The Menagerie - Part II

Season 1, Episode 12, Aired
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Episode Summary

Spock's court-martial continues as he attempts to justify his abduction of Pike, the theft of the Enterprise, and his heading for a planet declared forbidden by Starfleet.
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Fan Episode Reviews (7)

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  • Spock, facing a court martial, invents the television show Lost by incorporating flashbacks into the narrative.

    10
    "Perfect"
    By Celedorian, Nov 04, 2011 Report Abuse
    The Menagerie is one of the greatest achievements in the history of Star Trek, and the second half doesn't disappoint. As you might know, this two parter incorporated footage from Star Trek's first pilot, starring different actors, which failed to sell the show. The great thing about spreading the footage over two episodes is that very little editing had to be done for time, as opposed to the episode "The Cage" which covers much of the same material but in about half the time. This, plus the Kirk, Spock, and McCoy additions, is why the Menagerie is far superior, and why every fan should see it at least once.moreless

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  • Spock shows old home movies of the Enterprises but gets court martialed for not serving popcorn

    7.7
    "Good"
    By hrtonslv, Oct 26, 2010 Report Abuse
    As we all know, this was just an excuse to get "The Cage" aired and part of the series. And I guess it worked although the whole set up of the fake court martial was pretty far fetched just so they could make it work. I'm supposing they had those last few scenes re-shot just for "The Menagerie"? I'm talking about the Keeper talking to Kirk and the shot of Pike walking back with Vena to the elevator? Or perhaps they were taken from footage not used or a combination of both.moreless

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  • Spock's court martial continues. Pretty much the same as Part I...

    6.5
    "Fair"
    By Jay-Spacedust, Oct 26, 2010 Report Abuse
    Not much more to say than on Part I; the episode was designed so that the original 1964 pilot, "The Cage", could be shown as part of the regular series.

    This part relies much more on old footage from "The Cage". That is both good and bad; Good in that "The Cage" was a great story, but bad in that there is relatively little new material, and does very much have the feel of a recycled episode.

    Without giving anything away, I did feel that the conclusion of the story, with the revelations about Spock's trial, to be slightly questionable, and causing a couple of plot contradictions from earlier scenes.

    This is by no means bottom-of-the-barrel material, but there are episodes that I enjoy far more than this one.moreless

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  • I see no reason to insult me, sir

    7.0
    "Good"
    By amazingwebhead, Nov 06, 2007 Report Abuse
    What a shame, I now remember why I didn't favour this part as much as the first. You see, where part 1 managed to balance the plot of Spock and Pike with the footage from the Cage to a interesting and thought-provoking level, part 2 just seems to be 'The Cage' with about 10 minutes of unimportant filler. In fact, if it wasn't for The Cage's well told story, 'The Menagerie' would have surely fallen flat on its face.

    On the other hand however, part 2 does have its significant moments, even if most of them occur inside the pilot episode. Possibly most striking is the establishment of the death penalty, which I genuinely thought Roddenberry would have envisioned as out-ruled in his utopian future. However, it is clearly stated here that Spock is indeed in line for such a penalty, and I have to say I was quite disappointed in this rather strange exception to an otherwise functional society. I mean could a utopia really develop in a world that still clinically kills for revenge and justice? Didn't we see in a couple of episodes back, 'hospitals' for criminals? It should be interesting to see where this goes in subsequent series. In other less important but nonetheless culturally significant establishments for Trek is the introduction of the famous Green Orion Slave Girl and the ever intriguing themes on illusion. I particularly enjoyed (and it will probably always stick with me) the scenes where Pike discovers that he had indeed blasted a hole in his cage after threatening a Talosian with the same phaser. I also found the final twist involving the commodore being an illusion to be quite surprising and suitably executed to tie in with the 40 minutes of Cage footage. At least they got something right.

