The starship Enterprise is diverted to Star Base 11 by a message supposedly sent by the ship's former commander, Fleet Captain Christopher Pike, and received by the ship's first officer, Mr. Spock (Leonard Nimoy). Upon arriving, however, Captain Kirk (William Shatner) discovers that Pike has been paralyzed by injuries from a space disaster and could not have sent the message, or even asked to have had one sent. Kirk tries to unravel the mystery, unwilling to believe that Spock could lie, but also troubled by Spock's longstanding loyalty to his former captain. Spock then kidnaps Pike and commandeers the Enterprise, locking the ship on a course for Talos IV, a mysterious planet that is off-limits -- on penalty of death -- to any Star Fleet vessel. Adding to the mystery is the fact that the only Earth ship ever to visit Talos IV was the Enterprise, under Pike's command with Spock as science officer, 13 years earlier. Kirk boards the Enterprise in the company of Commodore Mendez (Malachi Throne), but is unable to divert the ship's course. Spock insists upon a formal court martial for mutiny, during which he begins presenting a visual account of the Enterprise's first visit to Talos IV. The trial board sees how the ship was baited to the planet and Pike was kidnapped, taken below the surface by the inhabitants, who have the power to cast perfect illusions. An emergency signal interrupts the trial, as Star Fleet notifies Mendez that the Enterprise has been receiving images from Talos IV in violation of regulations. Kirk is relieved of his command, Mendez is ordered to do anything necessary to prevent the ship from reaching Talos IV, and Spock now faces a death sentence. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide
Review
The original Star Trek's only two-part episode was devised by producer Gene Roddenberry as a way of using extensive footage from the series' original pilot, which dated from 1964 and had used an almost entirely different cast, led by Jeffrey Hunter as Captain Christopher Pike. Apart from his desire to see the unaired pilot (which had an excellent script) serve some useful purpose, Roddenberry's motivations were highly practical. The production on Star Trek was falling dangerously behind schedule, and the notion of getting two weeks of programming out of one week of new shooting and some careful editing of the old footage was becoming a gilt-edged priority. The results, from a script by Roddenberry, turned into one of the high points of the series, meshing the two casts and differently developed visions of the setting perfectly into a whole that was a superb piece of science fiction for its era. The "envelope" show offered a mystery and the drama of a capital trial, and both it and the original series reveled in a genuine sense of wonder, trading in ideas involving matters of freedom and dependence -- and a subtle anti-hallucinogenic (i.e. anti-drug) message -- that are still relevant. In addition, we saw -- although it wasn't presented as such -- a very different interpretation of the role of the ship's captain in Jeffrey Hunter, who was a much more internalized, cerebral actor than William Shatner. The program might not have been a success, but it was a more interesting series for as long as it lasted. The directorial styles of Robert Butler, who handled the original pilot, and Marc Daniels, who directed the envelope program, meshed exceptionally well, and what started out as a salvage effort and a frantic race to catch up on production deadlines turned into one of the high points of the series. ~ Bruce Eder, All Movie Guide
