his own crewmembers -- the coldly intelligent Number One (BrainyBrunette) and his pretty female yeoman (a redhead with "unusually strong female drives").
43	* BlueAndOrangeMorality: Although they keep sentient beings enslaved ForScience, the Talosians aren't exactly evil; they just don't understand why humans hate being held captive. When they do figure it out, they release the humans -- not out of respect for their desires, but because their hatred of captivity makes them unsuitable for the Talosians' plans.
44	* BodyHorror: Downplayed, but real Vina has been left scarred, withered and exaggeratedly hunchbacked as a result of her ship's crash.
45	* BookEnds: The CrashIntoHello is replayed again at the end, with Captain Pike repeating his exact same words.
46	* TheBridge: UrExample! Although movies and series with crews in space are known (see ''Film/ForbiddenPlanet'' and ''Series/LostInSpace''), in TheBridge most action revolves around the Captain's Chair as the center of the bridge.
47	* BridgeBunnies:
48	** Yeoman Colt; ironically her presence makes Captain Pike uncomfortable as he's not used to having a woman on the bridge.[[note]]Colt actress Laurel Goodwin ultimately became the last surviving credited cast member to perform in the episode, dying in 2022 at the age of 79.[[/note]]
49	** Averted and Lampshaded HARD by Number One, who gives Pike a DeathGlare until he leaves the bridge.
50	* BrokenAesop: Although the episode's lesson teaches that humans value their freedom, Captain Pike keeps [[StayInTheKitchen sending the women to the kitchen]] and [[IllPretendIDidntHearThat ignoring their feelings]] even after they're treated as {{Baby Factor\|y}}ies and {{sex slave}}s.
51	* TheCaptain: Roddenberry confessed he styled the captains on ''Literature/HoratioHornblower''. The Captain is the HeroProtagonist to whom everything happens around him.
52	* TheChainsOfCommanding: Pike lays out how tired he is of being responsible for the lives of his crew, and making decisions that include "who lives, and who dies".
53	* CharacterizationMarchesOn: Spock's emotional outbursts, such as his joyful reaction to hearing the singing plants on Talos IV and his panic when he realizes the women have been kidnapped, contrast with his later deliberately emotionless persona. According to Spock's actor Creator/LeonardNimoy, this is because he felt that Spock needed some warmth to balance out how Hunter played Pike. At this point, Spock was just supposed to be an alien, "probably half Martian". Vulcan heritage and stoicism weren't part of his character yet. He is also a fairly minor character in the plot, serving as ''third'' in command after Pike and Number One and not having much of a focus on his personality compared to the others or Dr. Boyce.
54	* CoolStarship: The ''Enterprise'' itself, the basis for the whole series where they use it to travel through the stars. But note that is our only look at the Pike-era ''Enterprise,'' distinguished by the spikes on the red warp nacelle caps.
55	* CrashIntoHello: Introduces Colt, embarrasses the Captain, and establishes her as a one of the possible LoveInterests.
56	* CrossCastRole: Although male voices were dubbed in for the Talosians, three of the Talosian actors were actually women. Robert Butler and Creator/GeneRoddenberry struck upon using this casting method at about the same time as one another, Butler reckoning that it would lend the Talosian characterizations an alien-like androgynous quality. Roddenberry believed that the lighter builds of females might suggest that the Talosians had allowed their bodies to atrophy while instead choosing to concentrate on advanced brain development. Upon searching for suitable performers to play the parts, Roddenberry scoured Hollywood for short actresses with faces that he deemed to be interesting. Character actress Meg Wyllie was cast as the Talosian Keeper on Butler's recommendation, as they had previously worked together.
57	* CrystalSpiresAndTogas: Deconstructed with the Talosians. Their manner of dress and their city is very elegant, but they're also completely detached from any kind of adventurous spirit, not understanding why anyone wouldn't choose a pleasant dream over unpleasant reality, and being unable to grasp the more primal emotions.
58	* DamselInDistress: Complete with [[MedievalEuropeanFantasy medieval dress]], [[ScreamingWoman screams]] and ineffectual defense. Might actually be a DeliberatelyDistressedDamsel as she already knows it is AllJustADream.