    However, this episode has major plotting problems that I just can't overlook. As I mentioned above, the vast majority of the show is spent observing Pike on the view screen in court. The problem with this is that as a viewer, my attention is slowly brought around fully to the adventures of Pike, rather than caring for what happens with Spock. So, by the time we reach the conclusion of the court case, I have very little interest in what was going on, since it was last developed over an hour ago (or if I had watched it back in the 60's, a week ago!). The one benefit it has is that the footage that we see from 'The Cage' obviously becomes more relevant and engaging to watch, which wasn't the case with part 1. Thankfully it also helps that the story in 'The Cage' that we're forced to watch unfold is actually well written and so at least redeems the episode in some respects. In the end what you essentially end up with is two episodes that separately could have worked fantastically (why didn't they just show 'The Cage' and have Spock introduce it as a kind of memory?) but unfortunately cancel each other out due to terrible pacing and awkward editing that brings both down.

    You may also note that I was hoping for more development of Kirk and his personal feelings on the court case- on his moral indecisiveness and sense of duty. Alas, there's virtually none of it to be seen here and instead we get treated to a shallow, loose tie-up that simply does not work: An unfortunate ending to an otherwise promising premise. Well, that's TV budgeting for you.moreless

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  • The trial continues!

    8.5
    "Great"
    By GeorgeJobson, Dec 11, 2006 Report Abuse
    Part two picks up where part one left off. the trial of Mr. spock continues and his reason why the enterprise would want to return to Talos IV. the is a certain connection between Pike and a group of alliens know as the Talisans, who can use illusion to their advanage. Part two in flashback, we see Piuke in a glass-cage, being watched over by the Talisians. Pike is being thrown by one illusion after another. If you haven't saw the two-parter of this episode, I'll spare you the ending. but it's a pretty shocking ending. You won't expect an ending like this.moreless

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Trivia, Notes, Quotes and Allusions

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  • Trivia

    ADD TRIVIA
    • At the very end of the episode, Spock wheels Pike out of the hearing room to take him to the transporter room and beam down to the planet. However, two seconds after the doors close behind Spock, Pike is shown "walking" on the planet on the view screen. There's no way there would be sufficient time to have gotten to the transporter room, get Pike on a transporter pad, engage the transporter system, have it cycle through, and have him materialize on the planet surface - much less be transformed by the Talosians. Edit
    • In part 1 the computer was turned on to record the trial proceedings. In part 2 nobody bothers to turn it on. Edit
    • At the end of part 1, Starfleet relieves Kirk of command and tells him and everyone else to stop viewing the Talosian transmissions during the court martial. At the beginning they say they can't stop the transmissions, go back into the courtroom, and watch them anyway. Why don't they just go to a different room, or cover the screen with a cloth? Edit

  • Notes

    ADD NOTES
    • When Pike asks the Keeper to restore Vina's illusion of beauty, the Keeper told Pike "and more". Pike looks at Vina and sees that her appearance was restored. In the pilot, "The Cage," Pike would not only see Vina's beauty restored but that they gave her an illusion of him and they entered together. Edit
    • Jeffrey Hunter is billed as Special Guest Star. Edit
    • Leonard Nimoy (Spock) and Malachi Throne (Commodore Mendez) are the only actors to appear in both "The Cage" and the newly shot portions of this two-parter. Edit

  • Quotes

    ADD QUOTES
    • Pike: Now, unless you want my ship to consider capturing me an unfriendly act-- Magistrate: You now see the primitive fear/threat reaction. The specimen is about to boast of his strength, the weaponry of his vessel, and so on. (Pike prepares to throw himself at the glass) Next...frustrated into a need to display physical prowess, the creature will throw himself against the transparency. Edit
    • Vina: A person's strongest dreams are about what he can't do. Yes, a ship's captain, always having to be so formal, so decent and honest and proper. You (Pike) must wonder what it would be like to forget all that. Edit
    • Vina: You're a fool. Pike: Since you're not real, there's not much point in continuing this conversation, is there? Edit

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