59	* DespairEventHorizon: The Talosians reach this point with the failure of their plan:
60	-->'''Captain Pike:''' And that's it. No apologies. You captured one of us, threatened all of us...\
61	'''Talosian:''' Your unsuitability has [[DyingRace condemned the Talosian race to eventual death]]. [[ThePunishmentIsTheCrime Is this not sufficient?]]
62	* DirtyMindReading:
63	** Pike's fantasy of being an Orion trader is implied to be this, as he mentioned it during his gripe session with his doctor.
64	--->"[[GreenSkinnedSpaceBabe Glistening green.]] Almost like secret dreams a bored ship captain might have..."
65	** After beaming Number One and Colt down to Pike's cell as alternate mating choices, the Talosian Magistrate tells him that Number One's IceQueen demeanor is a façade and she's often had fantasies about him, while Yeoman Colt has assumed the captain was [[IgnoredEnamoredUnderling out of her reach]], "but now is [[LockedInARoom realizing this has changed]]".
66	* DirtyOldMan: The doctor pointedly inquires about Colt's impertinent question "Who would have been Eve?"
67	-->'''Boyce:''' Eve as in... Adam?\
68	'''Pike:''' Adam as in all ship's doctors are dirty old men.
69	* DistressCall: One of these kickstarts the plot, with a radio wave keyed to trigger the sensors of a passing vessel (it initially appears to be an oncoming object) thereby drawing the attention of its crew. In a subversion, Pike's initial response is to ignore the signal on the grounds that a 20 year old distress signal with no indication of survivors doesn't warrant changing course, so the Talosians send another indicating that there are survivors in distress.
70	* DoubleEntendre: The Talosians comment that Yeoman Colt has "unusually strong female drives." One assumes they weren't referring to an urge to shop.
71	* TheDulcineaEffect: Pike correctly deduces that the Talosians are trying to make him feel protective of Vina so that he'll fall in love. However, after he points to the illusions that cast her as a DamselInDistress, he protests against their treatment of her in the real world, proving that their ploy is indeed working.
72	* DyingRace: The Talosians. Turns out being able to create illusions indistinguishable from real life but better makes you largely uninterested in real life.
73	* EarlyInstallmentWeirdness: Everything, from the characters, to the uniforms, to some details of the USS ''Enterprise'' itself. Some of it could be explained through changing uniforms and refits, but some dialogue like their FasterThanLightTravel being described as both "Time Warp Factor 7" and "Hyperdrive" before it settled into being a Warp engine in the series proper.
74	* EnemyScan: To properly get to know the capabilities of humans, the Talosians scan through the ship's computer to learn all about them.
75	* EnergyWeapon: The huge laser cannon that gets wheeled out on the planet surface to use as a LaserCutter during the ''Enterprise'' crew's attempt to break into the Talos compound.
76	* EpiphanyTherapy: Dr. Boyce's attempts to help Captain Pike get over his HeroicBSOD.
77	-->'''Boyce:''' A man either lives life as it happens to him, meets it head-on and licks it, or he... turns his back on it and starts to wither away.\
78	'''Pike:''' Now you're beginning to talk like a doctor, bartender.\
79	'''Boyce:''' Take your choice. We both get the same two kinds of customers -- the living and the dying.
80	* TheEvilsOfFreeWill: The fact that humans would prefer death to any form of captivity is a sticking point on why they are unsuitable for the Talosians' plans. Pike tries to console the Keepers, suggesting some sort of mutual cooperation to solve their population problem. The Keeper, however is savvy enough to know [[InYourNatureToDestroyYourselves what will happen if humans eventually acquire the Talosian power of illusion]]. All of this at least explains why there is a General Order forbidding any contact with this planet.
81	* {{Expy}}: The main crew members have identifiable counterparts in the series that eventually developed. Pike is an early version of Kirk, [[CompositeCharacter Number One was combined with Spock]], Dr. Boyce is early [=McCoy=], and Colt is early Rand. Of course, this pilot came first, so it's technically the characters of the eventual series who are the expies. The notion of referring to the First Officer as "Number One" returned in ''[[Series/StarTrekTheNextGeneration Star Trek: The Next Generation]]''.
82	* FacePalm: Vina does this when Pike gets punished for thinking wrong thoughts.
83	* FacialDialogue: When the captain refuses to respond to the distress call, a couple of blueshirts exchange a puzzled shrug after he leaves the Bridge.
84	* FailedPilotEpisode: ZigZagged. On the one hand, the network rejected this as the pilot for ''ST:TOS'' and ordered another one which led to the show that started the franchise. On the other hand, this episode was repurposed as a two-parter in the series, making it canon. On the ''other'' other hand, season 2 of ''Series/StarTrekDiscovery'' would feature Pike, Spock, and Number One along with the ''Enterprise'', which would lead to them getting [[Series/StarTrekStrangeNewWorlds their own show]] -- so in a sense, this pilot ''did'' get its own show, just a few decades later than anyone thought.
85	* FantasticFlora: Talos IV's surface is home to turquoise plants that emit eerie, almost singing sounds, which give the planet a distinctly alien atmosphere. Pike and Spock touch them to discover what exact sound each leaf produces.
86	* FateWorseThanDeath: Rather than allow Pike to submit to Talosian captivity, Number One puts her phaser on overload to destroy all three of them. Vina [[DeathIsTheOnlyOption elects]] not to retreat underground either, since it would mean the Talosians would just grab another man later.
87	* FireAndBrimstoneHell: The Talosians invoke the feeling of being tapped in a fiery Hell on Pike any time they want as punishment, and threaten to outdo that trauma if they have to.
88	* FoodPills: With a slight variation: all the nourishment Pike needs is in liquid form in a small slender glass.
89	* {{Foreshadowing}}:
90	** While talking with Doctor Boyce, Captain Pike talks about the battle on Rigel Seven and two activities he might partake in after retiring: going on a picnic on Earth or becoming an Orion trader. Each of these is used as the basis for one of the telepathic illusions the Talosians use on him later.
91	** Throughout the episode it's implied that Vina is not who she seems. At first this seems to be explained by her pretending to be a Talosian illusion in hopes of more easily seducing Pike; then Number One offhandedly mentions that, rather than Vina having been born right as the ''Columbia'' crash-landed on the planet, she was listed on manifests as an ''adult'' crewman. This foreshadows her ''true'' appearance, that of a much older, deeply scarred and disfigured woman.
92	* GlassyPrison: One wall of the cells the humans are kept in is made of a crystal material, so the specimens can be put on exhibit and analyzed.
93	* GreenSkinnedSpaceBabe: The TropeCodifier. Although strictly speaking, Vina is only ''pretending'' to be a green-skinned space babe. However, she's still the first one ever seem in ''Star Trek''.
94	* HappyPlace: The aliens construct visions of Pike in "Happy Places": [[YouCantGoHomeAgain Back Home]] and as an [[GreenSkinnedSpaceBabe Orion Slave Trader]] (actually a PsychologicalTormentZone, as he is perturbed and runs out of the harem), but Pike immediately knows it's AllJustADream.
95	* HeroicBSOD: Captain Pike is going through one of these when the episode begins, having [[RedshirtArmy lost several crewmen (including his personal yeoman)]] on a mission.
96	* HumansAreSpecial: The Talosians desire humans for their adaptability, but then they access the records of the ''Enterprise'' and conclude that humans have "a unique hatred of captivity" that renders them unsuitable for their purpose.
97	* IceQueen: Number One, whom Vina sarcastically compares to a computer when she's kidnapped as another potential mate. There are several hints that this is a façade however.
98	* InertialImpalement: How Pike finishes off the barbarian in the illusory battle.
99	* INeedAFreakingDrink: Inverted, Boyce implies to Pike: "YOU need a freaking drink!".
100	* InMediasRes: The story begins as the ''Enterprise'' has completed a mission that resulted in serious casualties and is returning to base.
101	* InstantSedation: The aliens spray a gas in Pike's face and he falls down to the ground immediately.
102	* ItOnlyWorksOnce: As Pike foiled their plans for breeding a SlaveRace, the aliens just give up and accept their [[DyingRace fate of their failed civilization]]. To be fair, they indicate they had already tried out several other species (possibly the ones Pike saw in the zoo) but none of them had shown the same adaptability as humans. Pike was their "last hope".
103	* IWillPunishYourFriendForYourFailure: Pike doesn't know Vina and doesn't especially like her, but he objects when she's punished for ''his'' lack of cooperation. This is all part of the Talosians' plan to make him breed with her, because it causes Pike to feel empathy for Vina over her unjust punishment.
104	* KnockoutAmbush: Pike was led by Vina where the aliens surprised him, knocked him out with a gas, then took him away.
105	* LabcoatOfScienceAndMedicine: Averted. It's rare where scientists are not portrayed in labcoats, and in this case they appeared in normal clothes, but ragged and tattered.
106	* LoafingInFullCostume: Averted; Captain Pike is shown passing by a couple of off-duty crewmembers dressed in civies.
107	* LostInTransmission: A distress message inexplicably just "fades" away before it can explain a certain crucial danger. Rather than concealing a crucial plot point, this was just a lure by the Talosians to Pike, who had previously turned down answering the earlier (and genuine) DistressCall.
108	* LoveAtFirstSight: Both Pike and Vina are attracted to each other and explicitly say so.
109	* LuredIntoATrap: Pike is [[NeverSplitTheParty coaxed to walk right into a trap]] where the aliens capture him. Vina mentions that he's been feeling tired, and Pike is [[DistractedByTheSexy noticeably distracted by her]], so he's likely not as alert as he should be.
110	* MagicalSecurityCam: When the crew are greeting the survivors, the aliens see the scene through an alien monitor, but there are no cameras or devices that anyone can see.
111	* MaleGaze: There's a shot of an off-duty female crewmember [[ShakingTheRump walking away from the camera]] in a pleated skirt.
112	* MasterOfIllusion: The Talosians force Captain Pike to partake in a series of illusionary worlds. When he resists, they are also able to punish him with a FireAndBrimstoneHell and then believably threaten to go deeper into his mind for experiences ''even worse''! Similarly, the Enterprise crew actually easily breaks into the Talosian base, but their powers of illusion made it appear that they'd been doing no damage at all, so they didn't realize they'd succeeded until Pike was already released.
113	* MeaningfulBackgroundEvent: Lt. Tyler, the navigator, is shown wearing a bandage on his right hand/wrist. Although it is never acknowledged, but it presumably happened during the landing on the previous mission on Rigel VII.
114	* MindProbe: The aliens probe Pike's mind and discover "excellent memory capacity". This is not shown and the Captain does not seem to even notice or show any signs of the probe.
115	* MindRape: Pike is tortured with visions of [[FireAndBrimstoneHell fire and brimstone]].
116	* MovingTheGoalposts: Pike agrees to pick an illusion to share with Vina if she answers his questions. After she does, he says that he made a "bargain with someone that didn't exist" and it doesn't count, which forces her to admit that she was lying about being yet another illusion.
117	* MyBrainIsBig: The aliens have very visible bigger craniums with pulsing veins, which give them great mental power.
118	-->'''Spock:''' Look. Brains three times the size of ours. If we start buzzing about down there, we're liable to find their mental power is so great they could reach out and swat this ship as though it were a fly.
119	* MyGreatestFailure: Pike is troubled by the fight at Rigel 7 where he lost three crew and seven were injured. He claims ItsAllMyFault, establishing a GuiltComplex (he is tired of being who decides "who lives and who dies") so bad he is in HeroicBSOD and considers retiring. Boyce does respond with the typical YouDidEverythingYouCould.
120	* NamedAfterTheirPlanet: Talosians. From Talos IV.
121	* NoNameGiven: Majel Barrett's character is referred to throughout simply as "Number One".
122	* NondescriptNastyNutritious: One of the "sustenances" given to Pike while in the holding cell is a glass of blue mystery liquid, which the Talosian Keeper claims contains a "nourishing protein complex". They compensate for its blandness by using their mental powers to make it seem like whatever food is desired.
123	* NotLikeOtherGirls: When Pike complains about how unused he is to having a woman (Yeoman Colt) on the bridge, he says that Number One doesn't count. He doesn't seem to realize that she is apparently insulted at the way he differentiates her from other women.
124	* NumberTwo: Number One, actually, who goes by no other name. Spock is present but is not the First Officer as he would become when the show went to series. (He ''appears'' to be third-in-command behind Pike and Number One, as he takes command after Number One is abducted, but this isn't definitely established in dialogue.)
125	* OneOfTheBoys: How Captain Pike treats Number One regarding her presence (as a woman) on the bridge.
126	* PeopleFarms: The aliens try to make Pike "breed" with any female, and were planning to make them a SlaveRace to rebuild the surface of the planet.
127	* PetTheDog: After their plan fails, the Talosians release Pike without harm, but allow Vina to have an illusion of him staying with her. They also refuse Federation aid to prevent other races from falling into the same trap that they did.
128	* PilotEpisode:
129	** A failed one, in fact, but it showed enough promise for the network to commission a second pilot.
130	** TropeNamer! When asked for an example of a pilot of a show, this episode is commonly used as an example.
131	* PlotTwist: [[SendInTheSearchTeam Survivor Rescue]] plot is actually [[PeopleFarms Aliens Want to Breed Us]].
132	* PsychicAssistedSuicide: The Talosian Keeper tries to get Pike to release him by threatening to destroy the ''Enterprise''. Vina confirms that he's not bluffing about his capability -- the Talosians' illusion power could reach the orbiting starship and trick the crew into operating the wrong controls -- but it turns out that he's bluffing about his willingness to follow through on the threat.
133	* PsychicStatic: The Talosians can't read "primitive" emotions like anger or violence, so Pike uses that as a PsychicBlockDefense. However Vina points out that it's impossible to maintain such emotions over a long time.
134	* RaisedByDudes: Vina claims to be this at first, acting awkward and unfeminine around Captain Pike because she was raised by a group of old male scientists.
135	* RayGun: The laser had been invented just a few years before; hence the use of the term for the handheld pistols and crew-manned laser cannon. This would later be changed to the fictional term 'phaser' to avert the TechnologyMarchesOn trope.
136	* RecycledWithAGimmick: The start of the ''Literature/HoratioHornblower In Space'' subgenre of sci-fi. Pike's ruminations on choosing which crewmen will live and die are remarkably similar to Hornblower's thoughts on being a Valkyrie "chooser of the slain" in ''Hotspur.''
137	* RedAlert: A red flashing light goes off and an alarm sounds when the ship seems to be in danger, but the alert is not vocally called.
138	* RefusalOfTheCall: Pike refuses to answer an eighteen year-old DistressCall because they have their own wounded to take care of (it's also implied that [[HeroicBSOD Pike is tired and his morale is low]] after recent events). Only when another message arrives confirming that there are survivors in need of help does he order the Enterprise there.
139	* RubberForeheadAliens: The Talosians have entire rubber heads. They are more elaborate than later makeups in the series, and they also cast female actors but dubbed-over male voices in an attempt to make them more alien.
140	* SameLanguageDub: Clegg Hoyt played the transporter chief, Pitcairn, but his voice was dubbed in by Bob Johnson, who was the voice on the tape (and disc) in ''Series/MissionImpossible''.
141	* ScriptReadingDoors: Dr. Boyce knocks on the door and it opens automatically before the Captain responds.
142	* SecretUndergroundPassage: Actually an elevator, but the doors are hidden from view, camouflaged as a rock wall, and they do lead underground.
143	* ShrugTake: Right after Captain Pike refuses to look for survivors and leaves the bridge.
144	* SignatureSoundEffect: Averted (in later episodes) with the "singing" plants of Talos IV. Pike and Spock verify (in a lovely bit of non-verbal acting) that the plants are the source of the low, eerie wailing heard in the surface scenes. Future episodes re-used the same sound on many -- if not most -- of the other planets the crew visited, without explanation.
145	* SoleSurvivor: The aliens confess there was an actual crash of an Earth vessel, but with only one survivor, Vina.
146	* SpaceClothes: The Talosians (and Vina) wear shiny, silvery clothes. Averted with the crew of Enterprise, whose uniforms are deliberately mundane.
147	* TheSpock: An UrExample. TheStoic, [[GoodWithNumbers computer-mind]] character was supposed to be Number One, a female. As Roddenberry said, the network didn't want a woman in a position of power (the executives denied this), so he passes the traits to Spock.
148	* StayInTheKitchen: Pike starts to chastise Colt when she interrupts him, explaining that he asked for the report. He then openly says he is not used to women on the bridge.
149	* StrictlyProfessionalRelationship:
150	-->'''Colt:''' Sir, I was wondering. Just curious. Who would have been Eve?\
151	'''One:''' Yeoman! You've delivered your report.
152	* SubspaceAnsible: Averted; the distress call has taken eighteen years to reach the ''Enterprise'''s current position.
153	* SurveillanceAsThePlotDemands: The Talosians seem perfectly capable of seeing everything that goes on in the cell as well as reading minds, but the Keeper doesn't see Pike waiting to ambush him. Probably masked by Pike's anger and treachery. ''That'' should have been a big, fat, hint to the Talosians that the humans would prove unmanageable, but they might have been too desperate to save their race to recognize the hint.
154	* {{Technobabble}}: Spock's initial utterance sounds too simple, but it is used to establish that something "Techy" is going on. First ''Star Trek'' words recorded.
155	-->'''Spock:''' Check the circuit.
156	* TechnologyMarchesOn: An in-universe example. The consoles on the ''Enterprise'' bridge are here fitted with what look like personal computer printers (which print out messages on paper), and the Yeoman is seen using a clipboard with paper sheets on it. The beam weapons are called lasers instead of the later phasers. And the weapon used in the attempt to blast the Talosian entrance is a bulky device transported from the ship instead of ship-mounted weapons. By the time of the series proper, both would be replaced by more futuristic devices. Medical science is presumably more primitive than it's portrayed in TOS, as Pike doesn't even speculate about the possibility that Vina's disfigurements might be repairable with ''Trek''-era medicine. But technology has also already marched on, as one crewman enthusiastically says to the "survivors": space travel is now incomparably faster than 18 years before. Nearly 60 years later, things like printers and paper on clipboards would seem "old school", but Science Fiction tends to predict the future with things we're still familiar with. Besides, the special effects involved in showing hi-resolution imagery on something like an iPad were somewhat beyond even what a high-budget movie could do in those days.
157	* TelepathicSpacemen: The Talosians are telepathic, and it's how they create their illusions.
158	* TeleportersAndTransporters: To avoid the hassle and cost of showing travel by shuttle, the Landing Party travel by the Transporter.
159	* TenMinuteRetirement: Albeit only an illusory one for Captain Pike, indulging in activities he talked about. As soon as HesBack on duty:
160	-->'''Pike:''' What are we running here, a cadet ship?
161	* ThisIsThePartWhere: The Talosians note that, after hurling himself in frustration at the glass, Pike will now [[AppealToForce threaten them with the power of his starship]]. Hearing this, Pike chooses a more diplomatic (but equally futile) approach.
162	* ThrowingYourSwordAlwaysWorks: Pike tries throwing a sword at the barbarian during the illusory battle; it hits at the right angle and with enough force to embed itself in the barbarian's back.
163	* TooGoodToBeTrue: Pike realizes too late that the ''Columbia'''s heroic survivors they've seen were just playing into their ideal fantasies. Also, Boyce suspects something fishy is going on, as all survivors are in perfect health.
164	* TVTelephoneEtiquette: Mr. Spock calls on the ship's video intercom to deliver exposition and cuts the call immediately.
165	* UnresolvedSexualTension:
166	** Between Pike and J.M. Colt in particular. According to the Talosians, possibly also Number One.
167	** This was the entire purpose of the Talosians capturing Pike: to get him to develop enough tension with Vina that he would give in and help them breed a new race to reclaim the surface.
168	* UnusualEars: Mr. Spock is alien, of course. Don't you see the PointyEars?
169	* WagonTrainToTheStars: UrExample. This was the first pilot presented to the network to show this concept.
170	* YearInsideHourOutside: After Number One and Yeoman Colt beam down, the Keeper punishes Pike for "wrong thnking." While the two are wondering what is going on, Vina just cradles her head in her hand. She knows that Pike is being punished and while it seems like a couple of seconds, for him the punishment could be lasting for hours.
171	* YourHeartsDesire: Orion women are presented as a dark male [[FanService fantasy come to life]]. They're [[{{Orientalism}} exotic]], [[AllWomenAreLustful animalistic]] {{Sex Slave}}s, from a culture [[ArentYouGoingToRavishMe where they actually want to be taken advantage of]] so you don't have to feel guilty about doing so.
172	-->'''Orion slave trader:''' Suppose you had all of space to choose from, and this was only one small sample. Wouldn't you say it was worth a man's soul?
173	* YourMindMakesItReal: According to the Talosians, Pike could visualize the vial of nourishment liquid provided by the Talosians as any meal he wished. Presumably, as long as he was able to somehow forget that it really was nothing more than a [[FoodPills vial of blue liquid]]. Whether Pike's mind could fool his GI tract enough to turn it into dietary fiber, OTOH...

Context Recap / StarTrekS1E0TheCage